up-shaped, almost like a beaker. This plant is technically known as
_Sarcoscypha floccosa_. It is represented here natural size (Fig. 222).
The stem is slender, and the rim of the cup is beset with long, strigose
hairs. The inner surface of the cup is lined with the sacs (asci) and
sterile threads (paraphyses), spoken of on a former page, when treating
of the fruiting character of the morels and cup-fungi. In this plant the
color of the inside of the cup is very beautiful, being a bright red.
Another species, _Sarcoscypha coccinea_, the scarlet sarcoscypha, is a
larger plant which appears in very early spring, soon after the frost is
out of the ground. It grows on rotting logs and wood in the woods or in
groves. The inside of the cup in this species is a rich scarlet, and
from this rich color the species takes its name.

[Illustration: FIGURE 222.--Sarcoscypha floccosa (natural size).
Copyright.]

CHAPTER XVII.

COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE FLESHY FUNGI.

In the collection of the higher fungi it is of the utmost importance
that certain precautions be employed in obtaining all parts of the
plant, and furthermore that care be exercised in handling, in order not
to remove or efface delicate characters. Not only is it important for
the beginner, but in many instances an "expert" may not be able to
determine a specimen which may have lost what undoubtedly seem, to some,
trivial marks. The suggestions given here should enable one to collect
specimens in such a way as to protect these characters while fresh, to
make notes of the important evanescent characters and to dry and
preserve them properly for future study. For collecting a number of
specimens under a variety of conditions the following list of
"apparatus" is recommended:

One or two oblong or rectangular hand baskets, capacity from 8--12
quarts.

Or a rectangular zinc case with a closely fitting top (not the ordinary
botanical collecting case).

Half a dozen or so tall pasteboard boxes, or tins, 3 x 3, or 4 x 4, x 5
inches deep, to hold certain species in an upright position.

A quantity of tissue paper cut 8 x 10 or 6 x 8 inches.

Smaller quantity of waxed tissue paper for wrapping viscid or sticky
plants.

Trowel; a stout knife; memorandum pad and pencil.

=Collecting.=--During the proper season, and when rains are abundant,
the mushrooms are to be found in open fields, waste places, groves and
woods. They are usually more abundant in the