26 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETr. 



sometimes suddenly and myriads at once. From the surface of 

 a Peziza, for example, as you look at it, there comes a little puff 

 of smoke as the ejected spores are shot into the air to be blown 

 away in a tiny cloud. Pezizas, Helvellas, and Morels are some 

 of the Discomycetes, a class excellently treated for Great Britain 

 by Phillips. Multitudes of fungi besides the Discomycetes have 

 a fructification which consists of asci, and the comprehensive 

 name for all of them is Ascomycetes. 



Most of the mushrooms gathered by the increasing number of 

 fungus hunters, at least by beginners in the study, belong to that 

 class of Basidiomycetes called Hymenomycetes. Among these 

 an Agaric is at once recognized by its gills ; a Boletus or Poly- 

 porus by its pores ; a Hydnum by its tooth-like projections ; a 

 Clavaria by its coral-like appearance ; and a Tremella by its 

 gelatinous nature. So far identification is a simple matter ; but 

 to go farther and decide upon the species requires close study, 

 accurate observation of details of structure, ability to interpret 

 published descriptions, and most of all experience. Many of you 

 know well enough the difficulties you meet in " running down " 

 a flowering plant in Gray's Manual — difficulties which arise often 

 from incomplete knowledge of the structure of the plant, but 

 sometimes from the lack of sharply defined and conspicuous 

 characters in the species itself. The same difficulties meet you 

 in the determination of mushrooms, aggravated by the lack of a 

 Gray's Manual and not infrequently by incomplete or misleading 

 descriptions in the books available. 



The most frequent puzzles in identification are among the 

 Agaricini, or gill-bearing mushrooms, whose numbers enormously 

 exceed those of any others you are likely to collect. Since for 

 the most part they are built on the same general plan, and re- 

 semble one another at first sight much more strongly than they 

 differ, the task of separation demands close scrutiny and a prac- 

 tised eye. Every detail of structure must be noted : the shape, 

 surface, color, and markings of the cap ; the thickness and char- 

 acter of the flesh ; the color, shape, and method of attachment of 

 the gills ; the nature of the stem inside and out ; the presence or 

 absence of ring, veil, and volva, and the nature of each ; and also 

 the color and sometimes the shape and size of the spores. No 

 permanent character, whether gross or minute, must escape the 

 eye. 



