210 



FAMILY I.— H YMENOMYCETES. 



ORDER II.— POLYPOREI. 



Hymeniurn lining the cavity of tubes or pores, which are sometimes broken 

 \ip into teeth, or concentric plates. 



Genus : Boletus. 



Hymenophorum quite distinct from the Hymenium. Trama obsolete. Hymenium 

 lining the cavity of titles separable from one another and from the 

 Hymenophorum. 



BOLETUS EDULI S.— Bulliard. 



EDIBLE TUBE- MUSHROOM. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERS. 



Pileus : Smooth, pulvinate, from five to seven inches across j usually of 

 a light-brown or bay colour. Flesh : white, and unchanging when broken or cut. 



Stem : Thick and solid, often irregular in shape ; without any ring ; white 

 changing to fawn colour ; finely and beautifully reticulated towards the upper 

 part ; and inserted into the pileus through a deep depression of the tubular 

 surface. 



Tubes : Minute, elongated, half-free, at first when young, white in colour, 

 then yellow, becoming eventually of a yellow-green, or olive colour. Spores : 

 olive green. 



There is perhaps no other edible Fungus more frequently sought for, and 

 more frequently mistaken, than the Edible Tube-mushroom, yet when once known 

 it can never again be mistaken. Its whitish delicate fawn colour when young ; 

 its large size when full grown ; its smooth skin ; its white flesh, unclianging when 

 injured ; the colour of its tube-surface varying with its age ; the very fine net-work 

 on the upper part of the stem ; and its agreeable flavour, are characters which 

 combined together clearly distinguish it from every other Boletus ; and there 

 is no doubt but that any Boletus, at all approaching this description is whole- 

 some. 



It is in the greatest perfection for eating when the pore-surface is yellow ; 

 but when the texture is soft and flabby from any cause, it should never be 

 used for the table. 



The illustration given has been reduced one-third in size, to suit the 

 page, and the presence of Reichenbach's violet at its foot shows that after wet 

 weather the fungus may be looked for even in early summer. The specimen 



