AGARICALES 



99 



Of the above families, the Agaricaceae contain the plants ordi- 

 narily known as toadstools or mushrooms which are usually pro- 

 vided with a central stem ; a few growing from the sides of 

 stumps or logs are stemless, the larger of which are often known 

 as oyster mushrooms. 



The Boletaceae form cushion-like fleshy toadstools provided 

 with pores ; the beefsteak fungus with a lateral stem also belongs 

 with this family. . 



The Polyporaceae include the woody, corky and leathery fungi 

 with pores which shelve out from standing tree trunks or fallen 

 logs and are Commonly known as bracket fungi. A few have a 

 central stem, more are dimidiate or semicircular in outline at- 

 tached by the side, while others are resupinate, i, e., have no 

 pileus, but the pores are attached directly to a thin crust like ex- 

 pansion of the ground work or context of the fungus. 



The Hydnaceae include forms of fungi with spines, flattened 

 teeth, or irregular tubercles. Some form coral-like masses hang- 

 ing from the sides of stumps or tree trunks, some have the forms 

 of fleshy agarics with central stems, a few are dimidiate, but 

 the greater part are resupinate, and many are inconspicuous. 



The Thelephoraceae include a few pileate forms, and a few, par- 

 ticularly species of Thelephora, are terrestrial ; the greater part, 

 however, form resupinate crusts of various colors from brown to 

 blue, yellow and white, growing on the sides of standing trunks, or 

 on small branches or under fallen logs. This brings us to the 

 simplest group of all. 



Family I. Hypochnaceae. 



This family is not largely represented in either genera or species 

 and seems to form the nearest approach of this order to the De- 

 matiaceae (p. 76) since the foundation for the basidial membrane 

 consists of loose floccose or arachnoid hyphae and the basidia 

 themselves are loosely aggregated. Two of the six genera are 

 found with us and may be distinguished as follows : 



Spores uncolored, smooth; basidia with 2-4 (rarely 6) sterigmata. 



HYPOCHNUS. 

 Spores colored, mostly spiny. TOMENTELLA. 



Two species of Hypochmis are common in the Southern States 

 growing on trees and logs, H. rubro-cinctus with brilliant scarlet 



