Hydnaceaa 



Hydnum. its shape and appearance. On fallen timber the branchlets and spines 

 may be erect. 



New York, Peck, 44th Rep. ; North Carolina, Ctirtis; West Virginia, 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mcllvaine. 



Edible. Curtis. Edible. Peck. 



Hydnum caput-ursi is common in West Virginia forests. It is con- 

 spicuous on standing oaks, and at a distance a puzzling object to one 

 not familiar with such excrescences. It grows on standing oaks near 

 Haddonfield, N. J., and sparsely at Mt. Gretna, Pa. 



It is more compact, and is tougher than H. coralloides and H. Me- 

 dusae, but cooks tender and is very good. 



H. caput-Medu'sse Bull. head of Medusse. (Plate CXXXV.) 



3-18 in. across, 2-8 in. high. Tufts pendulous. White then grayish. 

 Body compact, tapering to a solid base, more or less stem-like. Spines 

 covering entire surface. Those upon top are long, thin, straight or 

 distorted, growing shorter around and to the under side where they 

 are short and straight. The wavy appearance of the slender spines re- 

 mind of the snaky locks of Medusa, hence the name. 



Edible. Ciirtis. Edible. Leuba. 



On elms at Haddonfield, N. J. ; on oaks at Mt. Gretna, Pa., and in 

 Woodland Cemetery, and on elms in Washington Square, Philadelphia, 

 Pa. Mcllvaine. 



Commonly eaten in Italy and parts of Austria ; rare elsewhere in 

 Europe. Occurring over the United States. Specimens eighteen 

 inches across were seen by the writer in the West Virginia mountains. 



Mr. H. I. Miller, Terre Haute, Ind., sent me a fine specimen weigh- 

 ing io) pounds. 



The American species, as far as seen by the writer, changes to a light 

 yellow when ageing. The entire fungus is edible and excellent, but the 

 tender spines and more delicate parts make a dish equaled by few fungi. 



H. erina'ceum Bull.- erinaceus, a hedgehog. 2-8 in. and more 

 across. Tufts pendulous. White and yellowish-white becoming yel- 

 low-brownish, fleshy, elastic, tough, sometimes emarginate (broadly 

 attached as if tuft was cut in two, sliced off where attached), a mass of 

 latticed branches and fibrils. Spines i ^-4 in. long, crowded, straight, 

 equal, pendulous. Stem sometimes rudimentary. 



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