MUSHKOOMS AND OTHER COMMON FUNGI. 55 



Morchella esculenta. (Edible.) 



Tlie species of most common occurrence is Morchella esculenta. The plants are 

 from 2 to 4 inches high and about 1£ to 2 inches broad; the cap is ovate or oblong, 

 deeply pitted, dingy yellow, tawny, or greenish; the stem is 1 to 2 inches long, stout, 

 generally hollow, whitish. This species is of wide and abundant occurrence and is 

 found on the ground, particularly along banks of streams or in sandy localities. (PI. 

 XXXV, fig. 2.) 



GYROMITRA. 



The gonus Gyromitra is distinguished from Morchella by the thick 

 brainlike folds of the hymenophore, as contrasted with the irregular 

 polygonal depressions or pits in Morchella, and from Helvella by the 

 hymenophore being basally attached to the stem, while in Helvella 

 the cap is always free. 



Gyromitra esculenta. 



The species is stipitate, the hymenium inflated, gyrose, undulated, hollow, or 

 cavernous, margin attached to the stem, brownish red. This species is generally 2 to 

 4 inches high and 2 to 3 inches broad, although much larger specimens are often found. 

 The plants appear in May and June and show a preference for a sandy habitat in 

 coniferous woods. They are much more abundant in moist or wet seasons. By 

 many authorities Gyromitra esculenta is considered a very excellent edible species, 

 but there are reports of its producing cases of poisoning, and because of the uncertainty 

 we would not class it with the edible species. 



LEOTIA. 



The interesting little stipitate genus Leotia comprises plants com- 

 monly found on rotten wood, moss, along streams or on moist ground, 

 gregarious or in clusters. The cap is irregularly orbicular, supported 

 in the center, and revolute at the margin. Two species, Leotia 

 Morocefhdla and L. lubrica, are of frequent occurrence. Both forms 

 are somewhat gelatinous, but in L. chloroce'phala the cap is dark green 

 and the stem green and twisted, while in L. lubrica the cap is yellowish 

 green and the stem yellow, nearly equal, or inflated at the base and 

 finally hollow. These plants grow from 1J to 3 inches high. (PL 

 XXXVIII, fig. 1; from W. A. Kellerman.) 



URNULA. 

 Urnula craterium. 



This species is commonly known as the black-urn fungus, a designation descriptive 

 of its shape. The plants are about 1£ to somewhat over 2 inches in width and 2 to 3 

 inches in height, dark brown to black, irregularly hemispherical to urn shaped, opening 

 by a stellate rupture, margin incurved, leathery or cheesy in consistency, covered 

 externally with minute black hairs. The stem is stout, sometimes grooved, the same 

 color as the cap, and hairy. Specimens are generally found on half-buried sticks or 

 branches. (PI. XIII, fig. 2.) 



