222 



STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



sented here natural size (Fig. 222). The stem is slender, and the 



rim of the cup is beset with long, strigose hairs. The inner surface 



of the cup is lined with 

 the sacs (asci) and sterile 

 threads (paraph yses), 

 spoken of on a former 

 page, when treating of 

 the fruiting character of 

 the morels and cup-fungi. 

 In this plant the color of 

 the inside of the cup is 

 very beautiful, being a 

 bright red. Another spe- 

 cies, Sarcoscypha coccinea, 

 the scarlet sarcoscypha, 

 is a larger plant which 

 appears in very early 

 spring, soon after the frost 

 is out of the ground. It 

 grows on rotting logs and 

 wood in the woods or in 

 groves. The inside of the 



cup in this species is a rich scarlet, and from this rich color the 



species takes its name. 



Figure 222. Sarcoscypha floccosa (natural 

 size). Copyright. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE FLESHY 



FUNGI. 



In the collection of the higher fungi it is of the utmost importance 

 that certain precautions be employed in obtaining all parts of the 

 plant, and furthermore that care be exercised in handling, in order 

 not to remove or efface delicate characters. Not only is it important 

 for the beginner, but in many instances an " expert " may not be able 

 to determine a specimen which may have lost what undoubtedly seem, 

 to some, trivial marks. The suggestions given here should enable 

 one to collect specimens in such a way as to protect these characters 

 while fresh, to make notes of the important evanescent characters 

 and to dry and preserve them properly for future study. For col- 

 lecting a number of specimens under a variety of conditions the 

 following list of '* apparatus " is recommended : 



