22 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
the others. Some species have a circular cap and central 
stem, like a well-ordered member of the Agaricaceae, others 
might" be mistaken for species of Boletus or Polyporus, while 
still others might be confused with the Qavariaceae. The 
key to this identification, however, is found in the fact that 
no matter what their shape, their six>res are borne on tooth- 
like projections that invarial>ly ix>int flownward from their 
place of origin. 
Like all their relatives the niemlx;rs of the genus Hyd- 
nitni are saprophytes, living on the dead and decaying Imiies 
of other plants. A spore happening to alight upon a decay- 
ing log or dead tree may give rise to a tangle of fungus 
threads that in time will penetrate to the farthest cells and 
send u[>, season after season, from every available point, the 
fruiting parts. In the present instance the fruiting parts 
consist of great quantities of creamy-white fruiting branches 
whose delicate l>eauty has few equals in nature, it is said 
that E!ias Fries, one of the fatliers of mycolog)-. was first at- 
tracted to the study of the fungi by the sight of this beautiful 
plant in the Swedish forests. 
Though the group to which our species belongs is often 
called the i)rickly fungi and hedgehog fungi, the name of 
coral fungus or coral mushroom is so appropriate for the 
plant sinnvn that it persists in spite of the fact that, as we 
have sp.own. it is not a mushr(X>m. Its scientific name, too — 
Ilydiimii c>ni!louIcs — hints at its form; in fact, .so much 
does it resemble coral that die reader will l>e likely to identify 
it with >ut a l»ok, when he next finds it. Pushing out from 
Some convenient crevice in the log upon which it is growing, 
tlie growth branches and branches again until it ends in .slen- 
der twig.>. which are tliickly set with round, awl-shaped 
.spines, all of which p>int downward. This latter feature, 
alone, ;s sutncent to distinguish it from the various species 
or Ciarara vvliich sometimes gri>w near it. It is said to 
