Jury 11, 1874.] 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
37 
H 
i things more remarkable than 
fu Inn 
THE MONG! OF CHARCOAL 
THROUGHOUT the seen world there are be 
the curious habitats of 
ws.” In his introduction to The Outlines of Fungo- 
logy we are also i “a certain Polyp 
rm r food in is raised on Hazel stumps by 
th with a proper quantity of water.” In 
Roahignéres work (Cry#iogamie arto Me are 
ed that 
straw and other 4 yoy: matter has been con- 
med by fire. If w Lycoperdon giganteum as 
betig a hir repiviedtative ot the chemical composition 
of a ungi, we need not sn surprised 
ground productive. Should 
does not represent more 
ngi. ther class of plants do we find so varied | inform ptain Dur plant in its ov ng m S the reply is, that it may 
~ 2 choice of m on wh grow, or so wide a | some plains in yd which ‘had Mha been? bina easily obtain its 90 per cent. = wate nets rec but 
im geographical range through which to flourish, They by the Arabs dur ing the war in that country, | not so réaility. its metal co stituents, re 
‘a inhabit nearly every plant o o botanists, | was able to satikt = a great number of ne ss indispensable. Thus, it is seen acetil these beds suppl 
oe from the humble moss to the giant Oak, both ss stubble partly consumed, and table in the forest spread richly with all those 
a its living and decaying state; in e e seating the bark of which had been chai ed by ‘tre! “The prope that fungi love to feed upon. 
e themselves on the leaf, in another on the stem, and hae author wen Pig that large nw of fangi “ e follo owing is the list of species observed to grow 
zy În a third on the root ix ene genera of found on chan fog = the Ke sts of Franc on these places, as faras I have been able to yee 
f plants, to say nothing of species, are enumerat y bere who hive ‘beeh of 8 earching the but doubtless it can be ldrgel ely sey ARESA by th 
auth as the victims of parasitic fingi, and this | woods of Shro opshire and Herefordshire for fungi | who have ungi their study :—Agaric s famosus 
T list is from co te e not confine | co og m -n failed to obse any corresponding | (Fr.), po olitus che 4 a atratus, umbellifer 
et themselves to vegetable substances, for, as some one | facts, titie supp y iiri quantities f | fibula, scaber ee TSE decipiens, “n eu 
i happily said, ‘“‘they are carnivorous in their | timber for rae d the practice of landowner canobrunneus (Batsch.) ; Tida quietus (Fr. Y 
tastes ;” they fix themselves on horn ther, hair, | of felling it at certain peri riods, when charcoal is ussula nigrican i r.), adusta (Fr.), ochroleuca 
undressed hides, a a considerable er of sually made, ensures a succession of these beds of | (Fr.), fragilis (Fr.); Cantharellus umbonatus (P.), 
ahimal ji ated even before vitality has ie ri ages. radicosus nd : 
forsaken those tissues, and hence many of the most fa It is a matter of surprise that any living organisms | Thelephora laciniata,, Typhula, erdo 
diseases to which ** flesh is heir” have — Se should find a f as ge after the ordeal of fire which | tum (Vahl), gem atum (Fr.) ; Reticularia applanat 
as arising from these pa ro Nearly every kind of | these spots undergo ; y dos that, very shortly | (B. and Br.) ; Rhizina undulata (Fr.) ; Helvel crispa, 
Me y man is subject to their govi as evel | after their + dine used, a grow fu akes i cunosa ; Pezizacochleata (Hud. ), trachycarpa(Curr.), 
a asa variety of Paananen compo nds and poison- appearance, while yet the ariei consists of nothing | leiocarpa (Cùrr.), car (A. and S.), pustulata 
$ ous mixtures. Even the hard surface of minerals is | more than loose fragments of rcoal several inches Pers.), melaloma(A. and S.), rutilans (Fr. ), subhirsuta 
ey | in depth e conditions are produced highl y macrocystis (Cooke), schizospora (Phillips), 
heir range of | favourable to the growth of mycelium arising from halodes, violacea ; lus Crouani (Cooke), 
chew r sami =- pa wf mae either escaped the action of the | atrofuscus (N. S.); Hynotria Tulasnei nd Br. 
fire or been conveyed by the wind or animals an may a ngst the white spored in this 
| deposited i in their place of growth. I may here men- f list, Agaricus eserves notice beca its 
inconspicuous a nanka having a pileus much the 
colour of the ground on which it grows, therefore 
easily ov ked, and its close resemblance to ‘Can- 
tharellus radicosus oser examin its thi 
roadish gills will at once enable us to distinguish it 
m last-named, nh r s 
rather than gills. This is not very common in Shrop- 
shire. Among the brown spored the two commonest 
are Agaricus scaber and A. carbonarius. 
abound in the W woods and the Whitcliffe 
w Neither is t Ass 
stems and clay-coloured gills st species often 
thrusts itself up t the coal as if it 
attained a considerable ena before showing 
itself he su . A. decipiens, which is nearly 
allied to this apoien I ere never ret a ind in Shrop- 
rm P ascigero ara a = 
—we find several interesting denize zens pry the ch m 
pal bedi Rhizina afdalata has not been found in 
Shropelite or Herefordshire, though it is said to be not 
e heath has been burnt down. The ’ 
argely represented seen 
Fic, 8.—A LIVING TENT. r of the Wrekin—which being a rare species 
requires notice, viz., Peziza pustulata, Pers. © Some of 
specimens ed = It is not an 
7 Fiag i ncommon circumst arge ses of bright 
thrust themselves ain notice in our best kept gardens, | tion a fact that came under my own observation in the scarlet or dull red on the surface of the charcoal, which 
over the mii Lei of last ran which tends to show that at 
on close inspection are found to 
th 
ney spread the m consist of a species of 
garde 
most highly culti- 
of the 
evelope in the de pecies of lichen e possession of a 
observed hedighent a all eleva- | cuta habitat. While i in a North Wale in the month Peziza crowded into oap ee to to the size of a 
tions se the cutis iiaa up to 18, feet abovethe | of Apr il, I saw on the side of a public road a space of recy “ai alom l b s S nt co 
a Eii aie ronda fa the Becca robably the i eziza me oe ut not easily oo 
plants ex elv: recent oaos of gipsies, nearly the whole surface | “eevee negavoutng spea :-F S otar rad rg 
however, cert particular spots | of which w. vêred by a beautiful Collema, its thallus Thi = i SER : ase ee 
ich are more frequent by their thickly ews with dark brown apote. the fi 2 Pe a een A k hich hy aar 
tesence than others, where they appear to find owth o ind I ever witnessed. An interesting arh E dn kegs isio il f rg rae Picken bands 
ey most pri ti question naturally occurs here, which we cannot : TA x ne 4 Sibh a edb se 
m the lists above referredito, I find on the Beech er without a remark, namely, How Cooke” e a ET E A aa 
man 220 species have a | phenomena to be accounted for? Why should there ae, i fe Jo pane ed vith th hi 
bitat, on the Oak (Quercus Robur) 290 s , | exist this singular sequénce of = p f eyin ‘ yo rane n ai —_ Can "species 
those minute plants, mosses, there are set st pe oa wi explanation—the one most consonant atte boki ias sb prs rece ee Wise tire 
species. Amongst animal with ou ge of yégetable browthi is that the i a Rae a specific sail . £. 8c oH, Se is 
as found on ag os derived cheatin icant f the ground become so altered | 7° h ets l di : a ee mae a 
rom our domestic bull (Bos Taurus) _57 species, | as to supply gredients most appropriate to the ea ig apes “visage S Pos 
pecies, and ies, sustenance of fungi must content If epispore to split and discharge a nucleus. 
Although we are not able to present a long list as | bringi your notice one fact only in confirma- | por ag = ton an ee prance! Asco- 
and gro e claim | tion of this view. Professor Church has given us in tes H - f et ee gore paci miie 
aracter of being favourable spots | the Journal of Botany a eG ne a analysis of eh eg th pi new > S pia r x —_ ne 
resting plants are discover For | Lycoperdon giganteum, from it appears a the ET -pi d ri sl z a aE lai 7 rsa 
observed that the growth of | ash of that fungus yields the follow ing ingredien ET TOn ] bla aes Th sai ae ile 
ielo of fite oë ‘wild and f " ic becomes nearly The sporidia are broadly 
tells twin his introduction tc Phosphorous pentoni 22 op sp elliptical and a 2 ao peg the exterior, The 
mic Botany, p, 292, that “in German ny ash geet 3 35.48 rest species to it is that udier in 
iae ially those plases where wood Seda a Se ela a Teg his excellent arbada on this seit K 
t, and the pans aien was so lucrative Fanc on C P On vain ETS oo ynorria ulasnei 
uce the peasantry to forests ie Silica. Sov See (B. and Br.), has occurred once, a single ‘specimen, — 
Avge a view to favour tei gr ir growth ; i Other substances and loss 4 paee immature.. The era paese rege the. list. is a minute ~ 
Paper om Ff 
oa 
