60 TOADSTOOL OR MUSHROOM. 



3. The gills. 



4. At the base of the stalk are usually some fragments of 

 the mycelium from which the "toadstool" grew. 



5. Divide a " toadstool" lengthwise, and observe the inner 

 structure. 



6. Dissect very young and older specimens, and observe: 



a. The gill-chambers, the floor of which becomes thinner 

 with age, and forms: 



b. The veil, ruptured as the pileus expands. 



c. The ring, a scar-like remnant of the union of veil 

 and stalk. 



7. Make drawings illustrating the structures seen. 



MINUTE STRUCTURE, 

 i. Dissect carefully a piece of the stalk and observe the 



arrangement of hyphae which compose it. Draw. 

 With dissected material from the gill or preferably with 

 especially prepared sections that wQre cut transverse to the 

 flat surface of the gill, 1 study its structure. Observe: 



a. A loosely interwoven mass of hyphae in its middle, and a 

 denser mass at the surface. What position do the 

 ends of hyphae have? 



b. The basidia, club-like ends of hyphae, which arise from 

 the denser surface of the gill. 



c. Paraphyses, the sterile filaments parallel to the basidia. 



d. The spores, a definite number formed upon each 

 basidium, each spore arising from 



c. A sterigma, a short horn-like process. 

 /. Draw. 



1 Care must be taken to obtain proper material for such sections. If 

 it is too old, the spores will be gone from the basidia, and if too young, 

 they cannot be readily demonstrated. 



