Some: Colorado Mushrooms 
9 
thin cross-walls into more or less elongated cells. Thus the body 
of the fungus is found to be made up of the same filaments which 
form its mycelium; in fact, it is a continuation of the mycelial 
threads thickly interlaced and partly grown together. In the den¬ 
ser parts of some hard and woody fungi the cells of the tubular 
filaments are thick-walled, short and entirely grown together, 
while in the soft kinds the mycelial tubes are loosely interwoven, 
thin-walled, and have fewer partitions. 
The cells thus formed contain varying amounts of water and 
protoplasm, the living substance of the plant. This protoplasm is 
usually nearly colorless and appears minutely granular, with larger 
particles of food material floating in contact with it. 
All the larger, fleshy fungi are divided into two classes, de¬ 
pending upon the manner in which they bear their spores: (i) The 
Basidiomycetes; (2) the Ascomycetes. In the first class, the spores 
are produced upon the ends of certain elongated cells called basidia, 
while in the second class the spores are formed within similar cells. 
In most fungi of the mushroom type only a certain limited part 
of the fungus produces these spore-bearing cells which are thickly 
crowded together to form a continuous layer known as the hyme- 
nium. The form of the fungus and the shape of the parts upon 
which the hymenium or spore-bearing layer of cells is spread are 
some of the principal characters by which a fungus is recognized 
by the botanist. Fortunately it is not necessary for a person to 
determine these matters by the use of a microscope in learning the 
names of the more common edible species of fleshy fungi,, but it is 
necessary that one be able to recognize the location of the hyme¬ 
nium and that the shape of the parts which bear it be noted in order 
that accurate work in identification be done. 
SPRING MUSHROOMS. 
■ 
1 
While some species of mushrooms occur during only a limited 
part of the growing season, there are others which may be expected 
to appear almost any time during the warmer part of the year, es¬ 
pecially soon after a period of rainy weather. 
Among the earliest mushrooms to be looked for in spring are 
the Morels. They appear principally during the month of May and 
then disappear during the remainder of the season. Apparently 
these fungi complete their growth of mycelium during summer and 
autumn and are then ready to produce the fruiting part early in the 
following spring. They belong to the class Ascomycetes in which 
