FUNGI : HYMENOMYCETES. 273 



The "fairy rings" which spot our old meadows and our hnks, — 

 our sea-banks and upland pastures, are connected, in some way, with 

 the special mode of growth of Agaricus oreades and A. gambosus ; — 

 at least I hare never noticed these rings except where there could be 

 found some traces of these Agarics. The green " sour-grass " is not, 

 however, always in a circle, for it may be sometimes seen running in 

 a wavy line, interrupted irregularly. The theory that the grass 

 owes its greenness and circularity to the decomposition of successive 

 growths of the mushrooms on the one side, and to the exhaustion of 

 the soil on the other, labours under difficulties which have not been 

 satisfactorily explained. See Ann. and Mag. N. Hist. xix. p. 209 : 

 and the Gardener's Chronicle for Oct. 9, 1852. 



Some of the species are very beautiful, as for example, Agaricus 

 muscarius, rutilans, conicus, comatus, and plicatilis. Our rarest 

 species are — 



1. Agaricus caperatus. Plate IX. Trans. Berw. N.Club, ii. 174. 



Desc. — Pileus convex, orbiculate, obtusely umbonate, even, very 

 dry, of a uniform gall-stone yellow, usually paler about the top, 

 covered with a mealy powder of the same colour, which, in some 

 places, is gathered into an imperfect scaliness, the margin inflected, 

 entire or more or less sinuated : veil as thick as writing-paper, per- 

 sistent, stretched between the margin and stem, to which it is closely 

 attached, thickly covered with the same powder as the pileus, but 

 more distinctly squamulose ; flesh thiqk, solid and firm, white, not 

 changing colour, mild and insipid in taste. Gills numerous, adnate, 

 four in a set, dry and smooth, sienna-yellow, juiceless : sporules 

 elliptical, very light honey-yellow. Stem cylindrical, as thick as a 

 man's thumb, erect and solid, the root rounded but not bulbous, 

 whitened with the mycelia, the shaft of the same colour as the pileus, 

 paler on the lower half, covered with the ochraceous powder or 

 slightly squamulose, the flesh white, yellowish under the epidermis ; 

 the portion of stalk within the veil is pale, a very little fibrillose, but 

 not powdered. Diameter of the pileus 3 inches ; height of the stem 

 5 inches, the diameter nearly an inch ; breadth of the gills 2-lOths. 

 —From the woods at Anton's-hill, Sept. 16, 1845. 



This truly magnificent agaric was ascertained satisfactorily to be 

 the Agaricus caperatus of Fl. Dan. t. 1675, by the Rev. M. J. Berke- 

 ley, to whom a specimen was sent. It is not the Ag. caperatus of 

 the English Flora, nor the Ag. pudicus of Bulliard ; and is a. beau- 

 tiful addition to the already extensive list of British species, for which 

 we are indebted to the researches of Miss Hunter, an honorary 

 member of the Club. The spores, Mr. Berkeley says, are very pecu- 

 liar. " Its greatest peculiarity," says Miss Hunter, " is its being so 

 profusely covered over its pileus, curtain, and stem, with a yellovrish 

 powder, in such quantities as to make it disagreeable to gather, as 

 gloves and everything it came in contact with was covered. And I 

 am much struck with the toughness and permanency of the curtain, 

 which remains after the pileus has attained its full size." 



When small and young the pileus is obtusely campauulate, but iu 



