23 o Fulton. — On the Dispersion of Fungi 
ticular flower at a glance. This element of complexity in 
the colour-relations of flowers is absent in the case of the 
Phalloidei. 
It will be observed that the colours of the volva do not 
correspond with those of the receptacle, but tend rather 
to approximate to those of ordinary fungi. The preponder- 
ance of white may be accounted for by this being the colour 
of the mycelium, and since the volva is usually subterranean, 
and therefore not visible during its development, there is no 
particular call for specialisation ; but in some cases it may 
ultimately serve as an aid in revealing the receptacle, or as 
a protection by resembling the colour of its surroundings, 
e. g. Phallus xylogenus , Mont., which grows on decaying wood, 
and has a black peridium. There is another point in these 
colour-relations worthy of remark. Among flowers the part 
most exposed is most brightly coloured, and the colour, as 
a rule, is not fully developed until it is needed, i.e. when 
the stigma or anthers are mature and the flower is ready 
to open. The same is precisely the case in the Phalloidei. 
In Dictyophora indusiata (Vent.) the veil which is at first 
white becomes reddish as the deliquescence proceeds (‘ en 
vieillissant’), and this change or deepening of tint also occurs 
in Lysurus Mokusin (Cibot), Lysurus aseroeformis , Corda, 
Clathrus cancell atus , etc. Further, the most exposed part is 
invariably, as in flowers, the part most brilliantly coloured, 
as may be seen from the description of the stellate and 
latticed forms in Table II (pp. 222, 223), in which the upper 
surface of the rays and the outer and upper parts of the 
lattice are most brightly tinted 1 . It is also to be noted that 
1 The whole question of the function of colour in fungi in relation to their 
environment is one which has not yet received the attention it deserves. Grant 
Allen (The Colour-sense, p. 49) suggests their similarity to the ‘ possibly adven- 
titious colouring of the lower animal forms, such as sea-anemones, star-fish, and 
medusae.’ So far as my studies have gone, colour in fungi serves functionally to 
act on the colour-sense of animals : — (1) For concealment; hence the predominance 
of dull tints (Table IV), the upper part of the pileus and the lower and larger 
portion of the stem being usually similarly coloured and darker, the lower surfac 
of the pileus and the adjacent part of the stem being as a rule paler, i. e. pre- 
serving to a greater extent the primary appearance of the mycelium ; (2) For con- 
