166 Notes on Fungi. 



once from every part turning a deep red when bruised, is a 

 welcome addition to the basket of the mushroom gatherer, 

 who is not very particular what he gathers so long as it yields 

 a dark juice, though it is not so good for food, if indeed it is 

 always perfectly safe. Three or four closely allied species 

 occur in groves and pastures, the esculent characters of which 

 have not been fully ascertained, but they are all probably 

 harmless. 



A. procerus and its more close allies, of one of which, Agaricus 

 excoriatus, we have given a figure (Fig. 2), attain a consider- 

 able size. There are, however, several smaller species, some 

 of which are doubtless wholesome, .but some, as indicated by 

 a nauseous smell, of dangerous character. They are, however, 

 too small, and occur in too small quantities, to make them of 

 any great culinary importance. I must not, however, omit to 

 notice those which occur occasionally in large masses in hot- 

 houses, especially where spent tan is used. They are mostly 

 ■extremely pretty, but of very suspicious quality, and one or 

 two are probably of exotic origin. Agaricus cepcestipes 

 occurs in Java in very nearly the same form as that figured 

 in Sturm's Deutschsland Flora* and it is probable that A. 

 meleagris was also originally exotic. A. rachodes occurs occa- 

 sionally in hothouses, where it is very ornamental. The scaleless 

 stem forming a contrast to the very scaly pileus is very striking, 

 and indicates apparently a specific difference from A. procerus. 

 It must, however, be confessed that intermediate states occur 

 which it is difficult to refer to either. 



We now come to a third division; Armillaria (named from 

 Armilla, an armlet), which has a well-developed ring, though 

 there is no universal veil. The division is, however, rather arti- 

 ficial than natural, and the species might be classed with the 

 three following divisions. Here the hymenophorum is not dis- 

 tinct from the stem, but confluent with it. If then, as Fries 

 well remarks, the divisions are to be considered as generic, 

 Armillaria must be rejected, and the species merge in Tricho- 

 ■loma, Clitocybe, and Collybia. 



The species are not numerous, and in this country cannot 

 be considered as of much importance in a culinary point of 

 view. Agaricus melleus, however, which is one of our most 

 abundant species on stumps where trees have been cut down, 

 and which is known by its well-developed ring and honey 

 coloured scales, is much eaten in some parts of the Continent 

 under the name of Halimasch. It is, however, a detestable spe- 

 cies, producing an unpleasant constriction of the oesophagus, and 



* Fig. 3 is copied from a drawing made by Herr Van den Bosch'in Java, and 

 forwarded to me by Dr. Anderson from the Calcutta Botanic Garden, amongst 

 many other interesting matters. 



