42 Transactions British Mycological Society. 



the last is by far the best. The beef steak fungus, Fistulina 

 hepatica, is well known to you all, but when cooked it has no 

 appreciable flavour unless it has been gathered too young when 

 it is too astringent for words from its tannin contents. I con- 

 sider the best way to deal with it is to cut it up into pieces and 

 place the same in vinegar, much in the same way as we do 

 with beetroot. I have already mentioned that it is advisable 

 to cut Hydnum repandum up into slices before cooking, and we 

 often find that both this and Cantharellus ciharius are greatly 

 improved by being soaked for a time in milk. I have only 

 tasted one other Hydnum, namely H. imhricatum, which has 

 a very fine flavour and is far superior as an esculent to the 

 common H. repandum. It is fairly common in the north of 

 Scotland but scarce I believe elsewhere. Sparassis crisp a and 

 S. laminosa are the only members of the Thelephoraceae that 

 I have ever eaten; they are both excellent in flavour and a 

 single specimen is enough for one meal. A great number of the 

 Clavariae are edible but with the exception of the large branched 

 species it is comparatively seldom that one is tempted to try 

 their esculent qualities. The very brittle Clavaria vermicularis 

 has a taste like cheese straws when cooked, but although I have 

 many times tasted it when raw, I have failed to find this flavour. 

 I have also enjoyed several cookings of Clavaria pistillaris, but 

 on one occasion I found it very bitter and distasteful, and came 

 to the conclusion that it must have been affected by some 

 parasitic Hypomyces. With regard to the smaller Clavariae such 

 as C. cristata, C. cinerea, C. rugosa, and C. corniculata, I only 

 recommend their trial when they are in a fresh growing condition 

 and not dried by wind or exposure to the sun, because in this 

 state they are rather leathery and tough. Clavaria amethystina, 

 C. Krombholzii, C. Kunzei, C. botrytis, C. flava, C. aurea, and 

 C.formosa are all delicious and can often be found in abundance. 

 With regard to Clavaria formosa Messieurs Heim et Malen^on 

 state that it produced violent diarrhoea and should be classed 

 "non comma une espece comestible, mais bien comme un 

 agreable et tres efficace purgatif." This does not accord with 

 my experience as I have consumed it without any inconvenience. 

 I have tried the Jew's Ear, Auricularia auricula- Judae, but it is 

 rather tasteless, though undoubtedly highly nutritious. All the 

 puff balls are excellent eating ; they are very tender and delicate 

 in flavour and taste very much like cooked brains. They should 

 be gathered only when the flesh is quite white inside and cut 

 into thin sections about a quarter of an inch thick. The exterior 

 skins and sterile bases should be peeled and rejected before 

 they are cooked. It is only Ly coper don giganteum, L. caelatum, 

 L. saccatum, and L. excipuliforme that are really large enough 



