Plowerless-Plant Study 709 



LESSON CLXXIX 

 Mushrooms 

 Leading thought — Mushrooms are the fruiting organs of the fungi which 

 grow in the form of threads, spreading in every direction through the food 

 material. The dust which falls from ripe mushrooms is made up of 

 spores which are not true seeds, but which will start a new growth of the 

 fungus. 



Method — The ideal method would be to study the mushrooms in the 

 field and forest, making an excursion for the purpose of collecting as many 



Dark form of the Amanita {A. phalloides) . Com- 

 pare with white form on page 707. 

 Photo by George F. Atkinson. 



species as possible. But the lesson may be given from specimens brought 

 into the schoolroom by pupils, care being taken to bring with them the 

 soil, dead wood or leaves on which they were found growing. After 

 studying one species thus, encourage the pupils to bring in as many others 

 as possible. There are a few terms which the pupils should learn to use, 

 and the best method of teaching them is to place the diagrams shown on 

 pages 708, 711, 712, on the blackboard, and leave them there for a time. 

 Since mushrooms are especially good subjects for water-color and 

 pencil studies, it would add much to the interest of the work if each pupil, 

 or the school as a whole, should make a portfolio of sketches of all the 

 species found. With each drawing there should be made on a supplemen- 

 tary sheet a spore-print of the species. White paper should be covered 



