REPORT OF THE MICROSCOPIST. 105 



MORCHELLA ESCULENTA. 



MorcJiella esculenta (Fig*. 7) is known under a variety of names — Phal- 

 Itis esculentns, HelveUa esadenta, &c. The genus Moreliella has but few 

 species, and most authors agree that all are edible. Berkeley considers 

 the Morchella semilihera as doubtful. The head of the morel is deeply 

 l)itted, hollow, thin, and firm, and when fully grown is several inches in 

 diameter. The morel is found in April or May in grassy places ou the 

 border of fields and the raised banks of streams, sometimes in fir or 

 chestnut forests and in hilly countries. It prefers a calcareous ground 

 and nourishes on wood ashes. 



In Germany, France, and England it is well known and highly es- 

 teemed. In the United States it is little known, although it grows in 

 several of the States in great abundance. I have had specimens of it 

 from Missouri and Wisconsin and from Maryhmd. Curtis speaks of 

 finding it in North Carolina, but not in quantity. It is identical with 

 the European morel. In Yorkshire, England, the women who gather 

 cowslips for wine brewing bring to market a few morels in the corner of 

 their baskets and ask an extra shilling for them. The dried morel is 

 used in parts of England to give flavor to certain kinds of sauce. Large 

 quantities of this fungus in a prepared condition are imported into Eng- 

 land from the continent. 



The following receipts will illustrate some of the methods of cooking 

 this excellent mushroom : 



Having washed and cleansed from tliem tlie earth wliich is apt to collect in the hol- 

 lows of the plants, dry them thoroughly in a napkin and put in a sauce-pan with pep- 

 per, salt, and parsley, adding or not a piece of ham ; stew for an hour, pouring in 

 occasionally a little brotli to prevent burning. When sufliciently done, bind with the 

 yelks of two or three eggs and servo on buttered toast. 



CLAVARIA CINEREA. 



Of this species (Fig. 8), M. C, Cooke observes: 



It has a short thick stem, is very much branched and irregular, and becomes ulti- 

 mately of a cinerous hue. The substance is brittle and not tough, as in some species. 

 In France it is known under various names, as Pied de cog, GaUinole, &g., and in Italy 

 as Ditolarossa ; in both of those countries it is eaten. 



It is quite plentiful in this country. I have had some fine specimens 

 from the White Mountains. All the white-spored claverias are whole- 

 some. 



CLAYARIA RUGOSA. 



This species, Clavaria rugosa (Fig. 9), is not generally found in suflQ- 

 cieut quantities to make it of much value as an esculent, but it is whole- 

 some and can be cooked with other varieties of the Clavaria. It is 

 irregular in shape, w^hite, and sometimes delicately tinted with gray. 

 Before cooking the Clavaria should be sweated with butter over a slow 

 fire and the liquor thrown away. The Clavaria should then be wrapped 

 in slices of bacon and stewed for an hour in a little sauce or gravy sea- 

 soned with salt, pepper, and iiarsley, then served with white sauce. 



EDIBLE PORE MUSHROOM. ' 



Dr. Badham says of the Boletus edulis (Fig. 10) : 



The word boletus, which has at different times and under different mycologists 

 been made to represent in turn many different funguses, is now restricted to such as 



