HORSE-HAIR BLIGHTS. 
51 
and opaque, instead of being somewhat translucent as is 
M. equicrinis under the same conditions. One is at first 
inclined to suppose that Marasmius rotalis is merely M. equi- 
crinis with a stouter pileus and more numerous gills ; but as 
it has never been developed from the tangle in spite of 
numerous attempts, it must still be considered a distinct 
species. Berkeley and Broome’s cotype of Marasmius 
rotalis at Peradeniya, however, contains both forms, ^.e., 
Marasmius rotalis, and M. equicrinis as it grows on dead 
leaves on the ground. 
A specimen of Marasmius equicrinis consisting of mycelium 
attached to green living leaves only was gathered on January 
23 in the dry season and placed in a glass dish. In the same 
dish was also placed a piece of mycelium, not more than a foot 
in length, attached to a dead twig 7 cm. long and 1*5 mm. 
diameter. In eighteen days a Marasmius developed from the 
mjT'celium attached to the dead twig, but nothing was obtained 
from the mycelium on living leaves, though the experiment 
was continued for sixty-seven days. A similar experiment was 
instituted on February 15, still in the dry weather ; in one 
dish was placed a large tangle of dead leaves and mycelium 
taken from the tree about 6 feet from the ground, and in 
another mycelium attached to living leaves and twigs only. 
The two were kept side by side. The tangle developed 
agarics in twenty days, and gave a continuous crop until the 
experiment was abandoned (March 31) ; the mycelium which 
was attached to living leaves when gathered did not produce 
a single specimen during that time. It appears, therefore, 
that for the production of agarics (and the continued growth 
of the mycelium) it is essential that the mycelium should be 
attached to some dead tissues, into which it can penetrate, 
and from which it can obtain food. The results of these 
experiments confirm the view that mycelium is only epiphytic 
on hving tissues. 
Although the black “ horse-hair ” mycelium continues to 
grow over the dead leaves after the tangle has fallen to the 
ground, the majority of the agarics then produced arise from 
the internal tissues of the leaf and break through the epidermis . 
The mycelium in the decayed leaf consists of very fine separate 
