78 AGARlCINt. 



oval, black. Called ink mushroom. An easilj^ recognized 

 genus. The biological difference of gills, as compared with 

 the preceding genera, is very remarkable, in deliquescing to 

 an inky fluid. 



C. comatus. Fr. From cojr.a^ hair. Shaggy maned. 



Pileus, cylindrical, white, shaggy, with hair-like scales, 

 the darker disk remaining adherent. Margin striated. 



Gills, free, ascending, broad, white, or pinkish at first, 

 then deliquescent into a black fluid. 



Stem, hollow, with spider-web fibres within, radiate, bul- 

 bous when 3^oung, lilac white. 



The shaggy-maned mushroom is the type of the family. It is a very 

 handsome plant, and easily identified by its beautiful cylindrical form 

 and pure white color. It never expands fulh', only as far as campanu- 

 late. The margin of gills are at first a beautiful pink, but finally 

 deliquesce into an inky fluid. Edible, delicious, and tender. 



Dr. Henry B. Bashore writes to the Medical Record 2.^ follows: "Its 

 nutritive value is high, for it contains 25 per cent, of protoids," and calls 

 it a valuable addition to our food supply. 



Not as common as some of our smaller coprini, such as atramentarius, 

 micaceus, Fr., etc. 



C. atramentarius. Fr. 



Pileus, fuliginous or smoky, slightly frosty, ovate, obtuse, 

 deeply sulcate, soft to the touch, expanded. 



Gills, ascending, free, ventricose at first, cohering, whitish, 

 ink}^ black. 



Stem, ventricose, fusiform, tapering upward, rudiment of a 



ring at the base. 



This species is named from the gills dissolving into an inky fluid (from 

 atrainentum, ink). This is one of the most common of our Corprini. It 

 is easily identified by the peculiar base of the stem, which has a beveled 

 ring where it enters the ground, dirt5'-white with darker scales. The 

 flesh is thin, the pileus is nearly all gills. Gills at first light, then grad- 

 ually becoming black. Edible. 



