FUNGI. 289 
a beautiful phosphorescent fungus, belonging to 
the genus Agaricus, and was told that it grew 
abundantly in the neighbourhood on the decaying 
leaves of a dwarf palm. Next day, I obtained a 
great many specimens, and found them to vary 
from one to two and a half inches across. The 
whole plant gives out at night a bright phosphor- 
escent light, of a pale greenish hue, similar to that 
emitted by the larger fire-flies, or by those curi- 
ous soft-bodied, marine animals, the Pyrosome. 
From this circumstance, and from growing on a 
palm, it is called by the inhabitants, “ Flor-de- 
Coco.” The light given out by a few of these 
fungi in a dark room was sufficient to read by. I 
was not aware at the time I discovered this fun- 
gus, that any other species of the same genus ex- 
hibited a similar phenomenon ; such, however, is 
the casein the Agaricus olearius (mentioned above) 
of Decandolle; and Mr. Drummond, of Swan 
River colony in Australia, has given an account of 
a very large phosphorescent species occasionally 
found there. In this country there is a very com- 
mon fungus called Corticium ceruleum growing in 
thin bright-blue effused patches upon dead wood, 
rails, etc., which is luminous in the dark. And I 
remember on one occasion late at night after a 
severe thunder-storm seeing about half-a-mile of 
the road between Kenmore and Aberfeldy wrapt 
T 
