708 



Handbook of Nature-Siudy 



cap, and usually under it, are plate-like growths called gills, or a fleshy 

 surface which is full of pores. In the case of the gills, each side of each 



Cone- Bell- 

 shaped, shaped. 



Convex. 



Plane. 



Raised 

 at center. 



Depressed 



Funnel 

 form. 



plate develops spores, 

 other mushrooms. 



These, as fine as dust, are capable of producing 



In the common edible species of 

 mushroom (Agaricus campestris), the 

 stem is white and almost cylindrical, 

 tapering slightly toward the base; it is 

 solid although the core is not so firm as 

 the outside. When it first pushes above 

 the ground, it is in what is called the 

 "button stage" and consists of a little, 

 rounded cap covered with a membrane 

 which is attached to the stem. Later 

 the cap spreads wide, for it is naturally 

 umbrella-shaped, and it tears loose this 

 membrane, leaving a piece of it attached 

 to the stem; this remnant is called the 

 ring or collar. The collar is very notice- 

 able in many species, but in the common 

 mushroom it soon shrivels and disap- 

 pears. The cap is at first rounded and 

 then convex; its surface is at first 

 smooth, looking soft and silky; but as 

 the plant becomes old, it is often broken 

 up into triangular scales which are often 

 dark brown; although the color of the 

 cap is usually white or pale brown. The 

 gills beneath the cap are at first white, 

 but later, as the spores mature, they be- 

 come brownish black because of the 

 ripened spores. 



References Mushrooms, a most excel- 

 lent and practical book with many beau- 

 tiful pictures, written and illustrated by 

 . Henry Holt & Co., N. Y., $3.00; The 

 Mushroom Book, Marshall, fully illustrated; $4.00, Doubleday, Page 

 & Co.; One Thousand American Fungi, Mcllvaine, illustrated, 

 Bpwen-Merrill Co., $5.00; Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms, W. H. 

 Gibson, very fully illustrated, Harper and Bros., $3.50. 



The common edible mushroom, in 

 button stages, mycelium or spawn 

 also shown. 



Photo by G. F. Atkinson. 



Professor George F. Atkinson 



