SWEETBREAD MUSHROOMS. 99 



dirty white colour, and it has all the appearance of a 

 white spored species. When cut in section the flesh 

 is white and unchangeable. The odour is described 

 as that of fresh meal, but some persons fancy a 

 resemblance, or suggestion, of cucumber ; at any rate 

 it is always distinct and recognisable. It grows 

 amongst grass in woods, or their borders, from June 

 to September, with a preference for open places. 



The other has been called for distinction the " plum 

 mushroom " {Agariais prunulus), and when compared 

 together will be found to be the more regular shaped 

 and fleshy of the two. The cap under ordinary 

 circumstances is from two to three inches broad, but 

 it will attain as much as five inches, at first convex, 

 and afterwards flattened, but ultimately depressed in 

 the centre ; the margin is often wavy and irregular 

 when mature. It is white, like the other, with a tinge 

 of grey, with a sort of bloom, or frostiness on the 

 surface, resembling the " bloom " on a plum. The 

 stem is rather short, from an inch and more long, and 

 half an inch in thickness, white, and a little woolly at 

 the base. The gills, in all essentials, are the same as 

 in the other species, of the same peculiar colour, for 

 a long time whitish, and running down the stem. 

 The flesh also is solid, white, and unchangeable. The 

 odour of new meal is evidently somewhat stronger 

 and more overpowering than in the former species. 

 It grows also amongst grass in woods, preferring 

 shady places more than its companion, and is more 



