42
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
the other hand, old stumps, and living trees, had yielded a fair harvest of
Hypholomas, Pholiotas, and various kinds of Polyporus; while in ditches
and marshy places, usually too full of water to enable fungi to grow, had
been found comparatively rare species, such as Bolbitius flavidus and,
Psilocybe ericaea. The fungi found on dung namely, Coprinus niveus,
Anellaria separata, Panaeolus campanulatus and Stropharia semi-globata
had been much in evidence. The gravelly soil at High Beach had yielded
quite a good crop of Amanita muscaria, Amanita rubescens, and several
kinds of Boletus, particularly edulis. A remarkable feature of the foray
was the large quantity of the False Chanterelle (Cantharellus aurantiacus)
which had turned up. This beautiful fungus has been comparatively
rare in the Forest for many years, but on the present occasion numerous
specimens had been gathered among long grass in open situations, where
the full effect of recent showers of rain and heavy dews would be felt.
Miss G. Lister reported that seventeen species of myxomycetes had
been recorded during the foray, most of them forms which grow on tree-
stumps; forms which grow on dead leaves on the ground were this year
of rare occurrence.
After the extremely dry season a few showers had done something to
moisten old logs and stumps in sheltered places, and sticks lying amongst
grass, and conditions were favourable for the plasmodium of some Mycet-
ozoa to emerge and form sporangia, but the beds of dead leaves, which in
wet seasons often abound with some species of Didymium, were almost
dry, and yielded little to diligent search. The following is a list of the
seventeen species found:—
Physarum nutans Pers., var. robustum: a form with short white stalks
and rather rigid capillitium.
Fuligo septica Gmel.; a weathered aethalium.
Didymium squamulosum (Alb. & Schw.) Fr. On old horse dung and
dead holly leaves.
Stemonitis fusca Roth. Conspicuous masses of white plasmodium were
seen emerging in cauliflower-like cushions from decayed wood (and
these matured into sporangia twenty-four hours later.)
Stemonitis ferruginea Ehrenb. A handsome tuft of reddish-brown
sporangia, on dead wood.
Comatricha nigra Pers. Seen emerging as translucent white beads
and also as mature stalked sporangia, on sticks.
C. typhoides (Bull.) Rost. On dead wood.
Lamproderma scintillans (Berk. & Br.) Morg. On dead holly leaves.
Reticularia lycoperdon D.C. Two young cream-white aethalia were
found on a dead stick (and matured the following day.)
Lycogala epidendrum (L.) Fr. On a hornbeam log.
Trichia affinis De Bary and T. scabra Rost. on stumps.
T. varia Pers. A large growth was found within a hollow tree; the
sporangia were bristling with the parasitic Stilbum tomentosum.
T. Botrytis Pers. On a stick.
Arcyria pomiformis (Leers) Rost—and A. nutans (Bull.) Grev. on decay-
ing oak.
A. denudata (L.) Wettst. On stumps.
The President welcomed, in the name of the Club, those members of