THE FUNGI 



185 



hand, some of them are extremely poisonous. Of the latter, the 

 deadly Agaric (Amanita phalloides) is sometimes mistaken for the 

 true Mushroom, from which, however, it differs very much. It 

 has white gills, and the cap, when wet, is slimy. Moreover, it grows 

 from a .sort of cup or volva, which is quite absent from the edible 

 Mushroom. Another very poisonous species is the Fly-agaric (Ama- 

 nita muscarid). It may be recognized by the bright yellow or red 

 pileus covered with warty scales. 



GASTEROMYCETES 



The highest orders of the Basidiomycetes are often grouped 

 together under the name Gasteromycetes, which are distinguished 

 from the Hymenomycetineae by having the spores borne within 

 closed chambers, so that the interior of the fruit often shows 

 a honeycombed 



B D 



structure. The 

 fruiting-body may 

 reach a very large 

 size, as in the 

 Giant Puffball, 

 where it may be 

 thirty to forty cen- 

 timetres in diam- 

 eter. Many of the 

 so-called hemi-an- 

 giocarpous Hyme- 

 nomycetes are to 

 some extent inter- 

 mediate in charac- 

 ter between the 

 lower ones and 

 the more special- 

 ized Gasteromy- 

 cetes. One very 

 remarkable order, 

 the Phallinese, 

 which is often in- 



FIG. 151. A, C', Ithyphallus impudicus. A, ripe fruit- 

 body (x 8) ; v, volva; gl, gleba. B, mycelium with 

 young fruit-body, slightly reduced. C, section of nearly 

 ripe fruit-body. D, spores of Anthurus borealis. (D, 

 after BURT.) 



eluded with the Gasteromycetes, is also somewhat intermediate in 

 character between them and the Hymenomycetineae. In the Phal- 

 linese the formation of the spores takes place within closed cham- 

 bers, but when the spores are ripe, the tissue to which they are 

 attached breaks through the outer covering of the fruit, and the 

 spores are thus exposed. 



