AGARICS 153 



authorities who claim that " it is most delectable " 

 and " a delicious morsel." Certain it is that in its 

 young and tender condition only is it fit for food, as 

 it becomes progressively tough in consistency tow- 

 ards maturity. 



As its specific name implies — Ulmus — this mush- 

 room is devoted to the elm, upon whose trunk and 



branches it may be often seen, either 

 Massive singly, which is rare, or in great dense 

 growth masses, sometimes covering a space of 



several square feet, often, unfortunately, 

 at an inaccessible height from the ground. I have 

 in my possession a photograph which has been sent 

 to me by an interested correspondent representing 

 a dead tree trunk, apparently a foot in diameter, 

 densely covered to a height of seven feet from the 

 ground with a mass of the A. ulmarius — and pre- 

 sumably representing thirty or forty pounds in weight. 

 This species is most frequently seen on apparently 

 healthy branches, or growing from the wood of a 

 severed limb. Its season is late summer and au- 

 tumn. 



A small cluster of these mushrooms is seen in 

 Plate 15. They afford a good refutation of the old- 

 time discriminating " ban," which excluded all mush- 

 rooms which grow "sidewise," or " upon wood." The 



individual mushroom of this species is 

 Botanical a horizontal grower, sometimes with a 

 characters barely noticeable or obsolete stem ; in 



other specimens this portion being 

 quite distinct and an inch or more in length, and 

 firm and solid in texture. The upper surface is pale 



