EDIBLE MUSHROOMS. 47 



VEGETABLE BEEF-STEAK. 



Fistulina hepatica. 



(Plate IV. Fig. 2.) 



Ox-TONGUE, Tree-liver, or Vegetable Beef- 

 steak, are all names which have been 

 applied to this esculent, which is found in 

 autumn growing out of the trunk of very 

 old oaks. Year after year it has been 

 known to appear on the same tree, of 

 course upon a decaying spot, and then it is 

 not unlike a large tongue, or a piece of 

 liver thrust out from the tree, and exudinof 

 a juice when wounded. The upper surface 

 is rather sticky and liver-coloured, the 

 under surface paler and flesh-coloured ; when 

 cut the inner substance is mottled, re- 

 sembling beet-root. There are no gills, 

 but the under surface is composed of little 

 tubes, glued together side by side, almost 

 like those of a Boletus, but separating more 

 easily. In some places the flesh is sliced 

 when raw, and eaten in salads like beet. 



