CLASSIFICATION 71 



portion is loose and spongy in textnre, as compared with the firm 

 peripheral portion. The gills are usually adnexed, or in some species 

 almost free ; they are rather thick, except at the edge, razor-blade 

 sliaped, very firm and brittle, so that when an attempt is made to 

 bend them to one side the}^ snap off abruptly. In many species 

 the gills are pure white, as are also the spores ; in others the gills 

 and spores are tinged yellow, whereas in others again the gills and 

 spores are deep ochraceous yellow. This genus illustrates the im- 

 possibility of nature to conform with any system of' classification 

 that can be formulated. The genus by common consent is in- 

 cluded in the Leucosporeae, characterized solely by having white 

 or colourless spores, ne\'ertheless the species having white and 

 ochraceous spores so obviously belong to the same genus in every 

 other respect, that the one departure in the way of coloured spores 

 is waived, and Russula is retained in the white-spored group. 

 Those possessing a microscope and the ability to cut a thin section 

 across a gill, have the means of determining at once whether a given 

 fungus belongs to the genus Russula or not. The gills in Russula are 

 said to possess a vesiculose structure, that is, all the cells are circular 

 in outline in whatever direction the gill is cut, whereas in the gill 

 of every other agaric the middle portion of the gill consists of a 

 weft of very long, narrow cells. Intermixed with these large circular 

 cells, forming the substance of the gill, are numerous long, thin, 

 wavy cells, filled with an opaque, cloudy or minutely granular 

 substance, or latex, which correspond to the milk-containing 

 hyphge or cells so abundant in the allied genus Lactarius. In Russula 

 the latex is too dense to escape in drops when the plant is wounded, 

 as it does in the genus Lactarius. The spores in all species are sub- 

 globose and minutely rough or warted. 



Brilliant colours predominate in the genus, vivid crimson, bright 

 yellow, deep green, orange, ripe peach-colour, and in some species 

 the most varied combinations of red, green, orange, etc. Many of 

 the species appear early in the season, and make the woods and 

 open glades gay with their brilliant colours.*^'All the species without 

 exception grow on the ground. Some few species are edible, 

 but the majority are hot and not suitable for food, although not 

 actually poisonous. 



Myceiia 

 A considerable number of fungi belong to this genus, most of 

 which are small in size, and usually quite brittle and evanescent. 

 The cap is as a rule campanulate at first, gradually expanding imtil 

 more or less plane, rarely muclV depressed,^ sometimes umbonate, 

 and usually striate or fluted, never scaly. The flesh of the^^cap is 

 always thin, and sometimes almost translucent. The stem is 

 comparati\-ely slender, hollow, externally polished or shining and 

 often furnished ^\•ith downy mycelium at the base. One marked 



