BEPJRT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 



277 



is said to grow in Europe in which the whole stem is downy or 

 hairy, but I have not found it in our State. According to Vitta- 

 dini the Elm pleurotus is a fungus of first quality and very 

 desirable. Letellier commends it as an article of food because 

 of its large size, and Dr. Cooke mentions one specimen which 

 was so large that it made a good meal for three or four persons. 

 Quelet says that it is sapid, but should be eaten while young. 

 When dried specimens are soaked several hours in water they 

 resume their original size and are nearly as good as if fresh. 



Pleurotus sapidus Kalchb. 

 Sapid Pleurotus. 



Plate 27. 



Pileus convex or depressed, glabrous, often irregular, variable 

 in color, flesh white; lamella subdistant, decurrent, whitish; 

 stems commonly tufted, growing from a common base, eccentric 

 or lateral, glabrous, white or whitish ; spores oblong, pale lilac, 

 .00035 to .00045 in. long. 



The Sapid pleurotus generally grows in tufts or crowded clus- 

 ters, whose stems are more or less united at the base, and whose 

 caps crowd and overlap each other. The caps are smooth and 

 firm and in wet weather are somewhat moist. They are convex 

 on the upper surface or centrally depressed, and owing to their 

 crowded mode of growth are often very irregular in shape. 

 They vary greatly in color, being white, yellowish, ashy gray, 

 dull lilac or even brownish. The flesh, however, is white. 



The gills are rather broad and somewhat wide apart. They 

 run down on the stem and there often branch and connect with 

 each other. They are whitish or yellowish and sometimes pre- 

 sent a ragged or torn appearance. 



The stems are generally short and two or more usually grow 

 from a common base. They are commonly white and smooth, 

 solid and firm, and attached to the cap laterally or a little to one 

 side of the center, though specimens occasionally occur in which 

 the stem is quite central. 



The peculiar character which distinguishes this species, and 

 about the only one that is available for separating it in all cases 

 from the next, is the lilac tint of the spores. When these are 

 thrown down on black or brown paper they have a sordid, whitish 

 appearance, but if caught on white paper the color of the mass 



