From Spore to Mushroom 



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 

 distinguish the edible from the poison- 

 ous, he must 



Puffball 



be f a m i 1 i a r 

 with the typi- 

 cal parts of the 

 fungus plant, 

 and must 

 know the names of these parts. 



The edible mushroom of the market 

 {Agaricus campesiris) 

 serves well for study, 



Veil V/,^**^?IP/ ^^ ^^ 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. 



(5) When the mushroom is in 

 .Short cells the button stage, the gills are not 



visible, for they are covered with 

 a thin sheet of mycelial threads, 

 called the veil. (See coloured plate 

 of Agaricus campesiris.) 

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



12 



Spores on 



slender processes 



Mycelial threads 



Club-shaped bodies 



Section across gill (magnified) 



