466 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



gills. The upper surface of the pileus is viscid when Avet, and is of 

 a dark, dingy brown, the tubes being rather lighter colored, and the 

 solid stalk, which has a rather slimy, band-like ring, is gray or slate 

 colored, mottled with brown spots and granulations. 



The cepe i)roper, the Steinpilz of the Germans, is much larger, at 

 times nearly a foot broad, with a solid convex pileus, varying from 

 dull white to buff color or even darker, and a stout stalk, variable in 

 length, but usually broader at the base than at the apex and generally 

 with a network of veins over the upper part, but without a ring. 

 The tubes are about an inch long, but become shorter as they approach 

 the stalk and the margin, so that, taken collectively, they form a con- 

 vex disk. They are at first whitish, but become yellow, and finally a 

 yelloAV green. This fungus inhabits stony soils in Avoody or bushy 

 places, and is not so Avidespread as the species last mentioned, Avhich 

 is found in pastures, by shady roadsides, and on the borders of 

 woods. The cepe is not very easily distinguished from certain other 

 species by a beginner, who should be warned against a species some- 

 times mistaken for it, which has, hoAvcA^er, a bitter taste, not pos- 

 sessed by the cepe. 



For the present these two species must serve as types of the edible 

 Boleti. Certain other species are far more striking in appearance, 

 having brilliant blood-red or j)each-colored pilei, but they belong to a 

 dangerous group, which has caused serious and probably fatal cases 

 of poisoning. It may be stated briefly that those Boleti in which the 

 mouths of the tubes are red or of a different color from the rest of the 

 tubes should be avoided. The flesh of some of the species when 

 broken or bruised changes color, usually becoming blue, but some- 

 times red. Such species as show a change of color when broken 

 should also be aA'oided In fact, the genus, as a Avhole, is a danger- 

 ous one, not because there is not a considerable number of excellent 

 edible species in it, but because they A^ary more or less, and it is dif- 

 ficult to draAv the line between the edible and the poisonous species. 

 It may be said, however, that even the poisonous Boleti are not so 

 poisonous as some of the Amanitse already mentioned. 



THE BEEFSTEAK FUNGUS. 



In passing, ou\j one member of the tube-bearing fungi which does 

 not belong to the genus Boletus can be referred to. The beefsteak 

 ■fungus {Fistulina liepatica) is quite unmistakable. It grows on 

 stumps, especially of oak or chestnut, from which it jprojects laterally 

 something like a tongue, whence it is called by the French langiie de 

 bceiif; it is not common in the Xorth, Avhere it is seldom more than 

 4 inches long. It is more common and attains a considerably larger 

 size in the South. When j^oung the upper side is A^elvety and of a 

 beautiful peach color, but later it is someAvhatslini}^ or mucilaginous 

 and a deeper red. The flesh-colored tubes on the underside are very 



