Fungi with Gills 



Shaggy-mane ; Horsetail; Maned Agaric 



(Edible) 



Coprinus comatiis 



Cap or Pileus — Cylindrical or barrel-shaped ; becoming bell-shaped 

 or expanded, with split margins, when old. Colour of the 

 buttons or young plants dark; but that of the older forms 

 white, flecked with dark patches or scales. Surface shaggy. 

 i>'2-5 inches long before expansion. 



Stem or Stipe — White, smooth, hollow. 3-4 inches long. 



Ring or Antmlus — Slightly adherent, or movable in the young 

 plant ; later lying on the ground at the base of the stem, 

 or wholly disappearing. 



Gills or Lamellce — Crowded. White, then tinged with pink ; 

 finally black, and dripping an inky fluid. 



Spores — Black, elliptical. 



Flesh — Fragile, tender, digestible, with nutty flavour. 



Time — Autumn. 



Habitat — Loose, rich earth. By roadsides, in pastures, and in 

 dumping grounds. 



If one study the specimens of the shaggy-mane from the 

 time it pushes its little brown head above the ground until, as a 

 tall black umbrella, it melts away into inky blackness, he will 

 find much that is beautiful and interesting. 



A little brown button may be cut with a sharp knife through- 

 out its length to show the unexpanded gills lying close to the 

 part which is afterwards to become the stem. 



An older button cut in the same way will show the gills 

 separated from the stem and the outer cover of the cap at the 

 lower end of the gills joined to the stem. A still older specimen 

 will show the connection of the outer cover broken loose from 

 the base of the gill and the torn part still remaining on the stem 

 as a temporary collar. 



The outer layer of brown threads which covers the button 

 will be found to break as the threads within expand, and to re- 

 main in the older specimens on the surface as patches of brown 

 threads. Underlying these are broken white threads which in a 

 younger stage, unbroken, formed a white cover under the brown. 

 It is these loosely hanging threads which give the shaggy ap- 

 pearance to the cap of the mature plants and which have 

 suggested the names of shaggy-mane, horsetails, and comatus 

 {comatus, in Latin, meaning hairy). 



Co-ma'-tus 

 90 



