SOME EDIBLE AND POISONOUS FUNGI. 461 



HYPHOLOMA. APPENDICULATUM. 



Another fungus should be mentioned in this connection, Hypholoma 

 appendiculaium, since it is very common and edible, although not so 

 good as either of the two species just described. It abounds during 

 all the summer months in grassy places, growing on or near the 

 remains of old stumps, and is found in dense clusters. The pileus is 

 quite thin and conical or bell-shaped, and the edges soon split radi- 

 ally and roll upward. The very narrow gills are purjjle brown, and 

 the stalk, which has no ring, is very slender and tubular. The color 

 is a translucent white, often with a purple tinge, as the gills show 

 through the thin pileus, but when young and wet it may have a tinge 

 of yellow or brown. Although small and watery, the pileus being 

 hardl}^ 2 inches broad and the stalk not more than 2 or 3 inches long 

 and not much over a quarter of an inch broad, it is often so abun- 

 dant that enough for a meal can easily be collected in a short time. 



THE HORSETAIL FUNGUS. 



With the exception of the royal agaric and Amanita i-uhescens, 

 noted only in passing, the edible species so far mentioned belong to 

 that division of the Agaricini, or toadstool family, which has brown- 

 ish-purple spores and gills. To another division, in which the spores 

 are black, belongs the genus Coprinus, which includes some common 

 and important fungi. The species grow mainly on dung, and most 

 of them are small and perishable, but a few attain a considerable size. 

 PL XXV represents the horsetail or maned agaric ( Coprinus comatus), 

 one of the best of our fungi, which appears in the autumn near the 

 close of the season of fungi. It grows in dense but not very numerous 

 clusters among grass and by roadsides, and its stalks extend a con- 

 siderable distance into the ground. As shown on PL XXY, the pileus, 

 instead of expanding, remains in the form of a closed umbrella, and 

 does not roll outward until it begins to decay, when, instead of putre- 

 fying in the manner of most fungi, it quickly dissolves, forming a 

 black, inky fluid. The pileus is white and is covered with large, f ringy 

 scales, to which it owes its name. The gills are broad, lie close to the 

 stalk, and turn from pink to black. The stalk is not infrequently 

 8 or 10 inches long, hollow, at first with a fibrous string in the axis, 

 brittle, and has a small ring, which is not attached like those pre- 

 viously described, but hangs loose around the stalk, so that it can 

 be moved up and down. The horsetail is not likely to be mistaken 

 for any poisonous species. While it does not in ordinary seasons 

 appear until autumn, in exceptional cases it appears in small quanti- 

 ties earl}^ in the summer, then disappearing to return again in autumn. 



Two other very common species of Coprinus are found from spring 

 to autumn and form very large and crowded groups, not infrequently 

 containing a hundred specimens, around the bases of trees, posts, and 



