THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 109 



Schizophylhuii commune. On the hill-side, near the river, the tall 

 Ayarlcus dypeolatius raised its graceful form over the surround- 

 ing grass. This is one of our handsomest fungs, but is rather 

 uncommon. I had not seen it till this season since I found it 

 near Toongabbie in 1885. I also found several puff-balls, such 

 as Lycopodon gcmmatum. 



On the 2nd April, last year, I discovered a very curious fungus 

 in the sandy soil of the scrubby country just over the cliff at 

 Cheltenham — it presented the appearance of a puff-ball ; a small 

 portion of the top only was visible above the ground; when cut, 

 the centre appeared to be a mass of brown paste, surrounded 

 by a transparent gelatinous substance, the whole completely 

 enveloped in a leathery yellowish-brown skin. On submitting 

 the paste to the test of a one-inch objective, it was shown to 

 consist of the cut ends of a multitude of soft tubes — some 

 circular, but tlic greater number pressed into various shapes ; the 

 gelatinous portion was very soft, and soon dried up ; it was 

 separated into various-shaped cells by transparent walls, which 

 did not evaporate, but stood out very prominently as the softer 

 portion disappeared. The interior of the tubes was covered by 

 the hymeniurn, but I could not see it clearly enough to describe 

 it. Except thai it was one of the Gasteromycetes I could not 

 make it out. However, this year, owing to the thoughtfulness of 

 a lady living at Elthara, I was enabled to solve the problem. 

 This lady, knowing I was interested in fungi, forwarded a 

 specimen quite unknown to me. The plant was shortly after- 

 wards followed by a letter telling me that another specimen had 

 been found, and that if I could come I should be enabled to see 

 it in situ. This I was able to do, as the next day was Saturday, 

 and found it to be a species of Asserce-phallus, and I subse- 

 quently discovered that the plant I had found at Cheltenham 

 was an Asseroe-phallus in an undeveloped state. The appearance 

 presented in this fungus was very beautiful among the green 

 grass \ a pure white semi-transparent column, like coral, fully five 

 inches high and half-inch in diameter, rising from a volva. 

 This volva was quite concealed beneath the ground, and 

 had nearly the same appearance as the volva of the Geaster, 

 only bursting more irregularly. The top of the column was 

 surmounted by a head composed of five finger-like growths, 

 each of which was bent round towards the others, so 

 that the five apices nearly met at a point, enclosing a soft brown 

 mass called a gleba ; the ridges formed by the outside of the 

 fingers were dark yellow, while the furrows between, where the 

 gleba showed through, were a deep shining brown. The coral- 

 like stem was quite hollow, with innumerable lace-like openings 

 on the surface ; it was pure white, and soon became discoloured. 

 A yellowish tinge first appeared near the head and gradually 



