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MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE 



The pileus separates easily from the stem. The gills are membranaceous, 

 closely pressed together. The spores, with few exceptions, are black. Most of 

 the species are edible, but many are of such small size that they are easily over- 

 looked. 



Coprinus comatus. Fr. 



The Shaggy Mane; Coprinus. Edible. 



Comatus is from coma, having long hair, shaggy. It is so called from a 

 fancied resemblance to a wig on a barber's block. A description is hardly 

 necessary with a photograph before us. They always remind us of a congregation 



Figure 270. Coprinus comatus. One-half natural size. 



of goose eggs standing on end. This plant cannot be confounded with any other, 

 and the finder is the happy possessor of a rich, savory morsel that cannot be 

 duplicated in any market. 



The pileus is fleshy, moist, at first egg-shaped, cylindrical, becoming bell- 

 shaped, seldom expanded, splitting at the margin along the line of the gills, adorned 

 with scattered yellowish scales, tinged with purplish-black, yet sometimes entirely 

 white ; surface shaggy. 



