H YMENOM YCE TES 



127 



ceding chapter having prepared us for the general attributes of 

 the order, we may proceed to indicate the six groups into which 

 the genera naturally fall. Four of these have the hymenium 

 normally inferior, in the other two either superior or on all sides. 

 The four first are the Agaricini, Polyporei, Hydnei, Thelephorei, 

 and the two latter Clavariei and Tremellini. 



The Agaricini are pre-eminently soft, fleshy, putrescent 

 Fungi, of the mushroom type, in which the inferior hymenium, 

 or spore-bearing surface, is spread over folds, or gills, which 



Fig. 49. — Agaric. A, young state ; B, mature ; C, section. 



radiate from a central stem to the circumference of a pileus or 

 cap. In the typical form there is a floccose mycelium of 

 delicate threads, surmounted by a stem, more or less developed, 

 and crowned by a hood or cap of umbrella-like form, with gills 

 on the under surface. In the earliest condition the form is 

 nearly globose, enclosed like an egg within a thin shell or 

 membrane. As it progresses in growth the egg-shaped body 

 splits round the centre, the upper hemispherical portion being 

 carried upwards by a quick^growing stem, forming the cap, the 

 lower half remaining behind to constitute the base. At the 

 margin of the pileus the jagged remains of the fissured mem- 

 brane often adhere for some time, and in like manner there 



