ITS FUNGI
141
with a large ring, or collar, near the top. Gills and
spores rusty. Over the Forest area.
Psilocybe spadicea. Forms immense clumps about old
stumps. Cap convex, bay brown when moist, one to
one and a half inches in diameter, paler when dry.
Stem white. Gills and spores dark purple brown.
Over the whole Forest.
Paneolus fimiputris. Cap conical, not an inch high or
broad, thin, dark, viscid when moist, shining when
dry, with a rigid erect pallid stem. Gills and spores
black. Growing on dung. Southern parts of the
Forest.
Coprinus micaceus. Cap oval, then bell-shaped, sprinkled
with shining atoms; golden brown, marked at the
margin with close parallel lines. Gills and spores
black, soon melting. Common on stumps.
Cortinarius elatior. Cap oval, and then expanded, very
viscid, as well as the stem ; brownish, shining when
dry, two to four inches. Stem long, scarcely an inch
thick, attenuated both ways; white, tinged with violet.
Gills rust colour. Under beech trees, High Beach and
several other places. Common.
Cortinarius cinnabarinus. About one inch across, blood-
red. Stem slender, two inches long, of the same colour.
Amongst dead leaves. Monk Wood, High Beach.
Russula cyanoxantha. Cap two to three inches, convex,
smooth, rather variable in colour, bluish towards the
margin. Gills and stem white. Mild to the taste.
High Beach, Loughton, Chingford.
Russula nigricans. This will be recognised most often
in its old state, when it turns black all over, and may
be seen in all the woody parts of the Forest, rotting on
the ground. Cap from four to six inches across, and
the gills very thick and broad.
Nyctalis asterophora is a small, pale, mealy-looking fungus
about the size of a pea, which grows in the autumn, as a
parasite upon the foregoing, in a state of decay.
Lenzites betulina. A leathery, shell-shaped fungus on old
stumps, about two inches across, without stem, attached
by one side. The top is pale and hairy, whilst the
under side has tough leathery gills.
Boletus chrysenteron. The cap is from two to three inches
across, a little convex and velvety, mostly olive-brown,
cracking and exposing pink flesh beneath the cuticle.
Stem three inches long, often dark red, and the pores
greenish yellow. Common everywhere.
Polyporus adustus. Has the pileus, or cap, shell-shaped,
an inch or two across, attached along one side to old
stumps. The upper side is of a smoky gray, but pale,
with a darker margin. The under side is porous and
silvery gray.
Polystictus versicolor. Similar to the above in form, but
the pileus is very variable in colour, with concentric
zones or bands of a darker colour. The porous under
side is of a snowy white. Both are found on dead
stumps all over the Forest.
Stereum hirsutum. Cannot fail to be noticed on almost