580 



MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE 



between fleshy and corky, frequently growing in numbers or gregarious, turgid, 

 fairly regular, dirty-white, then brownish-red, finally black. An ordinary hand 

 glass will show how it bears perithecia in all its parts. This will be clearly seen 

 in the section on the right. 



These plants are not as common as the X. polymorpha, but are found in 

 habitats similar to those of the other plant, particularly around maple stumps 01 

 upon decayed maple branches. 



Stemonitis. Gled. 



Stemonitis is from a Greek word which means stamen, one of the essential 

 organs of a flower. This is a genus of myxomycetous fungi, giving name to the 

 family Stemonitaceae, which has a single sporangium or sethalium ; without the 

 peculiar deposits of lime carbonate which characterize the fructification of other 

 orders, and the spores, capillitium, and columella are usually uniformly black, or 

 brownish. 



Figure 497. Stemonitis fusca. Natural size. 



