170 



MYCOLOGY 



The spores are brown, very long and many-celled, 100 to 120 by 4 to 

 7At. G. glutinosum, another American species, grows on the ground 

 among the grass. It is black and smooth with the ascigerous portion 

 one-third the entire length of the fruit body and in shape oblong- 

 lanceolate, slightly viscid. The upper portion passes imperceptibly 

 into the stalk. The spores are eight in number, arranged parallel to 

 each other with obtuse ends and three-septate, 65 to 75 by 5 to 6/*, 

 and brown in color. 



Leotia chlorocephala is a fungus found in West Virginia, New Jersey 



and Pennsylvania. It is cespitose 

 in habit and grows in mixed woods 

 on moist ground, from July until 

 late frosts. It is green and has a 

 gelatinous appearance. The pileus 

 is depressed globose, more or less 

 wavy and with an incurved border, 

 in color a dark verdigris-green. It 

 is edible. Another species, £. lubrica, 

 is found on the ground in woods from 

 North Carolina and Minnesota to 

 Massachusetts. It is yellowish, olive- 

 green with an irregular hemispheric, 

 inflated, wavy cap. 



Family 2. Helvellace^.— The 

 fruit body in these edible fungi is 

 fleshy and divided into a hollow stalk 

 and ascigerous expanded portion. 

 The upper part is cap-like and 

 covered externally by the ascigeral 

 layer. The asci are club-shaped and open by the lifting off of a distinct 

 The spores are ellipsoid, colorless, or bright yellow and smooth. 



Fig. 61. — Geoglossum hirsulum. 

 A, Appearance of fungus; B, asci with 

 paraphyses; C spore. A, natural 

 size; B, 300/1; C, 400/1. (Die naliir- 

 lichen Pflanzenfamilien I. i, p. 165.) 



lid. 



Five genera are included in the family: Morchella, Gyromitra, Verpa, 

 Cidaris and Helvetia. This family includes the largest of the sac fungi! 

 Some species of Gyromitra weigh over a pound and forms of Morchella 

 may growafoot tall. The cap of Morchella is more or less deeply ridged, 

 crosswise and lengthwise and has a delightful odor. The broad stem' 

 Morel, Morchella crassipes, has a cap 4 to 10 cm. tall and 3 to 6 cm. 

 wide at the base, in color tan to tan-brown, with deep pits and wavy to 



