464 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

 FUXGI ^VITH MILKY JUICE. 



The genus Lactarius includes the gill-bearing fnngi winch, when 

 broken or cut, exude a milky juice. The juice is often very copious, 

 but in some species is scanty. Late in the season, however, the milk 

 is less abundant than in midsummer. The milk is generally white, 

 but it may be reddish or blue; in some cases it is a thin, fluid-like 

 serum, and in others the milk changes color on exposure to the air. 

 The species of Lactarius abound in midsummer and early autumn in 

 both dry and swampy woods and also in dry pastures, and some of 

 them are very inviting, being of good size, plump, and firm in sub- 

 stance, and of an agreeable white or brighter color, but unfortunately 

 the milk of many of them is acrid and biting, and in not a few species 

 a single taste is sufficient to satisfy anyone. The acridity is some- 

 what modified by cooking, but it is hardly worth the trouble for any 

 but the most enthusiastic my cophagist to take much j)ains for so little 

 good. It is generally safe to eat those siDccies of Lactarius which do 

 not have an acrid juice, and among them is a highlj^ esteemed species, 

 Lactarius delicosus, a beautiful fungus, rather common in damp woods 

 in mountainous regions, but not common in the lowlands. It can not 

 be mistaken for any dangerous species, and is at once recognized by 

 its coi3ious milk, which is red, with a shade of orange, and does not 

 change color, except after long exposure, when it becomes slightly 

 greenish. The fungus itself has nearly the same color as the milk 

 which exudes from it, but is a little paler. 



SPECIES FOR THE EXPERT OXLY. 



Among the prettiest of our fungi, very attractive to the passer-b}' 

 from the bright red, purple, or yellow pilei, are the species of Russula, 

 which are often very abundant in summer in woods and swamps, and, 

 in fact, almost anywhere, esi3ecially under or near trees. The}' are 

 not generally of large size, although some are, and are to be distin- 

 guished by having very thin pilei, almost membranous except at the 

 center, and by having the white, pale cream, or buff-colored gills 

 arranged very regularly like the spokes of a wheel, with no shorter gills, 

 or at least very few, inserted between them. Some of the Russulse 

 are acrid like the Lactarii, but others have a pleasant taste. The 

 different species of Russula are veiy difficult to distinguish, even by 

 experts, and the beginner would better postpone experiments ^^ith 

 this genus until he has first made himself acquainted with less 

 doubtful genera, since some of the Russulse are poisonous. 



THE OYSTER FUXGUS. 



We shall conclude all that can be said on the gill-bearing fungi by 

 a word on the oyster fungus {Pleurotiis ostreatus). Tiiis belongs to 

 a group which does not have a central stalk, but has the fungus 

 attached laterally by a very sliort stalk, as a rule, to the trunks of 



