i8 3 



NOTES ON FUNGI: 



WITH LIST OF SPECIES COLLECTED 



CHIEFLY IN EAST YORKSHIRE. 



WALTER W. STRICKLAND, 

 Richmond, Surrey. 



Some little time ago the Editors consented to afford me space 

 in the pages of The Naturalist to publish a list of fungi pre- 

 sented by myself to the British Museum. I have gone carefully 

 through the specimens and compared them with those in the 

 classified collection at the South Kensington Natural History 

 Museum, and I have now the pleasure of forwarding the list, which 

 I believe is tolerably correct. I wish at the same time to make a 

 few remarks as to the object with which the collection was originally 

 made ; also to say a word or two about the difficulties with which a 

 correct identification of species of fungi is beset, and, further to point 

 out how fascinating is the study of mycology, how much there is yet 

 to be learnt and how much useful work in this field of natural history 

 may be done by amateurs provided with a microscope and sufficient 

 graphic skill to draw tolerably correct sketches of the fructification 

 and sporidia of the minute, and especially of the asciferous, fungi. 



In the first place, then, this collection was originally made for 

 self-instruction. It therefore contains many extremely common and 

 widely diffused species, but for the same reason it presents a fair 

 general scheme of mycology : thus very nearly all the families and 

 most of the orders are represented in it by fairly typical specimens, 

 while, on the other hand, some of the groups which particularly 

 interested me, such for example as the Myxogastres, the Pucciniae, 

 and the Sphaeriaceous fungi comprise a considerable number of 

 specimens. Every species of British Phragmidium (most of these 

 however are not uncommon) was found, dried, and made a note of, 

 and also a great number of Puccinia are recorded. The rare and 

 curious Xcnodochus carbonarius, growing on the greater burnet, was 

 found near the fish-ponds at Hildenley. In the case of the agarics, 

 I have not attempted a systematic catalogue of them ; it would have 

 swelled out the list unnecessarily ; I have contented myself with 

 forwarding the names of some of the more uncommon forms found. 

 I regret that more time was not devoted to the Polyporei ; there are, 

 however, notes of several curious and scarce forms found at Boynton 

 and Sledmere. 



June 1889. 



