36 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Fumigating—contimued 
inside the house if the vessel containing the fire is placed 
near the door and carefully watched from the outside. 
The most mportant point is not to allow the material 
to flame. Some Fumigators have a perforated lid to 
prevent this. A layer of damp moss may also be used for 
a similar purpose where there is danger of ignition. 
FUMITORY. See Fumaria. 
FUNERAL CYPRESS. A common name of Cu- 
pressus funebris (which see). i 
FUNGI. A large class of cryptogams, distinguished 
from alge more by habit than by any general character. 
aba 
i Fig. 59. SPORES OF FUNGI (AGARICUS). 
“They are polymorphous, (often) ephemeral, annual or 
perennial, never green; composed either of filaments, or of 
a loose or close tissue, pulpy or fleshy, rarely woody ; some- 
times furnished with peculiar vessels, containing a white, 
yellow, or orange milky juice. They grow above or under 
ground, on decomposing vegetable or animal matter, or 
are parasites on vast numbers of phænoga- 
mous plants, and even on other Fungi. They 
are very rarely found on stones, or in water. 
In no particular can they be compared with 
pheenogams, having no organs comparable with 
leaves and flowers. Among acotyledons, they 
approach alge in their vegetation, and lichens 
in their fructification, but they have no 
fronds. Fungi have nearly the same geo- 
graphical distribution as lichens; they are 
met with in the tropics, and in the coldest 
regions of both hemispheres, at the top of 
the highest mountains, beyond phænogamic 
Fie. 60. CANDLESNUFF FUNGUS (XYLARIA 
HYPOXYLON). 
vegetation. The smell of Fungi is not gene- 
rally strong, and might be termed fungoid 
when it is mild and pleasant, like that of 
the Mousseron (Agaricus albellus). They are 
usually mild, and not very pleasant to the 
taste. Some are so extremely acrid that it 
would be dangerous to retain much of them 
in the mouth; however, this acridity disap- 
pears when they are properly cooked. Many 
species, as Truffles, Morels, and certain Aga- 
rics, are edible, and much sought after. Many 
others, which strongly resemble the preceding, 
and which nearly all belong to the genera Aga- 
FPungi—continued. 
ricus and Lactarius, are poisonous. To distinguish between 
edible and poisonous Fungi is a very difficult matter” 
(Léveillé). With the exception of the Ergot of Rye or 
Wheat, Fungi are now seldom employed in medicine. 
Fig. 59 shows spores of a number of species of the huge 
genus Agaricus. Most of the species of this genus 
have colourless spores, but in some they are pink, brown, 
or black; they are very variable in size; some, also, are 
smooth, whilst a few are rough or nodulose—especially 
amongst those in which the colour is pink. Fig. 60 
represents the Candlesnuff Fungus which is frequently 
seen on decaying wood. Some of the minute Fungi— 
such as the Peronospora infestans, which attacks the 
potato and other Solanaceous plants—are extremely de- 
structive, and amongst the worst pests against which 
the gardener has to contend. 
FUNKIA (named after H. Funck, 1771-1839, a 
German botanist). Plantain Lily. Syns. Hosta, Saus- 
surea (of Salisbury). ORD. Liliaceæ. All the species 
of this genus (according to Mr. Baker) are described 
below. They are handsome, hardy, herbaceous plants. 
Flowers solitary in the axils of the bracts, forming a 
raceme. Leaves broadly ovate or cordate. Roots tuberous, 
fascicled. These fine plants are admirably adapted for 
the lawn, shrubbery border, beds, or rockwork; and, 
when grown in pots, they form very effective subjects for 
the greenhouse or conservatory. They thrive best when 
the ground, in which they are to be grown, is deeply 
dug, and well enriched with rotten manure. Propagation _ 
may be effected by cutting the crowns through with a 
sharp spade during winter, or when they begin to start 
= 
Fic. 61. FUNKIA SIEBOLDIANA. 
