Each peridiole (in all our common species) is attached to the 

 peridium by a slender cord (called funiculus) which when wet is 

 elastic and capable of long extension. The peridioles of all these 

 four common species are black, but three of them have what is known 

 as a tunica, a thin, white membrane surrounding the peridioles. Cruci- 

 bulum vulgare alone has a tunica thick enough to hide the color of 

 the peridioles, and hence is the only species with white "eggs." Our 

 four common species differ widely from each other, so that there 

 is no trouble in naming them from their general appearance and 

 habits. The peridioles are filled with microscopic spores, and the 

 most marked difference to the mycologist is the relative size of these 

 spores, but that is not a question that we shall consider here, as the 

 object of this article is to give a general description by which our 

 common species can be readily known without the use of the 

 microscope. 



CRUCIBULUM VULGARE (Fig. 136). We present a figure 

 of this plant growing on a piece of old mat. Its usual habitat is sticks, 

 chips, etc. Sometimes, very rarely, it grows on cakes of manure, but 



Fig. 136. 



it never I think grows on the bare ground. The cups are subcylindrical 

 in shape, not so tapering as the other species, and the color when young 

 yellowish, and it is the only species of this color. When old the 

 cups bleach out and lose their yellow color. The mouths of the \<>w\ 

 specimens are covered with a thin, yellowish membrane (called the 

 epiphragm), and most of the specimens in our figure still have the 

 epiphragm. The peridioles (or "eggs") are white, 2 and this is the 

 only bird s-nest fungi that has white eggs. There should, therefore, 

 be no trouble in recognizing Crucibulum vulgare by its yellowish color 

 and white eggs. 



the pe 



is the tu 



membrane that surrounds 



302 



