218 THE PLANT WOELD 



bulbs, and wlien the proper conditions of heat, moisture and nourish- 

 ment are present this little bulb pushes forth its head and expands. 

 The duration of the plant when out of the ground varies, depending 

 altogether upon the location, exposure to heat, light and moisture. 

 Some have been observed to flourish only for a day or two, others last 

 for a week or even longer. The more leathery species growing on stumps 

 may endure even for months. No month of the year is without some 

 form of mushroom. 



There is hardly a place upon our earth that is without some forms 

 of mushrooms ; lawns, gardens, fields, forests, on trees, stumps, decayed 

 wood, rocks, decayed leaves, cellars— all are their camping grounds. 

 Yet each of the above named places furnishes its own peculiar condi- 

 tions for some modification of these little plants. Some have a white 

 color pervading the whole plant ; others are wholly red, yellow, blue, 

 amethyst, vermillion, cinnamon-color or salmon hued, and it requires an 

 expert in color to name every hue presented by the different forms. The 

 lurid mushrooms and others have the peculiar property of the chame- 

 leon : they change their color when touched or wounded. Some are 

 purely white or red, but when broken the flesh changes from white to 

 blue, red, green or brown. To the left, in Plate XXYI, Fig. 2, is repre- 

 sented one which has a dull red hue on the outside and a purely white 

 flesh ; yet when broken, the flesh turns very rapidly to blue. 



The taste and smell of various spices is as far diversified as the color. 

 On the right in Plate XXVI, Fig. 2, is represented one which has the 

 smell of almonds. Others have the smell of garlic, camphor, radishes, 

 dried meal, chlorine, chloride of lime, and the stink-horn expels any in- 

 truder upon its seemingly forbidden grounds. The fly mushroom has 

 an attractive odor for flies, but its deadly poison proves fatal to them. 



The wondrous hand of divine nature even pervades these little 

 plants, ennobling us for our inquisitiveness, and these dainties, so much 

 neglected, still adorn forest and field as they did when plucked to grace 

 the dinners of Eoman emperors. They still are an almost absolute 

 necessity to complete the menu of a Parisian gourmand and should 

 amongst us at least receive some attention when we are roaming over 

 nature's wonderful field. 



Manheim, Pa. 



