Some Colorado Mushrooms 
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membrane are attached; dull yellowish or brownish white, showing 
purplish tinge near the margin; flesh very thin and tender. 
Gills —Narrow, crowded, joined to the stem; nearly white at 
first, becoming purplish brown. 
Spores —Purplish brown. 
Stem —One to three inches tall, slender, hollow, white. 
Occurs in lawns and moist grassy places. While the individual 
specimens are small and the flesh thin; this is usually compensated 
for by the large numbers which often grow together as shown in 
the photograph. 
The Coprini or Inky Caps {Coprinus). 
These plants form a very characteristic group of the gill fungi. 
They are often very abundant during or following- rainy weather 
and are familiar objects to everyone. Evanescence is one of their 
chief characteristics. Some of them literally spring up in a night, 
spread their fragile caps for a brief period, and vanish at the sun’s 
touch. Others are more enduring, remaining for a day or two, 
but seldom longer, soon drooping into a slimy mass of inky dejec¬ 
tion very aptly suggestive of the common name “inky caps." 
In this condition of sodden collapse they are not calculated to 
prove very inviting to the mushroom collector, but if gathered be¬ 
fore the caps expand and while the gills are still light colored, they 
are excellent eating. Furthermore, none of the species are known 
to be poisonous and are easily distinguished from any of the poi¬ 
sonous fungi. 
The caps of these fungi when young are folded close to the 
stems with the thin, delicate gills packed closely together. The gills 
are white or light colored, at first, but soon become darker, passing 
through various shades of pink, purple, and brown, to black, finally 
melting into an inky liquid. The color of this liquid is due entirely 
to the black spores which it contains and which are largely set free 
in this way. 
The three species described are the most abundant and desir¬ 
able kinds for food. 
The Glistening Coprinus (Coprinus micaceus). 
This mushroom often grows in dense clusters of many individ¬ 
uals at the base of decaying trees or stumps, near an old door step, 
or at the edge of a sidewalk. Sometimes it appears in the open 
lawn, but this is usually an indication of the presence of buried 
wood in the soil. The caps when folded are conical, oblong or egg- 
shaped. with fine grooves running lengthwise. The color is yellow- 
