52 



itself in the cap. The gills change to a bluish color, then to a 

 blackish, and then begin- to melt or "deliquesce" , changing into 

 a fluid black as ink, composed of water and the now ripe and 

 black spores. While this change is going on in the gills, the 

 edge of the thin cap becomes lacerated, bends up and out, and 

 when the deliquescence is completed is found on the top of the as 

 yet smooth and unimpaired stem, --a flattened mass with back- 

 ward rolled edge, and dripping with the black fluid. As soon as 

 the gills commence to discolor, the plant is unfit for food, while it 

 is at its best before the ring has become separated from cap and 

 stem, or while it is still in the button stage. Wash the caps be- 

 fore cooking to get off any dirt, but especially to remove the 

 fluffy scales. 



The Ink-Cap. 



(Coprinus atramentarius] Plate IV. 



This plant somewhat resembles the Shaggy-Mane, but in our 

 State it is nearly always devoid of scales. It is always egg-shaped 

 or oval, not cylindric like the last, and of a darker color, varying 

 from ashen gray to smoky brown, almost always "striate" or fur- 

 rowed, with a shorter stem and no separating ring, but in its place 

 an irregular and prominent line surrounding the stem near its 

 base. It is not nearly so common as is the Shaggy-Mane. It is 

 sometimes found growing singly, but more commonly in clusters 

 from 3 to 12. The stem is smooth above the ring, and somewhat 

 scaly below it. In the specimens shown in the plate, the ring has 

 been entirely washed off in freeing the plants from the heavy clay 

 in which they grew. The plant melts away to scatter its spores 

 just as does the Shaggy-Mane, and receives its name of "Ink 

 Cap" from the striking resemblance the cap bears at this period 

 to an open ink-well. Mr. Mcllvaine tells us that he has used the 

 fluid as an ink with which to draw a picture of the fungus. 



PLATE 11. The Morel Morchella bispora. Slightly reduced in size. 



