206 THE AGARICACEAE OF MICHIGAN 



MELANOSPORAE 



Coprinus Pers. 



(PROP. L. H. PENNINGTON) 



(From the Greek, Icopros, (lung.) 



Spores dark brown or black;. gills free or slightly attached, at 

 first closely in contact laterally, separated in many cases by pro- 

 jecting cystidia, soon deliquescing, or drying quickly to a black line 

 upon the lower side of pileus. Many small species develop at night 

 and almost entirely disappear by morning. The flesh of the pileus 

 is thin, in the smaller species often membranaceous or apparently 

 lacking entirely. A universal veil is present in a majority of the 

 species. The stem is fleshy to fibrous. Most of the species grow 

 upon dung or richly manured ground, several upon wood or veg- 

 etable debris, and a few upon lawns, sand, or even upon walls in 

 cellars. 



The spores of the dung inhabiting species usually germinate read- 

 ily to produce a fine white or colorless mycelium upon which sporo- 

 phores will often appear within 7-10 days after the spores are sown. 

 G. radiatus, various forms of G. ephemeras, G. patouUlardi, G. semi- 

 lanatus, G. narcoticus and several similar kinds are readily grown 

 in pure cultures in the laboratory. G. sclerotif/enous grows from 

 rather small black sclerotia in dung or in a mixture of soil and 

 dung. Some of the wood inhabiting species, G. laniger and G. rad- 

 ians are often found growing from dense masses of fine yellow my- 

 celial threads, called ozonium. 'Others, e. g. G. quadrifidus, grow 

 from tough course black fibres, termed rhizomorphs. 'The pileus is 

 scaly from the breaking up of the cuticle into rather large squamose 

 scales in the Comati; into tine innate fibrils in the Atramentarii ; 

 smooth but covered at first with floccose. mealy or granular scales. 

 which wholly or partly disappear in the Picacei and Tomentosi; or 

 pruinose with minute hairs in forms of G. ephemeras and G. radi- 

 atus. The stem is stuffed or hollow, fleshy or fleshy-fibrous, often 

 very fragile. It differs in texture from the trama of the pileus 

 and usually separates easily from it. The gills are white at first. 

 In some species they become purplish then black, in others they 

 become brown or smoky, then black. They are free or slightly at- 

 tached, or adnate in a few species. 



The universal veil is usually seen as scales, fibrils or granules at 



