CLASSinCATION 317 



C. pezizoides. — Cap about 2 lines across, sessile, thin, cvip-shaped, 

 then reflexed, mealy, subtomentose, whitish ; gills radiating from 

 the centre, rather distant, olive-brown, then dull tawny. 



Distinguished among minute species by the mealy cap. Tlie 

 fungus becomes resupinate, that is, with the gills turned upwards. 



On rotten branches. 



C. ckininophiliis. — Cap 2-3 lines across, flesh rather thick, convex, 

 edge incurved, downy, whitish ; gills narrowed behind, distant, 

 narrow, pale tan ; stem very short or obsolete, excentric. 



Known amongst the small white species by the downy cap and 

 the few distant gills. 



C. riibi. — Cap about j in. across, fleshy, convexo-plane, edge 

 incurved, dingy pale yellowish tan, covered with a very delicate 

 crystalline meal; gills adnato-decurrent, rather broad, greyish, 

 then umber, shghtly ventricose ; stem about 3-5 lines long, incurved, 

 solid, pallid, strigose at the base. 



On dead bramble stems, etc. 



C. putrigenus. — Imbricate. Cap somewhat kidney-shaped, 

 whitish, downy ; gills broad, becoming rusty brown, 1-| in. across. 



On damp wood. 



Sub-Family Melanospore.^ 



Although usually spoken of as the black-spored group, this is not 

 literally correct, for the spores, when seen in the mass, thrown down 

 on white paper, are not absolutely black ; nevertheless the spores 

 so much more nearly approach to black than do the spores of any 

 fungus belonging to the Ochrosporeae, that no confusion can possibly 

 exist. In some books the Melanosporete, as here understood, is 

 broken up into two groups, named, respectively, Melanosporec-e and 

 Porphyrosporeae. In the tirst-named the spores, when seen in the 

 mass, are blackish, without anj^ tinge of purple or brown, whereas 

 in the Porphyrosporete the blackish mass of spores has a tinge of 

 purple or brown. These differences are perhaps more obvious when 

 the spores are examined under the microscope by transmitted light. 

 In the present book it has not been considered advisable to retain 

 these two distinctions, which are of doubtful value. Much variety 

 of structure is met with, perhaps the most remarkable feature 

 being the dehquescence of the gills in the genus Coprinus, where, 

 at maturity, the gills, and in some instances also the cap, become, 

 resolved into a dripping, ink-like fluid. This deliquescence of the 

 gills is present in a less marked condition in certain other species, 

 as in the common mushroom, and in certain species of Hyplioloma. 



As a rule the flesh of the cap is thin in many species, truly 

 membranaceous. On the other hand, in a few species the flesh of 

 the cap is thick, as in the common mushroom, but this is certainly 

 the exception to the general rule. Again, the stem is, as a rule, 



