SEPOKT OF THE STATE BOTANIST. 123 



very unlike the stem and cap of a mushroom in general appear- 

 ance. Our edible species are placed in four genera, whose 

 prominent distinctive characters, so far as our species are con- 

 cerned, may be ascertained from the following table: 



Cap coarsely pitted over its whole surface Morchella. 



Cap convolutely lobed Gyromitra. 



Cap irregular or rellexed Helvella. 



Cap club shaped, often irregularly so Mitrula . 



Morchella Dill. 

 In the genus Morchella, to which the morels belong, the cap 

 is supported on a hollow stem and its whole surface is very un- 

 even by reason of a network of anastomosing or reticulated 

 ridges and their intervening cavities. This gives the surface a 

 pitted or honeycombed appearance. The ridges are blunt on the 

 edge. The spore sacks are imbedded in the whole surface, both 

 of pits and ridges, each sack usually containing eight spores, a 

 fact which can only be ascertained for one's self by the aid of a 

 microscope. In the mass, the spores are yellowish' 



Six species have been found in our State. All are similar in 

 color, and the specific distinctions are not very sharp. They are 

 found chiefly in the size and shape of the cap. All are deemed 

 edible and similar in texture and flavor, and therefore the sepa- 

 ration of the species from each other is not of much practical 

 importance if they are sought for food only. The prevailing 

 color of the cap in young and growing plants is buff-yellow or 

 ochraceous, but as the plants become old or begin to dry, darker 

 hues are assumed. The stems are rather stout, white or whitish, 

 or barely tinged with yellow, and scurfy or at least not perfectly 

 smooth and polished. They are hollow and in plants in which 

 the margm of the cap is attached to the stem the cap also is hol- 

 low, the cavity being continuous between cap and stem. 



The species may be arranged in two groups, in one of which 

 the margin of the cap is wholly attached to the stem, in the 

 other it is free. 



All the species occur early in the season. They may be sou^^ht 

 m wet weather, in May and June. I have never found any of 

 them later than June. Most of them seem to prefer to grow un- 

 der or near pine and ash trees, though they are sometimes found 

 under other trees. 



