REPORT OF THE 8 TATE BOTANIST 



303 



The cap varies from two to six inches or more in breadth. It 

 grows from old stumps of oak or chestnut in wet weather in July 

 and August. 



This Vegetable beefsteak or Beefsteak fungus has been highly 

 commended by European writers. It has a slightly acid flavor, 

 which is by no means disagreeable to some palates. Its tough- 

 ness may be an objection with some, but it is not more tough 

 than beefsteak. Some authors recommend only the young plant 

 for food, but another says it is best when fully matured, the 

 young fungus being somewhat bitter and astringent. 



" It is good broiled with a steak and properly seasoned ; " " if 

 it is not beef itself, it is sauce for it ; " " it is truly a vegetable 

 beefsteak, for the taste resembles meat in a remarkable man- 

 ner;" "no fungus yields a richer gravy, and, though rather 

 tough when broiled, it is scarcely to be distinguished from broiled 

 meat," are some of the expressions concerning the edible qualities 

 of this fungus. 



Hydnese. 



Hedgehog Mushrooms. 



In the family Hydneae, the cap, when present, has neither gills 

 nor pores on its lower surface, but instead of these there are 

 numerous spine-like or awl-shaped teeth projecting downwards. 

 On the surface of these teeth the spores are developed. There 

 are several genera in the family, in which these teeth are vari- 

 ously modified in shape and size, but as there are no edible 

 species among them, they do not concern us now. Our edible 

 species belong to the single genus Hydnum. 



Hydnurn X. 



The distinct awl-shaped teeth or spines on the lower surface of 

 the cap, when the cap is present, characterize this genus. In one 

 edible species the cap is replaced by numerous branches, on whose 

 inferior surface the teeth are developed; There are many species 

 which are merely thin, effused membranous expansions, on whose 

 surface the teeth are formed, but these furnish no edible species. 



Teeth on the lower surface of a cap H. repandum. 



Teeth on the lower surface of flattened branches .... H. coralloides. 



