494 



Bulletin i68. 



(34) 



ful of the process of growth, absorption and assimilation in that 



wonderful unseen world of plant life. Suddenly some morning we 



see the shagg}', unkempt heads of our old friends again just risen 



from their long sleep which calls to mind Browning's verse, — 



" By the rose flesh mushrooms undivulged 

 Last evening. Nay, in to-day's first dew 



Yon sudden coral nipple bulged, 



Where a freaked, fawn-colored flaky crew 



Of toad-stools peep indulged," 



83, — '•'Shaggy-mane " ( Coprinus coniatus) in lawn. 



A " mushroom growth," we say. It looks that way ; as if the 

 whole thing had grown in a single night. That is because we 

 have not searched underneath the sod and observed the long, 

 tedious process of growth while the cords and meshes of the 

 mycelium have increased, and extended their lines through the 

 moist soil. If we do search there and observe we see that some- 

 time before the shaggy heads peep forth, tiny bodies appear on 

 the cords of mycelium ; first like a pin head in size, then as large 

 as a pea and the size of a thimble they grow. A great deal of 



