INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS 



To CATCH fish one must know more than the fish ; to find toadstools 

 one must know their season and habitats. They are propagated by their 

 spores and from their mycelium that web-like growth which is the re- 

 sult of spore germination. 



The spores of ground-growing kinds, when shed upon the ground, 

 are washed by rains along the natural drainage ; therefore, when a speci- 

 men of one of these kinds is found, it is well to look up and down the 

 natural water-shed, and follow it. Good reward will usually come of it. 

 Few fungi are strictly solitary. 



Careful observation of the habitats of the various genera and species 

 will enable the student to know what may and may not be expected in 

 a particular locality, and will save many a hunt. 



When an unknown species is found, collect it carefully, examine it 

 closely, note all its features. Determine to which division of fungi it 

 belongs. If to the gilled family (Agaricaceae) obtain the color of the 

 spores (see directions). Look at the chart "Tabular View of Genera 

 of Agaricaceae," Plate I, p. 2 (after W. G. Smith, but enlarged, redrawn 

 and emended). If the spores are white, it belongs to one of the genera 

 in the first column Leucosporae; if pink, to one in the second column, 

 and so on. It is often difficult to determine the spore color, because 

 spores vary through many shades of the typical color. What are called 

 white spores may be creamy, dirty, yellowish or brownish-white ; pink 

 spores will vary from almost white to reddish and salmon-color ; brown 

 spores from light-ochraceous through cinnamon to rusty ; purple spores 

 from dark-violet to purplish-black. Experience alone will enable the 

 student to decide which color series is present. The Genera Charts, pre- 

 ceding the five different color series, show typical spore colors only. 

 Again, authors describing the species frequently fail to see colors alike; 

 if they do, their names for them frequently vary. For instance, few 

 persons will agree upon a color expressed as " livid." 



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