42 BRITISH EDIBLE FUNGI. 



brown, and are ultimately as dark as in the horse 

 mushroom. The stem is always whitish, or yellowish 

 white, except when stained with the spores. Un- 

 luckily insects are fond of it, and the pileus and 

 top of the stem, when mature, are generally " mag- 

 goty." 



This is but little inferior to the mushroom in its 

 edible qualities, although we can scarcely consider it 

 equal to that, or either of the above named. It is 

 deficient in aroma, and not so delicate in flavour, and 

 as the pileus is thin, there is very little flesh when 

 cooked ; but it may be accepted as a substitute for 

 the mushroom, and may be mixed with other species 

 in the preparation of "ketchup." There are no 

 special methods of cooking it, except, it may be 

 said scarcely to merit stewing, and to be unfit for 

 pickling. 



This concludes what we may term the true mush- 

 room group of edible species, in which the flavour is 

 all similar but differing chiefly in delicacy or intensity. 

 There are therefore five species worthy of recom- 

 mendation, namely, the common mushroom, growing 

 in parks, pastures, or lawns ; the horse mushroom, 

 found usually in meadows or damp pastures ; the 

 scaly brown mushroom, growing in company under 

 the drip of oak trees ; the bleeding mushroom found 

 by roadsides in woods ; and the wood mushroom not 

 uncommon under trees in woods. To all these we 

 may add the cultivated varieties of the common 



