310 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



species of fungoid growth appear in our rock- 

 garden. Though we may find various species of 

 fungi all through the Summer, they are especially 

 characteristic of Autumn, .and no one who has 

 allowed indifference or prejudice to blind his eyes 

 can have any notion of the variety and beauty of 

 the forms they assume : some are purely white, and 

 like branching coral ; others have their branches 

 an intense orange-yellow ; others again have their 

 disks as strong a scarlet as a guardsman's tunic ; 

 while the great majority are of a more subdued 

 colour and of every possible tint of yellow, russet, 

 purple, and brown, to black. Far more of these 

 than is at all generally realised have edible value, 

 and tons of despised " toadstools" that would supply 

 wholesome food, perish unregarded each recurring 

 Autumn. The white coral-like clavaria, for instance, 

 that we have referred to, is not " a thing of beauty " 

 alone, but is, when stewed with a little ham and 

 parsley, and seasoned with a touch of pepper and 

 salt, as dainty a dish as need be set before the most 

 exacting of gourmands. Fungi vary in form and in 

 size as much as in colour, and may be looked for in 

 almost every possible position some nestling among 

 the long grass and dying bracken, some standing 

 boldly erect on the open ground, others springing 

 from decayed wood, and others again on lofty tree- 

 trunks. Almost all quickly perish and lose their 

 beauty after gathering, and though there is no more 



