Agaricales of Brazil Described by J. P. F. C. Montague

Abstract

Summary. Forty-five species of agaricoid fungi described from Brazil by J. P. F. C. Montagne, based upon field-notes and water-colour illustrations provided by H.-A. Weddell, are considered and their taxonomic position established. Revised descriptions and illustrations are provided. Hugues d'Algernon Weddell was born at Birch House, Painswick, northeast of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England on 22 June 1819. At the age of five years, he moved to Boulogne, France, and his eventual interest in botany led him to Paris where he studied under A.-L. de Jussieu, at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. In 1843 he departed on a collecting expedition to Brazil, where he gathered 3316 numbers before returning to France in 1848. A detailed account on the life of Weddell was provided by Fournier (1880). Amongst the archival material relating to Weddell (mss 221) and deposited in the Laboratoire de Cryptogamie, Musdum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris is a volume of excellent water-colour paintings accompanied by surprisingly detailed descriptive notes written in Latin, based on agaricoid basidiomycetes collected in Brazil. Most relate to material from the states of Goias, Matto Grosso and Minas Gerais, some from Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Sio Paulo, and a few from outside Brazil, namely Bolivia and Paraguay. Montagne (1856) was able to describe, with this material, a number of new taxa although unfortunately there is no evidence of any specimens having been preserved. The plate numbers cited by Montagne in the published account relate to the original paintings, the latter being the holotype material. Weddell included some descriptive information which was not used by Montagne, and the following account provides enhanced descriptions, with the unpublished illustrations here reproduced as line drawings. Where possible, some indication is given on the taxonomic assignment of the species.