A Treatise On The Esculent Funguses Of England - free ebook by David Badham

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A Treatise On The Esculent Funguses Of England

David Badham

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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

My lamented friend Dr. Badham having died since the first publication of this work, my advice was asked upon the subject of the preparation of a new edition. It was wished that the text of the work should be altered as little as possible, and that the price of the book should be materially lessened. The latter object could not be effected without reducing the number of the Plates; but it appeared to me that some plates relating to details of structure might very well be omitted, as well as the f

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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF NORWICH. My Lord , I had two reasons for desiring that this humble performance should appear under the sanction of your Lordship’s name. Nothing could be more favourable to a Treatise on any department of Natural History, than the approval of one who has been so eminently successful in his cultivation of the same field. But it is with much greater confidence that I dedicate a work, whose chief object it is to furnish the labouring classes with wholesome n

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ETYMOLOGIES.

ETYMOLOGIES.

By the word μύκης, ητος or ου, ὁ, whereof the usually received root, μῦκος ( mucus ), is probably factitious, the Greeks used familiarly to designate certain, but indefinite species of funguses, which they were in the habit of employing at table. This term, in its origin at once trivial and restricted to at most a few varieties, has become in our days classical and generic; Mycology, its direct derivative, including, in the language of modern botany, several great sections of plants (many amongs

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THE RANGE OF FUNGUS GROWTHS.

THE RANGE OF FUNGUS GROWTHS.

The family of Funguses, in the comprehensive sense in which we now employ the term, is immense. Merely catalogued and described, there are sufficient to fill an octavo volume of nearly 400 pages of close print, of British species alone; altogether, there cannot be less than 5000 recognized species at present known, and each year adds new ones to the list. The reader’s surprise at this will somewhat diminish, when he considers, that not only the toadstools which beset his walks, whether growing u

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OF THEIR GENERAL FORMS, COLOURS, TEXTURE, TASTES, SMELLS, ETC.

OF THEIR GENERAL FORMS, COLOURS, TEXTURE, TASTES, SMELLS, ETC.

What geometry shall define their ever-varying shapes? who but a Venetian painter do justice to their colours? [26] or what modifications of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ convey an adequate knowledge of all their various crases and consistencies? As to shapes, some are simple threads, like the Byssus , and never get beyond this; some shoot out into branches, like seaweed; some puff themselves out into puff-balls; some thrust their heads into mitres; [27] these assume the shape of a cup, [28] and those of a w

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ODOURS AND TASTES.

ODOURS AND TASTES.

Both one and the other are far more numerous in this class of plants than in any other with which we are acquainted. As to odours, though these be generally most powerful in the fresh condition of the fungus, they are sometimes increased by drying it, during which process too some species, inodorous before, acquire an odour, and not always a pleasant one. Some yield an insupportable stench; the Phallus impudicus and Clathrus cancellatus are of this kind. A botanist had by mistake taken one of th

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EXPANSIVE POWER OF GROWTH.

EXPANSIVE POWER OF GROWTH.

Soft and yielding as vegetable structures appear to the touch, the expansive force of their growth is almost beyond calculation. The effects of this power, of which the experience of every one will furnish him with some instances, are perhaps nowhere more strikingly exemplified than amidst the ruins of its own creation. Coeval with many old brick fabrics of earlier times, perhaps embedded in the very mortar which holds them together, it may lurk there for centuries in quiescence, till once arous

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REPRODUCTIVE POWER.

REPRODUCTIVE POWER.

Funguses have a remarkable power of re-forming such parts of their substance as have been accidentally or otherwise removed. Vittadini found that when the tubes of a Boletus were cut out from a growing plant, they were after a time reproduced. Where deep holes have been eaten into these plants by snails, such holes, on the Boletus attaining to its full growth, are partially refilled. If the tender Polyporus be cut across, the wound immediately sets about healing by the first intention, leaving n

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MOTION.

MOTION.

In a recent work on ‘Insect Life,’ I have discoursed somewhat at large on the insufficiency of any kind of movements as proofs of sensation, quoting, amidst other evidences to this effect, certain remarkable movements in plants. Some of the present family exhibit the phenomena of insensitive motion in a remarkable manner, and might have been added to the list already cited in that publication. Mr. Robson has given us a very interesting account of the movements he observed in the scarlet Clathrus

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PHOSPHORESCENCE.

PHOSPHORESCENCE.

Several kinds of funguses, and the spawn of the truffle, emit a phosphorescent light; of the first, the Agaricus olearius , not uncommon in Italy, is sometimes seen at night, feebly shining amidst the darkness of the olive grove. The coal-mines near Dresden have long been celebrated for the production of funguses which emit a light similar to a pale moonlight. Mr. Drummond describes an Australian fungus with similar properties; and another very interesting one, an Agaric, is noticed by Mr. Gardn

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DIMENSIONS.

DIMENSIONS.

Most funguses do not present great anomalies in their size, but retain nearly the same dimensions throughout the whole course of their being; some few species, however, seem to have a faculty of almost indefinite expansion. The usual size of a puff-ball, as we all know, is not much larger than an egg, but some puff-balls attain to the dimensions of the human head, [45] or exceed it. Mr. Berkeley quotes the case of a Polyporus squamosus , which in three weeks grew to seven feet five inches in per

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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.

Of all vegetable productions these are the most highly azotized, that is, animalized in their composition—a fact not only evinced by the strong cadaverous smell which some of them give out in decay, and by the savoury animalized meat which others afford at table, but on the evidence of chemistry also. Thus Dr. Marcet has proved that, like animals, they absorb a large quantity of oxygen, and disengage in return, from their surface, a large quantity of carbonic acid; all however do not exhale carb

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USES.

USES.

The uses to which funguses have been put are various, and, had the properties of these plants been as extensively investigated as those which belong to the phanerogamic classes, they would probably by this time have proved still more numerous: some, as the Polyporus sulphureus , furnish a useful colour for dyeing; [52] the Agaricus atramentarius makes ink; divers Lycoperdons, of which other mention will be made presently when we come to speak of such species as are esculent, have also been emplo

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MEDICAL USES.

MEDICAL USES.

Of the funguses formerly employed in medicine few are now in vogue; the ergot of rye still keeps its ground, and in cases of protracted labour, when judiciously employed, is valuable in assisting nature when unequal to the necessary efforts of parturition. Another fungus, formerly much in fashion, though now put on the shelf, seems really to deserve further trial; I mean the Polyporus suaveolens (Linn.), which in that most intractable disease, tubercular consumption, surely claims to be tried wh

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FUNGUSES CONSIDERED AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET.

FUNGUSES CONSIDERED AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET.

If all the good things ever said about the stomach since the days of Menenius Agrippa, or before his time, could be collected, they would doubtless form an interesting volume; Aretæus has somewhere quaintly, but not unaptly, called it the “house of Plato;” in another place he speaks of it as the “seat” (as if κατ’ ἐξοχὴν) “of pleasure and of pain;” and so it is indeed, and it has moreover a notorious tendency, when provoked, to cool our charity and to heat our blood; its sympathies by nervous at

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MODES OF DISTINGUISHING.

MODES OF DISTINGUISHING.

The first thing to know about funguses is, that in the immense majority of cases they are harmless; the innoxious and esculent kinds are the rule , the poisonous the exceptions to it; in a general way, it is more easy to say what we should not eat than what we may; we should never eat any that smell sickly or poisonous. Opinions respecting the agreeableness or disagreeableness of an odour, as of a taste, may differ; thus, in France and Italy (where the palate seems to us to bribe the judgment of

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CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO THEIR GROWTH.

CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO THEIR GROWTH.

Of these, in fact, we know but little, and in the great majority of instances absolutely nothing; in a few cases moisture [97] and heat seem alone sufficient, even in our own hands, to cause some of them to grow; in others, electricity appears indispensable. A wet autumn is generally found to be exceedingly prolific in these plants, with the following notable difference as to kind : all those that are parasitical on trees show themselves, during a wet season, in amount directly varying with that

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FAIRY RINGS.

FAIRY RINGS.

We know as little of the origin of fairy-rings, as of any other phenomenon connected with the growth of funguses. These fairy-rings are of all sizes, from one and a half to thirty feet in diameter; the grass composing them is observed in spring, to be of a thicker growth than the surrounding herbage, and, in consequence of the manure afforded by the crop of last year, is of a darker colour. Within these rings are frequently seen certain varieties of this class of plants, very generally Agarics,

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ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUNGUSES.

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUNGUSES.

It would be an insult to the reader’s understanding, and a most idle waste of his time, to attempt to confute such self-destroying dogmas as those of “spontaneous” or of “equivocal” generation, which last is only a clumsy équivoque expressive of the same thing: we might just as well talk of the pendulum of a clock generating the time and space in which it librated, as of dead matter spontaneously quickening and actuating those new movements of which some of its particles have become the seat; fo

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DEVELOPMENT OF SEEDS.

DEVELOPMENT OF SEEDS.

The mode in which the organs immediately containing the seeds are formed, differs according to the family. In the tribe of puff-balls, where the seed is formed in the interior of the fungus, there is no hymenium; a few of the internal cells (when the Lycoperdon has attained its full size) begin to enlarge, and these in a short time are found to contain small granules, generally of a determinate number, and moistened by a fluid secreted from within the walls. In such funguses as have an hymenium

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SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES.

SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPORES.

When the spore is to cease to be a spore, and to become a mushroom, the first thing it does is to send forth certain cotton-like filaments, whose interfacings entangle it completely while they also serve to attach it to the place of its birth; these threads (like the spongioles attached to the roots of phænogamous plants, whose name sufficiently explains their office) absorb and bring nourishment to the quickened spore, which then maintains itself entirely by intus-susception. All this takes pla

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OF THE ANNULUS, THE VELUM, AND THE VOLVA.

OF THE ANNULUS, THE VELUM, AND THE VOLVA.

Of these involucra the first two are partial, the other universal. The Volva is a thick membranaceous covering, originating at the base of the fungus, which it thus connects with the earth, and furnishes, during its fœtal life, with the means of support and nourishment. When this has ceased, and the plant has quitted its wrapper, if this still adhere to the base of the stalk, it is styled manifest ( manifesta ), but if there be no traces of it left, obliterated ( obliterata ). It is free when it

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Division I. HYMENOMYCETES.

Division I. HYMENOMYCETES.

Old words in Natural History seldom become obsolete, but they change their meanings strangely. Were Dioscorides and Pliny redivivi , they would find nothing but misnomers! The term Agaricus , which anciently applied indiscriminately to all hard coriaceous funguses growing on trees (while the word Fungus did imperfect duty for this genus), was next arbitrarily made by Linnæus to stand representative for such only as had gills, “fungi lamellati terrestres et arborei .” [115] Persoon, again, under

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Division II. GASTEROMYCETES.

Division II. GASTEROMYCETES.

Bot. Char. The receptacle a close cavity with or without a hymenium; spores at last free and variously disseminated. [In Genera 46 to 73 there are no esculent species.] Bot. Char. Peridium papyraceous, furnished with a distinct back, which at length peels off altogether, fertile within; capillitium equal. Esculent species: B. plumbea . Bot. Char. A sessile peridium , membranaceous; at first filled with a white, consistent, homogeneous substance, which after a time is converted into a dust of var

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AGARICUS PRUNULUS, Vitt.

AGARICUS PRUNULUS, Vitt.

Plate I. Fig. 1. Subgenus Tricholoma , Fries . Subdivision Personata , ibid. Agaricus mouceron , Bulliard . Cæsalpinus , p. 617. Mouceron gris , Paulet , Persoon . “Cogitatione ante pascuntur succineis novaculis aut argenteo apparatu comitante.”— Pliny. “Tout ce qui fait l’ornement des festins s’embaume du parfum de ces cryptogames.”— Persoon. Bot. Char. Gregarious, or growing in rings [153] on the ground; pileus thick, convex, irregular in shape, more or less tuberculated, sometimes lobed; [154

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AGARICUS PROCERUS, Scop.

AGARICUS PROCERUS, Scop.

Plate II. Subgenus Lepiota , Fries . “Elle est d’une saveur très-agréable et d’une chair tendre, très-délicate et très-bonne à manger. Les amateurs la préfèrent même au champignon de couche, comme ayant une chair plus fine et étant beaucoup plus légère sur l’estomac.”— Paulet. This, which is one of the most delicate funguses, fortunately is not rare in England. In Italy it is in equal request with the Amanita Cæsarea ; in France it is also in high esteem,—“servie sur toutes les tables, elle est

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BOLETUS EDULIS, Bulliard.

BOLETUS EDULIS, Bulliard.

Plate III. Figs. 1 and 2. Section Cortinaria , Fries . “Atto sovra ognun altro fungo al commercio, forma da questo lato, per non pochi paesi della Lombardia, una delle principali risorsi della povera gente.”— Vitt. The ancient Romans were well acquainted with this truly delicious fungus, and in general appear to have done it justice; the strings of dried Suillus, which his countrymen, on the testimony of Pliny, were in the habit of fetching from Bithynia, were in all likelihood the same as those

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AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS.

AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS.

Section Pratella . Subdivision Psaliota , Fries . Agaricus campestris , Linn . There is scarcely any one in England who does not feel himself competent to decide on the genuineness of a mushroom: its pink gills are carefully separated from those of a kindred fungus Ag. Georgii , which are of a flesh-coloured grey, and out of the pickings of ten thousand hands, a mistake is of rare occurrence; and yet no fungus presents itself under such a variety of forms, of such singular diversities of aspect!

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AGARICUS EXQUISITUS, nob.

AGARICUS EXQUISITUS, nob.

Plate IV., Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Section Psaliota , Fries . Subdivision Pratella , ibid. Agaricus Georgii , Withering . “L’Agarico esquisito è un fungo sano, oltremodo delicato e di facilissima digestione.”— Vitt. “Its flavour is far inferior to that of the common mushroom.”— Berkeley. This fungus, called also the Horse Mushroom, from the enormous dimensions [161] to which it sometimes attains, is for the most part shunned by the English epicure; it is also this species from which many persons repo

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AGARICUS DELICIOSUS.

AGARICUS DELICIOSUS.

Plate V., Fig. 4. Orange Milk Agaric. Subgenus Galorrheus . Bot. Char. Gregarious. Pileus from three to four inches across; colour dull orange-rufous, frequently zoned with concentric circles of a brighter hue, fleshy, firm, full of red orange milk, which turns green on exposure to the air (as does the whole plant when bruised); the margin at first involute and downy, then expanded, afterwards depressed. Gills decurrent, forked at the base, always of the same colour as the pileus, rather distant

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BOLETUS SCABER, Fries.

BOLETUS SCABER, Fries.

Plate VI. Figs. 1, 2. “Fungo innocente e che non può cagionare alcun danno, non molto ricercato a motivo, senza dubbio, del cambiamento di colore in cui va soggetto la sua carne allorchè viene rotta o compressa.”— Vitt. Bot. Char. This fungus presents itself under two distinct forms; in the first, the B. aurantiacus of Bull., the pileus (generally rather downy, but sometimes rough) is of a beautiful deep orange hue; in the other it is cinereous. In both cases its shape is that of a hemisphere of

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BOLETUS LURIDUS.

BOLETUS LURIDUS.

Plate VI. Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Nothing can be more accurate than Mr. Berkeley’s description of this species, which I therefore subjoin:—“Woods. Summer and autumn. Common. Pileus two to six inches broad, convex, expanded, minutely tomentose, olive, brick-red, pinkish, cream-coloured, or ferruginous-brown. Flesh more or less yellow, changing to blue. [163] Tubes free, yellow or greenish; their orifices of a beautiful red or bright orange, quite simple, round. Spores olivaceous-ochre. Stem very varia

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AGARICUS PERSONATUS.

AGARICUS PERSONATUS.

Plate I. Fig. 2. Subgenus Tricholoma , Fries . Blewitts. I never met with this fungus in Italy; it has not been described by Vittadini, nor, that I am aware of, by any Italian mycologist; neither is it mentioned by Cordier or Roques, in their treatises on the esculent funguses of France. Extremely common in England, this species has already found its way to Covent Garden, where, according to Sowerby, it is sold under the name of “Blewitts.” [165] The favourite haunt of the Blewitt is amidst gras

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AGARICUS OREADES, Bolt.

AGARICUS OREADES, Bolt.

Plate VII. Fig. 4. Subgenus Clitocybe . Section Scortei , Fries . Scotch Bonnets. Every one knows the Champignon,—that little buff fungus which during so many months in the year comes up in successive crops, in great profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound everywhere: this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them; amid the seared and much-trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel

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AGARICUS NEBULARIS.

AGARICUS NEBULARIS.

Plate IV. Fig. 2. Subgenus Clitocybe . Section Dasyphylli , Fries . Ag. pileolarius , Bulliard . “Il est très-agréable au goût.”— Bulliard. The following description was made from some among the more characteristic specimens of a large supply which I gathered this autumn (1847) near Hayes, from a spot where they are in the habit of re-appearing regularly in October. Pileus from two and a half to five inches across; at first depresso-convex; when expanded nearly flat or broadly subumbonate, never

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CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.

CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.

Plate VIII. Fig. 1. Tribe Mesopus . Subdivision Agaricini , Fries . “Sunt qui hunc perniciosum scripsere. Verum etiam latranti stomacho eum comedi; atque ex eo pulmenta parantur, quæ si aridis mortuorum oribus admovcantur peream ni reviviscerent!”— Batt. “Jure inter sapidissimos fungos numeratur.”— Fries. No fungus is more popular than the above, though the merits—nay, the very existence—of such a fungus at home is confined to the Freemasons, who keep the secret! Having collected a quantity at T

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AGARICUS ATRAMENTARIUS, Bull.

AGARICUS ATRAMENTARIUS, Bull.

Plate IX. Figs. 1 and 2. Subgenus Coprinus , Fries . Bot. Char. Pileus fleshy, campanulate, margin uneven, colour greyish, then light brown, slightly hairy, often corrugated, sometimes scaly in the centre. Gills numerous, deep, with clear veins, light brown, black in age, the edges grey or white, free, obtuse behind. Stem about four inches high, swollen at the base, piped, juicy, fibrous, marked with bands. This is a common fungus in gardens, waste corners of fields, and lanes, and occasionally

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AGARICUS COMATUS.

AGARICUS COMATUS.

Plate VII. Figs. 1, 2, and 3. “A fungus in great request about Via Reggio and Lucca.”— Puccinelli. Bot. Char. Pileus cylindrical, breaking up into long scales, campanulate, epidermis thin, flesh thick in the centre, very thin and stringy at the margins. Gills numerous, quite free, leaving a space round the top of the stem. Stem from four to five inches high, rather bulbous at the base, stuffed with fibres, brittle, ring moveable. This fungus may be found from early spring till late in the autumn

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AGARICUS HETEROPHYLLUS, Fries.

AGARICUS HETEROPHYLLUS, Fries.

Plate III. Figs. 3 and 4. Subgenus Russula , Scopoli . “Non meno sicuro e gustoso del Cesareo e del l’orcino.”— Vitt. It is of the utmost importance that those who gather funguses for the table, should be accurately acquainted with the different species composing this genus; its members are so abundantly distributed; some of them form so excellent and delicate a food, whilst others produce such deleterious effects on the economy, that they are well entitled to a diligent and careful attention. T

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AGARICUS OSTREATUS, Jacq.

AGARICUS OSTREATUS, Jacq.

Plate X. Subgenus Pleuropus , Persoon. Subdivision Concharia , Fries . “L’Ag. ostreato viene giustamente per la sua bontà ed innocenza amesso tra i funghi commestibili, de’ quali è pure permessa la vendita sulle pubbliche piazze.”— Vitt. Bot. Char. Cæispitose. [172] Pileus fleshy, smooth, blackish, then cinereous, at length paler; epidermis strongly adherent, flesh fibrous, moderately firm; gills anastomosing behind, not glandular, white; stem sublateral or wanting. On dead trees. [173] Season,

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AGARICUS RUBESCENS, Persoon.

AGARICUS RUBESCENS, Persoon.

Plate XI. Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Subgenus 1. Amanita. “Non altrimenti del Cesareo delicato e sano.”— Vitt. Bot. Char. Pileus covered with warts of different sizes; margins even, convex, flesh turns obscurely red when cut or bruised, slightly moist and shining; gills attenuated behind; stem at first stuffed, in age becoming hollow, bulbous, sometimes scaly; ring wide, marked with striæ; spores nearly elliptical; smell strong; taste not unpleasant. This is a very delicate fungus, which grows in suffic

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MORCHELLA ESCULENTA, Dill.

MORCHELLA ESCULENTA, Dill.

Plate XII. Figs. 6 and 7. Tribe 3. Mitrati. Morell. “Sommamente ricercata,”— Vitt. Every one knows the Morell, that expensive luxury which the rich are content to procure at great cost from our Italian warehouses, and the poor are fain to do without. It is less generally known that this fungus, though by no means so common with us as some others, (a circumstance partly attributable to the prevailing ignorance as to when and where to look for it, or even of its being indigenous to England, [178]

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HYDNUM REPANDUM, Linn.

HYDNUM REPANDUM, Linn.

Plate VIII. Figs. 3 and 4. Subgenus Mesopus , Fries . “The general use made of this fungus throughout France, Italy, and Germany leaves no doubt as to its good qualities.”— Roques. Bot. Char. Pileus fleshy, tawny, red, smoothly tomentose, very irregular in shape, from two to five inches across, lobed or undulated; margin vaulted, acute, wavy; flesh white, turning yellow when cut, if bruised becoming brown-red; spines pale-yellow, unequal, thick-set, apices canino-denticulate or conical, straight

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FISTULINA HEPATICA, Fries.

FISTULINA HEPATICA, Fries.

Plate XII. Figs. 1 and 2. “Fungus pauperibus esculentus.”— Schœff. This fungus, which, in the earlier stages of its development, frequently resembles very closely a tongue in shape, structure, and general appearance, presents later a dark, amorphous, grumous-looking mass, bearing a still more striking likeness to liver. Thus, seen while young, and just beginning to bud out from the oak, [181] its papillated surface, regular shape, and clear fibrous flesh make it an object of interest to many who

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AGARICUS ORCELLA,[182] Bull.

AGARICUS ORCELLA,[182] Bull.

Plate XI. Figs. 1 and 2. Section Mouceron , Fries . “Senza dubbio uno de’ migliori funghi indigeni.”— Vitt. “Esculentus!”— Ibid. This is a very delicate mushroom; it grows either solitary or in company, and sometimes in rings, succeeding occasionally a crop of Ag. oreades and Ag. prunulus which had recently occupied the same site. Its general appearance, once recognized, is such as to render the mistaking it for any other species afterwards unlikely, whilst the least attention to its botanical c

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HELVELLA CRISPA, Fries. HELVELLA LACUNOSA, Afz.

HELVELLA CRISPA, Fries. HELVELLA LACUNOSA, Afz.

Tribe Mitrati , Fries . “Può essere con vantaggio raccolta ed agli stessi usi delle spugniole destinata.”— Vitt. All Helvellæ are esculent, have an agreeable odour, and bear a general resemblance in flavour to the Morell . The Helvella crispa , or pallid Helvella of Scopoli and Fries, is, it seems, “not uncommon,” [185] and the Helvella lacunosa , or cinereous Helvella of Afzel (on each of whose heads respectively Sowerby and Schœffer place an inappropriate mitre), are both indigenous. They are

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VERPA DIGITALIFORMIS, Persoon. PEZIZA ACETABULUM, Linn.

VERPA DIGITALIFORMIS, Persoon. PEZIZA ACETABULUM, Linn.

Tribe Cupulati . These funguses are very similar in their properties to the Helvellæ ; that is, are not to be despised when one cannot get better, nor to be eaten when one can. “The Verpa ,” says Vittadini, “though sold in the market, is only to be recommended when no other esculent fungus offers, which is sometimes the case in spring.” The Peziza acetabulum is utterly insipid, and depends entirely for flavour upon the sauce in which it is served. As they are rare in England, I shall merely give

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POLYPORUS FRONDOSUS, Schrank.

POLYPORUS FRONDOSUS, Schrank.

Plate IV. Fig. 1. There are many species of Polyporus eaten on the Continent; among the more common kinds to be mentioned are P. frondosus and P. tuberaster , Persoon, P. corylinus , Mauri, P. subsquamosus , Pers., P. giganteus , ibid., P. fomentarius , ibid., which last is the Amadou, or German tinder fungus. Two of these are local; the P. tuberaster , which occurs principally in the kingdom of Naples, and the P. corylinus or that of the cob-nut tree, which (though it might perhaps be cultivate

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CLAVARIA CORALLOIDES, Linn.

CLAVARIA CORALLOIDES, Linn.

Plate V. Fig. 3. Subgenus Ochrosporea , Fries . “Esculenta deliciosa.”— Vitt. All the funguses of this genus being esculent, enter more or less largely into the supplies of the Italian markets. Roques describes seven species; Persoon five; Vittadini gives a detailed account and drawings of three, selecting those principally for the superiority of their flavour over the rest, and because of their greater abundance in the Milanese district. Mr. Berkeley, in a list with which he has favoured me, en

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LYCOPERDON PLUMBEUM, nob.

LYCOPERDON PLUMBEUM, nob.

Puff-balls. Subdivision Gasteromycetes , Fries . Tribe 3. Trichospermi. Family 1. Trichogastres. Genus 1. Lycoperdon , Tournef. “Il Licoperdo piombino è uno dei funghi mangiativi più delicati che si conoscano. Il suo uso è pressochè generale.”— Vitt. All these more or less spherical white funguses furnished with a membranaceous covering, and filled when young with a white, compact, homogeneous pulp, which we call Puff-balls, are good to eat; those in most request for the table abroad, and the be

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LYCOPERDON BOVISTA, Linn.

LYCOPERDON BOVISTA, Linn.

Subdivision Gasteromycetes , Fries . Tribe 3. Trichospermi. Family 1. Trichogastres. “Vescie buone da friggere” (Tuscan vernacular name). “La sua carne candida compatta si presta facilemente a tutte le speculazioni del cuoco.”— Vitt. This differs from the last-mentioned Puff-ball in many particulars; in the first place it is much larger (sometimes attaining to vast dimensions), its shape is different, being that of an inverted cone; never globular, the flesh also is more compact, while the membr

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AGARICUS MELLEUS.

AGARICUS MELLEUS.

Plate IX. Fig. 3. Subgenus 3. Amillaria. This is a nauseous, disagreeable fungus, however cooked, and merely finds mention here, as its omission in a work on the esculent funguses of England might seem strange to those unacquainted with its demerits; it is really extraordinary how some Continental writers, speaking from their own experience, should ever have recommended it for the table. Pliny’s general apage against all funguses really finds an application to this, which is so repugnant to our

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AGARICUS ULMARIUS, Bull.

AGARICUS ULMARIUS, Bull.

Subgenus Pleuropus . Subdivision Ægeritaria . “Fungo mangiativo sommamente ricercato e di ottima qualità.”— Vitt. Bot. Char. Solitary or connected to others by a common root; the pileus presenting a dirty-white surface, turning afterwards to a pale rust-colour, and sometimes tessellated; varying like all parasitical funguses in shape, but generally more or less orbicular; flesh continuous with the stalk, white, compact; stalk very thick, solid, elastic, smooth towards the summit, tomentose at th

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AGARICUS FUSIPES, Bull.

AGARICUS FUSIPES, Bull.

Subgenus Clytocybe . Subdivision Chondropodes . “Il a le même goût quo le Champignon de Couche, quoique un peu plus prononcé.”— Persoon. Bot. Char. Gregarious; pileus fleshy, loose, of a uniform brown colour, sometimes marked with dark blotches, as if burnt; gills nearly free, serrated, at first dirty-white, afterwards a clear bistre; easily separable from the stalk; stalk hollow, ventricose, sulcate, rooting, spindle-shaped, slightly grooved, tapering at the base, sometimes cracked transversely

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AGARICUS VAGINATUS, Bull.

AGARICUS VAGINATUS, Bull.

Series 1. Leucosporus. Subgenus 1. Amanita. “La Coucoumèle grise ( Ag. vag. ) est une des espèces les plus délicates et les plus sûres à manger.”— De Candolle. Bot. Char . “Margin of the pileus sulcate, gills white, stuffed with cottony pith, fistulose, attenuated upwards, almost smooth; volva like a sheath. Woods and pastures, August and October; not uncommon. Pileus four inches or more broad, plane, slightly depressed in the centre, scarcely umbonate, fleshy, but not at the extreme margin, whi

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AGARICUS VIOLACEUS, Linn.

AGARICUS VIOLACEUS, Linn.

Subgenus 18. Inoloma. Bot. Char. Pileus from four to six inches broad, obtuse, expanded, covered with soft hairs, colour deep violet; stem spongy, grey, tinged with violet, minutely downy, about four inches high; veil fugacious, composed of fine threads; gills deep violet when young, but turning tawny in age; flesh thick, juicy. This is a handsome fungus, not very common, but plentiful where it occurs; it grows in woods, particularly under Pine and Fir trees, and may be dressed either with a whi

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AGARICUS CASTANEUS, Bull.

AGARICUS CASTANEUS, Bull.

Subgenus 19. Dermocybe. Bot. Char. Pileus slightly fleshy, convex when young, at length umbonate, chestnut colour, from one to three inches broad, glabrous; gills rather broad, easily detached from the stem, ventricose, changing from light-purple to a ferruginous hue; stem rather thin, from one and a half to three inches long, hollow, silvery, light-lilac or white; veil delicate, composed of floccose threads; in taste , when raw, it somewhat resembles the Ag. oreades , but it has no smell. This

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AGARICUS PIPERATUS, Scop.

AGARICUS PIPERATUS, Scop.

Subgenus 7. Galorrheus. “Ed è veramente commestibile e saporoso quando se ne levi il latte.”— Bendiscioli. Bot. Char. “ Pileus infundibuliform, rigid, smooth, white; gills very narrow, close; milk, and the solid blunt stem, white. In woods, July and August. Pileus 3-7 inches broad, slightly rugulose, quite smooth, white, a little clouded with umber, or stained with yellow where scratched or bruised, convex, more or less depressed, often quite infundibuliform, more or less waved, fleshy, thick, f

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AGARICUS VIRGINEUS, Wullf.

AGARICUS VIRGINEUS, Wullf.

Subgenus 8. Clitocybe. Subdivision Camarophylli . White Field-Agaric. Bot. Char. Pileus from one to two inches broad, margin involute when young, then expanded, depressed in the centre. Gills deep, connected with veins, sometimes forked, broadly adnate, but breaking away from the stem as the pileus becomes depressed. Stem six lines broad at the top, tapering downwards, not more than two at the base; at first stuffed with fibres, then hollow, excentric; the whole plant white, with occasionally a

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TUBER ÆSTIVUM, Vitt.

TUBER ÆSTIVUM, Vitt.

Plate VIII. Fig. 2. Peridium warty, of a blackish-brown colour, the warts polygonal and striate, flesh traversed by numerous veins; asci 4-6-spored; spores elliptical, reticulated. This plant, the common truffle of our markets, is abundant in Wiltshire and some other parts of England, and probably occurs in many places where it escapes observation, from its subterranean habit. Italy is not the country for the English florist; he will find twenty times as many petals at home. Trim parterres are n

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Note on the Arrangement of the spores in Hymenomycetous Funguses.

Note on the Arrangement of the spores in Hymenomycetous Funguses.

On the authority of Link, Fries, Vittadini, and other Continental mycologists, I have, in speaking of the spores of the genera Agaricus , Boletus , Cantharellus , Hydnum , and Clavaria , represented them as enclosed in cases (thecæ or sporanges). But from an interesting memoir, published by Mr. Berkeley in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ “On the Fructification of the Pileate and Clavate tribes of Hymenomycetous Fungi,” which I had not then perused, it would appear that this arrangement only hol

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