THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 
41 
FUNGUS FORAY IN EPPING FOREST (535th MEETING). 
Saturday, 15TH October, 1921. 
The abnormal drought of the past spring and summer, which, with 
but few showers, had been prolonged into the autumn, did not promise 
big results from our fungus-foray this year ; nevertheless, although no 
profusion of fungi met the casual eye of the wanderer through the woods, 
a quite respectable yield of interesting forms rewarded the determined 
seekers, and the subsequent display at the headquarters (the Roserville 
Retreat at Highbeach) compared not unfavourably with that of previous 
forays. 
The referees were as under:— 
For the Basidiomycetes 
and 
Ascomycetes 
For the Myxomycetes 
Miss A. Lorrain Smith, F.L.S. 
Miss Elsie Wakefield, F.L.S. 
Mr. F. G. Gould. 
Mr. J. Ramsbottom, F.L.S. 
Miss G. Lister, F.L.S. 
The route followed by the morning party, which assembled at Ching- 
ford railway station at 11.4 o’clock, was by way of Fairmead to Highbeach, 
while the afternoon party, starting from Loughton station a*t 2.54 o’clock, 
proceeded by the shorter way of Staples Hill and Loughton Camp to the 
same rallying point. As in former years, various members of other Societies 
joined the Foray by invitation, some 120 persons in all being present. 
Tea was served at the Roserville Retreat at 5 o’clock, following which 
a meeting of the Club (the 535th Ordinary Meeting) was held, with the 
President, Mr. Robert Paulson, F.L.S., F.R.M.S., in the chair. 
The following were elected members of the Club :— 
Mr. L. W. Godward, of 136, Kensington Avenue, East Ham, E.6 . 
Mr. George A. Hardy, of the Essex Museum, Romjovd Road, Stratford, 
E. 15, and • 
Mr. Ernest Meech, of 119, Kimpton Road, East Ham, E.6. 
Four candidates for membership were nominated. 
The President then called upon the several conductors for reports upon 
the day’s finds. 
Miss A. Lorrain Smith expressed satisfaction at the number of speci¬ 
mens found, notwithstanding the long drought. 
Mr. J. Ramsbottom referred to the occurrence of Pyronema confiuens, 
a discomycete growing characteristically on burnt patches throughout 
the higher grounds of the Forest as a result of the numerous fires of the 
past dry summer. 
He also remarked on the enormous production of spores by fungi, and 
on their long fertility ; mentioning that spores from a specimen of the 
mould Eumago vagans Lk., a black fungus growing on living leaves of lime 
and other trees, had germinated after 67 years’ preservation in the her¬ 
barium of a museum in an atmosphere saturated with camphor-fumes. 
Mr. F. G. Gould referred to some noteworthy effects of the unusually 
dry season upon the records of the day. He pointed out that contrary 
to usual experience, very few specimens had been found on the clayey 
ground. Species of Russula, Tricholoma, Lactarius, Clitocybe and Cor- 
tinarius, so abundant in normal years, were almost entirely absent. On 
