**** Hemerobii. Gr.—living a day. Pileus always smooth.
None known to be edible.
Photographed by Dr. J.R. Weist. Plate CIII.
COPRINUS COMATUS.
A. Pelliculo´si. Cap becoming torn, edge turning upward, etc.
* Comati. Furnished with a ring, etc.
C. coma´tus Fr.—coma, hair. (Plate [CIII].) Pileus 2–7 in. high, white, fleshy, at first oblong, becoming bell-shaped, seldom expanded, when in mature deliquescing state, splitting at the margin along the line of the gills, the cuticle, except upon the apex, separating into shaggy, often concentric scales, at times yellowish, at others tinged with purplish-black. Gills free from the stem, crowded and at first cohering, broad, white then tinged with pink or salmon color, then purple to black and dissolving into ink. Stem up to 10 in. long, up to ⅝ in. thick, attenuated upward, most part concealed within the cap, hollow, but with spider-web threads within, smooth or fibrillose, white or lilac-white, easily pulling out of cap, brittle. Ring thin, torn, sometimes entire and movable.
On rich soil, lawns, gardens, roads, dumps, especially where ashes have been placed. Solitary or in large dense clusters. August until after frost, but it is occasionally found during the spring months.
Spores elliptical, black, 13–18µ long Peck. Almost black, elliptical, 13–18×7–8µ Massee; 11–13×6–8µ K.; 15×8µ W.G.S. Var. brev´iceps Pk. Pileus before expansion subovate, shorter and broader than in the typical form, 1.5–2.5 in. high. Dumping ground. Albany. November. H. Neiman. Peck, 49th Rep.
Coprinus comatus is common to the United States. In its perfection it is a stately and beautiful plant. I have seen it with the oblong cap eight inches long, but its usual height is from 2–4 in. It occurs after hard rain and often in the most unexpected places. It is a rather domestic species, usually in troops, but often in clusters of from five to fifty individuals. I have seen it lift firmly sodded ground about railroad stations, and again, bulging the surface of gardens like mole-hills.