34 



era delight in the open fields, some in moist dense woods, some on 

 old stumps and logs, some on railroad embankments, while some 

 plebeian but delicious species grow on- manure piles and rotten 

 straw. Of the species specially discussed in this paper, the field 

 Agaric or mushroom loves the grassy pasture, especially when 

 browsed by cattle and enriched by their droppings; the two species 

 of Coprinus cling, at least in Idaho, almost exclusively to railroad 

 cuts and embankments, or to places where engines stand con- 

 siderably and cinders are thrown out; the Ivory Hygrophorus 

 and other species of this genus like pine and fir woods; the 

 Hypholomas are found about rotten stumps and logs; the Boleti 

 like thick fir forests, pine woods, or even open hills near woods; 

 the Hedge-hog mushrooms surprise us as they almost light up the 

 dark forests when standing erect upon or hanging down from fal- 

 len logs; the Puff- balls love open ground and are commonly as- 

 sociated with the field Agaric; the Morels seek retirement in 

 woods or in copses along our hills. The mushroom is a rapid 

 grower and both needs and contains much water. We may 

 therefore conclude by saying that dry, rocky, or sandy places are 

 about the only ones which do not produce mushrooms, while they 

 flourish*best in cool, moist woods and along creeks and rivers. 



Besides their appeal to the palate, these interesting plants have' 

 much attraction for the one who collects them merely for stud} 7 , 

 on account of their strange and beautiful forms. Though many 

 dress themselves in the veriest quaker drabs and grays, they all 

 repay study with the microscope; while many of them are as 

 beautiful in theit colors and as variable and exquisite in their 

 forms as the finest flowers. Every shade of color is represented 

 in fungus or its spores; every shape of umbrella, cap, vase, globe, 

 bush, tree, or map is faithfully portrayed in miniature; every smell 



PLATE} 3. The Shag-gy-Mane Mushroom, Coprinus comatus, at the 

 proper stage for food. Slightly reduced. Later the stem elongates, 

 the loose "ring" drops tp the ground, and the cap "deliquesces", that 

 is melts into a fluid black as ink from the black spores. Of fine flavor, 

 but stronger than the last. 



