150 BRITISH EDIBLE FUNGI. 



as an esculent, on account of its toughness when fresh, 

 and no previous writer in EngHsh upon edible 

 mushrooms has ever condescended to notice it, and 

 yet it has been eaten on the Continent. All inquiries 

 amongst our fungus eating friends have failed to 

 discover anyone who has made the experiment. 



There is yet another group of tough and rather 

 leathery fungi, at least when old, but somewhat more 

 succulent when young, amongst which is a similarly 

 fragrant species. This is Fames toruloses, a clean and 

 rather handsome species w^ith caps two or three inches 

 in diameter, of a pale ochraceous flesh colour, 

 depressed in the middle so as to be almost funnel 

 shaped, and smooth, without any scales, but with a 

 dull, almost velvety appearance ; the stems are one- 

 sided, and short and woolly, especially about the base, 

 w^ith a grey down. The gills are flesh coloured at 

 first, but become more tawny with age, gradually 

 attenuated behind, so as to run down almost like lines 

 upon the stem.- This species dries readily when 

 mature, and as it contains so little water, does not 

 shrink or alter its shape, so that it can be kept for 

 years almost of the same colour and condition as 

 when gathered. This fact would suggest that as an 

 edible species it is without promise, and yet some of 

 the continental mycologists contend that it is edible — 

 when yoitng. It is a saving clause to allude to its 

 juvenility, for when mature, one would almost as soon 

 think of experimenting upon an old pair of kid gloves 



