Fig. 37.
THE HORSE-TAIL FUNGUS.
(Coprinus Comatus.)
Edible; cut shows entire plant and section.
4. Fairy-ring Mushroom (Marasmius Oreades).—This species usually grows on lawns, in clusters which form an imperfect circle or crescent. The ring increases in size each year as new fungi grow on the outside, while old ones toward the center of the circle perish. This mushroom is small and slender, and rarely exceeds two inches in breadth. The cap and the tough and tubular stem are buff, and the gills, few in number and bulging out in the middle, are of a lighter shade of the same color. There is no ring about the stem. Several crops of the fairy-ring mushroom are produced all through the season, but the most prolific growth appears after the late fall rains. There are other fungi forming rings, some of which are poisonous, and they may not be easily distinguished from the edible species; hence great care is essential in gathering them. The under surface of the cap is brown or blackish in the mature plants of poisonous species.
Fig. 38.
THE FAIRY-RING MUSHROOM.
(Marasmius Oreades.)