BKPOET OF THE STATK BOTANIST 209 



margin is sometimes erect, sometimes widely spreading and 

 decurved like the margin of a trumpet's mouth. It is often 

 wavy, lobed, irregular, folded or overlapping, or split. The 

 cavity of the cap extends to the very base. 



The spore-bearing surface is commonly a little paler than the 

 upper surface and varies from ashy-gray to pinkish brown or 

 dark smoky-brown. It is generally a little uneven or rugose- 

 wrinkled. It extends nearly or quite to the ground, the stem 

 being very short or almost wanting. 



The cap is from two to four inches long and one to two and a 

 half broad at the top. The plants grow gregariously or in tufts 

 in woods and shaded places. It is found especially in old roads 

 in woods on naked soil, or on shaded banks, but sometimes it 

 grows among fallen leaves or mosses. It may be found from 

 July to September. 



Cordier and some other French writers class this fungus among 

 the edible species, but say that it is not very popular because of 

 its thin flesh and dark color. Dr. Cooke admits that his first 

 trial of this fungus was so satisfactory that he never missed an 

 opportunity afterwards of gathering them for the table, and he 

 says that a friend who learned of the edible qualities of this 

 fungus from him now thinks nothing of walking six or eight 

 miles to procure a dish of this craterellus. 



Clavariese. 



Fairy Cldbs. 



In this family no definite cap is developed, and no definite 

 inferior fertile surface. The plants are of upright growth, either 

 simple or branched, and the spores are developed on the upper 

 or exterior surface of the plant or of its branches. The edible 

 soecies are found in the single genus Clavaria. 



Clavaria Vaill. 

 In this genus the fleshy plant is either simple or branched. 

 "When simple it is commonly slightly thickened upward, assum- 

 ing a shape similar to a club, a character which has suggested 

 the generic name. In some of the branched species the branches 

 are very numerous and crowded and the plants have an appear- 

 ance strongly suggestive of a bush in miniature. The flesh in 

 some species is very tender and fragile. 

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