﻿Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Botanist. 
  135 
  

  

  same 
  family 
  and 
  having 
  a 
  similar 
  general 
  appearance. 
  In 
  the 
  

   Nightshade 
  family 
  or 
  Solonaceas 
  we 
  find 
  such 
  food 
  plants 
  as 
  the 
  

   potato, 
  tomato 
  and 
  eggplant 
  associated 
  botanically 
  with 
  such 
  

   inedible 
  or 
  hurtful 
  species 
  as 
  tobacco, 
  henbane 
  and 
  thorn 
  apple 
  

   or 
  stramonium. 
  If 
  we 
  would 
  avoid 
  accidents 
  we 
  must 
  know 
  each 
  

   species 
  so 
  well 
  that 
  no 
  dangerous 
  species 
  will 
  be 
  mistaken 
  for 
  it. 
  

   So 
  among 
  fungi 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  really 
  excellent 
  esculent, 
  the 
  royal 
  

   mushroom, 
  often 
  called 
  Caesar's 
  mushroom, 
  Amanita 
  coesarea, 
  

   associated 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  genus 
  but 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  group 
  

   or 
  section 
  with 
  the 
  delusive 
  and 
  deadly 
  phalloid 
  mushroom, 
  

   Amanita 
  phalloides. 
  Both 
  are 
  attractive 
  in 
  appearence, 
  tender 
  

   in 
  substance 
  and 
  nob 
  at 
  all 
  repulsive 
  in 
  taste 
  or 
  odor, 
  but 
  to 
  eat 
  

   one 
  is 
  health 
  and 
  life, 
  to 
  eat 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  sickness 
  and 
  death. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  species 
  of 
  fleshy 
  fungi 
  are 
  so 
  numerous 
  and 
  so 
  similar 
  

   in 
  structure 
  that 
  much 
  greater 
  care 
  is 
  required 
  in 
  discriminating 
  

   between 
  the 
  good 
  and 
  the 
  bad, 
  than 
  is 
  necessary 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  

   flowering 
  plants. 
  It 
  is 
  scarcely 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  that 
  people 
  

   generally 
  will 
  acquire 
  sufficient 
  knowledge 
  to 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  do 
  

   this 
  in 
  all 
  cases, 
  but 
  all 
  who 
  desire 
  to 
  use 
  these 
  plants 
  as 
  food 
  may 
  

   easily 
  acquire 
  from 
  faithful 
  figures, 
  and 
  simple 
  descriptions 
  a 
  

   sufficient 
  knowledge 
  to 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  distinguish 
  the 
  more 
  com- 
  

   mon 
  and 
  important 
  species. 
  There 
  are 
  at 
  least 
  75 
  edible 
  species 
  

   found 
  in 
  our 
  State, 
  though 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  rare 
  or 
  seldom 
  seen 
  

   in 
  abundance. 
  Some 
  are 
  both 
  common 
  and 
  abundant 
  and 
  these 
  

   may 
  easily 
  become 
  familiar 
  to 
  those 
  interested. 
  In 
  some 
  countries 
  

   of 
  Europe 
  where 
  mushroom 
  eating 
  is 
  more 
  common 
  than 
  it 
  is 
  

   here, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  expedient 
  to 
  appoint 
  inspectors 
  of 
  the 
  

   markets 
  whose 
  duty 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  no 
  hurtful 
  species 
  is 
  offered 
  

   for 
  sale. 
  But 
  if 
  people 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  see 
  fit 
  to 
  run 
  the 
  risk 
  of 
  

   collecting 
  and 
  eating 
  such 
  as 
  are 
  not 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  safe 
  and 
  edible 
  

   they 
  must 
  suffer 
  the 
  consequences. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  certain 
  rules 
  that 
  guide 
  the 
  mycologist 
  and 
  the 
  

   skilled 
  experimenter 
  in 
  estimating 
  the 
  probable 
  character 
  or 
  

   edibility 
  of 
  untried 
  species, 
  but 
  to 
  these 
  there 
  are 
  so 
  many 
  excep- 
  

   tions 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  wholly 
  reliable. 
  

  

  One 
  rule 
  is 
  to 
  reject 
  all 
  which 
  are 
  tough 
  leathery 
  or 
  corky 
  in 
  

   texture. 
  Even 
  in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  any 
  deleterious 
  quality 
  they 
  

   would 
  at 
  least 
  be 
  indigestible. 
  The 
  fairy 
  ring 
  mushroom, 
  Mar 
  as- 
  

   mius 
  oreades, 
  is 
  an 
  exception 
  to 
  this 
  rule, 
  for 
  though 
  it 
  is 
  rather 
  

  

  