THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
91
The President then called upon each of our referees for a report upon
the day's finds.
Miss Wakefield spoke of the difficulty in which fungologists were placed
when asked to describe the exact differences between poisonous and edible
fungi. She instanced several cases in which known poisonous forms
closely resembled in appearance edible species, and said that there was
only one safe way, that was, to study the various forms closely and so
learn to know them intimately. Miss Wakefield has since furnished a
list which shows that in all 176 forms of fungi were noted during the
Foray, of which the following are especially noteworthy finds, viz. :—
Amanita porphyria (A. and S.) Fr.
Neurophyllum clavatum (Pers.) Pat (=Craterella? clavatus (Pers.) Fr.)
Boletus rugosus Rost.
Sebacina (Bourdotii) Eyrei Wakef.
These four are new records from Epping Forest.
Mr. Gould remarked that the present season was an exceptionally good
one for fungi, the best in his experience for the last ten years, yet he felt
that the crest of the wave of profusion was passed a fortnight ago, and to-
day's finds, although good, were less abundant than they would have been
had the foray been held then. He urged the study of generic characters
rather than the usual method of learning the names of the forms found,
as it was almost certain that, without such scientific knowledge, the latter
would not be recognised again when met with a year later.
Miss Lister reported that hunters of the myxomycetes were well content
with their success that day, no fewer than 32 different forms having been
recorded. Miss Lister has since furnished the following details :—
A beautiful still day, after a dry week succeeding much wet weather,
proved unusually favourable to the searchers for Mycetozoa. The route
lay between Theydon Bois and High Beach ; one of the Party, Mr. J.
Ross, walked over from Chingford, extending the area of the hunting
ground with valuable results. Thirty-two species were found, only four
less than the highest number recorded on one of our forays, thirty-six species
having been noted in October 1922, also after much wet weather.
None in the present list are new records for the Forest, but eight of them
were not included in the list for October, 1922 :—
Badhamia utricularis (Bull.) Berk. Abundant on leathery fungi on logs.
Physarum nutans Pers. with its more stalwart var. leucophaeum, both
abundant on dead wood.
P. viride (Bull.) Pers. One small gathering on dead wood.
Fuligo septica (L.) Gmel. A single weathered aethalium, or compound
fructification, was found of this typically summer species.
Craterium minutum (Leers) Fries. On dead holly leaves.
Leocarpus fragilis (Dicks) Rost. On Equisetum stem and dead leaves.
Diderma montanum Meylan. On moss, High Beach. This species is
very nearly allied to D. radiatum (L.) Morgan, of which it was until
recently considered a form. It is distinguished usually by the outer
layer of the sporangium wall separating easily from the inner,
and by the paler smaller spores.
Didymium squamulosum (Alb. & Schw.) Fries.
D. Clavus (Alb. & Schw.) Rabenh.