188 



GASTEROMYOETES. 



PHALLOIDACE^E. 



DICTYOPHORA PHALLOIDEA Desv. in Journ. d. Bot. ii. 88 (1809). 



Manokoeari, very common on ground where damp in forest, 200'. Jan. 

 6156. 



Brown, reticulum yellow. Eggs brown. Smells like Phallus impudicus. 

 Diatrib. Widespread in tropics. 



In specimens preserved in spirit the pileus and the wide-netted 

 reticulum have a dark, somewhat orange colour and the stipe is almost 

 white ; the liquid contains a flocculent powder, which is of the same colour 

 as the reticulum, but somewhat lighter. In dried specimens the pileus is 

 blackish brown, the net and stipe orange, and the volva looks like touch- 

 wood. The pileus, stipe, and indusium of D. phalloidea are in most 

 collections normally white ; and Fischer (1891, 1893) gives thirty-six 

 synonymous forms, though he includes D. rosea (Cesati), recorded from 

 French Guinea and Java, in which the indusium is pink. 



D. phalloidea seems to be extremely variable in the shape and size of its 

 parts, chiefly the pileus and the indusium. Moller, discussing the question 

 of varieties ('Brasilische Pilzblumen,' 122 (1895)), says : " Die Varietaten- 

 bildung kann meines Erachtens keine andere Bedeutung haben, als die 

 einer iibersichtlichen Anordung der in den Sammlungen zufallig ent- 

 haltenen Stiicke. Jeder neue Fund wird sie verandern und erweitern. . . . 

 Wiirde man auf diesem Wege weiter gehen, so miisste beinahe fiir jeden 

 neuen Einzelfund nun ein neuer Varietaten-Name gemacht werden, mit 

 ebenso grossem und ebenso geringem Rechte, wie man friiher einen neuen 

 Artnamen einsetzte. In der Sache ware kaum etwas geiindert. Ich 

 mochte es fiir ausreichend halten, wenn man neue Fundorte bekannt giebt 

 uud auf die vorkommenden Formabweichungen aufmerksam macht, um 

 das Maass der Formschwankungen innerhalb dieser merkwiirdigen Art 

 allmahlich festzustellen." Fetch (Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya, iv. 

 139 (1908)) gives an account of the variations in the pileus and net which 

 led to the formation of " species." The New-Guinea specimens fall well 

 within the morphological series described by various authors. 



With regard to colour there seems to be just as great a variation, and 

 certain species have been described on what seems to be differences in 

 colour alone. One of these, Dictyophora multicolor, was described from 

 Brisbane by Berkeley and Broome (Trans. Linn. Soc. 2nd ser. Bot. ii. 65 

 (1883)). The type-specimen is in the herbarium of the British Museum. 

 Two drawings accompanied the specimen sent by Bailey one by himself, the 

 other by his young son. The drawing and colouring in each is very poor, 

 and Bailey calls his own colouring " incorrect/' The notes on colour are 

 " orange " for the pileus, " lemon " for the net, and " cream " for the stipe. 



