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Show The Hijlory of P L A N T S. femicircular form. It grows to four or five inches in breadth, and fom.etimes to two or three in thicknefs; it's furface is not regular, but often pr~tuberate~ m feveral places. It's edges are thinner than the refi, and ufually turn up a little. Its whole fubftance is light and fpungy ; it's colour white: it, in the wh_ole, much refembles the crumb of new bread, but th at it's pores are not fo large. It IS porous ?n every part, the upper furface as well as the under being pierced with innumerable. httle holes, on the edges of which may be fometimes feen a fingle anthera, and withm are ufually found feveral feed<:, extremely fmall and light. . . . This fpecies is frequent in Charlton-foreft m Suffex, m Auguft and Se~tembe1, about the fiumps of beech-trees ; it fometimes grows from the wood, fomet~mes from the ground. Micheli has cal~ed it A_garicum album terreftre medullam pams referens: he br-.d probably only found It growwg on t~e ground. . 2. Amphitretia tenuior durior. 7hin and fomewhat hard Amphitretia. This is an extremely fingular fpecies in ifs manner of growth. It always grows to the lower parts of the ftalks of plants : it affixes itfelf to thefe by a broad flat bafe, and from this extends itfelf, not into a femicircular form, but every way round the .ftalk, and afterwards fpreads in the fame manner both lower and higher, ti_ll it forms, at lengt~ , a kind of fungous coat round the whole ftalk for two or three mches : a pat~t of thts fometimes penetrates a little _way int~ the gro:md, but more ufually the whole IS , from the furface to two or three mches lugh. It IS of a black colour, and very fpungy fubflance, bu~ it's utmoft tbicknefs, whch is ufua1ly in the lower part, does not ufually exceed a third of an inch ; fometimcs, indeed, · it grows confiderably th icker. It's whole external furface, and it's internal furface alfo, where it does not adhere to the ftalk of the plant, arc covered with little holes of an irregular figure, on which there may be fometimcs feen fingle antherre at the edges, and alrnoft always feeds may be found within, on a nice examination. It's whole fubftance is fpungy, but fomewhat harder than the fo rmer ; il's fmell and tafle very difagreeable. It is not uncommon with us in December and Jmuary, about the lower parts of the fialks of fuch plants as are up at that time, efpecially in damp woods. Micheli defcribes it under the name of Agaricum fpongiofum nigrum, im~ plantarum caulis parti adnafcens. 3· Amphitretia foraminibus maximis. Amphitretia with very large holes. This fpecies grows to the lower parts of the .ftalks of plants, in the fame manner as the former ; but it differs greatly from it in it's manner of growth from the bafe, and in it's general ftruCl:ure. It is a fmall fungu s, rarely exceeding half an inch in diameter, anq with that ufually having a quarter of an inch in thicknefs. It grows from a moderately large bafe into an oblong and irregular form, not furrounding the fialk of the plant, but !landing out horizontally from it. Sometimes only a fin gle plant is found, fome times feveral together. It's colour is a dufky-white, it's fubfl:ance very fpungy, and it's upper, as well as it's under, fur face pierced full of large hole:;, which penetrate deep into it, and are not round, but ftatti(h, and very irregular. The antherre, or male flowers, of this I have not been able to difcover: the feeds are eafily fee n in it; they lie in round feries on the infide the tubes or boles. It is common about the .ftalks of plants in many of our woods; it grows near the ground, and is generally buried under the dead leaves which cover the earth in thofe places. Micheli calls it Agaricum album fpongiofum, brunellce plerumque adnafcens : he found it at the bafe of that plant in July in Italy. I have often met with it in J anuary and F ebruary in Cane-wood, about the roots of feveral different plants, under the dead leaves. 4· Amphitretia tenuis fucculenta. The thin, jucculent Amphitretia. This is by much the moft beautiful of all this genus. It grows· to the bafe or bottom of the ftems of little {hrubs, and is of a beautiful violet colour. I t adheres by a b road bafe, from which it extends itfdf into an irregularly femicircular form. It's edges are undulated, and often turned up, and it's whole furface uneven. It grows to the fize of The lfiflory of P L A N T s. . 33 of an inch in dia me~er, but is feldom .thicker_ than ~ half-~rown pi~c~. It is fpungy and fuccu lent, ea:lily compreffed, and read1ly partmg With a vtfcous wh1ttlh juice. Both it's upper and lower furface are pierced full of fmall irregular holes, on the furfaces of which hang fingle, oblong antherre, and within their cavities there are multitudes of fmall feeds. Thefe are all the fpecies of Amphitretia hitherto known. Micheli has the honour of having difcovered the three firft; the lafl: I met with 'this autumn in Richmond-gardens, at the roots of fome of the flowering ihrubs in the new walks. F U N G 1 Clrifs the Firjl. Genus the Fourth. SC I N D ALMA. C I N D ALMA is a genus of Fungus's, growing horizontally on the barks of trees, a.n? compofed of a great number of plates, or flakes, covering one another, all Qf a (emiCirc~lar form , and eac~ compofed of a multitude of tubules, or ihort pipes, arranged clofe together, and adhenng firmly to one another by means of an intermediate fungous matter. I . Scindalma laminis tenuioribus. The thinner-flaked Scindalma. This is ·a very large Fungus, and is ufually of a femioval or femiorbicular figure. It grows to t_he barks of old trees, and appears no other than a folid mafs of this figure, affixed by tt's whole bafe to the bark, and perforated all over it's furface with very fmall holes. When taken off and examined, it is, however, found of a very fingular and ~e~·y regular ilru.cture. I t's colour is a brownifh-grey, it's fub.ftance confiderably hard, and lt IS _much hcav1er than mo!l of th_e Fungi; when cut open, it is found to be compofed of e1gbt, ten, or more lammre, laid regularly and evenly over one another, and each of the fame regular firuCl:ure. They are each of the thicknefs of the tenth of an inch or thereabout,. and of ~ white colour, and tolerably firm texture, though full of h;les: held ~p agamft the light, each appears like a fine fieve, and, when accurately examined, each IS found to have a vaft number of holes bored in both furfaces. The whole Fungus grows to five or fix inches in breadth, and half as much in thicknefS. It en? ures the whol~ year, indeed m~ny_ years, but September is the only time in which it ;IS to be found m flower. At this ttme a light dufl:y matter may be feen on it's furface which is the a~1ther~; and, on cutting it tranfv~rfely open, the upper furface of every o~e of th~ larnmoc will_ be found _to be covered wtth the fame powder; when examined ~Ith a mtcrofcope, this powder IS found to be compofed of oblong granules, one fiandJng on the furface of each aperture or hole; the under .furface of the laminre, though ~qually porous, never has a iingle anthera adhering to it: in the C:lvity of the tubules IS found a fine powder, confifl ing of oval globules, adhering to the inner furface of the tubes, _rrincipally in the lower part: this is the feed. I never faw this fpecies except once 111 a wo?d n~a r th~ late lord Petre's, who with great plcafurc obferved it'r. .ftrutture and fruchficatwn with me. It grows to the old trees in that wood in feveral }?laces. Mi~~el i calls it. Agari~um durum, craffu_O:• affulatum, ilicibus adnafcens, grileum; but! It s colour with us IS rather a pale whltifh-brown than grey. 2. Scindalma laminis crajjioribus. 'I'hick.-Jlaked Scindalma. . T his is a large and coarfe F ungus, but of a beautiful white colour. It grows to the ·b1gnefs of a man's head, and is ufually of the figure of half a fphere. It is extremely hard and firm to _th_e touch, and fcarce lhews any appearance of pores on the furface; w_hen cut open, 1t IS found to be compofed of four or five very thick hollow coats, Jatrl clofely upon one another. Each of thefe is pierced with innumerable holes on the upper and under furface, but it is eafy to fee that thefe holes do not communicate with one another, but that each of thefe coats is compofed of two feries of tubes, meeting, but K n~ |