(Agaricus [Hypholoma] fascicularis.)331.

This species occurs everywhere at the bases of old stumps, always in groups. The stem is hollow, and the gills are greenish and sub-deliquescent. There is a heavy odour attached to it, and the taste is bitter and repulsive.

(Hygrophorus conicus.)482.

This truly handsome fungus is common in pastures and roadsides. It turns purple-black when bruised, broken, or old, and it has a strong and very forbidding odour.

It is of a succulent substance, and is not unfrequently a brilliant yellow or deep orange, in place of crimson or scarlet.

(Clathrus cancellatus.)917.

I am indebted to the late Mrs. Gulson, of Eastcliff, near Teignmouth, Devon, for the original plant from which this figure was taken. It is of extreme beauty and rarity, seldom occurring in this country, but common enough in the south of Europe.

The fetor exhaled from this species is highly disagreeable, and can be compared with nothing but itself. It is so horribly repulsive and loathsome as to make a mere examination of the plant a matter of the greatest difficulty. In the young state the odour is less strong, or altogether absent.

(Thelephora palmata.)760.

This soft fungus bears a distant resemblance to some species of Clavaria. It is uncommon, grows upon the ground, and possesses a very disagreeable odour.

(Agaricus [Hypholoma] sublateritius.)328.

This plant is allied to fig. 1, and, like it, grows upon old stumps in woods, and has, too, a disagreeable smell.

(Panus stypticus.)582.

Is very common on old dead trees and stumps in woods, and had better be avoided.

(Agaricus [Amanita] Phalloides.)2.

Common everywhere in woods; this handsome Agaric is known to be highly dangerous. It is allied to fig. 8, as will be seen by glancing at the figures.

All parts are nearly white, excepting the top, which generally takes some pale shade of subdued yellow or green.

(Agaricus [Amanita] vernus.)1.

Belonging to a very suspicious group, this Agaric is supposed to be very poisonous. It grows in woods, in the spring, and is white in all its parts.

It is rare, but I have found it close to London.

(Coprinus picaceus.)379.

This, too, is equally rare, though in some places, as in the Herefordshire woods, it is by no means infrequent. It is a very handsome but suspicious-looking plant, with the top broken up into large patches of black and white. It grows on roadsides, and has a disagreeable odour.

(Boletus luridus.)607.

This is one of the handsomest ornaments of our woods and woody places. The prevailing tint is umber, relieved on the under surface by bright red, sometimes approaching crimson, or even vermilion; when broken or bruised it rapidly changes colour to blue. It is very common in all places where there are trees, and often comes up early in the year. It is probably more or less poisonous, though I have known it to be eaten without fatal effects.

Mr. Penrose once found a specimen as large as a milking-stool, exactly three feet in circumference.

(Lactarius torminosus.)488.

This dangerous fungus is at once known by the hairy margin of the top, which is rolled inwards. The milk that exudes when the plant is broken is acrid and biting, and does not change colour as does fig. 11, Edible Sheet, and figs. 20 and 28, Poisonous Sheet.

Though said to be common, I think it is somewhat rare; it now and then occurs in solitary specimens in the woods and open places near London.

(Lactarius rufus.)512.

This is one of the most deadly of all British fungi, and generally grows in fir woods; the white milk is singularly acrid and corrosive, which is perhaps its best distinguishing mark. It bears some resemblance to fig. 26, Edible Sheet, but the milk of the L. volemum is mild, and changes colour to dark brown when exposed to the action of the air; whilst in L. rufus it remains white, and the milk is highly pungent.

(Agaricus [Amanita] muscarius.)3.

Few fungi can exceed this well-known species in beauty. It is somewhat local, and loves birch woods, where it sometimes makes the very ground almost scarlet with its profuse growth. Sometimes the top is deep yellow or orange, but it is usually brilliant scarlet; if the top skin is stripped off, the flesh just beneath is seen to be bright yellow, and the rest of the flesh white. It is allied to fig. 1, Edible Sheet, but the flesh of the latter is not yellow under the skin; and A. rubescens turns reddish in every part as soon as bruised or broken.

(Agaricus [Entoloma] sinuatus.)212. Without doubt, this is a very poisonous plant, for I once cooked a very small piece of a specimen for luncheon, and was very nearly poisoned to death thereby.

I did not eat a twentieth part of the specimen gathered—I am sure not so much as a quarter of an ounce—and the taste was by no means disagreeable. But mark the result. (It must be borne in mind, too, that though I fell so dangerously ill, I never till the last moment suspected the fungus. Such a confirmed toadstool-eater was I, that I laid my symptoms to anything but the true cause.)

About a quarter of an hour after luncheon I left home, and was immediately overtaken by a strange nervous, gloomy, low-spirited feeling quite new to me. Soon a severe headache added its charms to my feelings, and then swimming of the brain commenced, with violent pains in the stomach.

I had now great difficulty to keep upon my legs at all; my senses all appeared leaving me, and every object appeared to be moving with death-like stillness from side to side, up and down, or round and round.

More dead than alive, I soon returned home, and was horrified to find two others (whom I had invited to partake of my repast) in exactly the same condition as myself. At this moment, and not before, I thought of Agaricus sinuatus. These two others had suffered precisely as I had done, and we all three were apparently dying fast. They, however, were attacked by violent vomiting, which I imagine helped to hasten their recovery; for after a few days of sickness and nausea (with medical assistance) they got well; but it was not so with me; for although I had at first the inclination, I had not the strength left to vomit. During the latter part of the first day I was, however, so continually and fearfully purged, and suffered so much from headache and swimming of the brain, that I really thought every moment would be my last.

I was very ill for the next four or five days; suffered from loathing and lassitude; fell into deep sleep, long and troubled; at times found all my joints quite stiff; at others, found everything swimming before me; and it was not till a fortnight had elapsed that every bodily derangement had left me.

Fig. 14 is a portrait of the plant in question, taken before the culinary operations were commenced. No one, after seeing this picture, can fail to recognize the thing itself if found. It is large, has dull flesh-coloured gills, the top is a little downy, it smells like meal, and grows in woods.

It can always be found sparingly in autumn in the woods north of London.

(Lactarius piperatus.)500.

I imagine there are very few species in this country more dangerous than this one. So essentially and powerfully acrid is the milk, that if it be allowed to trickle over tender hands it will sting like the contact of nettles; and if a drop is placed on the lips or tongue, the sensation is like the scalding of boiling water, or the burning of a red-hot iron.

It is common in all woods; is particularly firm and solid, but rather brittle. In colour it is sometimes as white as snow, at others it inclines a little to cream; the milk is white and unchangeable, and usually abundant.

(Russula foetens.)530.

Less rigid than other RussulÆ, brittle, and sticky in all its parts, always slug-eaten, and possessed of a wet insufferable odour that can be likened to nothing in nature, this species cannot in reason be anything but deleterious and pernicious to human life. Slugs certainly highly relish it; for although it is one of our commonest species, yet it is invariably much eaten by slugs: frequently the gills are covered with these creatures, or are even completely eaten away.

(Russula sanguinea.)518.

This acrid species of Russula, sometimes found in woods, is by no means uncommon; its well-marked blood-red top and firm substance at once distinguish it from other species. The gills are white, and run a little down the stem.

(Lactarius pyrogalus.)498.

The highly acrid white milk abundantly exuded from this plant, its depressed and zoned top, its peculiar livid coloration and yellowish gills, distinguish it from the other milk-mushrooms.

It grows in woods and meadows.

(Cantharellus aurantiacus.)540.

Is known by its smaller size, its gills being far thinner and more crowded than in the true chantarelle; the stem frequently deep umber at the base, and the gills or veins darker than the top.

It is a species to be rejected for culinary purposes.

(Lactarius theiogalus.)503.

This is a beautiful plant, with an odour that is far from disagreeable. It is sometimes without the zones on the top which are shown in our figure, but it is immediately known by the change of colour which takes place in the milk on breaking the fungus; this is at first pure white, but in less than a minute the milk turns to a brilliant yellow.

It is not uncommon, and may generally be found at Hampstead in the woods; and it is supposed to be poisonous.

(Russula emetica.)528.

This is a magnificent but certainly rare species, but it has a very bad name, and is supposed to possess highly dangerous qualities. The skin is scarlet, and may be readily peeled off, and then the pink flesh is displayed beneath, which is its great characteristic; the gills are pure white, and do not reach the stem; the top is highly polished, and varies from scarlet and crimson to a faint rose-colour, and may now and then be found shaded with purple.

It attains a large size, and loves damp places in woods, and the neighbourhood of trees.

(Agaricus [Psalliota] semiglobatus.)327.

This extremely common little sticky Agaric grows in pastures, on dung, everywhere; the stem is covered with a glutinous thick slime.

It is regarded as poisonous.

(Agaricus [Tricholoma] sulfureus.)55.

In woody places at the south of London this very disagreeable but handsome species now and then puts in an appearance. It has a particularly nasty penetrating smell, which has been compared with “gas-tar.” The stem is firm, as is the whole plant, and sulphur-coloured.

It is probably a very dangerous species, but I have seldom met with it.

(Agaricus [Hebelonia] crustuliniformis.)278.

Growing in woods, this deleterious species is extremely common, and without doubt very dangerous. The dirty pale-umber gills, and its habitat and time of growth—viz. the autumn—at once distinguish it from the delicious A. gambosus, fig. 19, Edible Sheet. It has a powerful and highly disagreeable odour, and brown spores, and we believe it is often mistaken by the ignorant for the true mushroom.

(Agaricus [Psalliota] Æruginosus.)322.

The verdigris-green colour of the top of this mushroom is not permanent, but consists of green slime that soon gets washed off by the rain, flaked with white scales. The stem is hollow, and the top fleshy.

It generally grows about stumps, is a very handsome fungus, and is doubtless poisonous.

(Boletus piperatus.)597.

Never attains a larger size than the specimen on the sheet; indeed it is one of the smallest of all the Boleti. The taste is highly acrid; it is therefore looked upon with grave suspicion, and it is probably a very dangerous plant.

It grows in woods, but is rare.

(Boletus Satanas.)606.

The specimen figured I gathered in Crab-tree Wood, near Winchester, during an architectural excursion to St. Cross. I have only once seen anything of it elsewhere, though my late friend Mrs. Gulson, of Eastcliff, has sent it on to me several times from the neighbourhood of Teignmouth.

Without doubt it is by far the most splendid of all the Boleti. The top is nearly white, very fleshy, and a little viscid; the stem is firm, exquisitely coloured, and beautifully reticulated; the under surface is brilliant crimson. It usually attains a large size, grows in woods, and as soon as broken or bruised, changes to blue.

In all likelihood it is highly poisonous.

(Lactarius acris.)505.

As its name indicates, this is a very acrid and dangerous fungus. It is said to be rare, but I have sometimes known it to be extremely abundant in the woods near London. When cut or broken, the flesh and white milk change to a dull-sienna red; this distinguishes it from all other mushrooms. To observe the change of colour it requires at times a little patience; for I have known half an hour, or even an hour, elapse before the change of colour is manifest.

(Boletus felleus.)617.

Said to be rare, but generally abundant in Epping Forest. I have found it in abundance in Nottinghamshire, and know it well; it was the first Boletus I ever drew, and I was then nearly eating it for Boletus edulis.

The bitter taste of B. felleus, the flesh-coloured tubes, the flesh-colour of the top when broken, the reticulated stem, and the pink spores are the distinguishing marks of this species. It is poisonous.

(Marasmius urens.)550.

The more slender habit, the mealy stem, white downy base, and the narrower, darker, and crowded gills, distinguish this counterfeit from the true champignon (fig. 28, Edible Sheet). It sometimes accompanies the latter plant, but with ordinary care can be detected in a moment. It grows in woods, as well as in pastures and by roadsides.

I think I was once poisoned by it in Bedfordshire. I well remember, on my way home late one evening, gathering a quantity of champignons for supper; and as it was dark, I imagine I must have gathered both species. I did not cook them myself, neither did I examine them after they were taken from the basket; but I noticed at supper-time that they were unusually hot, and I thought the old woman who cooked them had put too much pepper into the stew. I never suspected the fungi.

In about half an hour after partaking of them my head began to ache, my brain to swim, and my throat and stomach to burn, as if in contact with fire. After being ill for some hours, a terrible fit of purging and vomiting set in, which appeared soon to set me to rights; for after a day or so I was no worse for it.

(Phallus impudicus.)914.

This is a great ornament to our woods, but its truly horrible effluvia beggars description; the nasal organs detect its presence at a long distance, and when neared the loathsome odour is indescribably revolting. Flies, however, appear to highly relish it; for these Phalli are invariably covered with flies, who greedily devour the odorous and liquid repast found at the top of the stem. It is most abundant at woody places in the north of London, all through the summer till the late autumn.

Had not this species really been eaten, with several other singular, offensive, and dangerous fungi figured on this sheet, it would have been hardly necessary to figure or refer to it at all.

THE END.

Transcriber’s Notes:

The cover image was created by the transcriber, and is in the public domain.

Typographical errors have been silently corrected.

The two illustrations, EDIBLE MUSHROOMS, and POISONOUS MUSHROOMS have been moved to end of the book, since they are linked to the various varieties.