COPRINUS PLICATILIS 



51 



occupy an intermediate position between C. micaceus and the other 

 Coprini. 



Although in Coprinus plicatilis the spores ripen ■ and are dis- 

 charged on each gill frx)m be- a 



^^i^^^viii^^^ 



low upwards, during the spore- 

 discharge period the gills — as 

 already remarked by system - 

 atists — remain " dry " and 

 " non-deliquescent," i.e. those 

 parts of the gills which have 

 shed their spores are not 

 gradually destroyed from be- 

 low upwards by autodigestion 

 (Fig. 34, A-E). This curious 

 absence of autodigestion, which 

 places C. plicatilis in a unique 

 position among the Coprini, I 

 have verified again and again 

 by examining living fruit- 

 bodies both with the naked 

 eye in the field and with the 

 microscope in the laboratory. 

 Macroscopically, it is quite 

 easy to observe that the gills 

 of a fruit-body are present in 

 their entirety during the whole 

 of the spore-discharge period 

 and when this has just come 

 to an end (Fig. 34, E). 



It is possible to observe 

 the progress of spore-discharge 

 in any particular fruit-body in 

 the field by merely looking 

 down on the pileus when this has just completed its expansion. 

 Immediately before spore-discharge begins, the pileus, owing to the 

 presence of the black spores on all the basidia on the cleft gills, is 

 uniformly grey. As soon as spore-discharge begins, a white zone 



Fig. 34. — Coprinus plicatilis. Vertical sec- 

 tions of a pileus, showing a series of 

 successive stages, drawn semi-diagram- 

 matically, to illustrate the fact that in 

 this species the discharge of the spores is 

 not accompanied by any autodigestion 

 of the gills. A : the pileus has just 

 become completely expanded and the 

 gills are about to begin to discharge 

 their spores. B : half an hour later ; 

 spore-discharge is taking place from 

 below upwards on each gill and cen- 

 tripetally in respect to the pileus as a 

 whole. C : about an hour later than B ; 

 spore-discharge is at its maximum ac- 

 tivity. D : about an hour later than 

 C ; spore-discharge nearing completion 

 but still very active. E : about an hour 

 later than D ; spore-discharge has been 

 completed. As shown in B-E, during 

 spore -discharge, the gills have remained 

 dry and undigested. Enlarged to 1 • 33 

 the natural size. 



