194 CHAPTERS ON FUNGI. [_July , 



sporangia and sporidia globose^ at length blackish. On fruit, paste, 

 preserves, etc. Very common. 



From a white floccpse stratum arises a forest of little pellucid 

 stalks, each bearing a roundish vesicle, which at length becomes 

 blackish from the contained ripe sporidia. This Fungus forms a 

 beautiful object for the microscope. 



Order VI. Ascomycetes. 



This is a very large and important Order, and comprehends a vast 

 multitude of genera and species, the external appearance of which 

 differs widely, though all agree in a common structure of fruit; 

 the essential character of the division being the development of 

 a definite (or in some few cases of an indefinite) number of spo- 

 ridia, within certain cells of the hymenium, which are generally 

 of an elongated form, and accompanied by paraphyses. 



Among the Fungi of this division are the Morell and the 

 TruflSe, both well-known edibles and much esteemed. 



Suborder 1. Elvellacei. 



Substance carnose, waxy or tremelloid, cup-shaped or clavate ; 

 hymenium generally open. 



This is a large group, and is characterized by a fleshy or soft 

 texture, and by the exposed surface of the hymenium, or fructi- 

 fying part. It contains many interesting Fungi; and many 

 species of the extensive genus Peziza are extremely beautiful. 



I shall notice the genera Morchella and Peziza. 



MOKCIIELLA. 



Receptacle pileate ; hymenium costate, lacunose. 



Morchella esculenta, L. Common Morell. Pileus conical, 

 ovate or globose, its base adnate with the stem ; ribs firm, anasto- 

 mosing into distinct cells. — Grev. Sc. Crypt. Fl. t. 68. 



Woods, orchards, cinder walks, etc. Spring and early summer. 



Pileus two to three inches high, yellowish, olivaceous, or cine- 

 reous; the ribs sometimes tinged with white or red. Stem 

 hollow, whitish, one to three inches high. 



Generally of a brownish-yellow colour, with a cinereous tinge. 

 The pileus varies in being sometimes conical, but the usual 

 shape is globose or ovate. 



This is the common eatable Morell, and is esteemed as a valu- 



