1 902 spring Fungi 123 



scarce a farm lady who does not know how to serve these 

 delicious esculents, and appreciate them as much as we do 

 the common mushroom {Agaricus campestris), the horse mush- 

 room {A. arvensis), or its blood-juiced ally, A. hemorrhoid- 

 arius — I fear it has no English name in common use. 



Morels are, however, quite distinct from Agarics, and here 

 we must attend to an elementary point. Agarics — that is, 

 mushrooms and others of their sort — have gills on the under 

 surface of the cap ; if these be placed on white or black 

 paper overnight they will in the morning be found to have 

 emitted a deposit of spores in the mass which is coloured 

 either white, pink, rust purple, or so-called black. This is 

 a great clue to the determination of the species of the 

 Agaricini. 



Morels, on the other hand, have their spores contained in 

 sacks or bottle-like structures, and if these same be deposited 

 on white or black paper no effect will be found, because the 

 bottle is still uncorked. It is true that on the liberation of 

 ascospores a slight puffing will be seen, but this is dependent 

 on hygroscopic conditions, and will not be a guide to the 

 collector of fungi, though an interesting phenomenon to 

 observe. 



Mycologists term the first class Basidiomycetes — i.e, 

 those that bear their spores free, not in vesicles. The latter 

 group is known as the Ascomycetes, and their spores are 

 termed ascospores. Morels belong to the Ascomycetes, and 

 are rather weird and strange forms to the botanist when 

 first met with. They prefer, I think, naked soil, but are 

 also to be met with in pastures and woods. Their shape is 

 generally mitrate, and they bear the ascospores on the upper 

 surface of the cap. In the genus Morchella and Mitrophora 

 the cap is covered with deep angular pits, whilst the genus 

 Gyromitra is characterised by the brain-like or intestine-like 

 convolutions of the exterior of the cap. Morchella has the 

 cap adnate to the stem, but in Mitrophora it is free in the 

 lower half. These three genera include ten British species. 

 Morchella esculenta has the stem short and the pits on the 

 caps somewhat pentagonal, and is generally of a pale yellow 

 or buff colour. M. crassipes, and its variety Sniithiana, 

 have the pits large and irregular in form and long stems. 



