196 



STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



wood. The species vary greatly in form. Some are provided with 

 a more or less regular cap and a stem, while others are shelving or 

 bracket shaped, and still others are spread out over the surface of 

 the wood (resupinate). 



Hydnum coralloides Scop. Edible. Among the very beautiful species 

 of the genus Hydnum is the coral one, Hydnum coralloides. It grows 

 in woods forming large, beautiful, pure white tufts on rotten logs, 

 branches, etc. The appearance of one of these tufts is shown in 



Figure 195. Hydnum coralloides. Entirely white (natural size). Copyright. 



Fig. 195. There is a common stem which arises from the wood, 

 and this branches successively into long, ascending, graceful shoots. 

 The spines are scattered over the entire under side of these branches 

 and hang down for 3-6 mm. They are not clustered at the ends of the 

 branches, as in the bear's head hydnum, and the species can be easily 

 distinguished by giving attention to the form of the branching and 

 the distribution of the spines on the under side of the branches. 

 Figure 195 represents a plant collected at Ithaca, and it is natural 



