62 [ ASSEMBLY 
places. It is more abundant in autumn, but occasionally appears as 
earlyasJune. It is no less valuable than the next species for its edible 
qualities. A stew made of it isa very good substitute for an oyster stew. 
In Hungary, according to Dr. Kalchbrenner, it is not only eagerly 
sought for food in the woods butis also cultivated in gardens by fre- 
quently moistening the elm trunks on which it grows. 
In drying, the specimens roll up in an annoying manner, unless kept 
under pressure. ‘The dried specimens are very liable to the attacks 
of insects. 
Pleurotus ostreatus, /’r. 
Oyster Agaric. Oyster Mushroom. 
Agaricus ostreatus, Jacq. Agaricus dimidiatus, Bull. 
Pileus fleshy, two to four inches broad, soft, convex or slightly 
depressed behind, subdimidiate, often cxspitosely imbricated, moist, 
glabrous, whitish cinereous or brownish, flesh white ; lamellz broad, 
decurrent, subdistant, anastomosing at the base, white or whitish ; 
stem, when present, very short, firm, lateral, sometimes strigose-hairy 
at the base; spores oblong, white, .0003 to .0004 in. long, .00016 
broad. 
Decaying wood and trunks of trees. June to November. Edible. 
With us this species is much less frequent than the preceding one. 
Specimens, nearly white when fresh, but yellowish when dried, were 
collected on oak trunksin Orange county. ‘The spores were clearly 
white on white paper, but in other respects the plants might readily 
be taken for a whitish subsessile form of the preceding species. 
Pleurotus salignus, /7. 
Willow Agaric. 
Agaricus salignus, Abb. d. Schw. Agaricus brumalis, Scop. 
Pileus fleshy, two to six inches broad, firm, spongy, convex or nearly 
plane, sometimes depressed and slightly hairy toward the base, nearly 
dimidiate, horizontal, whitish, dark-cinereous or ochraceous; lamelles 
decurrent, some of them branched, eroded on che edge, distinct at the 
base, whitish ; stem, when present, very short, lateral, tomentose ; 
spores oblong, .00036 in. long, .00015 broad. 
Decaying wood, especially of willows. Sandlake. 
I have admitted this species with some hesitation, for our specimens, 
though apparently belonging to it, are not in good condition and 
hence doubtful. Fries says itis distinguished from Panuws conchatus 
by its soft, not coriaceous, substance, but Gillet characterizes its subs 
stance as coriaceous when old. 
Pileus definitely lateral, nevther margined behind nor at first resupi- 
. nate, sessile or attached to a very short lateral stem or stem-like base. 
Pleurotus serotinus, «27. 
Late Agaric. 
Agaricus serotinus Schrad. Agaricus serotinoides, Pk. 
Pileus fleshy, one to three inches broad, compact, convex or nearly 
plane, viscid when young and moist, dimidiate reniform or suborbic- 
