MUSCARI 



MUSHROOM 



2081 



mdjus, pdllidum and pdllidum grandiflbrum. These 

 range from white through flesh-color to sky-blue. 



BB. Lvs. 5-6: fls. 8-12. 



5. Heldreichii, Boiss. Lvs. linear-filiform, subterete, 

 1> lines wide: scape 4-6 in. long; fls. 8-12, amethyst- 

 colored, with conspicuous white teeth. Greece. Gn. 



.26:136. 



BBB. Lvs. 2-3: fls. 6-10. 



6. lingulatum, Baker (M. Aiicheri 

 var. lingulatum, Boiss.). Lvs. 3 lines 

 wide: raceme ovate. G. 34:243 (as 

 M. azureum). Asia Minor. This 

 is apparently a good species, but 

 it is said that the plant sold under 

 this name is the same ; as Hyacinthus 

 azureus (Vol. Ill, p. 1616). Var. 

 prsecox is evidently a small form. 

 Cilicia. Gn. 63, p. 75. 



AA. Fertile fls. 1 % times as long as 

 broad, obovoid-oblong . 



B. Color of fls. black- 

 blue. 



7. paradorum, C. 

 Koch. Lvs. 3, y?- 

 %in. wide: fls. rather 

 longer than broad, 

 deep black-blue. Ar- 

 menia. B.M. 7873. 



BB. Color lively dark 



lilac or blue, 

 c. Lvs. %in. broad. 



8. cdnicum, Baker. Lvs. about 6, 

 narrower: fls. violet-blue. Habitat 

 unknown. Gn. 51:136; 69:282. 

 Van Tubergen says fls. black-blue. 

 Var. album, white. Gn. 71, p. 252. 



9. armeniacum, Leichtl. Lvs. sev- 

 eral, linear, much overtopping the 

 raceme, reaching a foot at flowering: 

 scape 4-6 in. long, tinted brown at 



base; raceme dense, 2 or more in. long; axis bright 

 violet; perianth bright deep violet; teeth erect whitish; 

 sterile fls. pale blue. Armenia. One of the most hand- 

 some species, flowering the latest. 



cc. Lvs. T to Yin. broad. 



10. micranthum, Baker. Lvs. several, overtopping 

 the raceme: scape slender, 5 in. long; fls. bright violet, 

 fragrant; sterile fls. few, sessile, pale blue. Habitat 

 unknown. 



11. Szovitsianum, Baker. Lvs. several, 5-6 in. long: 

 scape 4-5 in. long; fls. bright blue, considerably larger 

 (Jigin. across, but only r?in. across in M. micranthum), 

 faintly odorous: very large bulb, bearing several racemes 

 of bloom. Persia, Caucasus. B.M. 6855. 



BBB. Color nearly white. 



12. pallens, Fisch. Lvs. numerous, filiform : scape 3-5 

 in. long; raceme 12-20-fld. ; fls. white or nearly so. Cau- 

 casus, Iberia. 



AAA. Fertile fls. twice as long as broad, obovoid- 



cylindrical. 

 B. Lvs. almost cylindrical (subterete). 



13. racemosum, Mill. Lvs. 5-6, 5-6 in. long, r^in. 

 thick, almost cylindrical: fls. odorous, dark blue. Medit. 

 Caucasus. B.M. 122 (as Hyacinthus racemosus). Vars. 

 cdrneum and grandiflorum praecox are offered. 



BB. Lvs. oblanceolate. 



14. Iatif61ium, J. Kirk. Lvs. always solitary, %-l in. 

 wide, oblanceolate: sterile fls. 6-10, much paler than the 

 others. Phrygia. B.M. 7843. 



132 



2405. Muscari 

 botryoides. (X 1 A) 



BBB. Lvs. lorate, i.e., strap-shaped. 



15. neglectum, Guss. Lvs. numerous, 9-12 in. long, 

 lorate, 1^-2 lines thick: fls. odorous, dark blue. Medit. 

 region. Gn. 26:136. J.H. 111/61:249. This differs 

 from M. commutatum and M. polyanthum in having 

 the segms. of the perianth triangular and reflexed. 

 M. neglectum multiflorum and M. neglectum atldnticum 

 are trade names. See supplementary list under M. 

 Argsei. 



16. commutatum, Guss. Lvs. 5-6, 5-6 in. long, 

 1^-2 lines wide: fls. odorless, dark blue; segms. very 

 short, not recurved. Sicily. Krelage advertises vars. 

 atrocseruleum combsum, plumosum, plumosum mon- 

 strdsum, and plumosum violdceum. It is apparent that 

 he regards M. comosum and its forms as varieties of M. 

 commutatum. 



17. polyanthum, Boiss. Lvs. 2-3 lines wide. Differs 

 from M. neglectum and M. commutalum in having 

 longer pedicels and the caps, a half smaller, not more 

 than 2 lines wide. 



18. compactum, Baker. Described only as Botry- 

 anthus compact us in an obscure work, which states that 

 the fls. are nearly black, with whitish teeth which 

 are semi-orbicular, obtuse, spreading-recurved. Baker 

 places M. compactum next to M. commutatum, in spite 

 of the fact that the original description says the fls. are 

 obovate. Baker adds that this M. compactum is the M. 

 neglectum of some authors in part. The plant in the 

 trade as M. compactum may be a variety of some com- 

 mon species, since Van Tubergen says the fls. are 

 pale blue. 



M. Argsei, little known botanically, is said to be extra good. In 

 the trade, M. atlanticum is given as a synonym. Baker said he could 

 not distinguish M. atlanticum from M. neglectum. M. atldnticum. 

 Consult the preceding entry, M. Argsei. M. azitreum, Hort., is said 

 by Van Tubergen to be the same as Hyacinthus azureus, which in 

 turn is referred to H. cilia tus by Index Kewensis. Gn. 36: 126. Van 

 Tubergen also advertises var. amphibolis (M. Freynianum). M . 

 Motelayi, is offered by Van Tubergen. 



WILHELM MILLER. 

 A. C. HoTTES.f 



MUSENIUM: Muslneon. 



MUSHROOM. The best usage sanctions the use of 

 the word "mushrdom" as a comprehensive term applica- 

 ble to any and all of the higher fleshy fungi, whether 

 good, bad, or indifferent with respect to edible qualities. 

 With this usage it is then proper to speak of edible, 

 inedible, and poisonous mushrooms of all types. From 

 some quarters there is an inclination to regard only the 

 agarics, or more especially the centrally stalked gill- 

 bearing Agaricacea?, under this name; thus we would 

 have the field agaric, or field mushroom, the fly agaric, 

 or fly mushroom, and so on. In a commercial sense, 

 Agaricus campestris and the allies of this species are 

 everywhere in America the dominant, and usually the 

 only species of interest ; so that among certain classes 

 of persons it is not strange to find a tendency toward 

 the restriction of the word to the commoner cultivated 

 forms. The same persons with wider experience would 

 doubtless abandon this usage, and employ the above- 

 mentioned broader application now more generally used, 

 which is also the one of the "mushroom" books. 



Another use of the term is as a counterpart of toad- 

 stool, "mushroom" denoting any edible species, and 

 "toadstool" all the inedible or at least poisonous ones. 

 With this criterion we would collect and throw into 

 the "mushroom" basket all species as fast as they 

 might in some way or other receive approval, and we 

 would cast into the toadstool limbo all uncertain or 

 untried and dangerous forms. On the basis of such 

 distinctions, applied to European conditions, there 

 might be on the markets of Munich, Germany, about 

 fifty species for sale as "mushrooms," since this number 

 is approved by the authorities; but in Berlin, at the 

 dictation of stricter tastes, or rules, the number of 

 recognized "mushrooms" would be scarcely half that 



