CLASSIFICATION OP A.GARI' 



color. In a few species the juice is watery or a diluted white; I 

 was considered by Fries as a degenerate condition due to the hab 

 ii.ii. During very dry weather or in old specimens the juice is dried 

 up and dues mil respond to the wounding of the tissue. Some Bpe< 

 of Mycena are also supplied with ;i colored juice, bul these Lack the 

 vesiculose trama and are verj slender-stemmed plants. The TASTE 

 of the milk and ilrsli is often verj acrid in fresh plants and con 

 tinued sampling of many specimens the same day is apt in produce 

 a sore tongue. It is, however, accessary to know whether .1 spei 

 is acrid or mild, hence cautious tasting of minute pieces of the 

 j4'ills is not objectionable and if kepi in the mouth but a short time 

 and not swallowed, qo harm results. This character is of greal 

 importance in determining the species of thi> genus. Some speeies. 

 usually called mild, have a woody or bitterish taste. The SPORES 

 are globose to almost broadly < Mistical in some Bpecies. The 

 epispore is decorated with minute spines, reticulations, etc. The 

 color varies from white to yellowish, not nearly as variable as in 

 the genus Kussula. The size of the spore is not sufficiently different 

 to be of much use in ordinary diagnosis of species. CYSTIDIA are 

 abundant in many of the species, and are apparently of the same 



nature as in Kussula. 



Many species, especially those with a mild taste, arc EDIBLE 

 and are much prized by mycophagists : such are L. deliciosus, I 

 volutins, L. hygrophoroides, L. indigo, etc. The very acrid species 

 should be tried cautiously. Some are considered poisonous and 

 have been so marked. The poison is, however, not of the same order 

 as in the Amanitas, and there is a growing belief that if properly 

 prepared most, if not all of them, may be eaten with impunity. 

 L. piper atu8, whose milk has a most excruciatingly biting effeel on 

 the tongue when taken from a fresh plant, is known to be perfectly 

 safe after it is cooked. All serious accidents which have come to my 

 notice in the state, have been traced with fair certainly to the 

 Amanitas. Any mushroom, however, especially if fried, may cause 

 illness to people with poor digestion in the same way as manj other 

 delicious art icles of food. 



The Lactarii are mosl abundant during July and August, with a 

 similar seasonal range as the Russulas. They often occur in l 



numbers in the open woods of higher ground, although soi 



are mostly limited to swamps, bogs and low rich woods. I bnve -■ 

 hundreds of individuals of several species, including L. velU 

 in an area several rods in extent. Others like /.. indigo re mos 

 few in a place and occur in widely separated localities. 



