122 EDIBLE MUSHROOMS 



readily some distance from the edge, leaving the 

 projecting tips of the gills exposed in a row of comb- 

 like teeth, but usually adheres towards the centre of 

 cap. The gills, with rare exceptions, are all of the 

 same lejigth, white or creamy in color, firm and thick, 

 but very brittle, easily broken into fragments by a rude 

 touch, a characteristic of all the group ; spores, white. 

 The stem is short, stout, and solid, and usually tapers 

 towards the base. There is no vestige of a cup or 

 veil at any stage of growth. 



A fine specimen of the green Russula should 

 measure five inches in diameter when fully open, but 

 three inches is probably the average size. 



When once acquainted with the above as a type 

 of the Russula group, noting the firm substance, 

 straight, equal gills, and their brittle 

 The noxious texture ; the sweet, nutty flavor com- 

 Russuis mon to all the edible species, these be- 

 come readily identified, the noxious 

 Russulae, as in the brilliant pink or scarlet R. emetica 

 (Plate 13), being acrid ■asidi peppery to the taste. 



In an auspicious season and in a congenial habitat 

 — usually an open wood with scant undergrowth and 

 preferably raked clean of dead leaves — the green Rus- 

 sula is often abundant. Familiarity even with this 

 one species will often afford a sufficien- 

 ^''^^often**"'^ ^y °^ fungus food during its season. A 

 sufficient lady amateur mycophagist of the writ- 

 er's acquaintance, whose home is locat- 

 ed at the border of such a wood as is above described, 

 and who is especially fond of the green Russula, is 

 never at a loss for this especially prized tidbit as a 



