he
plants grow in tufts on wood, or at the base of trees in the autumn.

+PSILOCYBE = naked and head.+

The cap in this genus is fleshy, smooth, and the margin at first
incurved. Gills turn dusky purple. The stem is cartilaginous, hollow or
stuffed. No veil is visible. They grow on the ground.

+PSATHYRA = friable.+

The cap is conical and soft, the margin at first straight, and then
pressed to the stem. The plants are slender, fragile and moist. Gills
become purple. They grow on the ground, or on trunks of trees.

+COPRINUS = dung.+

In this genus the spores are black. It has two distinctive features:
one, that the gills cohere at first, and are not separated when young;
and the other, that they dissolve into an inky fluid. The gills are also
scissile, that is, they can be split, and are linear and swollen in the
middle. The plants last but a short time. Some are edible.

ORDER 2. POLYPOREI, OR TUBE-BEARING FUNGI.

We now pass to the next order, the Polyporei. We will mention four
genera:

+BOLETUS.+

The name is that of a fungus much prized for its delicacy by the Romans,
and is derived from a Greek word meaning a clod, which denotes the round
figure of the plant.

The Boleti grow on the ground, are fleshy and putrescent with central
stems. The tubes are packed closely together and are easily separated.

+FISTULINA = a pipe.+

In this genus the tubes are free and distinct from one another. They are
somewhat fleshy and grow upon wood.

+POLYPORUS = many pores.+

The pores or tubes in this genus are not separate from one another. They
are persistent fungi, most of them growing upon wood.

+DAEDALEA = curiously wrought.+

The name of this genus is derived from Daedalus, who constructed the
labyrinth at Crete, in which the monster Minotaur was kept. It was one
of the seven wonders of the world.

These fungi grow on wood, and become hard. The pores are firm when fully
grown; they are sinuous and labyrinthine.

ORDER 3. HYDNEI, OR SPINE-BEARING FUNGI.

The name is derived from a word meaning a spine. This order contains
many genera, two of which we will mention, Hydnum and Tremellodon.

+HYDNUM.+

Hydnum is derived from a Greek word, the name of an edible fungus. The
plants in this genus are furnished with spines or teeth, instead of
gills or tubes, and these contain the spores. The species are divided
according to the stem. In some it is central and grows on the ground,
in others it is lat