SOME EDIBLE AND POISONOUS FUNGI. 455 



CHARACTERISTIC MODIFICATIONS OF FUNGI. 



Without stopping to consider the various modifications of the 

 spawn, we can i)ass at once to the different modifications of the stalk 

 and of the pileus borne at its summit. In the Ilymenomj^cetes, or toad- 

 stool family, the underside of the pileus is the x>art that bears the 

 spores, which correspond to the seeds of other plants. In some cases 

 the under surface consists of a series of gills resembling knife blades, 

 wliich radiate from the top of the stalk to the circumference, like the 

 spokes of a wheel ; in others it consists of a mass of small pores or 

 tubes packed closely together, side by side; in others, of teeth, while 

 in still others the surface is only slightly Avrinkled or undulated. 

 The gill-bearing group are called by botanists Agaricini, which we 

 ma}^ speak of briefly as Agarics; the tube-bearing group are called 

 Polyporei, the teeth-bearing group Hydnei, and those with a merely 

 wrinkled surface are called Thelephorei. In all these groui^s there 

 are some species in which the stalk is wanting, and then of necessity 

 the fructifj^ing surface does not face downward, but upward, lying 

 flat on the substratum. For our present purpose the stalkless forms 

 need not be considered, as with very few exceptions they are not 

 edible species. There is still another group, the coral-shaped fungi, 

 belonging to the Hymenomycetes, although they do not resemble the 

 toadstools or mushrooms in shape, which will be referred to later. 

 By far the greater number of our edible and poisonous species belong 

 to the two groups of gill-bearing and tube-bearing fungi, and therefore 

 we need consider the members of the other groups only very briefly. 



EDIBLE GILL-BEARING FUNGI AND RULES FOR THEIR DETERMINATION, 



Let US pass at once to the principal edible fungi belonging to the 

 gill-bearing group. This group is a very large one, and includes thou- 

 sands of species, from which we must select a small number of the 

 best known and most common. Those who wish to collect fungi for 

 their own consumi^tion or for the market must begin by committing 

 to memory the distinguishing marks of a few species, and until this 

 has been done they should not venture to trust to general rules for dis- 

 tinguishing good species from bad. The quickest way to accomplish 

 the object, of course, is by having some person who is an expert give 

 practical lessons in the field; but in most cases this is not possible, 

 not to mention the fact that some who think they are expert are not. 

 Dull and dry as it may be, one must memorize certain points until 

 familiar with a few common species. There is one rule, however, 

 which should be applied in the beginning by everyone, viz, no one 

 unless decidedly exj^ert should collect for eating the buttons, or small, 

 unexpanded fungi, since in their young condition it is often impossi- 

 ble, even for experts, to recognize what the species is. The imported 

 canned buttons are safe enoujrh, because they are the young of the 



