54 



CHAPTER Vlll. 



VAEIATIONS OF FUNGI. 



Real hybrids do not probably exist amongst Fnngi, and if this 

 be true, one source of perplexity will be removed which renders 

 the task of discrimination of species difficult to the phjeno- 

 gamic botanist. In organisms fthich depend so much upon 

 outward circumstances, considerable differences will indeed 

 occur, but most of these, after a little study and experience, 

 are easily estimated. 



The same species will for instance present variations in size 

 and colour, in the condition of the outer surface, in the form 

 of the stem and pileus, in the breadth and attachment of 

 the gills ; and yet, amidst all, certain general features will be 

 preserved which preclude much difficulty, though they make 

 it extremely hard to draw up such characters as shall be ge- 

 nerally applicable. Notwithstanding all the experience Avhich 

 the great Swedish Fungologist has had in the study of the 

 fleshy Fungi, and clever as his characters confessedly are, and 

 satisfactory taken as a whole, individual specimens constantly 

 occur, from local modifications, which cannot be comprised 

 within their limits. Nay, even generic and sectional charac- 

 ters are sometimes at fault. It is, for instance, frequently a 

 matter of difficulty to distinguish an Agaric of the subgenus 



