THE BLACK-SPORED AGARICS 337 



The gills are free, broad, ventricose, grayish-black, soon deliquescing. 



The stem is hollow, equal, fragile, smooth, four to five inches long. 



Usually found where old stumps have been cut off under the ground, leaving 

 the roots in the ground. It is very abundant. The collector will have no trouble 

 to recognize it from Figure 274. They are found from June to October. Edible, 

 but not as good as C. atramentarius. 



Coprinus ephemerus. Fr. 

 The: Ephemeral Coprinus. Edible;. 



Ephemerus, lasting for a day. This plant lasts only for a short time. It 

 comes up in the early morning or at night and as soon as the sun's rays touch 

 it it deliquesces into an inky fluid. 



The pileus is membranaceous, very thin, oval, slightly covered with bran-like 

 scales, disk elevated, even. 



Gills are adnexed, distant, whitish, brown, then black. The stem is slender, 

 equal, pellucid, smooth, from one to two inches high. 



When this plant is fully developed it is quite a beautiful specimen, striated 

 from margin to center. Found on dung and dung heaps and in well manured 

 grass plots from May to October. It must be cooked at once, Its chief value 

 is its excellent mushroom flavor. 



Coprinus ovatus. Fr. 

 The; Ovate; Coprinus. Edible. 



Ovatus is from ovum, an egg. It is so called from the shape of the pileus, 

 which is somewhat membranaceous, ovate, then expanded, striate ; at first woven 

 into densely imbricated, thick, concentric scales ; is bulbous, rooting, flocculose, 

 hollow above, the ring deciduous ; gills free, remote, slightly ventricose, for 

 sometime white, then umber-blackish. 



This plant is much smaller and less striking than the C. comatus, yet its edible 

 qualities are the same. I have eaten it and found it delicious. It is found 

 in about the same locality in which you would expect to find the C. comatus. 



