68 BRITISH EDIBLE FUNGI. 



This is a good species to serve as an illustration of 

 the origin of the ring, or frill, which surrounds the 

 upper part of the stem in some of the mushrooms. 

 Whilst the cap is still unopened, and represents about 

 two-thirds of a globe, the gills of the under surface 

 will be observed to be covered by a white membrane 

 which reaches from the stem, horizontally, to the 

 edge of the cap. In this stage, if an individual 

 specimen is collected and carried into a warm room, 

 the bottom of the stem placed in a vessel of water, in 

 the course of an hour or two the cap will open out, 

 so as to become flatter, and in doing so the edge 

 recedes from the stem, which causes the membrane 

 to tear away gradually from the edge of the cap, and 

 fall down, like a broad white frill, or ring, towards the 

 stem, the inner edge still remaining attached to the 

 stem. In this way the gills will become exposed. 

 So that the ring is a membrane, which at first covers 

 and protects the gills whilst young, afterwards falling 

 away at the outer edge, but remaining attached by 

 the inner edge to the stem, sometimes it is made up 

 of thin delicate threads, like cobweb, and at other 

 times it is absent or very small. 



The true warted mushrooms have all of them a 

 large membranous ring (except in a small and 

 distinct group, in which the ring is absent). It is 

 well worth while taking the trouble to make the 

 acquaintance of the species described above, because 

 when once it is accurately identified, there never need 



