October -26, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



319 



There they were, and I am sorry your correapoadent did not 

 see them there, because then I am sure he would not have made 

 the remarks he did. There they stood through many a gale 

 ■and eddy-wind without a single brick being displaced or a pane 

 of gbiss broken. One word more and I have done. He refers 

 to the old-pattern bricks at Chiswick several years ago. I do 

 not think he has seen the new " Belvoir Castle " or the " Eo- 

 vilie " patterns ; when he does so he will change hia mind. He 

 might as well say the locomotive steam engine is a failure be- 

 cause the original one on cog wheels broke down. — W. Edg- 

 <3UMBii: Eendle. 



[We think it needless to insert more upon this subj ect. — Eds ] 



WOOLHOPE NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



THE FORiY AMONG THE FUNGUSES. 



The last field meeting of the year was held on October 10th. The 

 ■attendance was numerous, the weather was beautiful, the scenery of 

 the district selected for the hunt was very fine, anil, above and beyond 

 ■all for the object of the day's excursion, Funguses were abundant. 

 The sun shone brilliantly as the visitors left the Dinmore station to 

 wend their way up the hill to the tower on the top, but the admiration 

 of the varied foliage tints was quickly exchanged for that of the forms 

 and colouration of the Funguses. The scarlet tints of Hygrophorus 

 coccineug, Peziza aurantia,, and Agaricus (Amanita) muscai'ius ; the 

 amethj-st and purple variety of A. laccatus ; the large white Lactarius 

 Tellereus, the delicate Hygrophoru3 cossus, and Clavaria vermiculata ; 

 the yellow wax-like Hygrophorus ceraceus, and hundreds of others in 

 ■shades o'f yellow, brown, and black, mixed by Nature's art, with many 

 a varied grace of form and texture. Meantime the way led on, and 

 whether it was the many attentions the Fnupuses had, or the old Sad 

 habit of keeping too long to the broad and easy path, the visitors 

 'found themselves on the turnpike-road to Leominster, without a si^ht 

 of the tower. Away through the wood side tracks were taken, and the 

 baskets were rapidly filled with the spdia of the day. In the hunt 

 *ior the tower, which conceals itself wonderfiilly well in the woods of 

 this wide-backed undulating hill, some found it and some didn't, and 

 the President was amongst the unfortunate ; and bo it came to pass 

 that the business of the Club was transacted under the Beech trees at 

 the far side. 



The delicate beautiful Fungus Agaricus mucidus, white and fragile, 

 was here gathered from a decaying branch of the Beech tree above, 

 -and on its roots below Polyporus giganteus was beginning to grow. 

 Here, too, soon was smelt out that curious, undesirable, beautiful, 

 horrid, graceful, disgusting, interesting, stinking Fungus, Phallus im- 

 pudicus, which is justly named " stink-horn." 



The wood was now left for the more open ground of the hill, and on 

 the remains of some charcoal-burning places the Funguses peculiar to 

 such spots, Agaricus carbonarius, A. atratus, and CauthareUus radi- 

 •cosus were found. 



The private bridge over the Lug was crossed, and following some 

 little distance a tempting glade by the river's side the ascent of the 

 hill was again made for the home journey, and the Fungus hunt was 

 resumed all the more vioiorously for the charming hiatus of the visit 

 to the valley. The bu£E Hygrophorus pratensis, edible and good, with 

 its odd little associate H. psittacintis, with several others, were 

 gathered here. This last is said to be edible too, iu spite of its 

 greenish-yellow untempting aspect, and as the esculent Funguses 

 have at length come uppermost, it may as well be said at once that 

 many of them were found. A good dish of the Maned Agaric, Co- 

 priuus comatus, had already been secured as provision for the feast, 

 and others had still to be gathered. A hunt was made for the 

 ■*' Vegetable Beefsteak," Fistulina hepatica, for it may almost be said 

 ■of this, as Browning has lately said of the Pomegranate in the Island 

 of Khodes : — 



" Where'er the red bloom bmrns 

 I' the dull dark verdure of the bounteous tree, 

 Dethroning in the rosy isle the Rose, 

 You shall find food, drink, odour, all at once." 



But though some small specimens were found, they were too young to 

 be fit for the table. The spiked Mushroom, Hydnum repandnm, 

 ** Hydnum good as oysters," as Dr. Badham says, was found growing 

 in several localities, and some fine specimens were gathered, but as 

 this one had already been cooked at the dinners of the Club, the 

 -caterer passed them by for the Bed Milk Agaric, Lactarius delici- 

 osus. which is very plentiful this autumn iu the situation it delights 

 in, the diip of Scotch Firs. The Chantarelle, CauthareUus eibarius, 

 was gathered, and very common it has been this year in almost every 

 Oak wood of the county. This and Marasmius oreades, the Faiiy- 

 ring Agaric, or Champignon, have been extremely abundant all 

 through the summer. If people did but know how strong and excellent 

 is the catsup it makes they would not let it be thus wasted, th:)Uf^h 

 'from its small size and rather dry nature it takes a deal of gathering 

 to get a supply of this delicious condiment. Then there was Agaricus 

 orcella, vegetable sweetbread. Boletus edulis, Russula heterophylla, 

 Agaricus rubeseens, Lepista nuda, and some others of which compas- 

 ■aion for the compofeitor alone forbids the mention at this time. Edible 

 Fungttses often get into discredit from being eaten when unripe. There 



is a common saying about the Pear, that you should sit up all night 

 to catch the minute it ripens ; and if there is a basis of truth in 

 the proverb with a fruit that takes so many mouths to reach per- 

 fection, one ought to be electrically sensitive to the exact moment of 

 maturation of a Mushroom, which a few hours only will suffice to 

 develope. 



On the way through the woods many other Funguses were gathered ; 

 and by way of balancing the virtues of the edible kinds, it is well, 

 perhaps, to mention that the virulently poisonous Lactarius torminosus 

 or necator, " the slayer," as it is sometimes called, was very abundant, 

 and a very beautiful Agaric it is with its rich orau^i^e zones and its 

 woolly margin. The venomous-looking Lactarius turpis was frequently 

 found, Agaricus fascicularis, A. sublateritius, and some others. One 

 other Agaric only shall be named, and that because it is very rare and 

 so very interesting. On a stump not far from the station Marasmius 

 frotidus, the little fetid Marasmius, was growiuR plentifully. More 

 Lactarii and Cortiuarii were met with than could be named, for some 

 were either new or in a peculiar form. 



With well-laden baskets the Fungus-hunters reached the *' Green 

 Dragon," and all their fatigues were soon forgotten in close examination 

 of the Funguses brought or sent for exhibition. Several of the scien- 

 tific visitors who had come from long distances to be present at the 

 foray had brought rare specimens with them. C. E. Broome, Esq., 

 F.L.S., from the neighbourhood of Bath and Bristol, brought the 

 small Truflle Genoa hispidula from Hanham, near Bristol, Poronia 

 punctata, Peziza rutilans and humosa, Polyporus scoticus, Agaricus 

 squarrosus in its variety MuUeri, and many other sorts from Clifton 

 and the Leigh Woods. The Rev. W. Houghton, F.L.S., &c., brought 

 two specimens of Sparassis crispa, which is so escelleut in flavour that 

 it is a pity it is so rare ; Agaricus clavipes, only of late added to the 

 British Flora, and many others. W. Philhps, Esq., also brought from 

 Shropshii-e Peziza onotica and cochleata ; Agaricus (Clitucybe) cyathi- 

 formis, an unrecognised violet Cortiuarius ; (I.) Lycogala epidendron, 

 &jc. Charles Plowright, Esq., brought with him from Norfolk the 

 rare Agaricus (Mycena) Iris, the curious and rare Cordiceps ophio- 

 glossoides grooving parasitically on Elaphomyces muricatus, Boletus 

 variegatus, and many others. The Bev. J. Jones Machen brought 

 Craterellns crispus, &c. Miss Lewis, of Ludlow, sent Cantharellus 

 tubreformis and many others. The remaining collections were from 

 Herefordshire. A large hamper came from Whitfield of fine kinds in 

 excellent order; a good collection was also sent by Mr. Miller from 

 Eyewood, near Kington, containing the rare Hydnum zonatum, with 

 two very grand specimens of Polyporus giganteus. Manv members of 

 the Club also did their duty scientifically, and the tables were well 

 crowded with specimens. Time, unfortunately, did not admit of their 

 being well arranged for study, but this want shall be supplied in some 

 measure here. It will be an interesting feature if the Funguses 

 gathered in Herefordshire for this meeting are put on record for the 

 future. To prevent repetition, however, all those which have been 

 already named in this account of the excursion will be omitted, and 

 the names of the others well-recognised upon the table shall be strung 

 together in the most concise manner and without comment. This 

 arrangement will give readers in general the pleasant advantage of 

 skipping them in a lump. 



In the great order Agaricus the following species were present : — 



(Amanita) : phalloides,pantherinu3, excelsu8,vaginatus, and Ceciliee. 



(Lepiota) : procerus, rachodes, excoriatus, Badhami, gracilentua, 

 cristatus, and granulosus. 



(Armillaria) : melleus. 



(Tricholoma) : sejunctug, flavo-brunneus, albo-brunneus, rutilans, 

 imbricatus, Columbetta, murinaceus, terreus, sapouaceus, albus, per- 

 sonatns, nudus, grammopodius, humilis. and subpulverulentus. 



(Clitocybe) : nebularis, fumosus and its variety polius, odorus, cerus- 

 satus, dealbatus, infundibuliformis, geotrupus, and fragrans. 



(Collybia) : radicatus, maculatus, platyphyllus, fusipes, butyracens, 

 dryophilus, undatus, or vertirugis, tuberosus. 



(Mycena) : purus, polygrammus,alcalinus, epipterygius,peniculoBns, 

 pterigenus, galopns, and tenuis. 



(Pluteus) : cervinus. 



(Crepidotus) : mollis. 



(Entoloma) : sinuatus, Bloxami, nidorosus, and rhodopolius. 



(Clitopilus) : prunulus and popinalis. 



(Nolanea) : pascnus. 



(Pholiota) : spectabilis, mutabilis squarrosus, and radicosus. 



(Hebeloma) : lucifugus, longicaudus, fastibilis, and testaceus. 



(Naucoria) : cucumis, and furfuraceus. 



(Psalliota) : campestris, arvensis, asruginosus, squamosus, and semi- 

 globatus. 



(Hypholoma) : lacrymabnndus. 



(Psilocybe) : Fcenisecii, spadiceus, and semilanceolatns. 



Coprinus atramentarius, picaceus, and niveus. Cortmarius cal- 

 lochrous, coUinitus, fulgens, elatior, tabularis, diabolicus, cinnamo- 

 meus, caninuB, and callisteus. Paxillus involutus, Gomphidiu'' glu- 

 tinosus, and viscidus. Hygrophorus olivaceo-albus, virginius, 

 niveus, cerasinus, ovinus, Colemanuianns, coecineus, puniceus, and 

 leporinus. Lactarius insulsus, blennius, chrysorrbeus, pallidus, 

 quietus, serifluus, subdulcis, glyciosmus, and fuliginosus. Bussula 

 nigricans, adusta, fureata, vesca, rubra, sardonia, virescens, cmetica, 

 ochroleuca, fragilis, and alutacea. Cantharellus aurantiacus aud 

 tubffiformis. Marasmius urens, perouatus, and rotula. Lenzites 



