Order Hymenomycetes. Tribe Pileafi. 



Plate LXXVII. 



AGARICUS ARVENSIS, sck.ffcr,.... 



Bcaik Horse-Mushroom. 

 Series Pratella. Sub-genus Psaliota. 



&pec. Char. A. arvensis, var. Pilous from eight to fourteen inches broad {not iv/uie),tavfuy yellow, with rich 

 brown closely adpressed, concentric scales ; at first nearly hemispherical, but flattened at the apex, regular, scarcely 

 lobed, at length plane. Flesh moderately thick, not juicy, tough, in the centre nearly corky, white, with a yellow 

 brown (not reddish) tinge near the insertion of the stem ; turning yellow on the application of salt. Gills numerous, 

 broader than in ^. exquisitus and less attenuated in fi'ont, free but much nearer to tlie stem than in that variety ; 

 at first nearly white, then pallid-red without the grey tint of the other, at length rich purple-brown ; dry, not deli- 

 quescing till old age. Spores the same brown shade as those of E.vqnmtus. Stem fi-om four to eight inches or 

 more high, firm, rigid, almost woody, the interior distinctly channelled, partiaUy stidfed with shining fibres (fluccoso- 

 medullate), not so thick in proportion as that of A. exquisitus, not equal, attenuated upwards, more or less bulbous, 

 always laterally inclined, owing to the tufted mode of growth ; more or less brown, smooth above, or striate in age, 

 the bulb also becomes smooth, but in youth is clothed, or rather hosed, with flocculose portions of the outer veil. 

 Ring not so thick and ample, much more fugacious than in A. exquisitus. It has a slight smell of bitter almonds, 

 but no strong scent of any kind ; in flavour it resembles A. campestris. It yields very little, but veiy rich ketchup. 

 A. AKVENSis, var., Schaffer, Fries, Berh. MSS. 

 A. Geoegii, English Flora, Sowerby, {not JFith.) 



Hah. Under trees ; on banks near water, always more or less tufted, never in rings. 



We have little to say of this shewy species of A. arvensis, beyond what we have abeady given in its 

 "specific character." It can scarcely be mistaken for an Agaric of any other kind; the juice it yields is 

 particularly rich and agreeable. Our e.xperience satisfies us, that not only are healtluly grown members of 

 the arvensis iamilj "good for ketchup, " but better than any other, unless A. procerus be the exception. 

 In 1848, owing probably to the wetness of the season, the common Mushroom, A. campestris, failed entirely. 

 In Covent-Garden Market, which generally offers every thing comestible that can be had at aU, true 

 Mushrooms were unattainable ; this deficiency was not felt by the unprejudiced who knew the virtues of a 

 " Horse Mushroom,," for all the varieties of A. arvensis were super-abundant. 



We now propose to instruct our friends in the art of making ketchup, premising that we never use 

 individuals grown on or near dunghills, nor the hard juiceless unexpanding ones, dwarfed under shrubs 

 and in similar confined sites, but pure, sound specimens flourishing in " pleasant places." All kinds of 

 Agaric of which it is proposed to make use, should be sound ; decaying larvee-eaten flaps are ignorantly 

 preferred ; bvit if the flavour be stronger, it is of a coarse rank strength, and the smell soon becomes dis- 

 agreeable ; in fact there is a tendency to putrescence in such Agarics. 



