Illustrated Icons of Rare Fungi Species

ALTHOUGH in my Systematic Synopsis of Fungi (Göttingen, 1801), I took every effort to ensure that species could be distinguished by their differences and descriptions, it may still happen that words alone are sometimes insufficient to express an essential character. This is especially true in this difficult and less-cultivated branch of botanical science, where many fungi must be examined only with the aid of a lens. Therefore, I hope to gain the favor of plant researchers by offering here illustrations of less familiar species, which have not yet been published by other authors, or have only been published for a few fungi.

I have not only added generic and specific characters, revised and expanded here and there along with their native habitats from the Synopsis, but I have also had them translated—along with a brief description of the species—into the French language, at the request of the bookseller, for the benefit of those who are not familiar with the Latin language.

I have deliberately chosen not to delineate the capsules (thecas cases) of the Sphaeriae spherical fungi and other genera, nor the spores contained within them, so as not to repeat the same figures for individual spe-