178 



Minnesota Plant Diseases. 



covering below which attaches the edge of the cap to the 

 stem. At maturity this ruptures and a part of it remains at- 

 tached to the stem as a so-called ring. They are all earth-in- 

 habiting saprophytes and most forms are edible while a few 

 are poisonous. (Figs. 5, 10, 36, 81, 85, 120 to 127, 163.) 



Gill fungi (Agaricaccce). In this group of fungi the palisade 

 layer is spread over structures known as gills. These gills are 

 plate- or leaf-like bodies arranged on the under side of an um- 

 brella-like cap and run from the stalk to the cap edge. When 



the cap is young the 

 gills may be closely 

 pressed together but 

 are later spread apart 

 to allow the spores to 

 be shed. This group 

 contains an enormous 

 number of plants, be- 

 ing by far the largest 

 of the palisade fungi, 

 and it includes not a 

 few plants of economic 

 importance. The fruit- 

 ing bodies vary in size 

 from not larger than a 

 large pin to umbrella- 

 like forms more than a 

 foot in diameter. In 

 consistency the fruit- 

 ing bodies may be gel- 

 atinous, waxy, fleshy, 

 leathery or even 

 woody. Some forms 

 are stalked while oth- 

 ers are attached direct- 

 ly by their cap edges. 

 In the higher forms 

 the fruiting body possesses veil-like structures which enclose 

 the gills or the whole cap as long as the gills are still immature. 

 As soon as the spores are ripe the veil breaks, leaving a cup-like 



FIG. 87. Shaggy-mane fungus (Coprinus comatus). 

 This is an inky-gill fungus. The cap is seen to be 

 blackened at the base, where the whole substance 

 of the cap deliquesces and drops its black spores 

 in an inky mass. Original. 



