286 



sometimes umbonate, striate, edge of cap very finely toothed, 

 pale brown to reddish-brown, drying paler. Gills adnate, 

 moderately close, often irregular with connecting veins, 

 whitish with ^ faint pink tinge or pallid, edges dark red 

 or dark purple, and finely toothed. Stem up to 3 inches 

 high, .slender, shining, slightly attenuated upw T ards, hollow, 

 pale to reddish-brown. A prune-coloured watery juice exudes 

 on section or from the broken gills. Spores elongated, white, 

 coarsely granular internally, 7 to 9 or even 12x5 to 7 /a.. 

 The colour may dissolve in formalin specimens. Amongst 

 leaves under trees, grass, etc. Neutral Bay, Sydney, June, 

 1913; Mosman, May, 1914; Manly, May, 1915; Mount Lofty, 

 S. Austr., July, 1914; National Park, S. Austr., June, 1917 

 (unusually large, the maximum sizes given above) ; amongst 

 fallen bark and twigs, Craigie, Victoria, June, 1917 (E. J. 

 Semmens, No. 39; probably this species). 



Pleurotus. 



134. Pleurotus lampas, Berk. — Agaricus (Pleurotus) 

 lam/pas, Berk.: Hook. J., iv., 1845, p. 44; Cooke: Handb. 

 Austr. Fungi, No. 155. Synonyms: — Agaricus noctilucus, 

 Berk, (vide Cooke, No. 155). Agaricus (Pleurotus) phos- 

 phoreus, Berk. : Hook. J., vii., 1848, p. 572; Cooke: No. 157. 

 Agaricus (Pleurotus) dluminans, Muell. : Linn. J., xiii., 

 1873, p. 157; Cooke: No. 150. Agaricus (Pleurotus) 

 candescens, Muell.: Linn. J., xiii., 1873, p. 157; Cooke: No. 

 158; McAlpine: Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, 1900, p. 553, pis. 

 xxxi. and xxxii. Panus incandescens, B. and Br. : Linn. 

 Trans., ii., p. 5; Cooke: No. 498; Bailey: Comp. Cat. Q'land 

 Plants, p. 725 ( = A. Gardneri). Agaricus (Pleurotus) 

 Gardneri, as identified by Berk, and Br. : Linn. Trans., 1878, 

 p. 399; Cooke: No. 149. (1) Agaricus (Pleurotus) nidi- 

 forwis, Berk.: Hook. J., iii., 1844, p. 185; Cooke: No. 154. 



In our opinion all of the above supposed species recorded 

 for Australia represent examples of but one variable and very 

 common form, of which by priority the name should be P. 

 lampas (or P. nidi for mix, if this also is the same species). 

 Our common luminous species is undoubtedly the species 

 described so accurately by McAlpine (loc. cit.). 



Our reasons for considering that there are so many 

 synonyms are as follows : — First of all, the specimens we have 

 ourselves examined are very variable as to texture, size, and 

 colour. Some examples are very firm, approaching Panus, 

 whilst others, usually growing in shady places, are very soft 

 and watery. The colour of the cap varies from a creamy- 

 white in shaded examples to purplish-black and occasionally 



