228 MUSHROOMS DEDICATED TO SAINTS. 



r.ppears first about the above date, and bence is named after tbe 

 saint and consecrated to him. It is that most excellent of edibles 

 The St. George, Agaricus (Tri.) gavihosus. 



St. Jcdas Iscakiot's Mushroom. Saint's Day, April Slst (?). 

 Appeai-ing about this date is The Jew's Ear, Hirneola auricula- 

 jud(v, which I take upon myself the responsibility of inserting in. 

 this list. 



St. C^sarius' Mushroom. Saint's Day, Aug. 27th. It is not at 

 nil surprising that CjBsar's mushroom should become the property 

 of his sainted namesake. The Oronge, Agaricus (J.m.) Ccesareus, 

 is famous in history. It was a dainty beloved by Roman epicures, 

 and the Emperor Claudius was assassinated by poison administered 

 iu a dish of Oronges. It is not a British species. 



St. Lawrence Justinian's Mushroom. Sa,int's Day, Sept. 6th. 

 The floral calendarists are only able to designate this as " mush- 

 room " simply, and consequently suppose it to be Agaricus cam- 

 pestris. A more careful examination of the evidence proves it to 

 be, however, The Giant Pratelle, or Horse Mushroom, Agaricus 

 {Psa.) arvensis. 



St. Maurice's Mushrooji. Saint's Day, Sept. 22nd. Here the 



floral calendarists have got into considerable trouble, I think. 



The name they got hold of was " the Tree Boletus," and they 



accordingly searched botanical catalogues for a scientific eqiiiva- 



lent. They found Boletus arboreus, an obsolete name by which 



Sowerby designated what we now call Merulius tremellosus. This 



rare and obscure species certainly could not have been the saint's 



mushroom. All the Polyporei were once called Boleti, though the 



name is restricted under our present system to a terrestrial genus. 



Hence " Tree Boletus " might mean any one of a hundred species 



or more. How then shall we discover wtich especially belongs 



to St. Maurice ? Let inspiration guide us ! I find that St. 



Maurice was in the habit of shaving, that he kept his razors in 



order upon a strop of the period, and that the said strop was 



made from a slice cut from the heart of a gi'cat fungus parasitic 



on trees. Now tlie razor-strop fungus in particular is The Scaly 



Polypore, I'olyporus squamosus, which, until better information 



reaclios me, I sliall hold to be St. Maurice's Mushroom. 



St. Gkrard's Mushroom. Saint's Day, Sept. 24th. Here again 

 a similar mistake has occurred. The original designation of the 

 species was translated "dung fungus," which the floral calendarists 

 have found an equivalent for in Agaricus (Pan.) fimiputris. This 



