Agaricaceae 



Pieurotus. Polyporus sulphureus. In taste and smell the species varies from other 

 Pleuroti, in having a distinct musk-like flavor. This is agreeable, 

 reminding one of the common mushroom A. campester. 



** 



Veil none, gills sinuate, etc. 



P. lllma'rillS Bull. iilmns, an elm. Pileus 3-5 in. and more broad, 

 becoming pale-livid, often marbled with round spots, fleshy, compact, 

 horizontal, moderately regular although more or less excentric, convex 

 then plane, disk-shaped, even, smooth. Flesh white, tough. Stem 

 23 in. long, i in. thick, solid, firm, elastic, somewhat excentric, curved- 

 ascending, thickened and tomentose at the base, not rarely villous 

 throughout, white. Gills horizontal, emarginate or rounded behind, 

 slightly adnexed, broad (broader in the middle), somewhat crowded, 

 whitish. 



The pileus is sometimes cracked in a tessellated manner. Stevenson. 



Spores nearly globose, 5/u, long Morgan; 5-6.5^ broad Peck; 6p. 

 W.G.S. 



Var. aceri'cola acer, maple; colo, to inhabit. Plant smaller, cespi- 

 tose. 



Trunks and roots of maple trees. Adirondack mountains. September. 



Var. popultcola populus, poplar; colo, to inhabit. Plant subcespi- 

 tose, stem wholly tomentose. West Albany. Peck, Monograph, N. Y. 

 Species of Pieurotus, Rep. 39. 



The gills are sometimes torn across like those of Lentinus. 



The historic elms of Boston Common have borne copious crops of 

 this well-known and easily distinguished species from time immemorial. 

 Every fall, about the first of September, if the season is favorable, later 

 if not, copious crops appear decorating the trunks, and branches, some- 

 times at a height of thirty or forty feet. Growth takes place where 

 branches have broken off or the trees have been wounded from other 

 causes. They occur very generally on elms in the outlying districts of 

 the city, but are rare in the country, seeming to be distinctly urban in 

 their tastes. No damage is apparent from their growth. 



Immediately in the rear of Independence Hall, Philadelphia, a fine 

 cluster appears with equal autumnal regularity. 



Though the elm tree is the chosen habitat of this fungus, it is little 

 less select in its choice than other members of its genus. 



138 



