tlie Yirgin hygroplioriis, Hygrophorus virgineus, but inasmuch 

 as I have not tried them, a single species, the Vermilion hygro- 

 phorus, Hygrophorus miniatus, will here be described. 



It is a small but common species, highly colored and very at- 

 tractive. The cap is at first convex, but when fully expanded, it 

 is nearly or quite flat, and in wet weather it even becomes concave 

 by the elevation of the margin. It is thin and fragile and its sur- 

 face is sometimes smooth and shining and in other cases it is 

 roughened as if bv numerous scurfv erect scales as in the Laccate 

 mushroom. Its color ^'aries from bright vermilion or blood-red to 

 paler orange hues, and in variety lutescens it is wholly yellow. 



The gills are yellow, but often shaded with red. They are gen- 

 erally attached to the stem bv their entire width at the inner ex- 

 tremity, but specimens sometimes occiu' in which they are 

 notched near the stem or even slightly decurrent on it. 



The stem is usually short and slender, colored like or a little 

 paler than the cap and solid when young, but becoming stuffed or 

 hollow Avith age. 



The cap varies from half an inch to three inches broad; the 

 stem is one to two inches long and commonlv one to two lines 

 thick. 



The Vermilion mushroom grows both in woods and in the 

 open country, on naked soil or among mosses and fallen leaves. 

 It is sometimes found growing in the sphagnum of peat marshes, 

 and as a rule it is more plentiful in wet weather than in dry. It 

 especially delights in cool mountainous or hilly districts, and in 

 recently burned clearings in such localities. A favorite place of 

 gro'ui;!! also is under a dense luxuriant growth of brakes in the 

 vicinity of mountain forests. In such places it often attains a 

 luuch larger size than elsewhere. It grows either singly or in 

 groups, occasionally in clusters, and may be found through sum- 

 mer and autumn. In favorable localities it is not difficult to find 

 it sufficiently abundant to furnish a generous supply for the table 

 notwithstanding its small size. It is scarcely surpassed by any 

 mushroom in tenderness of substance and agreeableness of flavor. 

 Two or three other species of Hygrophorus have red caps, but 

 tAvo of them, Hygrophorus coccineus and H. puniceus, are classed 

 as edible, and no harm would come of confusing them with the 

 Vermilion mushroom. Their viscid caps, however, would dis- 

 tinguish them. The Chantarelle hygrophorus, Hygrophorus 

 ccmthareTlus, is colored almost exactly like the Vermilion liygTO- 

 jDhorus, Imt il is a smaller plant Avith a longer stem and gills that 

 run doAvn on the stem A'ery decidedly. Its taste to me is very 

 disaareeable. 



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