92 BRITISH EDIBLE FUNGI. 



surface of the cap, which constitute the reproductive 

 element. In the Boleti the gills are no longer 

 present, but are replaced by tubes which serve the 

 same purpose. And now, with the Hydnei or spine 

 bearing tribe, we have the gills or tubes alike absent, 

 but their place is supplied by projecting spines or 

 teeth. 



A good illustration will be found in the common 

 Hedgehog Mushroom {Hydmim repaiidinn), which 

 may serve first for a short botanical lesson, and 

 afterwards as a dish for the breakfast table. This 

 fungus is sufficiently common in woods in the autumn 

 to be found by anyone who seeks it. The cap re- 

 sembles somewhat an ordinary mushroom, but is 

 more irregular in shape, seldom round, and of a warm 

 cream colour, not unlike the top of a sponge cake. 

 It is about three or four inches across, seldom even, 

 but with irregular knobs or protuberances, and never 

 shining or sticky. Owing to the shortness of the 

 stem the cap is always close to the ground. If we 

 gather one of these, and turn it over, it will be seen 

 that the under surface is covered with closely packed 

 spines, of the same colour as the surface of the cap. 



These spines occupy the place, and serve the 

 purpose of gills. This is the scientific distinction 

 between the agarics and the hydnums, and the sum 

 total of our botanical demonstration. In our common 

 hedgehog mushroom the stem is short and thick, 

 often deformed and distorted. Not unusually two 



