Mushrooms and Toadstools (Third Edition) — Bundled Stump-Mushroom to Fly Mushroom
(_Agaricus_ [_Hypholoma_] _fascicularis.
_) 331. This species occurs everywhere at the bases of old stumps, always in groups.
The stem is hollow, and the gills are greenish and sub-deliquescent.
There is a heavy odour attached to it, and the taste is bitter and repulsive.
=Red Juice-Mushroom.
= Fig. 2. (_Hygrophorus conicus.
_) 482. This truly handsome fungus is common in pastures and roadsides.
It turns purple-black when bruised, broken, or old, and it has a strong and very forbidding odour.
It is of a succulent substance, and is not unfrequently a brilliant yellow or deep orange, in place of crimson or scarlet.
[Illustration] =Trellised Clathrus.
= Fig. 3. (_Clathrus cancellatus.
_) 917. I am indebted to the late Mrs. Gulson, of Eastcliff, near Teignmouth, Devon, for the original plant from which this figure was taken.
It is of extreme beauty and rarity, seldom occurring in this country, but common enough in the south of Europe.
The fetor exhaled from this species is highly disagreeable, and can be compared with nothing but itself.
It is so horribly repulsive and loathsome as to make a mere examination of the plant a matter of the greatest difficulty.
In the young state the odour is less strong, or altogether absent.
=Fetid Leather-fungus.
= Fig. 4. (_Thelephora palmata.
_) 760. This soft fungus bears a distant resemblance to some species of Clavaria.
It is uncommon, grows upon the ground, and possesses a very disagreeable odour.
=Olive-gilled Mushroom.
= Fig. 5. (_Agaricus_ [_Hypholoma_] _sublateritius.
_) 328. This plant is allied to fig. 1, and, like it, grows upon old stumps in woods, and has, too, a disagreeable smell.
=Astringent Mushroom.
= Fig. 6. (_Panus stypticus.
_) 582. Is very common on old dead trees and stumps in woods, and had better be avoided.
=Matrix-bearing Mushroom.
= Fig. 7. (_Agaricus_ [_Amanita_] _Phalloides.
_) 2. Common everywhere in woods; this handsome Agaric is known to be highly dangerous.
It is allied to fig. 8, as will be seen by glancing at the figures.
All parts are nearly white, excepting the top, which generally takes some pale shade of subdued yellow or green.
=Poisonous Spring Mushroom.
= Fig. 8. (_Agaricus_ [_Amanita_] _vernus.
_) 1. Belonging to a very suspicious group, this Agaric is supposed to be very poisonous.
It grows in woods, _in the spring_, and is white in all its parts.
It is rare, but I have found it close to London.
=Magpie Mushroom.
= Fig. 9. (_Coprinus picaceus.
_) 379. This, too, is equally rare, though in some places, as in the Herefordshire woods, it is by no means infrequent.
It is a very handsome but suspicious-looking plant, with the top broken up into large patches of black and white.
It grows on roadsides, and has a disagreeable odour.
=Gloomy Tube-Mushroom.
= Fig. 10. (_Boletus luridus.
_) 607. This is one of the handsomest ornaments of our woods and woody places.
The prevailing tint is umber, relieved on the under surface by bright red, sometimes approaching crimson, or even vermilion; when broken or bruised it rapidly changes colour to blue.
It is very common in all places where there are trees, and often comes up early in the year.
It is probably more or less poisonous, though I have known it to be eaten without _fatal_ effects.
Mr. Penrose once found a specimen as large as a milking-stool, exactly three feet in circumference.
=Griping Milk-Mushroom.
= Fig. 11. (_Lactarius torminosus.
_) 488. This dangerous fungus is at once known by the hairy margin of the top, which is rolled inwards.
The milk that exudes when the plant is broken is acrid and biting, and does not change colour as does fig. 11, Edible Sheet, and figs.
20 and 28, Poisonous Sheet.
Though said to be common, I think it is somewhat rare; it now and then occurs in solitary specimens in the woods and open places near London.
=Ruddy Milk-Mushroom.
= Fig. 12. (_Lactarius rufus.
_) 512. This is one of the most deadly of all British fungi, and generally grows in fir woods; the white milk is singularly acrid and corrosive, which is perhaps its best distinguishing mark.
It bears some resemblance to fig. 26, Edible Sheet, but the milk of the _L.
volemum_ is mild, and changes colour to dark brown when exposed to the action of the air; whilst in _L.
rufus_ it remains white, and the milk is highly pungent.
=Fly Mushroom.
= Fig. 13. (_Agaricus_ [_Amanita_] _muscarius.
_) 3. Few fungi can exceed this well-known species in beauty.
It is somewhat local, and loves birch woods, where it sometimes makes the very ground almost scarlet with its profuse growth.
Sometimes the top is deep yellow or orange, but it is usually brilliant scarlet; if the top skin is stripped off, the flesh just beneath is seen to be bright yellow, and the rest of the flesh white.
It is allied to fig. 1, Edible Sheet, but the flesh of the latter is not yellow under the skin; and _A.
rubescens turns reddish_ in every part as soon as bruised or broken.
=Poisonous Forest Mushroom.
= Fig. 14.
