224 STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



Having collected the specimens, they should be properly placed in 

 the basket or collecting case. Those which are quite firm, and not 

 long and slender, can be wrapped with tissue paper (waxed tissue 

 paper if they are viscid or sticky), and placed directly in the basket, 

 with some note or number to indicate habitat or other peculiarity 

 which it is desirable to make at the time of collection. The smaller, 

 more slender and fragile, specimens can be wrapped in tissue paper 

 (a cluster of several individuals can be frequently rolled up together) 

 made in the form of a narrow funnel and the ends then twisted. 

 The shape of the paper enables one to wrap them in such a way as 

 to protect certain delicate characters on the stem or cap. These can 

 then be stood upright in the small pasteboard boxes which should 

 occupy a portion of the basket. A number of such wrappers can be 

 placed in a single box, unless the specimens are of considerable size 

 and numerous. In these boxes they are prevented from being 

 crushed by the jostling of the larger specimens in the basket. These 

 boxes have the additional advantage of preserving certain specimens 

 entire and upright if one wishes later to photograph them. 



Field Notes. The field notes which may be taken upon the collec- 

 tion will depend on circumstances. If one goes to the sorting room 

 soon after the collection is made, so that notes can be made there 

 before the more delicate specimens dry, few notes will answer in the 

 field, and usually one is so busy collecting or hunting for specimens 

 there is not much inclination to make extended notes in the field. 

 But it is quite important to note the habitat and environment, i. e., 

 the place where they grow, the kind and character of the soil, in 

 open field, roadside, grove, woods, on ground, leaves, sticks, stumps, 

 trunks, rotting wood, or on living tree, etc. It is very important 

 also that different kinds be kept separate. The student will recog- 

 nize the importance of this and other suggestions much more than 

 the new ** fungus hunter." 



Sorting Room. When one returns from a collecting trip it is best 

 to take the plants as soon as possible to a room where they can be 

 assorted. An hour or so delay usually does not matter, but the 

 sooner they are attended to the better. Sometimes when they are 

 carefully placed in the basket, as described above, they may be kept 

 over night without injury, but this will depend on the kinds in the 

 collection. Coprini are apt to deliquesce, certain other specimens, 

 especially in warm weather, are apt to be so infested with larvae 

 that they will be ruined by morning, when immediate drying might 

 save them. Other thin and delicate ones, especially in dry weather, 

 will dry out so completely that one loses the opportunity of taking 



