POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 103 



MAGPIE MUSHROOM. 



Coprinus picaceus. 



(PiATE XIV. Fig. 1.) 



In some respects this resembles the Inky- 

 Mushroom, but it grows upon the ground 

 singly, and not in tufts. It is found by 

 roadsides and by-paths in woods, but is 

 nowhere common. We have met with it 

 in September, but the gills soon deliquesce 

 and drop away in an inky fluid, and 

 nothing is left of it but a black patch. 

 The pileus is bell-shaped, at first pale, 

 then the cuticle splits and adheres in 

 irregular patches. As the gills become 

 black, so the cap darkens, the thin sub- 

 stance permitting the blackness to show 

 through, until the cap is pied with light 

 patches on a black stratum. The stem is 

 straight and erect, about six inches long, 

 a little bulbous at the base, and white, 

 except where stained by the spores. As 

 the gills deliquesce it acquires a foetid 



