THE GLISTENING COPRINUS. 



{Coprinus micaceusJ) 



Although bred only from the decay of higher organisms, these mushrooms are not without 

 their own beauty of shape and color. — Hugh Macmillan. 



While walking through the streets of 

 a country town during the spring, sum- 

 mer or autumn months one is likely to 

 see small mushrooms — toadstools, the 

 country lad will call them — pushing their 

 way upward through the crevices of the 

 loosely laid flagstone or board sidewalk. 

 More frequently they will be observed 

 growing in dense masses by the way- 

 side, usually near an old and decaying 

 stump of a tree. In many instances these 

 mushrooms will prove to be the Glisten- 

 ing Coprinus. From April to Novem- 

 ber, though more commonly in spring 

 and autumn, they appear, and it is not an 

 uncommon occurrence when a single 

 stump will yield several crops in a sea- 

 son. Sometimes the group of mushrooms 

 seems to grow directly from the earth 

 and are apparently far from decaying 

 wood. However, there is probably a piece 

 of wood hidden beneath the surface of the 

 ground upon which this dependent plant 

 is being nourished. 



The clusters of the Glistening Cop- 

 rinus are frequently very large and con- 

 tain a number of individual plants. 

 Thus, though the plant itself is small, 

 the whole cluster will furnish quite a 

 harvest. In Europe this Mushroom is 

 riot included among the edible forms. 

 Dr. Peck suggests that this may be due 

 to its small size, but its abundance and 

 the ease with which it may be procured 

 compensate for its lack of size. By those 

 who have eaten it repeatedly without 

 harm it is considered a delicacy and not 

 inferior to many other species. When 

 raw it has a flavor of nuts. 



The genus Coprinus, to which the 

 musroom of our illustration belongs, in- 



cludes a number of species which are 

 commonly called Ink Caps. All are easily 

 identified, for soon after the spores have 

 matured the plates that bear them are 

 resolved into an inky fluid, especially 

 in damp or wet weather. Their life his- 

 tories are nearly completed while still be- 

 neath the surface of the ground. It is 

 only when their spores are quite mature 

 that they seek the air above the surface, 

 pushing themselves out in the night time 

 only to melt away in inky drops during 

 the day. Sometimes when the weather 

 is not damp all the parts may dry and 

 the Mushroom remain well preserved. 



It is only when young that the Glisten- 

 ing Coprinus should be gathered for food, 

 and the specimens should be immediately 

 cooked, for they are far from attractive 

 when they have turned black. It is quite 

 easy, even for a novice, to distinguish 

 this Mushroom. All the Ink Caps have 

 an "oblong or nearly cylindrical cap, 

 which does not expand until ready to 

 dissolve in inky drops." The cap of the 

 species of our illustration when young is 

 covered with glistening scales which ap- 

 pear like fine grains of mica, and is buff 

 or tawny yellow in color. The cap is 

 thin, and early in its life is ovate, but 

 later it becomes bell-shaped. 



Nina L. Marshall suggests that "Shel- 

 ley must have had the Ink Caps in mind 

 when he wrote of the fungi in the garden 

 of The Sensitive Plant' " : 



Their mass rotted off them, flake by flake, 

 Till the thick stalk stuck like a murderer's 



- stake, 

 Where rags 'of loose flesh tremble on high, 

 Infecting the winds that wander by. 



Elizabeth Willis Wood worth. 



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