o2 Crjssld/id : Th: Study of Faiigi in Yorkshire, 



trunks, and fallen branches abound. Many species select 

 particular environments, and are seldom found under any other 

 conditions. In damp woods micro species are fairly plentiful 

 through the year, but in autumn — the fungus season — it is 

 scarcely possible to pick up a moist decaying leaf or branch that 

 is quite free ; twigs sometimes may have on them half-a-dozen 

 species in as many inches. Many are microscopic in size, others 

 are large ; a specimen of Polyporus giganteiis cut at Mytholm- 

 royd a few weeks ago, weighed 45 Ib^. When fungi were not 

 so well known, it was thought we might have in this country as 

 many fungi as flowering plants, now we know there are three 

 times as many. In Britain there are over 5,500 knovm species, 

 and the number is constantly increasing. In 1836, there were 

 1385 (Eng. Fl.) ; in i860, 2380 (Berkeley's ' Outlines of British 

 Fungology ' ) ; in 1871, 2,810 (Cooke's Handbook). In 1905, the 

 date of the publication of the Yorkshire Fungus Flora, there 

 were in this county alone, no fewer than 2,626 known species, 

 and 55 have since been added. The old parish of Halifax, with 

 an area of 129 square miles, has up to the present time yielded 

 over 1,200 species. So long as students take the trouble to 

 search for them, fresh things will be found year after year ; new 

 species will be discovered, and the known distribution of many 

 that are thought rare will be considerably widened. Three new 

 to science have been discovered this 3/ear (1907) : two on the 

 Union's excursions, and one a few weeks ago. the latter by James 

 Needham, of Hebden Bridge. In addition to the numbers of 

 British Fungi given above, there are the Bacteria. 



The percentage of British botanists who have been 

 attracted to this branch has always been exceedingly' low : 

 between 4 and 5 per cent. This is not surprising 'when we come 

 to consider the difficulties which beset its study compared with 

 that of the higher plants.- 



Fungi are very inconstant in their appearance : a species 

 may be seen in abundance one season, and perhaps never again 

 at the same place. Their season is of short duration ; the 

 distinguishing characters are very few compared to those of 

 other plants, and it is often difficult to determine specifically 

 closely allied species with any degree of certainty ; fleshy 

 species soon perish, and must be examined the same day as 

 gathered, or the day following ; if dried, many shrivel up and 

 lose their natural characters. Again, they are less attractive 

 than other plants to the superficial observer, and the smaller 



Naturalist, 



