tout stem from 2--4 cm.
in diameter, deep in the ground. This branches into a few stout trunks,
which then rapidly branch into slender and longer branches, terminating
into numerous tips. The entire plant is very brittle, and great care is
necessary to prevent its breaking, both before drying and afterward.
When the plant is young and is just pushing out of the ground, the
branches, especially the tips, are bright colored, red, pink, or orange,
the color usually brighter when young in the younger plants. As the
plant becomes older the color fades out, until at maturity the pink or
red color has in many cases disappeared, and then the entire plant is of
a light yellowish, or of a cream buff color. The spores are in mass
light yellow, and the spores on the surface of the plant probably give
the color to the plant at this stage. The spores are long, oval or
oblong, 10--15 x 2.5--3 mu, and are minutely spiny. Figure 201 is from a
plant (No. 4343, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in
September, 1899. The plant is very common in the mountain woods of North
Carolina.

[Illustration: FIGURE 203.--Clavaria pistillaris. Dull whitish, tan or
reddish (natural size).]

Specimens of this Clavaria were several times prepared for table use
during my stay in the mountains, but the flavor was not an agreeable
one, possibly due to the fact that it needs some special preparation and
seasoning.

=Clavaria botrytes= Pers. =Edible.=--This plant is much smaller than _C.
formosa_, but has much the same general habit and color, especially when
_C. formosa_ is young. The plant has a stout stem which soon dissolves
into numerous branches, which are red tipped. The spores are white, and
in this way it may be distinguished from _C. formosa_, or from _Clavaria
aurea_ (Schaeff.), which has yellow or ochre spores, and which has also
much the same habit as _C. botrytes_, and is nearer in size.

[Illustration: FIGURE 204.--Clavaria mucida. White (natural size).
Copyright.]

=Clavaria pistillaris= Linn. =Edible.=--This plant is a characteristic
one because of its usually large size and simple form. It is merely a
club-shaped body, growing from the ground. It has a wide range, both in
Europe and North America, but does not seem to be common, though I have
found it more common in the mountain woods of North Carolina than in New
York. The plant is 5--20 cm. high, and 1--3 cm. thick at the upper end.
It is smooth, though often irregula