BOLBITIUS. COPRINUS 499 



slightly adnexed, narrowed behind, 3 mm. broad, rather distant. 

 Flesh white, rather thick at the disc. Spores ferruginous, elliptic- 

 oblong, 10-12 x 6-7 fj,. Earth in an orchid house. July. Rare. 



1635. B. niveus Massee. Cke. Illus. no. 1186, t. 1160, as Bolbitius 

 conocephalus Bull. Niveus, snow white. 



P. 2-3 cm., pure white, fleshy, campanulate, obtusely umbonate, 

 smooth, slightly viscid ; margin striate. St. 7-9 cm. x 3-4 mm., pure 

 white, gradually attenuated upwards from the clavato-bulbous base, 

 rather tough, shining. Gills pallid, then salmon colour, free, narrowed 

 behind, 2 mm. broad, broadest in front, subdistant. Flesh white, 

 thick at the disc. Spores salmon colour, elliptical, 18 x 9-10/Lt. Earth 

 in palm house. Rare. 



1636. B. tener Berk. Cke. Illus. no. 681, t. 691. Tener, tender. 

 P. 7-15 mm., white, yellowish white, or flesh colour, then whitish, 



very delicate, conical, elongated, 8-25 mm. high, moist, smooth. St. 

 47 cm. x 2 mm., white, base bulbous or slightly thickened. Gills 

 salmon colour, nearly free, attenuated behind, narrow, not crowded. 

 Flesh white, very thin. Spores "salmon colour, elliptical, 15-16 x 

 8-10/x" Massee. Lawns, and rich pastures. May Sept. Uncommon. 

 (v.v.) 



Spores black, or blackish fuscous. Gills auto-digested 

 from below upwards. 



Coprinus (Pers.) Fr. 

 (KOTTpos, dung.) 



Pileus fleshy, or membranaceous, regular. Stem central, confluent, 

 or distinct from the pileus, with or without a ring or volva. Gills 

 free, adnate, or attached to a collar, very thin, parallel-sided, or 

 subparallel-sided, and auto-digested from below upwards. Spores 

 black, violet black, chocolate, or fuscous ; oval, elliptical, subglobose, 

 angularly subglobose, pip-shaped, almond-shaped, or cordiform, 

 smooth, very rarely echinulate; with an apical germ-pore. Cystidia 

 usually large, rarely absent. Growing on the ground, on dung, and 

 on wood. Solitary, or caespitose. 



I. Gills covered above with a fleshy or membranaceous cuticle, hence 

 the p. does not open into furrows along the gills but becomes torn 

 and re volute. 



*Furnished with a ring arising from the volva ; 

 the cuticle torn into scales. 



1637. C. comatus (Fl. Dan.) Fr. Cke. Illus. no. 644, t. 658. 



Comatus, hairy. 



P. 4-6 cm., white, becoming pinkish at the margin and finally black, 



322 



