ON SOilE COMMON SPECIES OP EATABLE MUSHROOMS. 49 



have fixed a habitation they are Tisnally plentiful, and recur 

 annually. They are hardly less dainty or nutritive than Truffles, 

 and are esteemed only second to them on the Continent. It is 

 truly a treat to partake of them. 



The Helvels (201-204). Two or three species of Helvel are 

 spring mushrooms, although they appear again in autumn with the 

 rest of the tribe. The appearance of a Helvel may be roughly 

 but graphically described as being like a piece of a brown kid 

 glove, crumpled up, and stuck on the top of a short, worm-eaten 

 cabbage-stalk. They have not the solid, lumpy look of Morels, 

 and are indeed of quite different formation. They are excellent 

 eating, some of them not much inferior to Morels. 



The St. George (71). This species is the best of spring Agarics. 

 It is so named because it has been observed to appear about St. 

 George's Day (April 23rd). It lasts to the end of May. The 

 St. George grows in groups and half circles among grass near 

 copses or woods. It is thick and solid, a clumsy-shaped, dirty- 

 white mushroom. Observable points are, tJie narrow, crowded, 

 white gills ; the bulging, thick stem ; and a strong fungic-musJcy scent. 

 A kindred species is The Big St. George (77), a larger and coarser 

 kind ; and we may also regard The Muscat (67) as identical in a 

 culinary sense. The last-named is smaller and more delicate, but 

 is uncommon. Thei'e is practically no other species appearing at 

 the same time and site which could be mistaken for these. There- 

 fore there need be no hesitation in gathering mushrooms answering 

 to the descriptions of them given in the catalogue. They are very 

 excellent eating when fresh, and may be readily dried for storing. 

 The St. George is not met with everywhere ; but where it does 

 appear, it is generally in heavy crops. 



The Mousseron (23), and The OrceUe (22). The main distinc- 

 tion between these species is that the first appears only in spring, 

 whereas the latter comes up in late summer and autumn. Both 

 grow in woods and under bushes in straggling groups. The 

 Mousseron is pretty regular in shape, whereas the Orcelle is lobed 

 and one-sided. The first smells of fresh meal, the latter has a 

 scent like syringa or cucumber rind. They have these points in 

 common : A solid stem, not very thick ; a cuticle exactly like white 

 kid; and narrow, crowded, decurrent, salmon-pink gills. Both 

 species are capital eating, very delicate, and pleasant in flavour. 

 When gathering the Mousseron in spring, it is essential to guard 

 against the white Amanita verna, a poisonous species which appears 



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