16 
THE LARGER PI NGI 
Under introduced pine-trees, and only under or near such, members of a large 
fleshy pore-bearing fungus (Boletus luteus ) may be found after rain. The 
upper convex surface is brown and sticky when moist, the pores are yellow, 
becoming old gold in colour, and there is often, but not always, a marked ring 
on the stem. If not old, the soft' flesh, after removal of the cuticle and the pore- 
bearing surface, is edible, but I have found it rather insipid. 
The Puff-balls are said to be edible in the young stage when the substance 
is white and before there is any change to yellow. I have eaten with caution 
two kinds. These were cut into slices and both had a taste very like cheese 
fritters. One of these was the common Lyeoprrdcm depressum which tends to 
grow in rings, is rather top-sliaped in appearance, and on section shows a kind of 
diaphragm in the middle separating a cellular basal half from the upper portion, 
which turns yellow and becomes changed into the dust-like spores. The other 
was a large species, two or three inches in diameter, which at the time of eating 
I thought was a Calvatia, a large kind of Puffball which when mature disin- 
tegrates, and so lets the spores escape instead of these emerging through a 
definite aperture as in Lycoperdon. The Calvatias are said to be edible in tire 
white stage. It turned out that the species 1 ate was the white young stage of 
M ycenastrium < oriurn , a species in which the mature leathery peridium or outer 
covering splits irregularly to let the fuscous brown spores, etc., escape. 
The Beefsteak Fungus ( FistuHna hepatica) has been found twice in South 
Australia, growing on fallen logs at Mount Lofty. The name is derived from 
the appearance of the cut surface. The under surface consists of tubes which 
are separable from each other. It is said to lie edible. 
The Jew's Ear Fungus ( TJirniola or Aurimlaria . auricuIa-Judae ) is abundant 
in New Zealand, whence many thousand pounds’ worth of it have been exported 
into China for eating purposes, apparently on account of its mucilaginous 
characters. It grows on old trunks in New South Males. In shape it somewhat 
resembles a very dark ear. When In Sydney 1 had some cooked lot a long time, 
but found it in the end still tough and leathery. 
Amongst the Aseomycetes, Morels ( M orchidia ) are found occasionally in this 
State. I have eaten them on one occasion. 
THE PREPARATION OF MUSHROOMS FOR FOOD, 
Any decaying or insect-eaten mushrooms should be discarded, as well as any 
that are not typical. They should have been gathered as free from sand and 
soil as possible', the stems being cut through a little way below the cap. Peel the 
mushrooms and cut tile stem oil' short. Then wash well in salt and water. The 
mushrooms may now be dealt with in various ways, either for eating directly 
or for making into ketchup. They may also be dried, and thus kept for later 
use in flavouring dishes, but if so do not wash them in the salt and water before 
drying — they should be exposed to the sun or dried in a draught on a stove or 
before a fire in such a way that the moisture in them is soon evaporated and 
they become neither sodden and partly cooked nor decomposed during the process. 
Tliev should be stored in a dry place. 
It is not proposed to give a series of recipes for preparing mushrooms for 
eating. For such Mrs. Beeton should be consulted, where some sixteen different 
ways of using them are given, from ketchup to mushroom patties, and for baking, 
boiling, stewing, pickling, or stuffing them, A simple method is to fiy^ the mush- 
rooms gently in a little butter for twenty minutes or till cooked. Then add a 
little milk, thicken with flour, bring to the boil, and serve on toast with bacon if 
liked. 
POISONING BY TOADSTOOLS. 
Owing to the fact that fungi, with the exception of the common well-known 
and fairly characteristic mushroom, are hardly consumed at all by Australians, 
instances of illness due to poisoning by some other species have been few and 
fatalities still fewer. The Australian of British origin does not readily depart 
from the tradition handed down to him— that most fungi are poisonous. On 
the continent of Europe many different kinds of toadstools and mushrooms are 
consumed and many are found to be delicious. The peoples of Central Europe 
know the edible kinds and avoid the injurious. Such persons coming out to 
Australia see in the autumn abundant nmshvoom-like fungi, some of which mar 
In identical with those they knew in their homeland, and others, though really 
