POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 121 



BITTER BOLETUS. 



Boletus felleus. 



(Plate XVII. Fig. 2.) 



Great bitterness seems to characterize 

 many species of Agarics and some Boleti, 

 on which account they have at once been 

 regarded as poisonous, when we think that 

 they should only have been ranked as unfit 

 for food. Evidence tends to show that 

 intense bitterness does not indicate that the 

 species is poisonous, although it may render 

 the fundus nauseous. The Bitter Boletus 

 is not uncommon in some localities in 

 autumn, inhabiting woodlands, and may 

 be distinguished from other species by the 

 flesh-coloured tubes and rosy spores. The 

 pileus is usually about three inches broad, 

 and convex, smooth and soft, of a yellowish- 

 red or foxy colour, with a thick white flesh, 

 which becomes of a dull flesh colour when 

 broken. The under surface is convex and 

 of a pale flesh colour, with irregular pores, 



