EDIBLE MUSHROOMS. 37 



ST. GEORGE'S MUSHROOM. 



Agaricus (Tricholoma) gambosus. 



(Plate II. Fig. 2.) 



There are not many mushrooms in the 

 spring, and to possess a really good sub- 

 stitute on St. George's Day is a decided 

 advantage, only that the St. George's 

 Mushroom appears to be provokingly local. 

 The cap reaches to three or four inches in 

 diameter, and it is of a creamy whiteness 

 in every part, sometimes with a darker 

 tinge on the top of the cap. Altogether, 

 it is of a robust habit, and a peculiarly 

 strong odour, more penetrating than that of 

 any other mushroom with which we are 

 acquainted. It comes up in rings on rich 

 pastures, and even the spawn, or mycelium, 

 possesses the strong odour. The margin 

 of the pileus has a constant tendency to 

 curve inwards, the gills and spores are 

 white, and the stem has no trace of a collar, 

 or ring. There is an abundance of thick 



