Phallus caninus. Red-headed Morell. 



PHALLUS Lin. Gen. PI. Cryptogamia Fungi. 



Fungus fupra reticulatus, fubtus Isevis. 

 Rail Syn. Gen. Fungi, 



PHALLUS caninus volvatus- ftipitatus, ftipite cellulofo, capitulo inlpervio^ rubra, rugofo. 



PHALLUS exilis Marattae; Batarr. Fung, p. 7. t. 40. F. ? 



PHALLUS caninus volvatiis ftipitatus^ piled rubra cellulofo acuto, apice claufo. Hudfon. Fl. Angl 

 ed. 2. p. 630. 



VOLVA magnitudine nucis mofchata?, oblongo-ovata, % VOLVAj or egg, the fize of a nutmeg, of ah oblong, 



alba, laevis, intu-s gelatinofa, tunica interiore | ovate fhape, white-, fmooth, gelatinous withiu, 



fuperne truncata, Jig. 1, 2. % the inner coat cut off at top. jig. 1, 2. 



STIPES extra volvam, fefquiuncialis, feu biuncialis, I STALK, beyond the volva, an inch and a half or two 



magnitudine calami anferini majoris, teres, % inches in length, the fize of a large goofe- 



flliformis, inferne acuminatus, celiulofus, fub- | quill, round, filiform, terminating in a point 



pellucidus, pallide aurantiacus, intus cavus, % at bottom, cellular, fomewhat tranfparent, of 



cito flaccefcens. jig. 3, 4, 5, 6. | a pale orange colour, hollow within, foon be- 



% coming flaccid, jig. 3,4, 5, 6; 



CAPITULUM, nam pileus vix dici potefl, ftipiti infl- % HEAD, for it cannot properly be called a cap, fits on 



det, eftque feffile, femunciale, diametro fti- 1 the flem, is fertile, about half an inch in 



pitis, oblongum, fubacuminatum, apice im-| length, and of the diameter of the (tern, ob- 



pervio albefcente, primo lividum, membranaf l° n g> a little pointed, impervious and whitim 



nitida, tenuiffima tectum, infra quam exigua f at top, at firft of a livid colour, and covered 



quantitas humoris virefcentis, feu materies fe- 1 with a very thin, mining membrane, under- 



minalis fere inodori cernitur, qua remota fu-"| neath which is a fmall quantity of a greenim 



perficies capituli rubra et tranfverlim rugofa | liquid, or feminal matter, almoft fcentlefs, 



apparet, nequaquam vera cellulofa, ficut in | wliich being removed, the furface of the head 



impudico. % appears of a red colour, and tranfverfely 



wrinkled, but by no means cellular, as in the 



^ flinking Morell. 



Mr. Ehret, the celebrated botanic painter, appears to have been the firft who difcovered this rare Fungus in 

 this country ; he found it in a wood near Salop*, and made drawings of it for one of his principal patrons. Mr. 

 Hunter, gardener to the Earl of Mansfield, lately found it, though very fparingly, in Caen Wood, and com- 

 municated feveral fpecimens of it to Mr. Dickson of Covent Garden. This autumn 1781, on the 20th of Sep- 

 tember, I was fortunate enough to be prefent at the difcovering of one of them in Lord Mansfield's fmall Pine 

 wood, famous for producing the Phallus impudicus, Hydnum aurijcalpium, and other Fungi ; I was in fearch of 

 thefe, when my draughtfman Mr. Sower by pointed out to me a white fubftance, rifen a little above the furface 

 of the ground, and which at a diftance refembled the cap of a fmall white mulhroom ; not fufpe&ing it to be any 

 thing extraordinary, I took it up with lefs caution than I mould otherwife have done, and on opening it found it 

 to be the Phallus^ caninus, in the ftate reprefented at fg. 1. From the hafty manner in which it was gathered, I 

 had no opportunity of obferving whether its roots were fimilar to thofe of the Phallus impudicus, but fufpect thev 

 were ; on examining it the next morning I was pleafed to find that the ftalk had mot out from its inclofing volva 

 more than an inch; the volva contained a jelly in the manner of the impudicus-, in pafling through which, the ftalk 

 became covered with it, (this is prevented from taking place in the impudicus, becaufe the pileus is much wider 

 than the (talk) the {talk was cellular and hollow, equally rapid in its growth as the impudicus, but as its bafe con- 

 tained within the volva ran out to a finer point, fo the body of it was more uniformly of a fize throuohout, and 

 of a faint orange colour; not having that firm waxy texture which enables the impudicus to fupport itfelf for 

 many days, it quickly became flaccid after attaining its full growth. 



Thus far we may obferve a great fimilarity in the itructure and ceconomy of the two plants we have been com- 

 paring ; in the remaining part, containing the fructification, we find an amazing difference. The Phallus impu- 

 dicus carries on the top of the ffalk a very diffinct and perfect Pileus^ or Cap, on the outfide of which the feminal 

 matter is depofited in cells, without the leaft covering ; in the caninus there is properly fpeaking no Pileus, the 

 part on the outfide of which the feminal matter is lodged, forms a capitulum, or head, which is only a continua- 

 tion of the ftalk, as appears on diffection, differing in its ifructure and colour, this head has a wrinkled, not a 

 reticulated furface, within thefe wrinkles, which are not very deep, the feminal' matter is contained, and (contrary 

 to what w'e find in the impudicusj covered by a very thin membrane ; we may obferve that this matter has verv 

 little fmell in it, nor do flies appear particularly fond of it. 



This unufual ftructure of the capitulum by no means agrees with Linnjeus's generic character of a Phallus 

 as that implies a Pileus jm'ooth on the under, and reticulated on the outer Jide, with which the inpudlcus perfectly cor- 

 refponds;, and yet every botanift would call this a Phallus; hence there appears a neceiiity for altering its generic 

 character, the effence of which feerhs to coniift in the Seeds being contained in a jelly-like liquifying jubftance, on the 

 outfide of a Capitulum or Pileus. \ 



Batarra's figure and defcriptioh may peffibly be intended for this Fungus, there is no knowing with cer- 

 tainty, fo great is their obfcurity. 



^ * In the margin of a Rny's Synopfis which haxl been Mr. Ehret's, belonging to Mr. Richard Haworlh, Apothecary of Chsncery-lane, who 

 kindly lent it me, there is rhe following remark at the Phallus impudicus, in Mr. Ehret s own hand writing : " a fmaller fort iou.»d in /wood 

 " near Salop, with Mr. Moore 1741, but it did not ftink." 



