AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



397 



Mushrooms continued. 



quently removed by this treatment. Among the most 

 poisonous of the commoner Mushrooms is Agaricus 

 (Amanita) muscarius, or the Ply Agaric, a large Mush- 

 room, with a red cap, studded over with pale warts 



FIG. 613. FLY AGARIC (AGARICUS MUSCARIUS). 



(see Fig. 613), common in woods in Britain. This plant, if 

 eaten, even in small amounts, causes headache, nausea, 

 and delirium, and often convulsions, followed by stupor ; 

 and the urine of those who have eaten it, when swal- 

 lowed, produces the same effects. It is occasionally used 

 as a fly poison, whence its name. Russula emetica, with 

 smooth red cap and white gills, also found in woods, 

 is very poisonous, giving rise to vomiting and purging. 

 Many others, more or less virulent, might be dwelt 

 upon, did space allow. But, besides directly bad effects, 

 many Mushrooms are scarcely less hurtful indirectly, by 

 the evil they do to trees and other plants, unless, in- 

 deed, we suppose the fungi to follow, not to cause, 

 disease. From this point of view, Agaricus melleus is 

 probably the most hurtful of the true, or gill-bearing, 

 Mushrooms. It grows usually in dead or dying wood, 

 but it also attacks cut or bruised surfaces, and from 

 these its mycelium extends to the healthy wood, and 

 soon causes the latter to decay. Very frequently, the 



Mushrooms continued. 



mycelium forms black root-like bodies, running between 

 the wood and the bark of the tree, emitting short 

 branches at right angles to the larger ones. It is pecu- 

 liarly injurious to conifers, and seems to be almost cos- 

 mopolitan in temperate zones. Its evil properties may be 

 regarded as slightly compensated by its being edible, 

 though not highly esteemed because of its acrid, dis- 

 agreeable taste. The stalk is yellowish, with a blackish 

 tinge at the base, Sin. or 4in. long, at last becoming 

 hollow, and near the top bearing a complete annulus. 

 The cap is yellow-brown (or may show a greenish tinge), 

 with the centre darker, and bears scattered brown 

 scales. The gills are white or yellowish, and are broad 

 but unequal. The cap has a peculiar earthy aspect. 

 The pore-bearing Fungi are yet more hurtful than Agarics, 

 and several species of Polyporus may be enumerated 

 that are markedly injurious to trees. Observations 

 upon their powers of doing harm have been made far 

 more completely in Germany than in our native forests. 

 Space will permit here of little more than an enumera- 

 tion of some of the more generally distributed of the 

 hurtful kinds, e.g., P. sulphureus, on Oak, Willow, Larch, 

 &c. ; P. dryadeus, on Oak ; P. betulinus, on Birch ; 

 P. igniarius, on Poplars, Willows, Ash, Cherry, &c. ; and 

 P. vaporarius, on conifers. The nearly allied Trametes 

 Pini and T. radiciperda are very fatal at times to 

 Pines on the Continent ; and Fistulina hepatica causes 

 the decay of Oak. Wood prepared or made use of for 

 building houses or ships is also liable to injury unless 

 thoroughly seasoned and kept in a dry place ; and Dry- 

 rot is but too familiar to many a householder, because 

 of the rapid decay induced by the mycelium of Fungi, 

 by which the wood is brought into a powdery, rotten 

 state. The species that generally bring about this con- 

 dition are Mernlins lacrymans (which see), Poly- 

 porus hybridus, and P. vaporarius; but others also are 

 known to be destructive. 



Remedies. Upon the nature of the injuries done 

 by Fungi, the remedies must, of course, depend. To 

 avoid evil effects from the use of Mushrooms as food, 

 great care must be exercised to insure that only edible 

 kinds shall be gathered and made use of. Long ex- 

 posure to heat in cooking, combined with the free use 

 of salt and of vinegar, has been found to remove the 

 poisonous properties of many species, but not of all. 

 Should evil results follow the use of Mushrooms in food, 

 the readiest means for the removal of the food by 

 emetics and purgatives should be resorted to, and a 

 doctor should be summoned without delay. It is hardly 

 possible to prevent the death of trees attacked by such 

 Fungi as Agaricus melleus or Polyporus squamosus, since 

 the wood is full of their mycelium. Unless the trees 

 are of very peculiar value, it is better to destroy them 

 at once, in order to prevent the Fungus spreading to 

 other trees. Prevention is far better than cure, and 

 more regard must be paid to the preservation of those 

 still sound than to keeping the diseased one. Young 

 trees should never be planted in soil in which there are 

 decaying pieces of wood. For the treatment of Dry-rot, 

 see Merulius lacrymans. 



A few words may be added upon the geographical 

 distribution of Mushrooms. Many of them are known 

 to be almost cosmopolitan, or to be distributed in 

 countries very wide apart; while others are, as yet, 

 known to occur only in very limited areas, probably 

 because of the small number of workers in this group 

 of plants leaving our information regarding them very 

 incomplete. The genus Agaricus is more abundant, and 

 its species are more fleshy, in temperate than in 

 tropical latitudes. On the contrary, Polypori are more 

 numerous and striking in tropical regions. In tem- 

 perate climates, Mushrooms are most numerous in 

 autumn ; but, in tropical countries, they appear all the 



