CHAPTER XXIX 
LIFE STORY OF MUSHROOMS 
Mushrooms, too, have a story to tell. They live out 
of sight most of the time. When they show them- 
selves they do so only for a short time. They seem to 
come up in a single night, and many of them do. But 
others may be 
several days in 
coming up. 
They keep 
hidden most of 
the time in the 
form of cords, or 

strings, until 
Fi. 261. The common mushroom showing stem, they have spread 
eae themselves out in 
reach of a great feast of food in the ground or in 
wood. Then the mushroom part can grow very fast, 
and spring out from its hiding place into the light. | 
So if you wish to read the story of mushrooms you 
must be quick about it, for they do not stay long. 
The common mushroom, like many others, is shaped 
like an umbrella; it has a handle, a ring, rays on the 
215 
