From Spore to Mushroom 



..Cap 



Ring 



Gills 



Stem 



it grows, and comes out of the ground a round puffball. (See 

 Plate opposite p. 124.) 



If one wishes to learn to distinguish the members of the 



mushroom or toadstool family, either 

 for the pleasure he may derive from 

 knowing them, or from a desire to 

 §?i^^''4 <-hstinguish the edible from the poison- 

 ous, he must 

 b e fa miliar 

 with the typi- 

 cal parts of the 

 fungus plant, 

 and must 

 know the names of these parts. 



The edible mushroom of the market 

 {Agaric us campestris) 

 serves well for study, 



Veil V ■f.^'"''**^^/ ^^ ^^ shows some of 



the characteristics 

 which all the toad- 

 stools, mushrooms, brackets, and puffballs 

 have in common. 



(i) This mushroom is in shape some- 

 thing like a parasol. 



(2) The handle is the stem, or stipe. 



(3) The open top is the cap, or pileus. 



(4) Under 



the cap, radi- 

 ating from 

 the stalk to 

 the edge of 

 the cap, are 

 thin plates — the gills, or lamellae. 



(s) When the mushroom is in 



.Short cells the buttou Stage, the gills are not 



„, , , _,, ^. visible, for they are covered with 



.Club-shaped bodies -' 



a thin sheet of mycelial threads, 

 Section across gill (magnified) Called the veil. (See coloured plate 



of Agan'nis campestris.) 

 (6) As the button grows the veil stretches, and finally breaks, 



12 



Spores on 



slender processes 



Mycelial threads 



