Some Mushrooms found in Canada. 173 



and am told that it is often on sale in the markets of 

 that place, and that it grows in abundance near Port 

 Hope. 



The Morchella when once seen will always be recog- 

 nized. It has a short, rather smooth stem, surmounted 

 by a deeply pitted bulbous cap, which gives it the 

 name of "Honey-comb Mushroom." The whole plant 

 is hollow. The spores are developed on the entire 

 surface of the cap in little sacs or asci, hence it be- 

 longs to the Ascomycetes. It is very safe to use it for 

 food, as there is no harmful one at all like it. It be- 

 gins to appear in June. Two years ago I found 

 Morchella conica on the edge of a lawn in Sherbrooke, 

 in early June. On the same grounds and at the same 

 time I found coprinus micaceus. My friend whom I 

 was visiting accepted my authority for their edible 

 qualities, and we had them served at table a number of 

 times. The following year they again appeared and 

 furnished an extra dish many times. Morchella conica 

 differs from esculenta, in having a cap shaped like a 

 bent cone and is usually smaller. 



Gasteromycetes, and bear their spores within the body 

 of the plant, something as the blossoms and seeds of 

 the fig are born on the interior of an inflated recep- 

 tacle. All puff-balls are edible when the interior is 

 white and firm, but this soon changes to a yellow color, 

 then to an olive, and later becomes an oozy olive mass, 

 finally turning to a dry powder, .which escapes through 

 chinks or pores according to the nature of the species. 

 In this state children find pleasure in stepping on them 

 to see the smoke puff out. I remember, as a child, 

 being warned not to allow this powder to get into the 

 eyes as it would cause blindness. Of the Lycoperdons 

 we have identified Lycoperdon giganteum, gemmatum 

 pyriformae. The two latter I have found at St. An- 

 drews, but never the former. Two years ago a 

 Lycoperdon giganteum was sent us from St. Anne's de 

 Belle vue, where they were found growing on a lawn 

 one morning. The one sent us measured thirty-eight 

 and one-half inches in circumference, and was four- 

 teen and one-half inches in its greater diameter. The 



