394 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Muscari continued. 



M. C. monstrosum (monstrous-tufted).* Feather Hyacinth. 

 fl. bluish-violet, all barren, and the inflorescence transformed 

 into a dense tuft of slender ramifications. Early summer. 

 1. linear, toothed at the edges, longer than the flower-stern, h. lit. 

 to lift. South Europe, 1596. A very remarkable and distinct 

 form, far too rarely seen in our gardens. 



FIG. 609. RACEME OP MUSCARI COMOSUM. 



M. concinnum (neat), fl. bright blue, tipped with white, 

 strongly scented ; raceme dense, over lin. long ; scape Sin. to 

 4in. long. Spring. I. linear-sub-terete, 6in. long, about Jin. 

 broad. Native country uncertain. 



M. conlcum (conical), fl., fertile ones bright violet-blue ; sterile 

 ones few, light blue ; raceme dense, oblong-conical, lin. long ; 

 scape slender, 6in. long. March. I. flaccid, six to a bulb, nearly 

 1ft. long. Campagna. 



M. dllutum (diluted), fl., perfect ones deep violet ; sterile ones 

 ' i violet, crowded, sessile ; raceme dense, liin. long ; scape 4in. 



pale 



to 6in. long. Spring. I. several, linear, flaccid, 1ft. long, under 

 Jin. broad, red-purple at base. Native country unknown. 



M. Elwesii (Elwes 1 ).* fl., sterile ones bright blue, few ; raceme 

 dense, iin. to Jin. long ; scape slender, Sin. to 4in. long, reddish 

 at base. April. I. several, flaccid, terete, 6in. long, half a line in 

 diameter. Caria. 



ML grandifolinm (large-leaved). /. livid blue ; racemes densely 

 fifteen to twenty-flowered ; scape 5in. to 6in. long. I. five or six, 

 fleshy-herbaceous, glaucescent, lift, to lift, long, Jin. broad, 

 linear-lorate, flaccid. 1869. (Ref. B. 173.) 



M. Heldreichii (Heldreich's).* fl. blue, very similar to those of 

 M. botryoides, but nearly double the size, and arranged in a longer 

 raceme. Spring. I. linear, flat. h. Sin. Greece, 1869. (Ref. B. 



M. Intenm (yellow), fl. large, very dull yellow at first, but 

 changing to a clear, waxy, sulphur-colour, delightfully fragrant. 

 Spring. I. channelled, Bin. to lOin. long. h. 6in. South Europe. 



M. macro car pom Qarge-fruited). A synonym of M. moschatum 

 flavum. 



M.mloranthum(smaU-flowered). /(.fragrant; fertile ones bright 

 violet ; sterile ones pale blue, minute ; racemes dense ; scape 

 slender, 4in. to Sin. long. April. I. 5in. to 6in. long, in. to 4m 

 broad, flaccid, linear, sub-terete. 



ML moschatum (musky).* Musk Hyacinth, fl. purplish at first, 

 changing to a greenish-yellow tinged with violet, very fragrant, 

 arranged in a dense, nearly globose cluster, about 2iin. long. 

 Spring. I. alternate, linear, concave, about as long as the flower- 



Muscari continued. 



stem. h. Sin. to lOin. Asia Minor, 1596. A pretty and exceed- 

 ingly fragrant, but very inconspicuous species. (B. M. 734.) 



M. m. flavum (yellow), rf., perianth yellowish ; teeth purple ; 

 racemes loose, 2in. to Sin. long, lin. or more thick. (B. M. 1565 ; 

 S. B. F. G. 210, tinder name of M. inacrocarpum.) 



M. neglectum (neglected).* fl. deep blue, sweet-scented ; raceme 

 dense, thirty to forty-flowered, liin. to 2in. long, nearly lin. 

 wide ; scape 6in. to 9in. long. I. linear, filiform, deeply chan- 

 nelled, fleshy. France, Italy, &c. (G. Aug. 16, 1884.) 



M. pallens (pale), fl. white, abortive ones three or four,, sub- 

 sessile ; raceme dense, twelve to twenty-flowered ; scape 3in. to 

 5in. long. May. I. two, filiform, semi-terete, 6in. to Sin. long, 

 one line broad, greenish. Crimea, 1822. (S. B. F. G. 259.) 



M. paradoxum (paradox).* fl. blue -black, greenish inside, 

 faintly scented ; raceme dense, conical, liin. long ; rachis lurid 

 purple ; scape green, oin. to 6in. long. April. I. three, erect, 

 terete, Sin. to 9in. long, iin. to Jin. broad. Bulb large. Cau- 

 casus. A well-marked plant. 



M. racemosum (racemose).* fl. dark blue, small, ultimately 

 changing to a reddish-purple, and sometimes tipped with white, 

 smelling strongly of Plums ; racemes terminal, dense. Spring. 

 I. linear, stiff, fleshy, 6in. to 12in. long. h. 4in. to Sin. Europe 

 (Britain), Asia. (Sy. En. B. 1529 ; B. M. 122, under name of 

 Hyacinthus racemosus.) 



ML Szovitslanum (Szovits 1 ).* fl. faintly scented ; fertile ones 

 bright blue ; sterile ones light blue ; raceme dense, liin. long ; 

 scape 4in. to 5in. long. March and April. I. flaccid, linear-sub- 

 terete, 5in. to 6in. long, in. to gin. broad. Bulb rather large. 

 Persia, Caucasus, &c. 



MTTSEJ9E!. A tribe of Scitamvnece. 



MUSHROOMS. The popular name given to a group 

 of Fungi, very numerous in species, but with a strong 

 family likeness, which renders them easily recognisable, 

 as will be seen from the subjoined figures (Figs. 610 and 

 611). In a limited sense, the name is often used to 

 denote certain edible Fungi; but, in a wider sense, it 

 includes many useless and poisonous kinds, such as 

 Toadstools, the Fly Agaric, and numerous others belong- 

 ing to the genus Agaricus, as well as to certain allied 

 genera, viz., Boletus, Cortinarius, Hydnum, Lactarius, 

 &c. ; and it is even used occasionally, but incorrectly, to 

 denote all Fungi. Excluding this last sense, the Mush- 

 rooms, in their commonly-known condition, are only the 

 spore-bearing parts of the plants, and arise from a dense 

 network of filaments (mycelium) buried in soil contain- 

 ing decaying matter, or in the wood of dying oi- dead 

 trees. These spore-bearers generally resemble a cap 

 (pileus), supported on a stalk, which is fixed to the 

 lower surface of the cap in the middle, or, less fre- 

 quently, to one side of it. The cap may vary from iin. 

 to about 1ft. across, and the stalk also varies much 

 in length and in thickness. On the lower surface of the 

 cap is spread the hymenium, or surface on which the 

 spores are formed. These are fixed to short, slender 

 stalks, of which four stand on the free end of each of 

 certain large cells (basidia), which are scattered over the 

 hymenium. The latter varies much in the mode of at- 

 tachment to the cap, and in the degree and modes of 

 folding that it undergoes. The genera and species nearly 

 related to the true Mushrooms have it easily separable 

 from the tissue of the cap; but Polyporus, and certain 

 allied forms have it closely grown to the latter. The 

 surface over which the hymenium is spread, is very 

 much increased, in most of the genera, by being folded 

 in various ways. 



In Agaricus, the genus to which the great majority 

 of Mushrooms belong, the lower surface of the cap 

 bears numerous thin plates (gills), hanging downwards, 

 and radiating from the stalk to the circumference ; and 

 on the sides of these the spores are formed. The gills 

 may be continued unbroken into the stem, or may be 

 separated from it by a narrow space. This difference 

 in the gills, the varied colours of the spores, and the 

 presence or absence of the veil a membrane passing, 

 in the young Mushroom, from the edge of the cap to a 

 ring round the stalk are all important characters in 

 determining the genus and species of Mushroom under 

 examination. In Hydnum, the hymenium is scattered 



