THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



55 



or more genera. The student who turns his attention to this 

 assemblage of plants will find a greater diversity of character- 

 istics than he might imagine from a cursory examination. In 

 color it includes species with scarlet, violet, yellow, green, 

 orange, white, brown and gray caps. In texture they are 

 leathery, tough, brittle, fleshy or watery. Some are tasteless, 

 others are bitter, peppery, mealy, or with a nutty flavor. In 

 odor some are repellant while others have various pleasing 

 odors "like ripe apricots," anise, etc. The genus Lactarius is 

 peculiar for having a milky juice that in different species is 

 white, orange or even blue. This juice is often acrid. In one 

 species it is so much so that it is said to sting a tender skin like 

 nettles. 



In spite of the dangers that hedge round the pleasures of 

 the mycophagist — as the mushroom eater likes to be called — 

 these plants have been used more or less for two thousand 

 years. The people of China, Italy and France are among the 

 chief consumers of mushrooms. It is said that the city of 

 Rome now uses about thirty tons annually. When a person 

 speaks of the mushroom, Agaricus cam pester is the one usualty 

 meant. It is the commonest species in cultivation and is also 

 abundant in the wild state being found in pastures and other 

 grassy places but seldom if ever in the woods. The cap is 

 usually white and the gills at first a beautiful pink, changing 

 later to brown. 



