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Report of a Field Meeting held at Paul's Cray Common, 

 October 3rd, 1903. 



By Robert Adkin, F.E.S. Read October 22nd, 1903. 



The closing field meeting of the season was held at Paul's Cray 

 Common and Petts Wood on Saturday, October 3rd, and was devoted 

 chiefly to the collection of fungi. The district has already been 

 described in the report of a former meeting held there (" Proc," igoo, 

 pp. 17, 18), it is therefore unnecessary to dwell upon the beauties of 

 its scene, or the many points of interest that it possesses for the 

 collector. 



In the matter of weather we were again singularly fortunate, for 

 although the proverbial wetness of the season had not failed to assert 

 itself during the days immediately preceding the meeting, no doubt 

 preventing the attendance of many members who, had the prospect 

 been more settled, would have been present, and even that morning 

 had not been without its warning shower ; but the afternoon was 

 delightfully fine with genial sunshine and a soft westerly breeze, an. 

 ideal autumn afternoon for a country ramble. 



The ten members comprising the party assembled at Chislehurst 

 Station of the S.E.R. at about 3 o'clock, and proceeded by way of 

 Chislehurst Common and the St. Mary Cray Road to Paul's Cray 

 Common. Here fungi were found to be common enough, so far as 

 concerned numbers, but the variety of species was not great, and 

 the recent rains, although no doubt advantageous to the development 

 of quantity, had not been altogether good for the quality, many of 

 the individuals found being far too advanced to admit of their being 

 gathered for identification ; but no difficulty was experienced in 

 selecting a considerable number of the fresher specimens. Having 

 spent some little time in investigating the common, a move was 

 made for Petts Wood, and just within the gate a goodly colony of 

 that interesting but malodorous species Phallus impudicus was found 

 in various stages of development, including the so-called " egg " 

 stage, a fine example of which Mr. Step took in the hope of securing 

 a series of photographs illustrating its development ; but in this, I 

 understand, he was only partially successful, owing to the remarkable 

 rapidity with which it takes place. Further on in the wood a couple 

 of dead birch trees produced some very fine specimens of Polyporus 

 betulimis and P. applanatiis, some of the best examples of which were 

 secured by Messrs. Cowham and Dods respectively, who, at consider- 

 able risk of the dead stems collapsing under their weight, shinned up 

 the trees and cut them out. By the time that the extremity of the 

 wood was reached the light was rapidly failing, and it therefore re- 



