CHAPTER IV 



The number of spores produced by one toadstool plant is beyond 

 compulation. The stalks that give the velvety appearance to the 

 gills are so densely crowded and so minute that very thin sections 

 and high powers of the microscope are necessary to show them 

 clearly, and each stalk bears four spores. These spores may, of course, 

 be scattered by the wind in addition to the other methods of dissemi- 

 nation suggested. Mushroom " spawn " from which the cultivated 

 Agaricus campestris is propagated is the mycelium of the fungus. 



The value of edible fungi as food can hardly be overstated. They 

 have nearly the same value as meat, a fact not surprising when one 

 reflects that fungi in their methods of nutrition resemble animals 

 rather than green plants. In older countries, like France and Ger- 

 many, where the struggle for existence is keener, this great waste of 

 food does not occur. The peasants gather and preserve great quan- 

 tities of toadstools. In our Eastern States the edible kinds have been 

 described and illustrated, both in popular works like Gibson's charm- 

 ing book, and in government publications. On our coast it is not so 

 easy to learn to know the edible species. Prof. A. J. McClatchie has 

 tested the species about Pasadena, with the conclusion mentioned in 

 the Reader, but the results of his work have not been put in form 

 generally available. When the intelligence of the public demands it, 

 probably ways and means will be found to make the identification of 

 our edible fungi, too, a matter of certainty. 



It cannot be too emphatically stated that there is no infallible rule 

 for distinguishing all poisonous from all edible species. We must 

 learn to know each edible species so as to surely distinguish it from 

 all others, just as we know certain species of higher plants. It is true 

 that the edible kinds greatly outnumber the poisonous ones, but the 

 poisonous species of the Amanita group are usually fatal. There are 

 numerous species not poisonous that are not edible on account of an 

 acrid or otherwise disagreeable flavor. 



As stated in the Reader, some puff balls are edible, and so are some 

 species of other fungi nearly related to toadstools and puff balls; but 

 we shall have to wait for further knowledge of our California 

 fungi before we can fully avail ourselves of our resources of this sort. 

 In the meantime there is much that is attractive or interesting about 

 these allied forms. The spores of some of our puff balls are inter- 

 mixed with minute filaments that are hygrometric and by their move- 

 ments aid in distribution. The earth-star of the picture is common 

 in oak-covered slopes in Southern California. As stated, the outer 

 coat closes up in dry air ; I am told that some other earth -stars close 

 in moist air instead. The shelf-fungi are sometimes very pleasing in 



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