419 



There the spores mature and fall, and at once auto-digestion sets in 

 and removes the now useless parts of the gills, thus leaving a clear 

 path for the fall of the spores from higher up. This continues until 

 all the spores have fallen and the gills have entirely dissolved. 



Other Types of Mushrooms 



So far we have been talking only of the umbrella type of mush- 

 room. There are, however, a number of other tvpes of fungi that 

 are just as truly mushrooms and among which there are some valuable 

 edible kinds. The oyster mushroom, Plciirotus ostrcatus (page 529), 

 for instance, has gills, but instead of being umbrella-like it is shelf- 

 like and is attached at one side to the wood on which it grows. There 

 are also a large number of shelf-like mushrooms which do net have 

 gills at all, but, instead, we find on the under side of the shelf a large 

 number of little pores or tubes. The spores are produced on the inner 

 surface of these tubes. They are produced on basidia, just as in the 

 gill fungi, so that if one were to examine the inner surface of one of 

 the tubes, sufficiently magnified, it would look very much like the 

 surface of a gill. ]\Iany of these pore fungi are woody or leathery 

 and tough, and therefore not good to eat, but a few of them are fleshy 

 and tender and very good. There are also a large number of fungi 

 that are umljrella-shaped but have pores instead of gills. These are 

 n^ostly flcshv and tender, some of them being edible and some of them 

 poisonous. 



There are a number of other groups of mushrooms that produce 

 their spores on basidia. Among these arc the hedgehog fungi (page 

 543) and the club fungi (page 541 ). The hedgehog fungi are so called 

 because thev bear many spinelike branches on the surface of which 

 the spores are produced. These spines always hang downward, no 

 matter in what position the fungus is growing, and this fact serves 

 to distinguish the hedgehog fungi from the club fungi, since in the 

 latter the branches always project upward. 



Still another important group of mushrooms is tlie puff ball group 

 (page 545). These are particularly safe for beginners to use on the 

 table since there are no poisonous ones among them. The larger kinds 

 are all excellent if used while they are still pure white all the way 

 through. They must always be cut in two and examined before using, 

 however, since if one has begun to darken inside, although it will not 

 be poisonous, it will be verv bitter and will spoil a whole dishful. The 

 spores of a puffball are produced on basidia that are scattered through 

 the greater part of the interior of the mushroom, and when they are 

 mature thev can easilv be "puffed" out bv pressing on the sides of the 

 puffball. 



