BOTANY 



so rare everywhere that no provincial name has been assigned to it, is 

 confined so far as is known to one locality on Paul's Cray Common near 

 Chislehurst. The entire substance of the fungus consists of a nearly 

 colourless quaking jelly-like mass having just sufficient consistency 

 to retain its form, which is tongue-shaped and covered on the under 

 surface with pointed spines. 



No other county in England can boast of so many species belonging 

 to the beautiful genus Russula fifty-five out of a total of sixty-one British 

 species. All grow on the ground and are distinguished by the stout smooth 

 stem and rigid white or yellow gills ; the cap is usually bright-coloured 

 crimson, purple, yellow and green being the prevailing tints. 



During early autumn members of the genus Boletus command 

 attention owing to their large size and brilliant colour. Seen growing 

 the species might be mistaken for gill-bearing fungi, but on examination 

 it will be found that instead of gills the under surface of the cap is 

 furnished with myriads of small holes or tubes in which the spores are 

 produced. In many kinds of Boletus the colourless flesh of the cap changes 

 instantly to a deep blue when broken. 



Edible fungi are abundant. At least thirty different kinds perfectly 

 safe to eat and each possessing its own peculiar taste and aroma have been 

 tested. Among these the parasol mushroom (Lepiota procera) is perhaps 

 most frequent and most easily recognized. The general appearance of the 

 fungus is that of a parasol ; stem slender, five to eight inches high, 

 furnished with a loose ring or collar ; cap six to ten inches across, rather 

 scaly ; gills white. The horn of plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides] is a 

 quaint fungus blackish in colour, thin and rather gelatinous, funnel-shaped, 

 usually growing in clusters and delicious when properly cooked. The 

 edible boletus (Boletus edulis) has a cap corresponding in size and colour 

 to a penny bun, supported on a stout stem ornamented with a delicate 

 network of raised lines. 



Poisonous fungi are not lacking. The death-cup (A manita phalloides) 

 is probably responsible for at least ninety per cent, of the deaths due to 

 fungus-poisoning both in this country and on the continent. It is an 

 elegant fungus and entirely devoid of any objectionable taste or smell ; 

 the stem is slender, three to five inches long and inserted at the base into 

 a sheath or volva with a loose broken margin ; gills white ; cap three to 

 four inches across, whitish or pale primrose-yellow. 



Parasitic fungi, many of which prove very destructive to cultivated 

 plants, are unfortunately too abundant. The leaf blotch (Rhytisma aceri- 

 num), forming large black patches on the living leaves of sycamores and 

 maples, is generally present. Coral spot (Nectria cinnabarina) , very common 

 on decaying branches of various trees, is recognized by forming numerous 

 small wart-like bodies of a clear coral-red colour; these warts are the 

 fruit of the fungus, which bursts through the bark after the branch has 

 been killed by the mycelium. Apple tree canker is caused by a closely 

 related parasite (Nectria ditissima)^ and the minute bright red pustules of 

 the fungus may be found nestling in the crevices of the cankered parts of 

 i 65 F 



