510 BULLETIN 168. (50) 



have not been washed by rains. The mature plants are 8 cm. 

 to 10 cm. high (3-4 inches), and the pileus varies from 2 cm. 

 to 4 cm. in diameter. The stem is quite slender and the pileus 

 and gills quite thin as compared with the shaggy-mane and ink- 

 cap. The gills are not nearly so crowded as they are in the two 

 other species. The pileus is tan color, or light buff , or yellow- 

 ish brown. Except near the center it is marked with quite 

 prominent striations which radiate to the margin. These stria- 

 tions are minute furrows or depressed lines, and form one of the 

 characters of the species, being much more prominent than on 

 the pileus of the ink-cap. 



In wet weather this coprinus melts down into an inky fluid 

 also, but in quite dry weather it remains more or less firm, and 

 sometimes it does not diliquesce at all, but dries with all parts 

 well preserved though much shrunken of course as is the case 

 with all the very fleshy fungi. 



Many persons who are fond of mushrooms do not venture to 

 collect and eat other species then the Agaricus campestris. Many 

 will tramp considerable distances to collect the ' ' pink gilled 

 agaric," and pass by on the street, or perhaps in their dooryard, 

 a clump of coprinus sufficient for a meal. During the spring and 

 early summer the Agaricus campestris is not to be had in the 

 open, while these three species of coprinus usually grow in 

 abundance, though the shaggy-mane is usually more abundant 

 in the autumn than in the spring. 



During the autumn of 1898 the common " pink gilled mush- 

 room " {Agaricus campestris] was very rare in the vicinity of 

 Ithaca. This has led a few to search for other forms. Two of 

 my friends during October brought into my office a peck basket 

 filled with mushrooms, and wished to know if they were "good to 

 eat." Nearly all of the plants were the "ink-cap " (C. atramen- 

 tarius], there were four or five of the shaggy-mane (C. comatus), 

 and a single " glistening coprinus " (C. micaceus). All of them 

 good to eat and collected in a single dooryard. One of these 

 gentlemen had never before ventured to partake of any other 

 species than the Agaricus campestris. 



During the early summer of 1897, while collecting a " mess " 



