COPRINUS ATRAMENTARIUS 



281 



Fig. 120. — Coprinus atra- 

 mentnrius. The general ap- 

 pearance of part of a gill- 

 surface, including the gill- 

 edge, after spore-discharge 

 and autodigestion have be- 

 gun (c/. Fig. 118, B, p. 278). 

 There are five zones running 

 parallel to the oblique gill- 

 edge : (1) a — a, zone of 

 basidia with ripe spores ; 1 1, 

 long basidia ; s s, short basi- 

 dia ; p p, paraphyses ; /, a 

 cystidium undergoing auto- 

 digestion, its end is still 

 unmelted ; g, a cystidium 

 reduced to a drop of fluid. 

 (2) ftjba — b^b^, the zone of 

 basidia discliarging spores 

 into an interlamellar space. 

 This is divided into two sub- 

 zones : 61 — fcj, the zone of 

 spore-discharge of the long 

 basidia, and b^ — b^, the zone 

 of spore-discharge of the short 

 basidia. The spores are shot 

 off their sterigmata succes- 

 sively so that in both sub- 

 zones some basidia have three 

 spores on them, some two, 

 some one, whilst some have 

 lost, or are about to lose, 

 them all ; I, a long basidium ; 

 .s, a short basidium ; h h, 

 basidia in the zone b^ — 6^ in 

 which some of the spores 

 have a drop of water at their 

 hila and are about to be dis- 

 charged ; i i, similar basidia 

 in the zone b^ — b^. (3) c — c, 

 the zone of basidia which 

 liave discliarged all their 

 spores ; I, a long basidium ; 

 s, a short basidium ; p, a 

 paraphysis. (4) d — d, tlie 

 zone of autodigestion. The 

 basidia and paraphyses are 

 becoming indistinct and grad - 

 ually liquefied, (5) e — e, the 

 liquid film at the gill-edge 

 containing the products of 

 autodigestion and also the 

 waste spores whicli failed to 

 be discharged into the air ; j, an undis- 

 cliarged spore, lying by its basidium ; k, a 

 spore which has been undiscliarged for a 

 longer time ; m, a mass of similar spores 

 which have been collected in the upwardly- 

 moving liquid film of the zone e — e ; 

 r?, imperfectly pigmented spores ; o, im- 

 der-sized and feebly pigmented spores. 

 Magnification, 440. 





