COPRINUS PLICATILIS 37 



the turf, but did not succeed. Since the fungus has never been 

 reported as growing on wood or dung but only in more or less 

 grassy places, and in view of my own observations just described, 

 it seems that Coprinus lilicatilis under natural conditions is neither 

 coprophilous nor lignicolous, but is graminicolous. The exact 

 relations of the mycelium to the turf in which it flourishes, however, 

 require further investigation. 



Cultures. — Some expanding fruit-bodies of Coprinus plicatilis 



Fig. 22. — Coprinus plicatilis. A series of fruit-bodies on turf removed from 

 a lawn. The large one in the fore-ground with the depressed disc is fully 

 expanded. Photographed at Birmingham, England. Natural size. 



were collected one morning early in September from a damp lawn 

 in Kew Gardens. The pilei were at once removed from their stipes 

 and set over glass slides in boxes, with the result that, in the course 

 of an hour or two, several dense black spore-deposits were obtained. 

 These deposits were conveyed to Winnipeg and, a few months later, 

 at my request, Mr. T. C. Vanterpool, a research worker, kindly 

 took charge of them and sowed some of the spores on dung-agar. 

 Germination took place, and the mycelium, after growing a few days 

 on an agar plate, was transferred to wide tubes of sterilised horse 

 dung. The mycelium, under these conditions, grew slowly and, 

 after three months, produced a number of rudimentary fruit-bodies ; 

 but these showed no vigour, for they failed to grow to full size and 



