144 Transactions British Mycological Society. 



or in places have been filled up above the level of the water- 

 table by inward drifts of fresh sand-deposits with a result that 

 many of those rare treasures prized by botanists have suc- 

 cumbed. The same thing has happened to even a greater 

 extent at Lytham and St. Annes, but happily those in South 

 Lancashire have been spared this fate. 



The Lancashire sand-dunes are the most extensive on the 

 English coast, having a depth of nearly four miles at Formby, 

 and they constitute a remarkable example of active dune 

 formation, whilst to mycologists they present unique associa- 

 tions of fungi. 



To appreciate properly the extraordinary conditions pre- 

 vailing it is necessary to explain that, because the sea is receding 

 here, these dunes are still in process of formation, and that there 

 are three distinct ranges of dunes, between which lie rather 

 wide flat hollows, or "slacks," which are damp, and in places 

 swampy. The third range of sand-dunes has been planted 

 extensively in places with young conifers, interspersed with 

 various deciduous trees, such as Alnus, Populus, Betula, 

 Hippophae and several species of Salix. 



It would seem impossible, one would think, for fungi to 

 develop on the loose blown sand above the line of tidal drift 

 and on the first barren tract of dunes, yet here specimens of 

 Volvaria speciosa are not infrequently found partially buried, 

 and occasionally Volvaria gloiocephala, although the latter 

 prefers the inner grass-grown parts. Similarly, growing in the 

 bare sand near the shore at Wallasey, the late Dr. Ellis found 

 Geoglossum glabriim (Pers.) several years in succession. The 

 only other species found in the loose sand nearest the sea are 

 Tuharia furfuracca var. trigonophylla and Marasmins graminum, 

 and in these instances it has been found that the mycelial threads 

 sprang from buried leaves and stems of the grasses Agropyron 

 junceum or Ammophila arenaria; although the Tuharia often 

 proved to be growing from buried pieces of drift wood and 

 debris washed up by the tide. Further nutrition would be 

 afforded by the many remains of minute algae which the sands 

 contain in this zone. 



On the slopes of the loose sandhills which face inland occurs 

 that curious stalked Gasteromycete, Tulostoma mammosa 

 accompanied by scattered specimens of Inocvbe riniosa and 

 others of this genus and less commonly by Naiicoria arvalis, 

 but these are found only with difficulty, being almost com- 

 pletely buried. I am of opinion that "the roots and buried 

 remains of Agropyron and Ammophila provide the means of 

 sustenance. 



Behind the outer sandhills lies the first wide, flat valley 



