could never see that it 
was any better to eat 
than its relatives. 
All of the morels 
are distinctly spring 
forms, and I do not 
remember ever having 
found them after, per- 
haps, the first of June. 
Last season, while 
looking for morels in 
a favorite woods I 
found for the first time 
the large Gyromitra 
brunnea. This is con- 
sidered a rather rare 
form, and I was inter- 
ested in investigating 
it, for it is one of the 
mushrooms about 
whose edibility the 
doctors do not always 
agree. It is a mush- 
room of unusual but 
pleasing appearance. 
The stem was white in 
color, short and thick, 
about two inches in di- 
ameter, and of an ir- 
regular shape in cross- 
section. The top or cap was much expanded, and foliated, 
though not pitted as are the caps of the morels. In some 
specimens the cap measured seven or eight inches in height, 
and as much across, and was of a dark reddish color. In 
texture they were similar to the morels, but seemed crisper 
and more “meaty.” They grew in a row down an old and 
much decayed log, and there was evidence of a previous 
crop the same season. This would indicate that this is a 
rather early form, as at the time of which I am writing the 
Morchella semilibra had not entirely disappeared. 
I ate a few bits of the fungus raw, and was pleased with 
its fresh, nutty flavor. A friend who is an enthusiastic 
mushroom hunter told me that he had eaten this same Gyro- 
mitra (which he called the lake-colored morel) several years 
ago, so I decided to try some of the specimens after cooking. 
After very carefully washing them inside and out with salt 
water, I cooked the tops for ten minutes in milk, and then 
thickened them with a bit of flour. The result was a dish of 
the finest mushrooms that I have ever tasted. They were 
Morchella conica 
The largest of the morels 
A common edible puffball 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
July, 
1909 
so good that the entire 
family ate much more 
than a normal quantity 
with no other ill effect 
than an_ unsatisfiable 
desire for more. Cases 
of “poisoning” attrib- 
uted to this mushroom 
are doubtless traceable 
to the fact that the 
tops afford hiding 
places for many smal) 
insects which could 
readily be overlooked 
unless special care is 
taken in their prepara- 
tion. For this very 
reason the cooking of 
mushrooms of all sorts 
is a task with which 
the ordinary cook 
should never be 
trusted. The proper 
preparation of any 
fungus for cooking 
requires care and pa- 
tience. It can not be ga 
done hurriedly and ee 
done well, and many _— 
cases of sickness fol- 
lowing the eating of 
mushrooms can doubt- 
less be traced to carelessness on the part of the cook. 
Another class of mushrooms with which a novice can readily 
and safely become acquainted is that commonly known as 
the ink caps. These toadstools belong to the genus Coprinus, 
and they are all edible, though some are more palatable than 
others. All of them are characterized by having hollow 
stems and black gills and spores. ‘The gills are the fragile 
perpendicular plates suspended from the under side of the 
cap, and in this genus the gills and spores which they contain 
deliquesce with age, turning to an inky mass. This gives 
them the common name of ink cap. In the condition of deli- 
quescence the toadstools are, of course, inedible and uninvit- 
ing, but when they are found soon after coming up they are 
both pleasing to look at and fine to eat. All members of the 
genus should be cooked at once. 
The gray Coprinus grows on dead stumps and logs in 
moist weather, and is one of the choicest members of the 
Morchella_ bispora 
Often associated with M. semilibra 
Morchella semilibra, or “half-free” morel 
