472 
ESCULENT MUSHROOMS. 
narrow, decurrent, unequal : flesh, thick, white, 
unchanging. — This species is called the new 
cheese agaric, from its having an odour like 
that of curd cheese. It is regarded as rare, 
appearing in autumn. The flesh is very 
delicate and light of digestion, and requires 
hut little cooking, whether broiled, fried, or 
stewed. 
12. A. orcella. — Stipes short, solid when 
young in the centre, and somewhat enlarged at 
the base, but when older from the irregular 
growth of the pileus it becomes excentric, 
often with a lateral twist towards the base : 
■pileus, irregularly lobed when mature with 
undulating borders, soft and smooth, sticky in 
wet weather; from two to three inches across, 
one side growing faster than the other : gills, 
decurrent, at first white, afterwards salmon 
colour. — This is a very delicate mushroom, 
growing amidst the grass of woods and 
pastures, either solitary or in company, some- 
times in rings ; it is found occasionally 
throughout the summer, but its proper season 
is the autumn. It should be eaten the same 
day as gathered, either stewed, broiled, or 
fried. The plant has a peculiar smell, re- 
sembling that of cucumber rind or syringa 
leaf, in which respect it resembles no other 
fungus. 
13. A. Oreades. — Stipes solid, firm, cylin- 
drical, thickest under the pileus, white, rarely 
central : pileus convex or rather obtusely 
conical, generally umbonate, irregular, one to 
two inches broad, buffish, at length nearly 
opaque white, coriaceous : gills, distant, rather 
broad, buffish white. — This is the Champignon, 
and frequently forms fairy-rings ; it is com- 
mon everywhere, and comes up in successive 
crops in great profusion after rain. The 
flavour is excellent ; but independent of this, 
two circumstances give it an additional value 
in a domestic point of view, namely, the 
facility with which it may be dried, and its 
very extensive dissemination. When dried, 
which may be effected by two or three days, 
exposure to a drying air, the champignon 
may be kept for years without loosing its 
aroma or goodness ; in fact the dried fungus 
imparts more flavour to the dish to which it is 
added, than when used in a fresh state, though 
the dried flesh is more leathery and less easy 
of digestion. The aroma is dissipated by 
over-cooking ; it should therefore be thrown 
in (to soups, gravies, &c.) only a few minutes 
before serving. Two deleterious kinds have 
been mistaken for this : — A. dryophyllus, 
which has a hollow stipes, numerous white or 
pale yellow gills, and a depressed fragile 
pileus; and A. semiglobatus, which has a very 
viscid jistulose stipes, broad gills perfectly 
horizontal to the stem, and a shining smooth 
viscid pileus. 
14. A. ostreatus.- — Stipes solid, very short, 
sublateral or often wanting : pileus smooth, 
fleshy, dark grey, then brownish, at length 
pale, plano-convex with the margin rounded 
and involute, from one to eight inches broad : 
gills, numerous, whitish, decurrent, anasto- 
mosing at the base : flesh fibrous, moderately 
firm. — This species occurs on the trunks of 
trees, both in spring and autumn, and generally 
grows in a tufted form, very rarely single. 
Withering compares the form of the plant to 
an oyster hollowed underneath. It may be 
dressed in any of the more usual ways, but as 
the flesh is rather over solid and tough, it is 
all the better if cooked leisurely over a slow 
fire. 
15. A. personatus. — Stipes firm, bulbous, 
from one to three inches high, clothed more 
or less with villous fibrillae : pileus convex, 
very smooth and shining, not viscid, from two 
to six inches broad, pale bistre : gills rounded, 
free, narrow in front, paler than the pileus. — 
This species bears the trivial name of Blewitts 
( ? Blue hats, A. Georgii being called White 
caps, and A. Oreades,- Scotch bonnets). It is 
extremely common in England, and is found 
amidst grass, growing in clusters or large 
rings, seldom appearing before October ; it is 
produced in the markets. The odour is like that 
of A. Oreades, but rather overpowering; taste 
pleasant. It is apt to imbibe moisture in wet 
weather, and should not therefore be gathered 
during rain ; at all other times it is a firm 
fungus, with a flavour of veal, like which it 
is to be dressed with savoury herbs, and the 
usual condiments, and the more highly sea- 
soned the better. 
16. A. piper atus. — Stipes solid, thick, 
white, one to three inches high : pileus de- 
pressed, becoming funnel-shaped, more or less 
waved, three to seven inches broad, white a 
little clouded with umber : gills very narrow, 
crowded, repeatedly dichotomous, cream 
coloured : juice abundant, white like milk, 
excessively acrid and bitter. — When raw this 
fungus is very acrid, but Dr. Badham states, 
that it looses its bad qualities entirely by 
cooking, and that it is very extensively used 
on the continent, where it is preserved for 
winter use, by drying, or pickling in a mixture 
of salt and vinegar. 
17. A. procerus. — Stipes long, cylindrical, 
bulbous, scaly, with a free annulus : pileus 
broadly umbonate, three to seven inches 
broad, scaly, the surface resembling shaggy 
brown leather, dingy white, the scales dark 
scurfy : gills distant, whitish, ventricose, 
remote from the stalk : flesh white, and cot- 
tony, turning to rufous orange where bruised. 
— A fine agaric, found in open woods in the 
autumn. In some of the Highland birch. 
woods it grows in prodigious abundance. 
