74 
stellate appearance and exposing the thin inner coat, which encloses 
the spores. It is unfortunately a somewhat rare Fungus. 
The Bird’s-nest (Crucibulum vulgare) is shown on Page 58 grow- 
ing on a piece of old sacking. In the photograph different stages in 
the formation of the Bird’s-nests are exhibited. First of all a little 
ball of Fungus threads will be noticed, which soon grows larger and 
more solid. In the middle of this masses of spores, each mass 
enclosed in a thick capsule, become distinguished and finally the 
tissue between these disintegrates and the egg-like collections of 
spores become distributed. Last of all, the thick egg-shell enclosing 
the spores decays, allowing them the opportunity of germination. 
A purple jelly-like Fungus (Coryne sarcoides) is seen on Page 59. 
It is not uncommon in autumn, and growing among grey lichens and 
green mosses on the bark of trees and on stumps, is an object of con- 
siderable beauty. It is probably of little use for the table. 
Most of us know the Morel(Morchel!aesculenta, Page 60) by name, 
but perphaps not all have been fortunate enough to find it. Morels 
cannot be said to be common in England, and they are found in early 
summer, when Fungi generally are scarce. They grow in woods 
and hedgerows, and prefer a limestone soil. Not infrequently they 
come up in great numbers after brushwood has been burned. In 
Germany, where they are considered a great delicacy, the peasantry 
are said to have burned large tracts of woodland, in the hope of 
producing Morels, until the practice was stopped by legislative 
enactments. In Gloucestershire Morels are sometimes found and 
have acquired the local name of "Cankers" but they are rarely 
appreciated as articles of diet. The upper part of a Morel is light 
brown or tawny in colour, and much pitted, so as to appear almost 
like honeycomb ; it is covered all over with spores embedded in its 
surface. The stalk is white and the whole Fungus, including the 
stalk is hollow. It has a pleasant mushroomy smell, and is dry but 
fragile, and in no way tough. It is rarely that fresh Morels are 
seen on sale at Covent Garden, but the dried Fungus can usually 
be bought as a flavouring for soups and sometimes commands 
fabulous prices. Morels may be cooked in various ways, but are 
C erhaps nicest when stuffed with minced veal, and eaten with fried 
aeon. Delicious ketchup of a pale colour can be made from them. 
Attempts to cultivate the Morel have not been generally successful. 
Several dark Fungi (Daldinia concentrica) with a forbidding 
appearance, growing on the bark of a fallen ttee, are shown on Page 
61 The plant grows slowly, and those .photographed are probably 
several years old. The surface is covered with small flask-shaped 
pits filled with dark spores. 
The Cup-fungi still remain to be mentioned. As their name implies, 
they are cup-like in form, bearing spores on their inner surfaces. 
The Orange Elf-Cup (Peziza aurantia, Page 62) is bright orange in 
colour, with a faint smell, which reminds one of that of the apricot. 
Usually several are found together on the ground, and make a very 
pretty group. This Fungus is widely distributed, being found all 
over Europe, India and the United States. It is edible, but too 
small to be worth cooking. On Page 63 are seen more cup-fungi, of 
a dark brown colour, growing on the bark of a tree and called 
Black Bulgars (Bulgaria inquinans). The cups dry up during fine 
weather, but expand again when it is wet. sometimes so much so 
that instead of taking the form of cups they become quite flat. Like 
