BLACK-SPORED AGARICS. 37 



As the plant ages, the next inner layers of the pileus grow less 

 rapidly, so that the white layer beneath the brown is torn up into an 

 intricate tangle of locks and tufts, or is frazzled into a delicate pile 

 which exists here and there between well formed tufts. While all 



Figure 35. Coprinus comatus, sections of the plants in Fig. ^;^ (natural size). 



present the same general characters there is considerable individual 

 variation, as one can see by comparing a number of different plants. 

 Figure 34 shows one of the interesting conditions. There is little of 

 the brown color, and the outer portion of the pileus is torn into long 

 locks, quite evenly distributed and curled up at the ends in an inter- 



