332 



POLYPORACE.E 



Strobilomyces 



1516. S. strobilaeeus Berk, (from the top of the pileus, clad with 



pine-cone-like scales ; Gr. strobiles , a pine cone) a b c. 

 P. globose to pulvinate, broken into large thick scales ; sc. dark 

 umber on a pale greyish ground. St. clavate, sulcato-reticulate 

 above, coarsely fibrillose, white above, vinous-brown below. 

 T. adnate, with transverse dissepiments, white, shaded dull 

 brownish. Flesh sienna-brown. 



Woods, under fir, oak, lime, amongst bracken, open grassy places. Aug.- 

 Oct. 6 x 7| X ij in. 



LXI. FISTULINA Bull. 

 (From the pipe-like character of the tubes ; fistula, a pipe.) 



Veil obsolete. Pileus fleshy, juicy. Stem obsolete. Tubes 

 cylindrical, free from each other as are the spines in Hydnacece, 

 but adnate with the substance of the pileus. (Fig. 75.) 



Growing on wood. Intermediate between Polyporacea and 

 Hydnacea. 



Fig. 75. Fistulina hepatica Fr. One-third natural size. 

 A, tubes. X 3. B, orifices of ditto. X 6. 



1517. F. hepatiea Fr. (from the liver-like appearance ; Gr. hepatikos, 



of the liver) a b c. Imbricate. 



P. roundish, dimidiate or subspathulate, rough with minute 

 points, dull pale purplish-red, red, blood-red, liver-colour or 

 chocolate, becoming blackish. T. ochre-whitish, then yellowish- 

 red. Po. distinct. Flesh thick, juicy, red-streaked like beet- 

 root, distilling a red juice. 



Edible when quite ripe. Taste somewhat acid. Trunks, oak, ash, walnut, 

 willow, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, elm. Aug.- Oct. Diam. I ft. 4 in. 

 Sometimes attaining a great size with a weight as much as 19 Ibs. ; unlike 

 many Polyporacea it perishes in about three weeks after its first appear- 

 ance. The "liver" or "beef-steak" fungus. Said by Hartig to be the 

 cause of a deep red-brown decomposition in oak. Ceriomyces (Ptychogaster) 

 hepaticus is said by Saccardo to be an imperfect state of this. 



