COMMON AMERICAN MUSHROOMS 



583 



part of which are the dead leaves themselves. All fungi 

 reproduce from minute spores, resembling the pollen of 

 certain green-leaved plants, and these spores are entirely 

 different structures as compared with true seeds. By 

 careful examination, these fungi-spores will be found to 

 exist in particular locali- 

 ties on the matured speci- 

 mens of the various fami- 

 lies and genera all the way 

 from brackets to common 

 mold. 



Most people who live in 

 or go into the country, 

 know a puff-ball when they 

 see one ; they know very 

 well that when it is struck 

 or stepped upon, it sends 

 out a shower of fine, light 

 brown or gray dust. Now 

 this dust is made up of 

 millions of puff-ball spores ; 

 and if they are ripe and 

 fall in places presenting 

 favorable conditions for 

 their development and 

 growth, they will, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, pro- 

 duce a large number of 

 young puff-balls. 



The economics of the 

 mushroom trade and con- 



FIG. 9 THE FRUIT OF A PARASITE 



.\n enlargement to about half the size of nature of the group 

 seen to the extreme left in Figure 8. This fungus is nothing 

 more or less than the fruit of a parasite; and when scraped off 

 with a knife or other tool, are soon replaced by fresh groups of 

 the same species. A fallen oak near where these grew had great 

 patches of this fungus growing upon its bark; owing to their 

 brilliant color they could be seen for a considerable distance 

 through the woods, where there was nothing to obstruct the view. 



sumption, and the laws controlling the indiscriminate 

 marketing of such products, in that fatal cases of mush- 

 room poisoning may be reduced, are all large questions 

 that need not be taken up in connection with the present 

 article. The interest in all this has vastly increased since 



the developments following 

 upon some of the results of 

 the World War. In one of 

 his admirable articles. Prof. 

 Louis C. C. Krieger has 

 said that "to ask a person 

 to gather his own mush- 

 rooms for the table, with- 

 out previous instruction 

 that will enable him to 

 avoid the deadly kinds, is 

 equivalent to, if not worse 

 than, inviting him to put 

 his unprotected hand into 

 a den of rattlesnakes. In- 

 deed, of the two risky per- 

 formances, the latter would 

 be the safer; for there are 

 at least two known anti- 

 dotes for rattlesnake ven- 

 om, whereas there is none 

 for the poison or poisons of 

 the exceedingly common 

 Amanita phalloides and its 

 multitudinous forms and 

 varieties." The present 



FIG. 10 THE PEPPERY LACTARIUS 



A species not always easy to find. It is a typical funnel-shaped fungus, with a peppery taste and a slight aromatic odor. This 

 fleshy, creamy-white toadstool is without a veil or annulus, but with a very short stem, and any part of it exudes a milky juice 

 when cut or broken. It grows from 3 to 12 inches in height, the cap usually spread out ; it is a midsummer variety. 



