POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 97 



CLUSTERED YELLOW MUSHROOM. 



Agaricus {Uypholomob) fascicularis. 



(Plate XIII. Fig. 1.) 



The above-named fungus is about the 



most common everywhere in the British 



Islands. It appears soon after midsummer, 



and lasts until destroyed by the frosts. 



Wholly confined to rotten wood, it grows 



on fallen trunks, logs, but chiefly on old 



stumps left in the ground, and forms dense 



clumps, sometimes two or three feet across. 



The cap is usually about an inch, but 



occasionally two inches, in diameter, of a 



sulphury yellow, reddish or brownish on the 



top, turning brown in decay, smooth and 



even. The stems are hollow and elongated, 



flexuous, and closely pressed together at 



the base, where they are brownish, but 



yellow in the upper portion. The gills 



have a dull greenish tinge, which lasts for 



a long time, at length becoming discoloured 



with the purple-brown spores. The odour 



a 



