66 MUSHROOMS. 



THE MORELS or MORCHELLAS = the honey-combed 



fungi. 



The collector during the months of April and 

 May will enjoy a new experience when he first 

 finds a fungus of a bright brown color, deeply 

 pitted, spongy looking, cone-shaped or nearly 

 round ; its head supported on an erect, white 

 stem. He will probably find it on a grassy 

 hillside or along a running brook under some 

 forest trees. He has perhaps seen its picture 

 and at once exclaims, " my first Morel." He 

 will notice its peculiar honey-combed depres- 

 sion, and then cutting it open will find both the 

 head and the stem hollow. Where are the 

 spores ? There are no gills as in the Agarics, 

 nor are they concealed in a covering (peridium), 

 as in the Puff-balls, but they are contained in 

 delicate sacs on the cap. The exterior surface 

 of the cap is the spore-bearing portion, and the 

 spores are developed in their sacs, but only 

 seen under a microscope. 



HELVELLA = the yellowish mushroom. 



This genus may be readily recognized by the 

 form of the cap, which is lobed and irregularly 



