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THE HYMENOMYCETAL FUNGI OF EPPING
FOREST, WITH A CATALOGUE OF THE
SPECIES.
By M. C. COOKE, M.A., LL.D.. A.L.S., &c.
[Read October 27th, 1888 ; Revised September, 1889.]
It has been suggested that, as a preliminary to the following revised
List of the Larger Fungi (Hymenomycetes) of Epping Forest, a
few observations would be advisable, as a summary of the records
already made.1 It may be taken for granted that the mycology of
the Forest is by no means exhausted, and will not be by occasional
visits of a few hours during autumnal months, and those, indeed,
confined to a very limited area of the Forest. It is not many years
since the late Mr. English, with commendable earnestness, set to
work in the northern portion of this extensive woodland, but, shrewd
as he was, his experience was mostly confined to the ordinary
British species, and he had not the facilities for reference necessary
for dealing with critical species. The work done by Mr. English
and Mr. Worthington Smith is now a matter of history, but it formed
the basis of the catalogue of Epping Forest Fungi, and honour must
be accorded to whom honour is due.
The most recently published lists of the gill-bearing fungi enume-
rate no less than 4,639 species as having been found and described
from all parts of the world; whilst the Polyporei, Clavariaei, and other
orders bring the total of known species of Hymenomycetal fungi up
to 8,550.
In 1871 the "Handbook of British Fungi" included 1,044 of
these as British, whilst in 1886, or fifteen years after, Stevenson's
"British Fungi" extended the list to 1,674. At the present time,
taking into account the omissions by Stevenson, as well as the species
discovered since, the total cannot be less than 1,900, but probably
very near 2,000. At any rate, one-fifth part of the Hymenomycetal
Fungi of the world have been found in Britain. This is certainly a
large proportion, when we remember that there are some genera,
such as Lentinus and Polyporus, which are eminently subtropical,
and but poorly represented in temperate regions.
If, therefore, we limit our comparison to the gill-bearing species
alone, the proportion is strongly in favour of the British Isles.
1 A preliminary list of the Hymenomycetes of the Forest, by Dr. Cooke and the late Mr. J. L.
English, was published in the Trans: Essex Field Club, vol, iii, pp. 181—191.—Ed,