96 THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Coprinus comatus Fr. 



Pileus cylindrical then campanulate, whitish or tinted och- 

 raceous, at first even, then becoming broken up into scattered, 

 more or less reflexed large torn scales, soon becoming campanulate 

 and pinkish-gray at the margin. 



Lamellae slightly adnexed, pink then blackish. 



Stem stout ; volva usually evanescent, its free margin forming 

 a ring which is carried up for some distance by the elongating 

 stem. 



Pileus 9 to 15 cm. high, 2.5 to ."> cm. broad; stem 12 to 20 

 cm. long. 



On lawns, in alleys and waste places, more frequently in 

 autumn. Edible and of excellent flavor. 



Coprinus atramentarius Fr. 



Pileus lurid-fuliginous, becoming hoary with adpres.Mil silky 

 lustre, slightly lleshy, ovate then campanulate, wholly longitudin- 

 ally and deeply sulcate and ribbed, repand-unequal at the margin, 

 brownish-squamulose on the disk. 



Lamellae free, broad, white, then purplish-black. 



Stem firm, hollow, longitudinally fibrillose, white. 



Pileus 2.. 5 to 7.5 cm. broad; stem 1 to 8 cm. or more long, 

 4 to 8 mm. thick; spores 9 to 10x6 jx. 



On lawns and about stumps; common from June until frost. 

 Often in large cespitose clumps. Edible, but soft and watery 

 when cooked. 



Coprinus variegatus Pk. 



Pileus fleshy, thin, fragile, oblong-ovate then campanulate, 

 obtuse, hygrophanous, pale watery-brown when moist, whitish 

 or cream-color when dry, variegated by scales or patches of a 

 superficial ochraceous tomentum, the margin finely striate. 



Lamellae lanceolate, crowded, ascending, [\x-r, white then 

 rusty-brown finally black. 



Stem equal, brittle, hollow, white, at first penmate-annulate, 

 then floccose-pruinose, with white, branching, net-like thread.- at 



the base. 



Spores subelliptical, 8 /a. Densely cespitose; pileus 2.5 to 

 3.5 cm. broad; stem 7.."> to L2.5 em. high, -t to S mm. thick. 



On and about dead stumps and rotten wood. Wheaton, (den 

 Ellyn, Thatchers and Riverside. .May to July. 



In our plant the pileus is at first ovate, then campanulate, at 

 length rimose with the ends of the segments recurved; membran- 

 aceous, at hist covered with the thick straw-colored universal 

 veil which afterwards breaks away into large, irregular scales or 

 patches, disclosing the dingy-white or bluish-white, smooth surface 

 of the pileus. Lamellae 6 mm. broad, free, ventricose, at first 

 bluish-white, at length umber-blackish, somewhat crowded. 

 Stem attenuated from the enlarged, scarcely bulbous, slenderly- 

 rooting base to the apex, hollow, the opening truncate at the apex. 



