Some Colorado Mushrooms 
5 
ture, and habits of growth, all species of fungi have certain char¬ 
acters in common. They are without flowers and are entirely des¬ 
titute in all stages of growth of the green coloring matter, chloro¬ 
phyll, found especially in those plants which bear true foliage. On 
account of the absence of this chlorophyll, the fungi are depend¬ 
ent plants and must gain their livelihood either at the expense of 
other living plants or must feed upon the dead remains of such 
plants. 
In the first case they are parasites, such as the smuts,, rusts, 
mildews and other disease-producing organisms of the higher 
plants. The mushroom fungi belong mainly to the second division, 
(hose which live upon dead and decaying organic matter, such as 
No. 1. A mass of decaying leaves covered with delicate filaments 
of some fungus which is causing their decay. 
leaves, wood, straw, and manure, or similar substances. In fact, 
the decay of such material is largely due to the presence of these 
fungi in their vegetative stage of growth. 
During this early vegetative period of a fungus, it consists of 
delicate, cobweb-like filaments or threads which are almost too 
slender to be seen with the unaided eye unless they are very numer¬ 
ous and massed together, when they give a moldy appearance to 
