THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



JUNE, 1875. 



TOADSTOOLS AND THEIR KINDRED. 



By Miss E. A. YOUMANS. 



IN taking " toadstools " as the text of a little botanical discourse, 

 we start with a familiar notion if not a scientific one ; but all 

 science begins with common ideas which it corrects, extends, and de- 

 velops. Everybody knows what toadstools are, odd-looking things 

 that grow up in the fields and are often kicked aside in rural rambles, 

 of no use to man or beast, and " pizen " to eat. This is the oldest, the 

 widest, and the lowest state of mind upon the subject. But many 

 have got beyond this, and recognize that some of these queer-looking 

 things are actually eatable ; these they distinguish as mushrooms, and 

 all the rest are lumped together as toadstools. A step forward, and 

 we become slightly scientific ; that is, the different kinds begin to be 

 noted, and compared, and classed with reference to their particular 

 characters. When so much is gained, it soon appears that the subject is 

 much wider than was supposed, and that all these growths are but parts 

 of an extensive division of peculiar plants caWed fungi / and, having 

 reached this state of intelligence, toadstools have disappeared. While, 

 then, the popular term may answer to indicate generally what we are 

 talking about, it conveys no exact meaning. The group of plants 

 represented upon the plate is not merely a family of toadstools, but a 

 collection of fungi. By their unlike characters they belong to separate 

 groups in this class, and each has its separate name ; ^ for nomen- 



^ Names of Species shown in the Plate : 1. Fly-blown mushroom Agaricus muscarius. 

 2. Common mushroom Agaricus campestris. 3. Round-headed morel Morchella esctc- 

 lenta. 4. Small-headed morel Morchella hyhrida. 5. Tall cylindrical agaric Agaricus 

 comatus. 6. Variable wood agaric Agaricus gilvus. 7. Shaggy agaric Agaricus Jloc- 

 cosus. 8. Spangled watery agaric Agaricus micaceous. 9. Warty false puff-ball Sclero- 

 derma verrucosum. 10. Large bladder-like peziza Peziza vasculosa. 11. Alpine amanita 

 Amanita nivalis. 12. Red-stemmed boletus Boletus luridus. 13. Scaly hydruim 

 Hydruim, imhricatum. 14. Hairy earth-tongue Geofelossum hirsutum. 15. Hispid poly- 

 porus Folyporus hispidtis. 16. Sulphur-colored polyporus Polyporus sulphureus. 17. 

 Carmine peziza Peziza coccinea. 18. Scaly hydruim Hydruim imbricatum. 19. Pale- 

 TOL. TIT. 9 



