AN ENCYCLOPADIA OF HORTICULTURE. 
395 
Mushrooms continued. 
over fleshy, tapering outgrowths, or teeth, on the lower 
surface of the cap; in Boletus and Polyporus, the sur- 
face is formed by reticulately-joined ridges, that leave 
FIG. 610. COMMON MUSHROOM (AGARICUS CAMPESTRIS), 
tubes, or pores, between them; in Craterellus, it is 
smooth, or merely wrinkled. Mushrooms vary exceed- 
ingly in colour, the upper surface of the cap usually 
showing more decided tints than the stalk. Many are 
white; others yellow; others red in various tints; others 
show shades of grey or brown, at times almost passing 
into black. A smaller proportion are some shade of blue, 
or of metallic green; but they do not show a pure leaf- 
green, dependent on the presence of chlorophyll, since 
they never contain this substance. The surface 
of the cap is usually smooth; it may be sticky, 
hairy, warty, &c. Some species change colour, at 
once or gradually, if any part is broken. This is 
peculiarly noticeable in some kinds of Boletus, in 
which the bruised surfaces become an intense blue. 
The change to blue is to be regarded as a sign 
that the Mushrooms which show it are poisonous 
or suspicious in their properties. The smell of 
Mushrooms is slightly peculiar, and is usually not 
difficult to recognise, there being in it something 
that reminds one of a closed, mouldy vault or 
cellar. In decay, most of them emit a strong 
nitrous smell, some have a most disagreeably 
fetid stench, but others are rather pleasantly 
scented, like newly dried hay. A curious pro- 
perty of some Fungi is the luminosity they display. 
In some kinds, the light is so strong that, in dark 
Places, the plants can be seen from a considerable 
distance. This phenomenon is manifested by spe- 
cies in various groups of Fungi; but the most 
iking examples are met with in the genus 
Agaricus, several members of which have been 
observed to be luminous, apparently in the healthy 
state. In some, the cap and stalk emit light; but 
more frequently the mycelium in decaying wood is 
the luminous part. Another characteristic of some 
Mushrooms—e.g., the genus Lactarius and several 
species of Agaricus—is the appearance, on broken or cut 
surfaces, of a milky fluid—the latex—which pours out 
from long tubular cells in the tissues of the plant. This 
— 
Mushrooms continued. 05 
fluid may be white, yellow, or orange; and, at times, 
changes colour after being exposed to the air for a 
short time. In some cases, the latex has a pleasant 
taste, while, in others, it is very acrid. Mush- 
rooms, like Fungi in general, are propagated 
by means of spores, which, as already men- 
tioned, are borne on large cells (basidia), pro- 
duced on the hymenium. These spores can be 
obtained by laying the Mushrooms, gills down- 
wards, on paper, which should be of a tint to 
contrast with them in colour. They will be 
ments of gills or pores, and, in this way, their 
colour in mass also can be easily detected. 
The colour of the spores is largely employed 
in breaking up the very large genus Agaricus 
into sub-genera of more convenient size. 
Uses. Mushrooms and their allies include 
almost all the Fungi that can be regarded as 
of direct use to man as food-plants. A con- 
siderable number have been, or are, used in 
diet, either because of the amount of nitro- 
genous matter in them, or as imparting a 
pleasant flavour to the articles with which 
they are served at table. 
comparatively easy to recognise certain of the 
well-known edible Mushrooms, great care is 
required to prevent serious results when poi- 
sonous species are gathered by mistake, and 
eaten with the useful ones. Such a mistake 
is not infrequent, since a very great resem- 
blance exists between certain poisonous and 
edible kinds. The Mushroom most generally 
esteemed in Britain is the Common Mushroom (Agaricus 
campestris, see Fig. 610). It is so well known as scarcely 
to call for a detailed description of its appearance. It is 
largely cultivated, but it is also frequently abundant in 
| pastures, especially in natural grass land or meadows. 
At first, the gills are pale pink, or salmon-tinted, but they 
deepen into a peculiar purplish-brown. The upper surface 
of the cap varies somewhat in colour and smoothness, and 
there is a permanent ring of tissue around the stem, a 
Fig. 611. ST. GEORGE MUSHROOM (AGARICUS GAMBOSUS). 
i below the cap. This Mushroom does not enjoy 
1 reputation on the Continent of Europe that 
it possesses among ourselves; and, in Italy, it is said to 
kound to map out on the paper the arrange- 
But, while it is 
