FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLED MUSHROOMS 



Species of Psathyrella 

 Psathyrella disseminata. Plate XIV, Species iii. 



On decaying wood and on the ground, especially about 

 much-decayed stumps, but also on lawns, etc., where buried 

 roots are decaying; crowded together in large tiifts; spring 

 until late autumn, sometimes occurring in greenhouses 

 throughout the year, edible. 



Cap very thin and fragile; oval, becoming bell-shaped when 

 mature; marked with radiating lines or furrows at the edge; 

 whitish, grayish or grayish-brown; small; }i lo }4 inch broad. 



Gills few; far apart; attached to the stem (Atkinson); 

 whitish, turning when old to pinkish piirple (gray, Atkinson) 

 and finally black. 



Stem slender; fragile; hollow; white; i to i>^ inches long. 



Spores black; oblong; 8 by 6 microns in diameter. 



This is a very common and widely distributed species, 

 appearing from late spring until late autumn. They re- 

 semble small species of Coprinus (and like it, become soft 

 when old). Atkinson. 



It resembles the small sulcate-striate (with radial furrows 

 or lines) Coprini but the gills do not dissolve. Peek. 



The genus Psilocybe 



Almost all of the species of this brown-spored genus are 

 of small size and grow upon the ground. Their caps are 

 smooth, with the edge turned in when young. When old, 

 the gills become brown or purpHsh. The stem is rigid and 

 tough, hollow or stuffed. The veil is not to be seen. 



Species of Psilocybe 

 Psilocybe fcenisecii; mowers' mushroom; harvest mush- 

 room. Plate XIV, Species 112. Fig. 31. 

 Cap conic, convex or bell-shaped; surface smooth; water- 

 soaked in appearance when moist (hygrophanous) ; smoky- 



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