THE BLACK-SPORED AGARICS 



333 



The gills are free, crowded, equal, creamy white, becoming pink, brown, then 

 black, and dripping an inky fluid. 



The stem is three to eight inches long, hollow, smooth, or slightly fibrillose, 

 tapering upward, creamy-white, brittle, easily separating from the cap, slightly 

 bulbous at the base. The ring is rarely adherent or movable in young plants, later 

 lying on the ground at the base of the stem or disappearing altogether. The 

 spores are black and elliptical, and are shen in liquid drops. 



Found in damp rich ground, gardens, rich lawns, barnyards, and dumping 

 grounds. They often grow in large clusters. They are found everywhere in 

 great abundance, from May till late frost. A weak stomach can digest any of 

 the Coprini when almost any other food will give it trouble. I am always pleased 

 to give a dish of any Coprini to an invalid. 



Figure 271. Coprinus atramentarius. Two-thirds natural size. 



Coprinus atramentarius. Fr. 

 The Inky Coprinus. Edible. 



Atramentarius means black ink. The pileus is at first egg-shaped, gray or 

 grayish-brown, smooth, except that there is a slight scaly appearance ; often 

 covered with a marked bloom, margin ribbed, often notched, soft, tender, becoming 

 expanded, when it melts away in inky fluid. 



The gills are broad, close, ventricose, creamy-white in young specimens, 

 becoming pinkish-gray, then black, moist, melting away in inky drops. 



The stem is slender, two to four inches in length, hollow, smooth, tapering 

 upward, easily separating from the cap, with slight vestige of a collar near the 



