394. 
THE DICTIONARY 
OF GARDENING, 
Muscari- continued. 
M. c. monstrosum (monstrous-tufted).* Feather Hyacinth. 
ji. bluish-violet, all barren; and the inflorescence transformed 
into a dense tuft of slender ramifications. Early summer. 
J. linear, toothed at the ona longer than the flower-stem. A. lft. 
to lft. South Europe, 596. A very remarkable and distinct 
form, far too rarely seen in our gardens. 
Fic. 609. RACEME OF MUSCARI COMOSUM., | 
concinnum (neat). fl. bright blue, tipped with white, 
strongly scented; raceme dense, over lin. long; scape 3in. to 
4in. long. Spring. J. linear-sub-terete, 6in. long, about iin. 
broad. Native country uncertain. 
M. conicum (conical). fl., fertile ones bright violet-blue ; sterile 
ones few, light blue; raceme dense, oblong-conical, lin. 1 3 
scape slender, 6in. long. March. T. flaccid, six to a bulb, sadly 
lit. long. Campagna. 
M. dilutum (diluted). fl., perfect ones 1 violet; sterile ones 
pale violet, crowded, sessile ; raceme dense, 1żin. long ; scape din. 
to 6in. long. Spring. J. several, linear, flaccid, 1ft. long, under 
jin. broad, red- purple at base. Native country unknown. 
dense, }in. to Zin. long; scape slender, Sin. to Ain. long, reddish 
at base. April. J. several, flaccid, terete, 6in. long, half a line in 
diameter. Caria. 
M. grandifolium (large-leaved). fl. livid blue; racemes densel 
fifteen to twenty-flowered ; scape 5in. to 6in. long. J. five or ja 
fleshy-herbaceous, glaucescent, 1}{t. to 1}ft. long, jin. broad, 
linear-lorate, flaccid. 1869. (Ref. B. 173.) 
M. Heldreichii (Heldreich’s).* fl. blue, very similar to those of 
M. botryoides, but nearly double the size, and arranged in a longer 
mm. Spring. l. linear, flat. h. 8in. Greece, 1869. (Ref. B. 
M. luteum (yellow). 
Changing toa clear, waxy, sulphur-colour, delightfully fragran 
Spring. l. channelled, Sin. to 10in. long. k. 6in. South Europe. 
macrocarpum (large-fruited). A synonym of M. moschatum 
violet; sterile ones pale blue 
slender, din. to Sin. April. 2. Sin. to 6in. long, zin. 
linear, su 
M. Elwesii (Elwes’).* fl., sterile ones bright blue, few; raceme | 
fl. large, very dull yellow at first, but 
Muscari—continued. 
stem. h. 8in. to 10in. Asia Minor, 1596. A pretty and exceed- 
ingly fragrant, but very inconspicuous species. (B. M. 734.) 
M. m. flavum (yellow). l., perianth yellowish ; teeth gk 
racemes loose, 2in. to 3in. long, lin. or more thick. (B. M. 1565; 
S. B. F. G. 210, under name of M. macrocarpum.) 
M. neglectum (neglected).“ fl. deep blue, sweet-scented ; raceme. 
dense, thirty to forty-flowered, l4in. to 2in. long, nearly lin, 
wide; scape bin. to din. long. J. linear, filiform, deeply chan- 
nelled, fleshy. France, Italy, &c. (G. Aug. 16, 1884.) 
M. pallens (pale). f. white, abortive ones three or four, sub- 
sessile ; raceme dense, twelve to twenty-flowered ; scape Sin. to 
Sin. long. May. L. two, filiform, semi-terete, 6in. to Sin. long, 
one line broad, greenish. Crimea, 1822. (S. B. F. G. 259.) 
paradoxum (paradox).* jl. blue-black, greenish inside, 
faintly -scented ; raceme dense, conical, lin. long; rachis lurid 
purple ; scape groon, din. to Ein. long. April. . three, erect, 
terete, 8in. to din. long, kin. to zin. broad. Bulb large. 
casus. A well-marked plant. 
M. racemosum (racemose).* jl. dark blue, small, ultimately 
. to a reddish-purple, and sometimes tipped with white, 
smelling strongly of Plums; racemes terminal, dense. Spring. 
l. linear, stiff, fleshy, 6in. to 12in. long. h. Ain, to 8in. Europe 
(Britain), Asia. (Sy. * R. 1559; M. 122, under name of 
H. y inthus r 
M. Szovitsianum (Szovits’).* fl. faintly scented; fertile ones 
bright blue; sterile ones light blue; raceme dense, lżin. long; 
scape 4in. to Hin. long. March and April. l. flaccid, linear-sub- 
terete, 5in. to 6in. long, gin. to zin. broad. Bulb rather large. 
Persia, Caucasus, &c. 
MUSE. A tribe of Scitaminee. 
MUSHROOMS. The popular name given to a group 
of Fungi, very numerous in species, but with a strong 
family likeness, which renders them easily recognisable, 
as will be seen from the subjoined figures (Figs. 610 and 
611). In a limited sense, the name is often used to 
denote certain edible Fungi; but, in a wider sense, it 
includes many useless and poisonous kinds, such as 
Toadstools, the Fly Agaric, and numerous others belong- 
ing to the genus Agaricus, as well as to certain allied 
genera, viz., Boletus, Cortinarius, Hydnum, Lactarius, 
&.; and it is even used occasionally, but incorrectly, to 
denote all Fungi. Excluding this last sense, the Mush- 
rooms, in their commonly-known condition, are only the 
spore-bearing parts of the plants, and arise from a dense 
network of filaments (mycelium) buried in soil contain- 
ing decaying matter, or in the wood of dying or dead 
trees. These spore-bearers generally resemble a cap 
(pileus), supported on a stalk, which is fixed to the 
lower surface of the cap in the middle, or, less fre- 
quently, to one side of it. The cap may vary from zin. 
to about ift. across, and the stalk also varies much 
in length and in thickness. On the lower surface of the 
cap is spread the hymenium, or surface on which the 
spores are formed. These are fixed to short, slender 
stalks, of which four stand on the free end of each of 
certain large cells (basidia), xzhich are scattered over the 
Cau- 
_hymenium. The latter varies much in the mode of at- 
tachment to the cap, and in the degree and modes of 
folding that it undergoes. The genera and species nearly 
related to the true Mushrooms have it easily separable 
from the tissue of the cap; but Polyporus, and certain 
allied forms have it closely grown to the latter. The 
surface over which the hymenium is spread, is very 
much increased, in most of the genera, by being folded 
in various ways. 
In Agaricus, the genus to which the great majority 
of Mushrooms belong, the lower surface of the cap 
bears numerous thin plates (gills), hanging downwards, 
and radiating from the stalk to the circumference ; and 
on the sides of these the spores are formed. The gills 
may be continued unbroken into the stem, or may be 
Separated from it by a narrow space. This difference 
in the gills, the varied colours of the spores, and the 
presence or absence of the veil—a membrane passing, 
in the young Mushroom, from the edge of the cap to a 
ring round the stalk—are all important characters in 
determining the genus and species of Mushroom under 
. 
examination, In Hydnum, the hymenium is scattered 
