The following remarks by various authors show how it has 
been regarded: “It is justly enumerated among the most sapid 
fungi;” “no fungus is more popular;” “it is an excellent plant, 
whether used as a condiment or a food;” “it is edible and de- 
licious;” “by a confirmed fungus-eater it would be pronounced 
most charming.” My own trials of it would lead me to place it 
among the best and most important of our mushrooms. 
The Orange chantarelle, Cantharellus aurantiacus, which is 
not deemed edible, and which has a slight superficial resemblance 
te this species, may be known by its more dingy-colored cap, and 
by its orange-colored gills, which branch by a regular bifurcation, 
not by an irregular ramification. It is much more rare than the 
Chantarelle. 
We now come toa family of fungi called Polyporeae, in 
which the cap has no gills, but instead of them, the lower surface 
is full of minute pores, holes, or cells. The spores of the fungus 
are produced in these pores and may be caught as they drop from 
them, just as in agarics when they are dropped from the gills. 
Their color, however, is not of the same importance in classifica- 
tion and identification of this family as it is in the preceding ones. 
‘Phe edible species here noticed belong to three genera, Boletus, 
Polyporus and Fistulina. Their essential characters may be 
learned from the following comparative table: 
Pores compacted together and forming a con- 
tinuous stratum, 1. 
Pores each in a distinct tube, Fistulina. 
1. Stratum of pores easily separable from the cap, Boletus. 
1. Stratum of pores not separable from the cap, Polyporus. 
In the genus Boletus the mass of cells or the porous substance 
on the lower surface of the cap may be easily and smoothly re- 
moved from the cap by pressing it outwardly from the stem to- 
ward the margin. This is the chief character by which to sepa- 
rate species of Boletus from species of Polyporus. Nearly all bo- 
leti grow on the ground, have the stem centrally attached to the 
cap, and have a soft or fleshy substance. Most of the edible spe- 
cies are well-flavored and of a fairly large size. Some have a nut- 
ty flavor that is very agreeable to most people. Unfortunately 
for fungus eaters many of them grow only in warm and wet or 
showery weather when insects are numerous, and therefore they 
are very likely to be infested by larve. Care must be taken to 
reject all such specimens. The stems also must be discarded be- 
cause of toughness, and the pores removed before cooking, for 
they are apt to form a very disagreeable mucilaginous or slimy 
68 
