'262 AGARICS. PART H. 



ground without any cover ; the pileus or cap may show 

 every variety from a smooth polished surface to hairs or 

 shaggy scales, but some of the more highly organized 

 have a general wrapper or volva, which encloses the 

 whole plant, and bursting at last, it leaves some traces 

 behind. In others, the pileus is at first clothed with 

 fibres, which vanish or leave traces on its margin form- 

 ing a veil or curtain. Some have a membrane attached 

 to the stem, either connected with the volva, or spread 

 under the gills when young, and, when more or less per- 

 sistent, it is called a ring. 



The spawn, which is the earliest product of the spore, 

 has a great variety of forms. Sometimes it is filamentous, 

 .sometimes tubular, creeping extensively, or concentrated 

 In a felted mass, sparingly developed, or produced in 

 abundance. Besides, it is developed in a great variety 

 of situations often difficult to detect. The fructification 

 is alone evident, under innumerable forms, which are as 

 rapid in their growth as they are for the most part 

 lephemeral in their duration. Some 'species have been 

 known to acquire several square inches of surface in a 

 single night ; the plant, however, is often far advanced 

 .before it appears above ground. Some Agarics grow 

 most readily after thunder storms and abundant rains ; 

 .certain species are always single ; others grow in dense 

 aggregations ; while in several species there is a tendency 

 to assume a circular arrangement, and that not merely 

 when the spawn is perennial, but when the whole exist- 

 ence of the fungus is confined to a few days or weeks. 



A mass of spawn is not always produced by a single 

 spore, but by a collection of spores, from whence it 

 spreads in every direction, and forms a common belt. 

 In the Agaricus arvensis, Marasmius Oreades, &c., it 

 spreads in a circle and bears fruit ; and, as it continues 

 to spread, the same process takes place at each cir- 

 cumference. In this way are formed the Fairy Rings 



