USES. 87 



Transylvania, tons of it sometimes appearing in the markets. It 

 does not possess that delicate flavour which is found in many 

 species, and although extolled by some beyond its merits, it is 

 nevertheless perfectly wholesome, and, when young and care- 

 fully cooked, not to be despised. It must not be confounded 

 with a very similar species (Agaricus euosmus, B.), with rosy 

 spores, which is unpleasant. Agaricus tessellatus, Bull, Agaricus 

 pometij Fr., Agaricus glan dulosus, Bull, are all allies of the fore- 

 going, and recorded as edible in the United States, although not 

 one of the three has hitherto been recorded as occurring in Great 

 Britain. To these may also be added the following : Agaricus 

 saliqnus,* Fr., which is rare in England, but not uncommon 

 abroad and in the United States. In Austria it is commonly 

 eaten. Agaricus ulmarius^f Bull, is common on elm trunks, not 

 only in Britain but also in North America, and is by some 

 preferred to the oyster mushroom. An allied species, Agaricus 

 fossulatus, Cooke,J is found on the Cabul Hills, where it is col- 

 lected, dried, and forms an article of commerce with the plains. 

 Another, but smaller species, is dried in the air on strings passed 

 through a hole in the short stem (Agaricus subocreatus, Cooke), 

 and sent, it is believed, from China to Singapore. 



The smallest species with which we have any acquaintance, 

 that is edible, is the "nail fungus" (Agaricus esculentus, Jacq.), 

 scarcely exceeding one inch in diameter of the pileus, with a 

 thin rooting stem. The taste in British specimens when raw is 

 bitter and unpleasant, but it is clearly eaten in Austria, as its 

 name testifies, and elsewhere in Europe. It is found in fir plan- 

 tations in the spring, at which season it is collected from the fir 

 woods around and sent to Vienna, where it is only used for 

 flavouring sauces under the name of " Nagelschwamme." 



Before quitting the group of true agarics, to which all 

 hitherto enumerated belong, we must mention a few others of 

 less importance, but which are included amongst those good for 



* Tratinnick, L., " Fungi Austriaci," p. 47, pi. 4, f. 8. 



t Vittadini, " Fungi Mangerecci," pi. 23.. 



J Cooke, in "Journal of Botany," vol. viii. p. 352. 



Cooke, M. C., "A Plain and Easy Guide," &c., p. 38, pi. 6, fip-. 1. 



