12 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



Another edible species classed with the Boleti is in shape, 

 color and taste so much like a piece of meat as to have re- 

 ceived the name of vegetable beef-steak {Fistulina hepatica). 

 Some persons are very fond of it. It is a large, oblong, dark 

 red species found on dead oak and chestnut trees late in the 

 season. It is also called oak-tongue, and beef-tongue. Speci- 

 mens weighing thirty pounds have been recorded, but the 

 ordinary ones are much smaller. The majority of the Boleti 

 have central stems like the mushrooms but the vegetable beef- 

 steak and some others, have stems at the side which point out 

 their relationship to the shelf fungi. In fact, it is often a 

 difficult matter for the novice to distinguish between them. 



The shelf or bracket fungi, are familiar to everyone who 

 has visited the woodlands, although they may not recognize 

 their plants by these names. A large number belong to the 

 genus Polyporus which has given the name Polyporaceae to 

 the whole group. These are the species that form the hard 

 corky or woody shelves of semicircular outline which grow on 

 dead trees, fallen logs, old stumps, etc. Some are annual, but 

 others live for a series of years, in spring renewing their youth 

 and adding to their bulk by the growth of another layer on 

 the outer edge. The upper surface is usually brown and 

 wrinkled, but beneath, it may be pure white, orange, lemon or 

 red, especially when young. A close examination of the 

 under surface shows myriads of little round openings through 

 which the spores are discharged much as in Boletus. The 

 under surface of some species turns brown with age, or when 

 bruised. People with artistic tastes take advantage of this 

 and by etching scenes and names upon them, form pleasing 

 and permanent records of their summer outings. Recently one 

 of the English magazines gave considerable space to descrip- 

 tions of landscapes etched thus by an American lady. Just 

 before the fourth of July, the shelf fungi assume some im- 

 portance in the eyes of the country boy who collects and dries 



