SOME TERMS USED IN DESCRIBINCi FUNGI 19 



recognize a cap tliat has been glutinous or viscid, by the shiny 

 appearance of the cap due to the dried-up gluten, and by the frag- 

 ments of grass, moss, leaves, etc., that are glued to the cap by 

 the dried gluten. 



The gills or lamellce 



Many important characters used in the determination of genera 

 are derived from the relative mode of attachment of the gills to the 

 stem, or their entire freedom from it. When the gill is attached 

 or grown to the stem throughout its entire width, as in Fig. 3 

 (Plate A), it is described as adnate. When the gill is rounded off, 

 so that it is attached to the gill by only about half its entire width, 

 it is adnexcd, as in Fig. 4 (Plate A). When the edge of the gill shows 

 a more or less decided rounded indentation near the point of attach- 

 ment to the gill, it is described as sinuate, as shown in Fig. 7 (Plate A). 

 When the gill is attached to the stem throughout its entire width, 

 and also runs down the stem for some distance as a gradually 

 narrowing point, it is described as decurrent (Fig. 8, Plate A). 

 Finally, when the gill is only attached to the cap, and rounds off 

 before it reaches the stem, it is said to be free, as in Fig. 8 (Plate A). 

 The above terms refer only to the relative attachment of the gills 

 to the stem, or their entire freedom from it. It must not for a 

 moment be supposed that in every fungus the characters defined 

 above are as sharply marked as in the diagrams given. Sometimes 

 they are, frequently not, but appear to be intermediate between 

 one type and another. In such instances, other characters pre- 

 sented by the fungus in question will help to decide as to which 

 of the two divisions, so far as the attachment of the gills is concerned, 

 the fungus has to be placed under. When a gill is markedly broadest 

 at the middle, in other words when the free edge or margin of the 

 gill forms a segment of a circle, it is said to be veniricose, as in Fig. 7 

 (Plate A). The anterior portion of a gill is the part nearest to the 

 edge of the cap ; the posterior or base of the gill is that portion 

 nearest to the stem. 



Next we come to some terms which are purely relative, and can 

 only be appreciated after the student has become familiar with a 

 considerable number of species. Gills are said to be distant, that is 

 distant from each other, when they are fairly wide apart ; crowded, 

 when they are fairly close to each other ; qualifying terms also come 

 in, such as someivhat distant or someivhat crou'ded. As there is no 

 fixed point to start from, the student cannot possibly say, on 

 examining his first fungus, whether the gills are in reality distant 

 or crowded. The terms are really relative to what obtains in the 

 particular genus to which the fungus under observation belongs. 

 Gills that might with accuracy be described as crowded in one 

 genus might with equal accuracy be described as somewhat distant 

 if the fungus belong to another genus. The same remarks apply 

 to the terms narrow gills and broad gills. 



