222 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



There are two or three species of stink horn fungi, species of 

 Phallus, which, when old, bear some resemblance to morels. 

 They have a pitted cap supported on a stem, but the cap has an 

 opening in the top and the stem is porous, and besides, these 

 plants have such an intolerable odor that no one would think of 

 eating them. It is not likely that any one would mistake them 

 for morels. 



In the annexed table the distinctive features of the species are 

 indicated. All the species are so much alike that the usual 



botanical diagnosis will be omitted. 



Margin of the cap united to the stem 1 



Margin of the cap free from the stem 3 



1 Cap rounded or oval M. esculenta. 



l^Cap oblong or cylindrical M. deliciosa. 



1 Cap conical or oblong-conical 2 



2 Cap distinctly broader than the stem M. conica. 



2 Cap scarcely broader than the stem M. angusticeps. 



3 Cap free from the stem to the middle M. semilibera. 



3 Cap free from the stem to the top M. bispora. 



Morchella esculenta Pers. 

 Common Morel. 



Plate 3. Figs. 1 to 3. 



In the Common morel the cap is generally a little longer than 

 broad. It is sometimes nearly globose and sometimes slightly 

 narrowed toward the top. The pits or depressions in its surface 

 are rather broader than in other species and more rounded, thereby 

 giving the surface an appearance more like that of a honeycomb. 



The plant is commonly two to four inches high, with a stem 

 a half inch or more thick. 



It has long been known as an edible species, as its specific 

 name implies. 



Morchella conica Pers. 

 Conical M rel. 



Plate 4. Figs. 1 to 4. 



The Conical morel has the cap conical or oblong-conical, as its 

 name indicates. The longitudinal ridges on its surface run more 

 regularly from top to base than in the Common morel. They are 

 connected by short transverse ridges which are so distant from 

 each other or so incomplete that the resulting pits or depressions 



