THE MUSHROOM FAMILY. 313 



Dielytra spectabilis is a very pretty hardy herbaceous plant 

 from China, bearing white or rosy pink flowers. This plant 

 and some species of Corydalis are the most showy, and are 

 often met with in gardens. Lindley remarks that the economy 

 of the sexual organs in Fumeworts is remarkable. " The 

 stamens are in two parcels, the anthers of which are a little 

 higher than the stigma. The two middle ones of these anthers 

 are turned outwards, and do not appear to be capable of com- 

 municating their pollen to the stigma ; the four lateral ones are 

 also naturally turned outwards, but by a twist of their filament 

 their face is presented to the stigma. They are all held firmly 

 together by the cohesion of the tips of the flower, which, never 

 unclosing, offer no apparent means of the pollen being dis- 

 turbed so as to be shed upon the stigmatic surface. To 

 remedy this inconvenience, the stigma is furnished with two 

 blunt horns, one of which is inserted between and under the 

 cells of the anthers of each parcel, so that without any altera- 

 tion of position on the part of either organ, the mere contraction 

 of the valves of the anthers is sufficient to shed the pollen upon 

 that spot where it is required to perform the office of fecunda- 

 tion." Notwithstanding this seemingly admirable arrangement 

 for securing self-impregnation, the fact is that very few fertile 

 seeds are produced either by the species of Dielytra or Cory- 

 dalis ; and Mr J. Seden, after industriously applying pollen of 

 several other allied species to the stigma of Dielytra specta- 

 bilis, failed to obtain a single seed. Is it possible that self- 

 fertilisation for ages has destroyed the seminal fecundity of 

 this Dielytra ? or is fertilisation effected in its native habitats 

 by insect agency? 



THE MUSHROOM FAMILY (Fungi).* 



The great family of Mushrooms, Toadstools, Mildew, and 

 Moulds, many of the larger kinds being edible ; but as yet 

 little is known of their artificial propagation and culture. 

 Agaricus campestris is the only kind cultivated in this country, 

 and is well known as the Common Mushroom of fields and 

 meadows. The Truffle (Tuber cibarium} is grown by artificial 

 means in Prussia and Germany, but all attempts to cultivate it 



* The reader interested in Mushroom-culture should see ' Mushroom- 

 Culture,' by W. Robinson, F.L. S. ; and ' Mushrooms, and how to Grow 

 them,' by W. Earley. For an illustrated paper on "Reproduction in the 

 Mushroom Tribe," by Mr W. G. Smith, F.L.S., the reader interested 

 should see 'Gardeners' Chronicle,' 1875, p. 488-519. 



