XEROTUS PANUS. 307 



Xerotus degener. Fr. (fig. 16, p. 301.) 



Pileus about 1 in. across, coriaceo-membranaceous, very- 

 tough, plano-infundibuliform, entire, greyish-bay and striate 

 when moist, somewhat zoned ; gills few, decurrent, distant, 

 simple or dichotomous, greyish-white; stem up to 1 in. 

 long, often much shorter, thin, brown with white velvety- 

 down. 



Xerotus degener, Fries, Epicr., p. 100; Cke., Hdbk., p. 359; 

 Cke., Illustr., pi. 1150s. (After Sowerby, pi. 210, called 

 Agaricus turfosus.") 



In peat mosses, on naked ground, &c. 



Most nearly allied to Tlielephora undulata ( = Stereum undu- 

 J at urn, Fung. Flor., vol. i. p. 130). The young hymenium 

 has obtuse ribs, and when adult the edges of the gills are 

 acute. 



On the ground in sterile, gravelly places. Stem very tough, 

 solid, or floccosely stuffed at the apex, not 1 in. long, often 

 not more than 2-3 lines, 1 line thick, equal, brown with a 

 slight coating of white down. Pileus very thin, coriaceo- 

 membranaceous, very tough, plane becoming infundibuli- 

 form, greyish-bay and striate when moist, flocculose and 

 somewhat zoned when dry, grey, but some of the small indi- 

 viduals are zoneless. Gills decurrent, veiy few and very 

 distant from each other, when only slightly evolved, re- 

 sembling the ridges in Cladoderris, edge very obtuse, when 

 most perfectly evolved, thin, rather broad ; greyish- white, 

 margin acute, flaccid, variable, sometimes quite equal, 

 simple, sometimes dichotomous, with shorter ones inter- 

 mixed. (Fries.) 



PANUS. Fries, (fig. 7, p. 301.) 



The whole fungus coriaceous and tough, drying up, 

 texture fibrous ; pileus irregular, stipitate, sessile and hori- 

 zontal, or resupinate ; gills more or less decurrent, unequal, 

 at length dry and coriaceous, margin quite entire ; stem ex- 

 centric, lateral, or entirely absent ; spores smooth. 



Panus, Fries, Epicr., p. 396. 



Allied to Lentinw in the tough, somewhat coriaceous sub- 

 stance, but at once distinguished by the coriaceous gills 

 having the margin quite entire. 



x 2 



