KEPOET OF THE STATE BOTANIST 241 



mushroom, Agaricus silvaticus, a.nd not having tested their edible 

 qualities, they are, for the present, dismissed 'from further 

 consideration, 



Coprinus Pers. 



The genus Coprinus is easily distinguished from all others by 

 the character of the gills of the mature plant. These assume a 

 black color and slowly dissolve into an inky fluid which, in the 

 larger plants at least, falls to the ground in drops. The thin caps 

 of some species also partly or wholly waste away in this manner. 

 Because of the production of this black fluid, which has some- 

 times been used as a poor substitute for ink, these plants have 

 received the name "inky fungi." In a few species the spores are 

 brown, but generally they are black. Some of the plants liter- 

 ally grow up in a night and perish in a day. Many of the species 

 inhabit dung or manure heaps, as the generic name implies. Most 

 of them are so small, thin and perishable that they are not valu- 

 able as food. Even the larger ones have thin caps, and those 

 deemed edible should be gathered when young and cooked 

 promptly if used as food. Three species are here noticed. 



Cap whitish C . comatus. 



Cap grayish or grayish-brown C. atramentarius. 



Cap buff-yellow or tawny-yellow C. micaceus. 



Coprinus comatus F}-. 



Shaggy Copkinus. 



Plate 10. 



Pileas at first oblong or nearly cylindrical, becoming campanu- 

 late or expanded and splitting on the margin, adorned with scat- 

 tered yellowish 'scales, whitish ; lamellje crowded, wiiite, then 

 tinged with red or pink, finally black and dripping an inky fluid; 

 stem rather long, hollow, smooth or slightly tibrillose, wiiite or 

 whitish, at first with a slight movable annulus ; spores elliptical, 

 black, .0005 to .0007 in. long. 



The Shaggy coprinus, or Maned agaric as it is sometimes called, 

 is one of the largest and finest species of the genus. When young 

 the cap is quite long and narrow, but with advancing ago the 

 margin spreads outward, becomes split in several places and 

 curves upward. The surface is adorned with loose fibrils and 

 with scales or spots which appear to be due to the breaking up 

 31 



