356 RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



pileus of the latter is associated with this fact (c/. Fig. 185, p. 367, 

 and Fig. 138, Vol. Ill, p. 316). 



(3) Opening of the pileus. Before spore- discharge and auto- 

 digestion begin, the pileus of C. lagopus opens widely and thus 

 becomes almost flattened. The gills are therefore pulled some 

 distance apart from one another, with the result that, during spore- 

 discharge, the cystidia do not connect adjacent gills but simply 

 appear as free projections or pegs on the gill-sides (Fig. 146, Vol. Ill, 

 p. 325). On the other hand, the pileus of C. macrorhizus begins to 



Fig. 177. — Coprinus macrorhizus. Young fruit-bodies grow- 

 ing on stable manure. Photographed at Birmingham, 

 England. Natural size. 



shed spores while it is still campanulate, and in this species — as 

 may be readily observed in the field with a pocket lens or even with 

 the naked eye — the cystidia bridge the interlamellar spaces and 

 connect adjacent gills during the whole period of spore-discharge 

 (c/. Fig. 122, Vol. Ill, p. 287). C. lagopus belongs to the Lagopus 

 Sub-type of fruit-body organisation, whereas C. macrorhizus belongs 

 to the Atramentarius Sub- type. ^ 



(4) Shape of the spores. The spores of C. macrorhizus are dis- 

 tinctly shorter in proportion to their width than those of C. lagopus. 

 The spores of C. macrorhizus are oval in form and those of C. lagopus 

 elongated-oval. 



1 Cf. these Researches, Vol. Ill, 1924, pp. 296, 301-302. 



