202 METHODS OF COLLECTION 



as many of the essential characters of the fresh material as pos- 

 sible. 



Parasitic species on leaves or stems are simply preserved by 

 ordinary pressure. In collecting these, as all fungi growing on 

 plants living or dead, the greatest care should be taken to deter- 

 mine the host on which the fungus grows. If not already a 

 familiar plant, the buds, flowers, fruit or such other available evi- 

 dence should be collected together with the leaves, as will enable 

 some one to recognize the host specifically. In the case of fungi 

 growing on stumps, fallen logs or on dead branches this is not 

 always so easy, yet bark, or other accessary data can often be 

 obtained by the field collector that will render reasonably certain 

 the genus, if not the species, of the tree on which the fungus grew.* 

 This involves, on the part of the collector, a knowledge of the 

 higher plants, and for one to be really successful, the wider this 

 acquaintance the better. A really good specimen of a leaf-in- 

 habiting fungus ought to consist of at least a dozen well-affected 

 leaves. A specimen of a fleshy, woody or leathery fungus ought 

 to contain from a half dozen to a dozen individuals, if possible, 

 in different states of development ; in many cases a larger quan- 

 tity of material is desirable, and any sample can far better possess 

 too many individuals than too few. 



Fleshy ascomycetous fungi (Helvellales, Pezizales, etc.) can often 

 be best preserved in alcohol, tho many of them with proper 

 care can be dried so as to be quite satisfactory. 



Agarics and Boleti can be best preserved by drying in a cur- 

 rent of hot air suspended in a wire tray over a gas burner or even 

 over an oil lamp. In collecting fleshy forms, a basket can well be 

 used for carrying specimens, but each form should be carefully 

 wrapped in tissue paper so as to prevent breaking, marring, or soil- 

 ing from contact with other specimens.-)- Careful field notes should 



-In reporting hosts the Latin name rather than the English should be 

 given. To say, for example, that a fungus grows on a poplar, is indefinite, 

 since a poplar in the East is of the genus Populns while in the central West 

 it is a Liriodcniinni, a wholly different tree. 



f A very valuable paper has been prepared by Professor Burt on meth- 

 ods of collecting fleshy fungi. Cf. Burt, On Collecting and Preparing 

 fleshy Fungi for the Herbarium. Bot. Gaz. 25 : 172-186. PI. 14. 1898. 



