452 NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



warts on the cap, but has a well-marked veil on the stem. 

 It grows in open meadows and pastures, though species 

 much like it are found in woods. 



This is considered far enough for elementary pupils to go in the 

 classification of the agarics. Still, many others are likely to be brought 

 in, and it may be helpful, rather than otherwise, to distinguish a few 

 of the more prominent groups. 



The shaggy mane and ink cap, of the genus Coprinus, are com- 

 mon about rich lawns and barnyards after wet weather. The spores 

 are black, and the gills turn black and liquefy as the plant reaches 

 maturity. The black fluid thus formed, mixed with the spores, falls in 

 inky drops from the cap. If taken before the gills turn black, they 

 are edible. 



The milky mushrooms, of the genus Lacta7-ius, form an interest- 

 ing group, easily distinguished by the milky, or colored, juice which 

 e.\udes from any part of the plant when it is broken. The juice of 

 these mushrooms may be tasted if care is taken not to swallow any 

 of it, and those that are not bitter or peppery may be considered 

 edible. 



The Russidas (Lat. russns, " red ") are the brilliantly colored mush- 

 rooms — red, pink, purple, blue, green, and yellow — that enliven the 

 woods of summer and early fall. In form and fragile structure they 

 resemble the milky mushrooms, but none of them exude any milky 

 juice when wounded. One of them, R. emetica, is rated as poisonous 

 by most authors, but its acrid taste is sufficient to prevent a person 

 from eating enough to do serious harm. In color it passes from rose, 

 when young, to blood red and finally to tawny or yellow when old. 

 Other species of russulas which have a mild and agreeable flavor 

 are considered edible. 



Pore- or Tube-Bearing Mushrooms, Polyporacecz. — Numbers 

 of mushrooms will probably be brought in which resemble 

 the agarics in form but, instead of gills, have innumerable 

 tubes or pores, from which the spores are dropped. Most 

 of these, except the Boleti, grow upon wood, stumps, and 



