A Revision of the Genus Coprinus. 
BY 
GEORGE MASSEE, F.L.S., 
Principal Assistant (Cryptogams'), Royal Herbarium , Hew. 
With Plates X and XL 
f4 — • 
T HE Fungi constituting the genus Coprinus , as at present 
understood, were originally included under the collec- 
tive name of Agaricus, which at one time covered the whole 
of the gill-bearing Agarics. Persoon 1 was the first to detect, 
in the complete deliquescence of the gills at maturity, a 
feature of sufficient importance to justify the creation of 
a special section of Agaricus , under the name of Coprinus , 
for the reception of those species possessing this peculiarity. 
At a later date Fries 2 raised Persoon’s section to generic 
rank, retaining the name Coprinus, characterized mainly by 
the feature indicated by Persoon, the solution of the gills into 
a dripping, inky liquid at maturity. In reality, this one 
biological character is the only constant point of distinction 
between Coprinus and the remainder of the fleshy, putrescent 
Agaricineae. Morphologically there is only a relative differ- 
ence ; the statement by Fries in his definition of the genus 
Coprinus, that the trama is obsolete, is not correct ; a well- 
developed trama is always present, formed of interlaced 
septate hyphae, often furnished with vesicular swellings, 
running parallel with the sides of the gill or lamella, and 
1 Syst. Meth. Fung., p. 395 (1831). 
2 Epicr. Syst. Mycol., p. 241 (1836-1838). 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. X. No. XXXVIII. June, 1896.] 
