arc kuowii to be poisonous, it luii}' he coiiKiclercd ii safe f^'eiuis to experi- 

 meut with. 



In the Morchella esculenta the caj) is ovate, in one variety rotund, the 

 margin attaching itself to the stem ; ribs firm and anastomosing, forming 

 deep liollows or pits; color yellowish tan, olivaceous ; spores hyaline, 

 colorless ; asci very long. The Morel, tliough rare in some localities, is 

 found in large (piantities in some of the midwestern States, sometimes in 

 the woods along the borders of streams, often in peach orchards, at the 

 roots of decaying trees. 



I am informed by correspondents who have collected and eaten them 

 that the Morels can be gathered in abundance in the springtime along the 

 banks of the Missouri and tributary streams. A lieutenant in the United 

 States Army informs me that he found fine specimens of this species in 

 the mountains of California, five or six thousand feet above sea-level. A 

 correspondent, Mr. H. W. Henshaw, writes that he has made many 

 excellent meals of them, finding them on the banks of Chico Creek, 

 Sacramento Valley, California, on Gen. BidwelFs ranch, in April. A corre- 

 spondent in Minnesota writes : " The Morel grows abundantly in some 

 places here, but so prejudiced are many of the natives against ' toad- 

 stools ' that I had to eat the Morel alone for a whole season before I 

 could induce any one else to taste it." Mr. Hollis Webster, of the Boston 

 Mycological Club, reports the Morchella coinca as appearing in abund- 

 ance in eastern Massachusetts in May of this year. A correspondent in 

 West Virginia reports that quantities of a large-sized Morel are found in 

 the mountain regions there. 



I have reports also of the appearance of the Morel in Western New 

 York, and on the coast of Maine and of Oregon. A miner writes to me 

 from Montana that he and sevei'al other miners, having lost their way in 

 the mountains of that State during the spring of the year, subsisted 

 entirely for five days on Morels which they collected. 



The specimen represented in Plate C, Fig. 1, is figured from a 

 Morchella esculenta which grew in the vicinity of Falls Church, Va., less 

 than ten miles from the District of Columbia. The reports which I have 

 received from correspondents in twenty States show that the Morel is not 

 so rare in this country as was formerly supposed. The advantages which 

 this mushroom possesses over some others are (1) the readiness with 

 which it can be distinguished, (2) its keeping qualities, and (3) its 

 agreeable taste. It is easily dried, and in that condition can be kept a 

 long time without losing its fiavor. Though it has not the rich flavor of 

 the common field mushroon, it is very palatable when cooked, and when 

 dried it is often used in soups. It is very generally esteemed as an 

 esculent among mycophagists. 



Fig. 2 represents the sporidia enclosed in the ascus, or spore sack, 

 with accompanying paraphyses. 



