The Fascination of Flowers [ 333 



such as books, rocks, or other heavy things. If the weight is not 

 heavy enough, the plants will wrinkle. 



Change the paper or move the plants to a dry location every 

 day for at least four days then less often, for about ten days. The 

 more rapidly the plant loses its moisture, the better its delicate 

 colors will be preserved. 



How to Mount Plants: To mount a plant you need a piece of 

 glass as large as the specimen you are preparing. Cover the glass 

 with a thin coating of glue diluted a bit with a drop or two of 

 vinegar. Place the dried plant on the glue (to get the glue on 

 one side) , then quickly transfer the plant to a piece of mounting 

 paper. Now you are ready for framing. If a plant is too delicate 

 for this treatment it may curl when it is picked up from the 

 glue you can mount it by placing thin strips of gummed paper 

 at intervals across the stem. 



Some Plants Have No Green Parts 



Knowing as we do how vital "leaf-green" is to the growth of 

 plants, the mushroom and other fungi that develop without a 

 trace of green seem rather mysterious to us. No wonder that 

 generations ago, when not too much was known about plant life, 

 people stood in superstitious awe of the magic "toadstools," which 

 seemed to spring out of nowhere and were sometimes good food 

 and sometimes poisonous. When you are on a woodlands hike 

 with your youngster, especially in late summer or early fall, you 

 can get a lot more out of your trip if you watch for members of 

 this fungus family growing wild. 



WHAT FUNGI FEED ON 



Lacking leaf-green, mushrooms are unable to manufacture 

 starch, sugar, and other elements, and must absorb them from 

 dead wood, withered leaves, or soils enriched by remains of plants. 

 They are the kind of fungi we know as "saprophytes" (living on 

 dead or decaying matter) , and they are valuable plants because 

 they prevent forests from becoming choked with dead wood. As 



