454 



RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



abnormalities in Pholiota erebia, Psalliota campestris, and Coprimis 

 niveus just described. 



"On the whole," concludes Conard, 1 " Secotium agaricoides 

 would best be placed near to Agaricus (Psalliota), either in the 

 Agariceae or Marasmieae of Hennings (1897). It clearly falls within 

 the Agaricaceae of Maire (1902). It is to be regarded as a primitive 



FIG. 15G. Secotium agaricoides. Stages in the development of two fruit- 

 bodies. No. 1, a median longitudinal section of a fruit-body 3'5 mm. 

 in diameter, showing the fundament of the hymenophore and the gill- 

 chamber. No. 2, the left half of a median longitudinal section of a 

 fruit-body 9 mm. in diameter, showing a ring of well-formed gills extend- 

 ing from the cap toward the columella. The gills are much branched 

 . ' and anastomosing, and they run primarily in a radial direction. At a 

 they are attached to the columella and are therefore decurrent ; and 

 at b they are extending centrifugally. Photographed by S. Conard. 



or arrested agaric perhaps a paedogenic form, reaching its re- 

 productive maturity in the * button ' stage." 



It seems, therefore, as a result of Conard's investigation, that 

 we are justified in thinking of Secotium agaricoides as a fungus 

 which superficially resembles a Puff-ball (Lycoperdon), but which, 

 nevertheless, has been derived from an ancestor which must have 

 had a structure practically identical with that of the Common 

 Mushroom and its allies. This ancestor, doubtless, possessed a 

 simple radial gill-system, expanded its pileus in the usual way, and 



1 H. S. Conard, loc. cit., p. 101. 



