54 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



at first, becoming yellow with age. The stem varies in length, 

 but is usually about three inches long. When growing from the 

 side of stumps, it becomes variously curved. The gills are 

 squarely jointed to the stem, and are more or less crowded. At 

 first they are a green-yellow in color, but become dingy brown 

 at maturity. The veil is often present on the young plants. 

 These plants have long been considered edible, and the writer 

 has eaten them frequently. However, when he was in Dr. Peck's 

 laboratory a year ago. Dr. Peck called his attention to a letter 

 he had just received, stating that two ladies had been taken ill 

 after eating plants like the specimens sent. These plants were 

 without doubt Hypholoma siihlateritium, and from the symptoms 

 it was suspected that the illness was caused by indigestion which 

 followed a hearty meal of this fungus. 



COPRINUS Pers. 



This genus has but few species, so far as now known, and 

 these are quite characteristic. Belonging, as it does, to the black- 

 spored group, the gills are quickly coated with an abundance of 

 jet-black spores. The gills are membranous at first, but quickly 

 deliquesce into a fluid which becomes black because of the 

 abundance of spores. The plants are commonly found on lawns, 

 in flower beds, or on decaying stumps. They spring up very 

 quickly during the night, and the sun's rays cause them to dis- 

 appear. The plants vary much in size, some being very fragile, 

 others firmer. Their delicate texture makes them all the more 

 desirable for food. 



Coprinus comatus Fr. Shaggy Mane. (Plate XXVI, Bull. 

 No. 3.) The large, distinct, " shaggy " appearance of the cap of 

 this species makes it especially noticeable. It is more abundant 

 in late summer, but is occasionally found in June and July. The 

 cap is larger, and the flesh is firmer in substance, than in other 

 species of this genus. The cap is at first bell-shaped, expanding 

 as it matures, until the margin finally becomes uprolled and more 

 or less torn and split. The gills are very broad; white at first, 

 they soon become tinged with pink, and finally become deep 

 purple and dissolve into an ink-like substance. The stems are 

 occasionally ten inches long and over a half-inch thick, but these 

 are on plants growing in exceptionally rich soil. Ordinarily the 



