fact infrequent and many records really refer to _P. sphinctrinus_.
The word _semiovatus_ means half ovate and refers to the shape of the
cap in _P. semiovatus_. _Sphinctrinus_ means banded, referring to the
zoned cap of the fungus when it is partially dry.
_Illustrations_: _P. semiovatus_--LH 145; WD 77³. _P.
sphinctrinus_--NB 41⁵; WD 78¹.
~Coprinus cinereus~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
Dung-heap ink-cap
_Cap_: width 20-40 mm. _Stem_: width 4-8 mm; length 50-100 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: oval then rapidly expanding, covered at first in a mass of dense,
white or greyish woolly scales which break up into patches and finally
leave the cap shiny, brownish grey at centre and striate and dark grey
at the margin.
Stem: white, covered particularly towards the base with white, woolly
scales, long, fragile, tapering upwards and at the base often
elongated into a ‘tap root’ buried in the dung.
Gills: free, white but then rapidly dissolving into a black liquid.
Flesh: thin and whitish.
Spore-print: violaceous black.
Spores: medium sized, ellipsoid, smooth with a distinct germ-pore and
10-12 × 5-6 µm in size.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Marginal cystidia: inflated and large.
_General Information_: It is found on manure heaps, on straw dung and
on silage heaps: very common throughout the year.
_C. macrocephalus_ (Berkeley) Berkeley is very closely related to _C.
cinereus_, but differs in having much larger spores over 12-15 × 7-9
µm, a long cap and a stem which lacks a rooting base.
_Coprinus radiatus_ (Fries) S. F. Gray is smaller in stature and also
differs in spore-size (11-14 × 6-7 µm). _C. pseudoradiatus_ Kühner &
Josserand is minute and has even smaller spores (7-9 × 4-5 µm). The
dung-heap ink-cap has long been used by scientists in genetic studies,
usually under the name of _C. lagopus_ (Fries) Fries. However, this
latter species, although similar, grows only on woodland detritus; it
has narrower spores. The dung-heap ink-cap may be referred to in other
books as _C. fimetarius_ Fries or _C. macrorhizus_ (Fries) Rea and
whilst _cinereus_ means grey referring to the colour, _fimetarius_
means dung--from the habitat, and _macrorhizus_ refers to the long
rooting base found in some specimens.
_Illustrations_: LH 137; NB 41¹⁰; WD 81⁴.
The genus _Coprinus_--or Ink-caps
The genus _Coprinus_ is easily recognised from all other agarics by the
structure and development of the fruit-body. In the field, most species
of the genus can be recognised by the gradual conversion of the gills,
and often the cap tissue into a black liquid resembling ink--hence the
name inky-caps. The conversion of the gills to an inky mass is called
autodigestion and the process is complete within a few hours; this
mechanism enables spores to be dispersed immediately they have ripened.
Unlike other agarics the spores are not shot off into the spaces between
the gills, but directly into the air. The gills are parallel-sided in
_Coprinus_ and not wedge-shaped as in more normal agarics, and in order
to achieve spore dispersal the gills must disintegrate; Coprini are very
specialised.
_Coprinus_ is a large genus with over seventy members in the British
Isles, many of which are strictly dung-loving. It is impossible to give
more than one example in full here, for although many of the large
species can be recognised on sight the smaller ones require the aid of a
microscope. The interested student must therefore refer to more advanced
texts, but in order to demonstrate the diversity of the Coprini and how
they are classified the following key to the sections of _Coprinus_ will
be found useful.
1. Cap naked of any veil fragments, either smooth or covered in minute
hairs 2
Cap covered when young by powdery or hairy veil, particles of which
either may persist on the cap until maturity or may disappear
quickly 3
2. Cap completely naked--group Nudi, e.g. _C. miser_ (Karsten) Karsten
Cap with hairs giving it a frosted appearance--group Setulosi, e.g.
_C. ephemerus_ (Fries) Fries, _C. pellucidus_ Karsten and _C.
bisporus_ J. Lange
3. Veil on the cap composed under the microscope of rounded cells
giving the cap a floccose powdery appearance--group Vestiti, e.g.
_C. patouillardii_ Quélet, _C. niveus_ (Fries) Fries and _C.
ephemeroides_ (Fries) Fries
Veil on the cap composed under the microscope of elongate cells,
either like thin-hairs or strings of sausages 4
4. Veil on the cap composed under the microscope of strings of
sausage-shaped cells--group Lanatuli, e.g. _C. cinereus_, _C.
pseudoradiatus_, _C. radiatus_ (see p. 211)
Veil on the cap composed under the microscope of thick- or
thin-walled, flexuous or straight, filamentous, hardly inflated
cells--group Impexi, e.g. _C. filamentifer_ Kühner, _C.
vermiculifer_ Dennis.
[Illustration: Plate 71. Dung-fungi--The genus ~Coprinus~]
General notes on dung-loving fungi and their habitats
Dung fungi are highly satisfactory for demonstrating the diversity and
morphology of a group of related organisms within a single ecological
system, as representatives of most of the major groups of fungi usually
grow on dung after a period of incubation. Dung will always produce
characteristic fungi whatever time of year it is collected.
Dung is best incubated in a light place, for example on a window sill,
in a warm room on layers of blotting paper or other absorbent material.
For rabbit-pellets and samples of similar size petri-dishes are ideal,
but for cow, horse and similar types of dung large covered dishes such
as casseroles or sandwich containers are very good. Samples should not
be kept in airtight containers for long periods of time as under such
conditions animal life present rapidly breaks down the dung and induces
anaerobic conditions. Instead larvae and earthworms should be excluded
from the sample as they decompose the dung and inhibit fungal growth but
their activity can be reduced, if causing a problem, by spraying the
sample lightly with a proprietary fly-kill aerosol.
By keeping the dung under constant observation during incubation a whole
succession of fungi can be seen. Thus the first fungi to appear are the
moulds which although numerous need a microscope for their
identification. The moulds are followed by a series of Ascomycetes
(_Sporormia_ & _Sordaria_ with flask-shaped fruit-bodies and
_Iodophanus_, _Coprobia_ and _Cheilymenia_ with disc-shaped
fruit-bodies), which are best sought with the use of a powerful
hand-lens or a stereoscopic binocular microscope when their full beauty
will be revealed. However, because they need the aid of instruments even
to see them they cannot be considered larger fungi. The fruit-bodies of
the Basidiomycetes are readily seen with the naked eye, but a hand-lens
is still very useful for observing features of the cap and stem,
particularly the veil characters. The Basidiomycetes usually conclude
the succession of fungi found on dung and soon after this state the dung
is colonised by mosses and higher plants and later it is fully
incorporated into the soil.
[Illustration: Plate 72. Dung-fungi: Cup fungi and allies]
Dung is a very useful substrate for studying succession. However,
equally interesting results can be obtained from observing the fungi
which appear on a stump, colonise a newly laid lawn, or indeed those
growing on refuse such as a cast-out rug; microscopic and larger fungi
are all to be found.
If the dung cannot be incubated immediately it should be dried quickly,
for most dung-fungi will survive such treatment and grow when the sample
is remoistened. The blotting-paper on which the dung is placed should be
kept moist throughout the incubation period.
One large discomycete (up to 80 mm across) occurring on manure-heaps
must, however, be mentioned, this is _Peziza vesiculosa_ St Amans (see
p. 200); the inner surface of this cup-fungus becomes detached from the
flesh at maturity and forms blisters.
(ii) Fungi of bonfire-sites
~Pholiota highlandensis~ (Peck) A. H. Smith
Charcoal pholiota
_Cap_: width 20-50 mm. _Stem_: width 4-8 mm; length 25-60 mm.
_Description_: Plate 73.
Cap: convex then flattened and slightly umbonate, smooth, very sticky
at first, but becoming shiny when dry, orange-yellow to sand-colour;
the margin is first incurved and ornamented with filaments from the
veil, but these are soon lost.
Stem: dirty yellow, darker towards the base, cylindric or narrowed
downwards and covered in small fibrillose scales.
Gills: clay-coloured then dull brown, adnate and crowded.
Flesh: yellowish.
Spore-print: dull rust-brown.
Spores: medium-sized, ellipsoid, smooth, dull brown under the
microscope and 7-8 × 3-4 µm in size.
Facial cystidia: spindle-shaped with obtuse apex.
Marginal cystidia: similar to facial cystidia but usually smaller.
_General Information_: This fungus which occurs from spring to autumn
is recognised by the habitat, colour of the fruit-body and the
spore-size. It is known in many books as _Flammula carbonaria_
(Fries) Kummer, but the genus _Flammula_ is no longer used for it
refers to a flowering plant in the buttercup family.
_P. highlandensis_ is the same fungus as that referred to as _Pholiota
carbonaria_ by European Mycologists, but this name cannot be used for
it refers to an entirely different N. American species.
‘Highlandensis’, in fact, refers to the locality where the present
fungus was first found in the United States of America. The true _P.
carbonaria_ A. H. Smith has only been found once in Europe and this
only recently in the south of England. It differs in the reddish
orange scales on the stem; indeed it is a much brighter fungus than
the common charcoal _Pholiota_.
~Tephrocybe anthracophila~ (Lasch) P. D. Orton
_Cap_: width 1-4 mm. _Stem_: width 1 mm; length 2-5 mm.
_Description_: Plate 73.
Cap: blackish when wet, drying sooty brown, slightly depressed in the
centre, smooth, and viscid.
Stem: sooty brown, tough and smooth.
Flesh: sooty brown.
Gills: whitish then grey, adnate and not very crowded.
Spores: medium sized, subglobose, 4-6 × 4-5 µm in diameter and
minutely roughened.
Spore-print: white, not blueing in solutions of iodine.
_General Information_: _T. atrata_ also grows on burnt soil and is
very closely related, but differs in its spores being broadly
ellipsoid and smooth. _Mycena leucogala_ also grows on burnt soil (see
p. 88).
_Illustrations_: _T. anthracophila_--LH 83. _T. atrata_--WD 4^{b}.
~Psathyrella pennata~ (Fries) Pearson & Dennis
Bonfire brittle-cap
_Cap_: width 10-30 mm. _Stem_: width 1-3 mm; length 30-40 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: conical or bell-shaped then expanding and slightly umbonate,
whitish because of a coating of dense fibrils, but soon becoming
brownish as these are lost.
Stem: short, stout, white and densely floccose.
Gills: slightly adnate, pale brownish grey with pink tinge, then
dark-brown.
Spore-print: purplish brown.
Spores: medium sized, oval, ellipsoid with an obvious germ-pore,
purplish brown under the microscope and 8-9 × 4-5 µm in size.
Marginal & facial cystidia: flask-shaped, hyaline with either a short
or long neck.
The brown-spored _Hebeloma anthracophila_ Maire is similar.
~Coprinus angulatus~ Peck
Bonfire ink-cap
_Cap_: width 4-25 mm. _Stem_: 1-3 mm; length 15-30 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: dark red-brown at first, then orange-brown, especially at the
margin and appearing as if frosted all over, conical at first but
rapidly expanding at the margin and becoming grey-brown, strongly
striate and deliquescent, leaving finally only a central red-brown
umbo.
Stem: white and minutely hairy.
Gills: free, dirty whitish then black.
Spore-print: black-brown.
Spores: medium sized, dark brown under the microscope, lobed like the
hat of a bishop and 8-11 × 6-8 × 5-7 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: bottle-shaped, very variable.
Facial cystidia: similar to marginal cystidia.
_General Information_: It must be noted that this fungus has spores
which require three quite different measurements to describe the
dimension. Another species of _Coprinus_ found on burnt soil is _C.
lagopides_ Karsten which resembles _C. cinereus_ (Fries) S. F. Gray
(p. 211); it is typified, however, by the rounded spores.
[Illustration: Plate 73. Fungi of bonfire-sites]
General notes on fungi of burnt sites
Several common fungi found at the sites of bonfires have their closest
relatives amongst various groups of microscopic fungi more than amongst
the large forms already discussed. Keeping a close watch at the site of
a former bonfire day by day, week by week and month by month is very
rewarding and shows a further example, like the dung habitat, of a
tightly knit community of various groups of fungi.
_Peziza repanda_ Persoon has been discussed in detail above (p. 200);
its close relatives _P. petersii_ Berkeley & Curtis (brown with grey
tints and with spores finely warted and measuring 10-12 × 5-6 µm), _P.
praetervisa_ Bresadola (violet or mauve and with spores finely warted
and measuring 11-13 × 6-8 µm), _P. violacea_ Persoon (dark violet with
smooth spores measuring 13-15 × 7-9 µm) and _P. echinospora_ Karsten
(dark chocolate brown with spores densely warted and 14-18 × 7-10 µm in
size) all grow on the sites of old bonfires or around charred root
stumps. _Rhizina undulata_ also found by charred stumps has been
described on p. 203. These are large to medium sized disc-fungi, but
there are many much smaller species which cannot be dealt with here,
such as species of _Anthracobia_ and _Trichophaea_. Pyrenomycetes are
also found on charred wood and soil. Probably the commonest species of
fungus met with is a pale reddish orange to rose-pink disc-fungus seated
on a white mycelial mat; this is _Pyronema omphalodes_ (St Amans)
Fuckel. _Morchella esculenta_ St Amans and _M. elata_ Fries (see p. 200)
appear to grow on the sites of garden bonfires or where cinders have
been spread on the soil surface. The stimulus for fruiting appears to be
due to the release of mineral nutrients during the process of burning.
Competition from other fungi appears to be reduced so rapid colonisation
by the bonfire fungi (carbonicoles) after the period of sterilisation
ensures their development. Many similar fungi were found about bomb- and
shell-craters on the continent during the two World Wars.
One microscope fungus, however, must be mentioned when considering
bonfires and that is _Neurospora sitophila_ Shear & Dodge so much used
in genetical studies. It can be found as the conidial state on burnt
soil and is called ‘Baker’s mould’ because it is frequently found
growing on refuse in the hot moist conditions of bakers’ kitchens.
[Illustration: Plate 74. Fungi of bonfire-sites]
(iii) Fungi of bogs and marshes
(a) _Sphagnum_ bogs
~Hypholoma elongatum~ (Fries) Ricken
_Cap_: width 12-20 mm. _Stem_: width 3-5 mm; length 50-80 mm.
_Description_: Plate 75.
Cap: bell-shaped but rapidly expanding to become plane, honey-yellow
with a greyish green tint, slightly striate at the margin and also
with a few remnants of a fibrillose veil when very young, but these
are soon lost.
Stem: slender, smooth, whitish at the apex and yellow-brown or
honey-yellow below.
Gills: adnate and distant, pale ochraceous honey-yellow then lilaceous
grey and finally sepia.
Flesh: yellowish in the cap, red-brown in the stem and lacking a
distinct smell.
Spore-print: purplish brown.
Spores: long, ellipsoid, fairly thick-walled, olivaceous brown under
the microscope and with a small germ-pore, smooth and 10-12 × 6-7 µm
in size.
Marginal cystidia: flask-shaped and hyaline.
Facial cystidia: flask-shaped with contents which turn yellowish in
solutions containing ammonia.
_General Information_: This fungus which appears from early summer to
late autumn is recognised by the almost uniform ochraceous colour with
hint of olive and its habit of growing in troops. The word elongatum
means elongated and refers to the shape of the stem which pushes up
through the _Sphagnum_ and in order to disperse its spores it must
elongate so that it just pushes up above the bog-surface. _H.
polytrichi_ is closely related to _H. elongatum_ but has a paler cap
and stem and it grows in moss, particularly _Polytrichum_ in
woodlands; the spores of _H. polytrichi_ are paler, slightly narrower
and slightly thinner, but they have a much more distinct germ-pore.
Both the above species have been formerly placed in _Psilocybe_, but
they are more correctly classified in _Hypholoma_ along with the
sulphur-tuft fungus (see p. 64) because of the cortina-like veil and
specialised facial cystidia.
_Illustrations_: WD 78⁵.
~Tephrocybe palustris~ (Peck) Donk
_Cap_: width 12-30 mm. _Stem_: width 3-5 mm; length 50-75 mm.
_Description_: Plate 75.
Cap: bell-shaped then plane-convex, but finally depressed at centre,
watery buff to greyish with flush of ochre or smoky grey, striate to
centre when moist, but drying out non-striate and uniformly ochraceous
buff.
Stem: thin, rather long, smooth, similarly coloured to the cap or
paler, fragile and whitish woolly at the base.
Gills: dirty whitish, adnate with a tooth and not very crowded.
Flesh: thin, watery buff, drying out ochraceous and with a strong
smell of new meal.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, oval, not turning
blue-grey in solutions of iodine, and 6-7 × 4-5 µm in size.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
_General Information_: This fungus which grows from late spring to
autumn is usually associated with a greying and finally a killing of
the _Sphagnum_, noticeable from a distance even in the absence of the
fruiting-bodies as paler patches in the rich green bog. Another agaric
found only in _Sphagnum_ bogs is _Omphalina sphagnicola_ (Berkeley)
Moser with decurrent gills and long, elongate, hyaline spores.
At the margin of _Sphagnum_ bogs, the fungus _Mycena bulbosa_ can be
found attached to the base of tufts of rushes.
Potting up a sward of _Sphagnum_ and retaining it in a warm greenhouse
during winter favours the bog agarics to fruit when other larger fungi
are not available.
~Mycena bulbosa~ (Cejp) Kühner
_Cap_: width 3-6 mm. _Stem_: width 1 mm; length 10-15 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: dirty white, greyish and very gelatinous.
Stem: very thin, hyaline with a very distinct hairy, basal disc.
Gills: crowded, adnexed, very short and whitish.
Spore-print: white, but because it is so small it is often difficult
to see.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, ellipsoid, not
blueing in solutions of iodine, and 8-10 × 4 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: clavate or ventricose, hyaline and smooth.
Facial cystidia: absent.
_Illustrations_: T. palustris LH 83.
~Galerina paludosa~ (Fries) Kühner
_Cap_: width 10-20 mm. _Stem_: width 3-5 mm; length 50-90 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: conico-convex expanding slightly but retaining the central umbo,
striate to half-way, sand-colour to red-brown, hygrophanous, minutely
floccose because of remnants of veil distributed over its surface, but
soon becoming smooth.
Stem: long, buried amongst the _Sphagnum_, red-brown and flecked with
white fibrils, except at the finely hairy apex, the fibrils typically
form a distinct but easily lost ring.
Gills: almost horizontal, adnate to subdecurrent, pale at first and
then rust-brown.
Spore-print: rust-brown.
Spores: medium-sized, ovate to slightly lemon-shaped, minutely warty,
honey-brown under the microscope and about 10 × 6 µm in size, (9-11 ×
6-7 µm).
Facial cystidia: absent.
Marginal cystidia: hyaline, almost cylindrical or bottle-shaped with
an inflated base.
_General Information_: This species grows from spring to early autumn
in _Sphagnum_ bogs; several other species of _Galerina_ are also found
in the same localities:--
(i) _G. sphagnorum_ (Fries) Kühner has a convex cap, fibrillose silky
and ochraceous brown stem, but it lacks the ring-zone so typical of
_G. paludosa_. The smell is like that of meal when crushed and the
gills are emarginate.
(ii) _G. tibiicystis_ (Atkinson) Kühner has a rapidly expanding cap
which becomes plano-convex or depressed at maturity; it also lacks a
ring-zone, but the stem in this species is finely hairy because of the
presence of numerous pin-shaped cells which can be seen only with the
aid of a lens. The gills are broadly adnate.
_Illustrations_: _G. paludosa_--LH 175.
[Illustration: Plate 75. Fungi of marshes]
(b) Alder-carrs
~Naucoria escharoides~ (Fries) Kummer
_Cap_: width 12-30 mm. _Stem_: width 1-3 mm; length 25-45 mm.
_Description_: Plate 76.
Cap: pale yellowish ochre, but becoming darker ochraceous with age,
scurfy, convex but then flattened, or with its edge upturned; the
margin is slightly striate when moist.
Stem: slender, pale to dirty yellowish ochre but darker brown at base,
slightly fibrillose, particularly at first because of filaments from a
veil, but these are soon lost.
Gills: pale tan to brownish ochre with a paler, floccose margin,
adnate and crowded.
Flesh: yellowish ochre but lacking a distinct smell.
Spore-print: clay-colour.
Spores: medium sized, almond-shaped, pale brown under the microscope,
warted and 10-11 × 5-6 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: swollen below, but drawn out into a hair-like apex.
Facial cystidia: absent.
_General Information_: Although this is a common species growing in
damp places under alder it is difficult except with an expert eye to
separate it from several closely related species which are also found
in similar places. At present it is not known whether these fungi are
favoured by the water-logged base-rich, reducing soils found nowhere
else except under alder, or if they have a special relationship with
the tree. There is ample evidence that soil conditions in alder woods
are rather different from those found in other woodlands, but whatever
the reason _Naucoria escharoides_ is only found under alder--in fact
this species has been placed in the genus _Alnicola_ because of this
character--_cola_ meaning inhabitant and _Alnus_ the tree of that
name. Willow-carrs have not been as extensively studied as alder-carrs
but there is evidence that a store of mycological information is still
to be obtained from these places. Several species of _Naucoria_ have
been described from only willow-carrs, while others are to be found
under both alder and willows; about eight species are known to grow
under alder. The word _escharoides_ means scab-like and refers to the
cap which when freshly collected is minutely scaly and appears scabby.
_Illustrations_: LH 163; WD 67¹.
(iv) Fungi of beds of herbaceous plants
Beds of herbaceous plants provide protection for many small agarics and
collecting can be conducted in these situations from spring to early
winter. The buffered environments under the herbs is humid and
relatively still, and this allows the development of the small often
delicate fruit-bodies of certain species to continue unimpeded.
Nettle-beds or mixtures of nettle and dog’s mercury have very rich
floras under the shelter of their leaves and stems, either on the bare
soil or plant debris.
On herbaceous stems
~Coprinus urticicola~ (Berkeley & Broome) Buller
_Cap_: width 4-7 mm. _Stem_: width 1 mm; length 10-15 mm.
_Description_: Plate 76.
Cap: white then greyish, globose at first and then expanding to become
plane with upturned margin covered, at first, with scales from a veil
which at the centre are white-tipped with ochre.
Stem: white and slightly downy.
Spore-print: brownish black.
Spores: elliptic-ovoid, only slightly compressed with distinct
germ-pore, dark brown under the microscope and 6-8 × 5 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: ellipsoid to pyriform and hyaline.
Facial cystidia: elongate cylindric larger than marginal cystidia.
On bare soil
~Leptonia babingtonii~ (Bloxam) P. D. Orton
_Cap_: 5-15 mm. _Stem_: width 1 mm; length 20-50 mm.
_Description_: Plate 76.