VI. THE HYMENOMYCETEZ. 
The mushrooms to be noticed in this and succeding articles 
belong to a very large class of fungi known to botanists as Hy- 
menomyceteae, a word composed of two parts, signifying “mem- 
brane fungi,” and indicating that the spores are produced on 
thin or membranous parts or surfaces. In the common mush- 
rooms, and in all others of similar structure, these spore-produc- 
ing membranes are found on the under surface of the cap. They 
consist of thin lamelle or leaves, which are attached by their 
upper edge to the cap, and which extend in a radiating manner 
from the stem to the margin of the cap. That space may not be 
wasted, shorter ones usually intervene between the longer, espe- 
cially toward the margin of the cap. In a few species in which 
the stem is attached to the side of the cap, or in which the stem 
is wholly wanting, the cap being attached to its place of growth 
by some point or part of its margin, the lamellx, which are often 
called “gills,” radiate from this point of attachment, or from the 
lateral stem to the other parts of the circumference of the cap. 
All species of Hymenomycetez that have these radiating la- 
mellz constitute a great family called Agaricineae. 
There is another group of species in which the under sur- 
face of the cap is full of small holes or pores—in some large 
enough to be easily seen, in others so small as to be scarcely vis- 
ible to the naked eye. These pores are closely crowded together, 
and in them the spores of the fungus are produced. They take 
the place of the lamelle in the Agaricines, and may be sup- 
posed to be formed by radiating lamelle, connected by innumer- 
able transverse partitions. All species that have them are 
grouped under the general name Polyporeae. 
In a third group the under surface of the cap has-neither la- 
mellee nor pores, but in their place are numerous awl-shaped pen- 
dant teeth or spines. The spores are produced on the surface of 
these teeth. Theoretically, these teeth may be supposed to be 
formed by the regular and fine gnashing of lamelle, but they 
are not arranged in radiating rows, as they would be if actually 
formed in this way. Those species which have these spine-like 
teeth constitute the group Hydneae. In one edible species of 
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