FAIRY RINGS 
7 
excepting that large ascophores of Peziza ceruginosa often 
occurred on dead oak branches lying beneath the shade of 
the hollies. The greater part of the wood was cleared away, 
leaving only a few trees. Two years later the entire area 
was thickly carpeted in their seasons with foxglove,* rose- 
bay willow-herb, wood ragwort, and many other plants, 
including casual aliens not known to occur elsewhere in the 
district. In the autumn many interesting fungi appeared, 
including the rare Clavaria fistulosa, several specimens of 
which were found on decaying birch-twigs. The charred 
ground on which the woodmen had burnt the refuse bore 
large blood-red patches of Humavia omphalodes, also other 
charcoal-loving species. 
My attention has been recently directed to the remarkable 
hardness of the peridium in some specimens of ElapJwmyces 
vaviegains (a member of the Truffle family), found by 
Miss Truda Hutchinson in a wood at Inval, Haslemere, in 
April, 1909. They were about the size of a marble, and so 
hard that it was quite impossible to cut them open with a 
pocket-knife, and a chisel had to be used. The interior was 
filled with mature spores. It is conceivable that spores so 
efficiently protected might remain dormant for many years. 
The mycelium of some species tends to grow outwards, 
giving rise in pastures to the well-known dark circles of 
grass popularly known as “ fairy rings,” which to this day 
are a puzzle to many of the old shepherds in Wilts and 
Dorset, who vouchsafe the explanation, “ Zome do say do 
come by lightnen when do thunder.” Berkeley wrote con¬ 
cerning the phenomenon: “ It is believed that they originate 
from a single fungus, whose growth renders the soil imme- 
* There is much evidence on record tending to show that the seeds 
of foxgloves and poppies may germinate after burial for many centuries. 
It is not without interest to recall in this connection the famous instance 
of the germination in 1866 of seeds of the Egyptian bean (Nelumbium) 
from the Sloane Museum collected prior to 1753. 
