Fungi.] FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 173 



The predominance therefore is greatly in favour of the European type, as far as any notion can be formed of what 

 that type is. The word 'subtropical' is extended to all countries where, at certain seasons, the general range of tem- 

 perature is high. The really tropical forms are few in comparison, and the Fungi are just what might be expected 

 in a tolerably uniform climate, where there is no such marked depression of temperature as to destroy the mycelium 

 of certain delicate species, and make their growth impossible. Such species as require a higher mean temperature 

 than 50° or 60°, will not of course appear. Two South Carolina species occur rather unexpectedly, one of which 

 travels as far south as Surinam ; and it is possible that Diatrype glomeraria may be only a disguised form of the 

 Pennsylvanian D. smilacicola. 



Gen. I. AGABICUS, L. 



Lamella membranacese, non deliquescentes, acie acuta, trama subfloccosa, cum byrnenophoro infero 

 concrete. 



The largest genus in the whole range of botany, containing more than a thousand species, notwithstanding the 

 separation of several natural groups. Many of the species afford acceptable articles of food, and in some countries 

 are extensively consumed. The common Mushroom, which is perhaps the best of all, occurs in almost every part of 

 the world, and is not wanting in New Zealand, where the closely-allied A. arvensis also occurs. There can be little 

 doubt that the number of species in the New Zealand Flora is far greater than what I am able to record here : in- 

 deed, several specimens exist in the collections, which I have not been able to refer satisfactorily to their proper 

 place. Without notes or drawings, most of the fleshy Fungi are very difficult of investigation, and the results are 

 rather approximative than exact. (Name, according to Dioscorides, from Agaria, a town in Sarmatia.) 



1. Agaricus pkalloides, Fr. Syst. Myc. v. 1. p. 13. 

 Hab. In woods, Colenso. 



2. Agaricus clypeolarius, Bull. t. 405. 

 Hab. On the ground, Colenso. 



3. Agaricus (Lepiota) exstmcttis, Berk.; pileo campanulato tessellato-verrucoso, epidermide lajvi de- 

 hiscente apices verrucarum investiente, stipite subsequali sursum annulate, lamellis angustis remotissimis. 



Hab. On the ground, Bay of Islands, J. B. H. 



Pileus campanulate, carnose, 1 inch or more high, nearly 2 inches across, regularly broken up into strong warts, 

 each of which is clothed at its apex with an angular portion of the smooth cuticle. Stem nearly equal, about 3 

 inches high, J of an inch thick, not penetrating the substance of the pileus ; ring superior. Gills narrow, extremely 

 remote.— A very beautiful species, of which a single specimen only has been gathered. 



4. Agaricus brevipes, Bull. t. 521./. 2. 

 Hab. On the ground, Colenso. 



5. Agaricus infundibuliformis, Sclieeff. I. 212. 

 Hab. On the ground, Colenso. 



6. Agaricus (Omphalia) Colensoi, Berk. ; pusillus, pileo tenui urnbilicato glabro, margine involute 

 stipite gracili furfuraceo glabrescente, lamellis adnato-decurrentibus. 



Hab. On the ground, amongst sand and on scraps of wood, wet logs, etc., Ngaawapurua, Colenso. 



W hite. Pileus | an inch or more across, smooth, minutely striate all over when dry, deeply umbilicate ; mar- 

 gin involute. Stem i-f of an inch high, not a line thick, attenuated downwards, furfuraceous, at length smooth. 

 Gills moderately broad, adnato-decurrent. — The nearest ally of this species is probably A.pyxidatus. 



7. Agaricus umbelliferus, L. 



Hab. On the ground, Colenso ; Bay of Islands, /. D. H. 



VOL. ii. 2 y 



