Part 4

STEM. Fibrous, hollow, equal in size, freckled, deeply sunk into the cap, from which it withdraws free from the gills, leaving a deep socket.

VOLVA. None; veil ragged, ring well defined and movable.

SPORES. White. TASTE sweetish, not marked; ODOR slight.

GROWS in open fields and lawns or margins of forests.

=TO COOK.= Stew in milk or cream as directed under Plate II., except that this mushroom is dry and firm, and more liquid may be used, for it will make little or no gravy of its own. It is not of suitable character to be stewed in water, but is very good broiled, requiring the liberal use of butter, or placed under meat as directed with the edible Russulas.]

EDIBLE RUSSULAS.

1, 2. Russula heterophylla. 3. Russula virescens. 4. Russula lepida. 5. Russula alutacea.

=DESCRIPTION.= PILEUS. Many colored; white, drab, green, purple or bright red; cuticle very thin, peeling from the edge, adherent toward the centre; bell-shaped, at first compressing the gills, then expanded, until finally the centre of the cap becomes depressed or concave.

GILLS. Generally pure white, sometimes creamy or buff; nearly or quite equal in length, rigid, brittle, breaking into unequal segments if pressed.

STEM. Stout, solid or stuffed; in substance the same as the flesh of the cap, often tapering quite abruptly to a point at the base.

VOLVA, ring, and veil all entirely absent at every age of the plant.

SPORES. White. TASTE, excellent raw, like nuts; ODOR none.

GROWS in woods, woody paths or clearings; often found gnawed by squirrels or other animals.

=TO COOK.= Remove the skin as far as it peels easily, and wash the centre of the cap clean; then place on a gridiron and let them heat through; butter plentifully, and salt and pepper to the taste, then place them in a hot dish in the oven, and after broiling a beefsteak or chicken put it thereon that the gravy may run out and be absorbed by the mushrooms.

N. B. The noxious members of this family resemble the esculent so closely that, to the amateur, tasting each one as gathered is the only guide; the hurtful ones being always hot and acrid. Equal gills, extreme brittleness, and dry, firm texture are characteristic of the whole Russula family.]

BOLETI.

1. Boletus bovinus. 2. Boletus edulis. 3. Boletus scaber. 4. Boletus sub-tomentosus. 5. Boletus chrysenteron. 6. Boletus strobilaceus.

=DESCRIPTION. No. 1.= BOLETUS BOVINUS. Pileus flat, smooth, viscid; the thin, transparent skin easily peeling. Flesh white, unchangeable in color (stem same color as pileus). Tubes whitish yellow, yellow or gray, shallow. Very variable in size.

No. 2. BOLETUS EDULIS. Pileus cushion-like, dry, brown-gray or drab, thick. Flesh white, unchangeable. Tubes white-yellow to green. Stem very thick, often abortive in shape, bulbous at base, very pleasant to taste.

No. 3. BOLETUS SCABER. Pileus bell-shaped at first and hard, then broad, uneven, soft and flat, variable in color from dark-brown to reddish drab. Stem rough, scabby, fibrous. Flesh dirty white, often changing to black. Tubes white, rusty, often iron-stained in color in spots.

No. 4. BOLETUS SUB-TOMENTOSUS. Pileus very variable in form, from bell to cushion shaped; also in color, from light-brown or olive to any shade of red. Stem touched with red, smooth or with light lines, often twisted. Flesh and tubes and stem changing to blue wherever bruised or cut. Tubes yellow, shading at times toward green. Tastes like walnuts.

No. 5. BOLETUS CHRYSENTERON. Very similar to No. 4, except that the pileus is often brick-red. The flesh is sulphur-yellow and scarcely changeable, and the stem with more red.

No. 6. BOLETUS STROBILACEUS. Whole plant blackish, turning red when bruised or cut, broken into thick fir-cone segments or scales. Tubes white or rusty, often enclosed by a veil.

=TO COOK.= Beat up a batter, or simply some fresh eggs, lay the mushrooms in the same, turning them so as to have the liquid adhere to them. Then fry in hot boiling fat, or on a buttered griddle, according to your liking, with salt and pepper to the taste. Broil, bake or serve under meat as in other recipes here given. Of the above, Nos. 2, 4 and 5 may be stewed, but the others, and, in fact, all Boleti are so moist or viscous that they are much better cooked by dry heat.

N. B. All the above, and many other varieties of esculent Boleti, have tubes colored white, gray, green, or yellow; none are even slightly red.]

LYCOPERDACEÆ, OR PUFF-BALLS.

1. Lycoperdon giganteum. Giant Puff-Ball. 2. Lycoperdon saccatum. Little Puff-Ball. 3. Lycoperdon gemmatum. Pear-shaped Puff-Ball.

There are many varieties corresponding in most points with some one of the three above named, some growing on stumps, but most of them appearing on sandy soils after heavy rains. None are poisonous.