A CATALOGUE OF ESCULENT BRITISH FUNGI. 79 



Section. Flesh huffish, thick, firm. Stem solid, spongy. Gills 



rusty-yellow, crowded, serrulate, narrow, adnato-decurrent. Odour 



unpleasant. Taste harsh and bitter. Spores brown. 



Obs. Eeported edible by Letellier, but certainly not enticing. Would require 

 preparation like the Stumptuft, I should think. — W. B. H. 



(53.) AGAEICUS SaUARROSUS; Pholiota squarrosa; The 

 Prickly-cap. (Tab. III. fig. 19.) 



Habitat. On tree-trunks, mostly apple-trees. In tufts. 



Season. August to October. Common. 



Fileiis. Two to four inches across, tawny-yellow, very squamose; 

 at first sub-campanulate, rounded, then convex, expanded, ob.scurely 

 umbonate. Margin inclined to be involute. Scales bright brown, 

 revolute. 



Stem. Three to six inches high, yellow, becoming brown, thick, 

 cylindrical, attenuate below, smooth above, squamose below with 

 brown, revolute scales. Ring high, radiate, cottony, bright brown. 



Section. Flesh thick, compact, yellowish. Stem stuffed, pithy. 



Gills at first yellowish, then olivaceous, lastly brown, unequal, 



arcuate, crowded, adnate. Odour sickly. Taste of mouldy meal. 



Spores brown. 



Obi. It has lain under undeserved reproach, on account of its appearance. 

 It is however, wholesome enough, though not of first-rate quality. It needs to 

 be "sweated," like the Urchin.— IF. D. H. 



Genus AGARICUS. Sub-genus PLEUROTUS. 



Obs. There are no deleterious species in Pleurotus, though some are too 

 tough to eat. The Subgenus is distinguished by white spores — a fact to be 

 noted. Claudopus, which nearly resembles it, has pink spores, and there are 

 some more or less poisonous species in that subgenus. All edible Pleurotes are 

 to be gathered young, and dressed like the Oyster. — W. D. H. 



(54.) AGARICUS DRYINUS ; Pleurotus dryinus ; the 



Spotty-sprout. 



Habitat. On various kinds of tree. Solitary. 



Season. September to November. Uncommon. 



Pileus. One to three inches across, white, variegated with brown 

 spotty scales ; at first convex, then expanding obliquely, dimidiate, 

 compact, hard. Margin perhaps involute, perhaps fimbriate with 

 veil. 



