Notes on Fungi. 353 



little need be said, as we have very few representatives, and 

 those of little interest. 



Omjphalia, as the name (from dfi<f>a\bs, a navel) implies, is 

 distinguished by its pileus being depressed, or umbilicate, from 

 the earliest stage of growth, while in Clitocybe this form is 

 only assumed at a later period. Most of the species are small, 

 and the subgenus does not seem to contain a single species 

 which is confessedly esculent. There are two principal groups, 

 in the first of which the margin is incurved and involute, while 

 the pileus is from the first dilated ; in the second the pileus is 

 at first campanulate, and the margin straight and pressed to 

 the stem. 



It is not easy to point out any very conspicuous examples, 

 but I figure as an illustration A. affricatus (Fig. 7), found 

 in Aberdeenshire in 1862, which, like some of the other 

 species, grows on Sphagnum in wet places. A. muralis, 

 as the name implies, often grows on the capping of stone 

 walls, and is of a reddish brown colour ; while A. umbel- 

 liferus, with its broad, triangular, very distant gills, assumes 

 all sorts of colours, as grey, green, yellow, etc., and occurs 

 in as great a variety of climates. The second division consists 

 of small but often very pretty species, one of which, A. 

 carrvpanella, may be often found on fir cones, where it is 

 remarkable for its abundant tawny mycelium. 



Mycena, named from /mvkijs, a fungus, comprises a multitude 

 of extremely pretty species, which are generally small, and 

 sometimes almost minute, and is with difficulty distinguished 

 from the second section of Omphalia, having like that the 

 margin of the pileus straight and never involute. The pileus, 

 moreover, is not as in that umbilicate ; nor are the gills truly 

 decurrent, though in a few instances there is a strongly deve- 

 loped decurrent tooth. The genus does not contain a single 

 economical species ; indeed, the small size renders them unim- 

 portant in this point of view, and some are probably poisonous, 

 as indicated by the strong alkaline odour. 



The sections are numerous. 1. We have the edge of the 

 gills of a different colour from the hymenial surface — a circum- 

 stance which renders many of them extremely pretty. Several 

 examples occur in our woods, of which, perhaps, the most 

 common is Agaricus elegans, the gills of which have a yellow 

 edge. 2. The next section includes species of pure tints, un- 

 mixed with grey or brown, in which the stem is dry, and the 

 base not dilated. A. jpurus, which is remarkable for its strong 

 scent, resembling that of radishes, maybe found in every wood, 

 where it attracts notice by its beautiful rosy or purplish tint. 

 The milk-white A. lacteus often occurs in profusion on fir- 

 leaveSj looking at a distance like large snow flakes. 3. A 



