s," Hook, "Journ. Bot." vol. iv. plate xii. fig.
6.

[l] Berkeley, in "Gardener's Chronicle," 1862, p. 308.

[m] "Gardener's Chronicle," August 22, 1874, p. 243.

XI.

HABITATS.

It commonly happens that one of the first inquiries which the student
seeks to have answered, after an interest is excited in fungi,
is--Where, and under what circumstances, are they to be found? The
inexperienced, indeed, require some guide, or much labour will be
expended and patience lost in seeking microscopic forms in just such
places as they are least likely to inhabit. Nor is it wholly
unprofitable or uninteresting for others, who do not claim to be
students, to summarize the habitats of these organisms, and learn how
much the circumstances of their immediate surrounding elements
influence production. For reasons which will at once be recognized by
the mycologist, the most satisfactory method of study will be somewhat
that of the natural groups into which fungi are divided.

AGARICINI.--There is such a close affinity between all the genera of
this group that it will be a manifest advantage to take together all
those fleshy pileate fungi, the fruit of which is borne on folded
plates or gills. It must be premised of this group that, for the
majority, shade, a moderate amount of moisture, and steady warmth, but
not too great heat, are required. A stroll through a wood in autumn
will afford good evidence of the predilection of _Agaricini_, as well
as some smaller groups, for such spots. A larger proportion will be
found in woods, where shade is afforded, than on open heaths or
pastures. These wood-loving forms will consist, again, of those which
appear on the soil, and those which are found on rotten stumps and
decaying trees. Many of those which grow on trees have a lateral
stem, or scarcely any stem at all. It may be remarked, that some
species which spring from the soil delight most in the shelter of
particular trees. The Agarics of a beech wood will materially differ
largely from those in an oak wood, and both will differ from those
which spring up beneath coniferous trees.

It may be accepted as true of the largest proportion of terrestrial
species, that if they do not spring directly from rotten leaves, and
vegetable debris in the last stage of decay, the soil will be rich in
vegetable humus. A few only occur on sandy spots. The genus
_Marasmius_ is much addicted to dead leaves; _Russula_, to open
places