8 OUTLINES OF BRITISH FUNGOLOGY. 



which may not hoAvevcr be so familiar to many of my readers 

 as the two former. The existence of prickles, or spine-like 

 processes, on the under surface of the pileus in the more 

 typical genera and species, is the characteristic mark, as gills 

 and tubes were of the two former. The pretty Hyclnum auri- 

 scalpium, which is common upon fir-cones, will have attracted 

 the notice of many from the elegance of its form and colour- 

 ing ; and the esculent /f. repandum (Plate 17, fig. 2), which is 

 a common inhabitant of our woods, must be know^n to every 

 one who has observed the differences which exist among these 

 plants. There are, however, abundaut species which will re- 

 ward a closer research by their own peculiar beauties. One 

 or two are gelatinous, and a few acquire considerable firm- 

 ness of texture. Some consist almost entirely of spines, with 

 scarcely any pileus, while others are as regular in form as 

 a Mushroom. A few are repeatedly branched, resembling 

 a cauliflower. In one genus, Hericium, which may perhaps 

 reward future researches in this country, the spines are ex- 

 tremely large and perfectly erect, and have the appearance of 

 ivory. The Fungi of this third subdivision are called Hydnei, 

 after the typical genus Hydnum. 



We noticed before, that in the lower Gill-bearing Fungi, 

 the hymenium is sometimes almost destitute of folds, thus 

 preparing the way for an important group in which the cha- 

 racteristic point is the absence of projections or depressions 

 on the hymenium. The species arc often very common and 

 widely diff'uscd. An oak-trunk, when felled and decorticated, 

 is soon covered with a bright-yellowish, velvety Fungus, with 

 a smooth hymenium of the same colour, Stereum hirsutum 

 (Plate 17, fig. 7), while a felled poplar, left, as is usual, with 

 the bark on, is in like manner adorned with a beautiful and 

 somewhat similar lilac Fungus, Stereum purpureum. They 



