482 



The Gijstkxixg Cotrinus (Edible) 

 Copriiuis niicacciis (Bull.) Fries 



Copyiiuis iiiicaccits may be found during wet we^ither from early 

 spring until frost. It occurs at the bases of trees, stumps, posts, etc., 

 or in grassy places where dead roots or sticks are buried in the soil. 

 It is very common, and it is often possible to collect a basketful while 

 walking around a city block. It usually grows in dense clusters with 

 from ten to as many as a hundred or more in a cluster, though some- 

 times the plants are scattered on lawns or other grassy places. 



The cap is 2 to 5 cm. ( i to 2 inches) in diameter and rather thin. 

 It is at first ovate, then bell-shaped, and if the weather is not too damp 

 it may become expanded, but in wet weather it is a|)l to dissolve into 

 an inky fluid before becoming fully expanded. It is yellowish brown 

 or tan in color, and the surface is marked by prominent striations ex- 

 tending from near the center to the margin. In young specimens the 

 surface also bears numercms small shining scales which glisten in the 

 light like particles of mica, and because of which the species name 

 niicacciis is given to the plant. In older specimens these scales are apt 

 to disappear entirely. 



The gills are narrow, crowded close together, and free from the 

 stem. They are at first whitish, then darker, and finally black. In 

 damp weather they dissolve into an inky fluid but in dry weather they 

 often remain intact and become dry. The spores are black or some- 

 times dark brown. 



The stem is 3 to 10 cm. (i to 4 inches) long, rather slender and 

 fragile, and hollow. It is nearly cylindrical in shape and smooth or 

 somewhat silkv on the surface. The ring is of the same type as that 

 of Coprinus atraniciifariiis, but it is very delicate and easily lost, so 

 that it is seldom seen except in verv voung specimens that have not 

 been washed by rains. There is no volva. 



All species of the genus Copriiuis are very easily digestible, and 

 the glistening Coprinus has been said to be the most easily digestible 

 mushroom that grows. 



Collected in Champaign and Wabash counties. 



