198 THE FUNGI OF GUERNSEY. 



of collecting the specimens and forwarding them to me. 

 Without assistance of this kind nothing could have been done ; 

 and therefore I gladly record the fact that the whole of the 

 materials upon which this paper is founded were supplied by 

 Mrs. Boley, Miss Boley, Miss Dawber, Miss Royle, and 

 Messrs. A. Collenette, G. Derrick, T. Domaille, J. S. Hocart, 

 H. Le Lacheur, W. A. Luff, T. C. Royle and — . Chutter. 

 In the annexed list I have noted all the localities in which the 

 different species have been collected up to the present, so that 

 a rough idea may be formed of local distribution, at any rate 

 with regard to the more conspicuous fungi ; and the rule of 

 priority has been strictly adhered to ; the person's name first 

 given denotes the discoverer of the species in the island, and 

 the first locality mentioned is always the one where the earliest 

 specimen was found. 



With very few exceptions — scarcely more than a dozen 

 ■ — all the fungi enumerated were collected during the months 

 of August, September, October and November of the present 

 year (1897). Species collected subsequently will be published 

 next year in a supplementary list. 



A cursory examination will show that fully one-half of 

 the fungi now recorded are agarics, that is to say, species 

 akin to the common Mushroom and more or less resembling it 

 in shape. Now, it is computed that in any fairly productive 

 district the microscopic fungi outnumber the agarics in the 

 proportion of five to one ; so that it is clear that Guernsey 

 must possess a far richer mycological flora than would at first 

 sight have been supposed, judging from its isolation, its com- 

 paratively small area, and its entire lack of forest land and 

 copses. The presence of a number of forms usually found in 

 woods may be attributed to the circumstance that at one 

 period the island comprised stretches of woodland of very 

 considerable extent. 



When the fungus-flora of Guernsey has been more tho- 

 roughly worked up, it will be interesting as well as instructive 

 to compare it with that of similar areas in England and 

 France ; but at present there is not material enough in hand 

 to admit of anything of that kind. 



It is well known that many agarics are extremely 

 uncertain in their appearance. They abound for a few 

 seasons and then disappear altogether, and are seen no more 

 for years, after which they perhaps spring up again in great 

 profusion, as if by magic. No doubt this is due in a great 

 measure to peculiar atmospheric conditions, though why these 

 should operate on certain species and not on others, it is not 



