BLACK-SPORED AGARICS. 



43 



roots, etc., buried in the soil. It occurs in dense tufts of ten to thirty 

 or more individuals ; sometimes as many as several hundred spring 

 up from the roots of a dead tree or stump along the streets or in 

 lawns, forming large masses. More rarely it occurs on logs in the 

 woods, and sometimes the plants are scattered in lawns. From the 

 different habits of the plant it is sometimes difficult to determine, 

 especially where the individuals are more or less scattered. How- 

 ever, the color, and 

 the markings on 

 the cap, especially 

 the presence of the 

 small shining scales 

 when not effaced, 

 characterize the 

 plant so that little 

 difficulty is experi- 

 enced in determin- 

 ing it when one has 

 once carefully noted 

 these peculiarities. 

 Figure 43 is 

 from a group of 

 three young indi- 

 viduals photo- 

 graphed just as the 

 margin of thepileus 

 is breaking away 

 from the lower part 

 of the stem, show- 

 ing the del icate 

 fibrous ring which 

 is formed in the 

 same way as in 

 Coprinus atramen- 

 tarius. The ring is 

 much more delicate 



and is rarely seen except in very young specimens which are 

 carefully collected and which have not been washed by rains. The 

 mature plants are 8-10 cm. high (3-4 inches), and the cap varies 

 from 2-4 cm. in diameter. The stem is quite slender and the cap 

 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 



Figure 42.- 



Coprinus atramentarius, section of one of the plants 

 in Fig. 41 (natural size). 



