FUNGI 



201 



we started. The conspicuous part of a mushroom is "thus a 

 small fraction of the entire plant the spore-bearing organ, 

 or sporophore. 



Combine the collecting of mushrooms with the field work 

 with birds, insects, and trees in the early fall. In fact, this 

 is the most favorable part of the school year for all forms 

 except the morels, whose season is May or June. Preserve 



FIG. 98. Growth stages of a mushroom 



A, mycelium with forming buttons, drawn from Agaricus canipestris. The other 

 figures are from Amanita phalloides (the deadly amanita) and show : B, a button 

 bursting the volva (or sac) ; C, the same in longitudinal section ; and D, a mush- 

 room showing a, the pileus (or cap), 6, the velum (or veil), which has torn from 

 the margin of the cap and remains as a ring around the stem, and c, the remains 

 of the volva, which forms a cup 



the mushrooms collected for winter study by drying ; even 

 many of the softer ones may be preserved in this way if they 

 are dried ^in a current of hot air. 



Amanitas. Before collecting mushrooms, fix clearly in mind 

 the characters of the deadly genus Amanita. 



Other varieties of fungi may interfere with digestion, but to the 

 Amanitse all deaths from toadstool poisoning are traceable. Its subtile 

 alkaloid is absorbed by the system, and in most cases lies unsuspected 



