PART II. "We'll make a feast in our mossy dell, THE second family of Fungi in the Spore group is called Gasteromycetes, and is characterized by the hymenium being enclosed in a single or double bag. This family contains a group of subterranean Fungi, one member of which, the Melanogaster variegatus, used to be sold in Bath under the name of Red Truffle. Its bag or peridium is thin, and the spores are disposed on the summits of cells, in the cavities into which the interior is divided. Nearly allied to these are the Phalloidei, well known through the undesirable quality of their representative the Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), more politely named Wood-witch in some counties. Here the plant is enclosed in a peridium in youth, upon the bursting of which the coarsely cellular column shoots up, bearing as a capital a honeycombed pileus, from which the hymenium exudes in greenish jelly of most offensive odour, which, nevertheless, is greedily devoured by flies. This odour resembles that of putrid animal matter, and I remember hearing the owner of some beautiful grounds lament that some rabbits must be decaying among holes in the rocks, for the smell during the last few days had made the grounds unendurable. He did not lay any blame upon the obelisk-like Fungi growing here and there in the said woods, and the removal of which restored the grounds to their original purity. The Clathrus, another member of this family, is yet more offensive in its odour, though so gay in colour, being crimson and orange, and branched like coral. It is seldom found except in Devonshire. The Geaster, or Earth-star, belongs to the Trichogastre group, characterized by its paper-like peridium. One with a double peridium, G. fimbriatus, forms a beautiful object: the outer coat bursts and tears into six or seven pieces, which roll back and lie on the ground in a star shape, while the inner coat opens only at the summit, from whence the dust-like spores exude. The Common Puff-ball has a double peridium, the outer part peels off and leaves the inner entire. In the young state some Puff-balls make an excellent and wholesome dish, resembling sweetbreads in flavour: in age they delight mischievous boys, who love to puff the powder into each others' eyes, and they perform a beneficent office towards those domestic insects-the bees-who, intoxicated by the fumes of a Puff-ball burnt under the hive, fall down in coma, and the honey may then be taken without the wholesale murder which is too often the cruel reward for their patient industry Our great-great-grandfathers and grandmothers were lighted to evening parties by these Puff-balls, according to Gerarde; and they were also used for tinder by the succeeding generation. The Edible Puff-ball is Lycoperdon giganteum; it also acts as an anæsthetic, according to Berkeley, and may, in future years, be as useful as chloroform. A number of minute Fungi appearing on rotten wood in autumn and winter, some resembling rusty nails; others, minute pins, their heads bursting and giving forth red or yellow or grey powder; and others, again, beads also dusty in age, succeed the Puff-balls in botanical order, all beautiful and interesting when closely examined. The Nidulariacei is the prettiest group in the family Gasteromycetes. The peridium is tough and woody, and opens at the top, giving the appearance of a cup the size of a child's thimble, with packets of spores lying at the bottom, attached by an elastic thread, which jerks them out when ripe. The Cyathus striatus I found in Somersetshire, growing upon beech-mast; it is hairy on the outside and beautifully striped within. The C. vernicosus was the produce of gardens about Edinburgh, where it adorned the box edges with its bell-shaped cups, and is known by the name Siller Cup; and the smaller species, Crucibulum vulgare, was contributed from stubble fields in Shropshire. The third family of the Spore class is characterized by the whole mass being formed of dust, sometimes enclosed in a cover, sometimes naked; it is called Coniomycetes. The Fungi of this class are chiefly parasites and epiphytes, growing as specks and blotches-white, orange, brown, red, or black-on dead twigs and leaves. One of this family, the Tilletia caries, attacks the grains of wheat, which it turns black, and it gives them an offensive odour; flour made from the infected. grain can only be used for gingerbread, as the condiments combined with it disguise the smell. The Ustilago segetum, another member of this family, attacks all cereals. The Red Cheese Mould belongs to the Coniomycetes, and has a fairer reputation. The Hyphomycetes, or Thread Fungi, constitute the fourth family; they form beautiful objects under the microscope, but present merely black or coloured blotches to the naked eye. The Blue Mould of cheese is a popular member of this family; and the Potato Blight (Peronospora Destructor) is the most detested. It seems to spread through the whole plant, stem, leaves, and tubers. It consumes the starch, filling up the cells with its poisonous spawn. The mould familiar to us on jams, etc., is nearly allied to this. The spores of these plants are of amazing lightness, and float in the air in myriads, germinating when they find a suitable matrix. The Vinegar Plant has nume rous barren threads which grow into a tangled mass. The Yeast Plant belongs to this group. Arising, like other Fungi, from spawn in the first instance, yet its spores multiply with such exceeding rapidity that it does not depend on the spawn for propagation: a simple cell placed in a congenial position buds in the course of an hour, and thus chains of cells are formed. These dried constitute the "German yeast." Hogg informs us that ringworm and another allied diseases are produced by a plant of this order; he also appears to be of opinion that such microscopic Fungi had a share in causing the cholera, great quantities having been detected in the air at the time when it raged. The mildew, so destructive to silk, gloves, etc., is of this group; another is found eating into the glass of our mirrors; and there is even one species which infests the chemical solution used in electrotyping. Some members of this group are able to bear any climate, from the heat of the Tropics to the cold of the Poles. In the SPORIDIFEROUS group there are but two great families. The first, Ascomycetes, is characterised by the important distinction of the spores being enclosed in bags, or aɛci; the second, Physomycetes, are merely moulds. Many members of the first group, the Evellacei, equal in stature and interest the aristocratic Agarics. The Morchella esculenta, or common morel, is much prized in Yorkshire, as giving excellent flavour to gravies, and no good housekeeper is without a string of them suspended in her store-room. Here the hymenium is in honeycomb cells on the upper surface of the cone; the stem is white and the head brown; they are found on field borders in May and June. So highly did the Germans appreciate its excellence, that they used to burn down a portion of forest every year, because the wood ashes secured a crop of morel; this custom was stopped by an edict of state. The Helvella have an even hymenium, drooping over the stem; there is an edible species, but I do not know its recommendations. The Mitrula paludosa, with its white stem as thick as a goose-quill, and its orange club-shaped head, is a pretty orna ment of peat-bogs in Yorkshire, while the Leotia lubrica, of similar form and olive colour, graces the Kentish hedgerows. But of all the wicked-looking Fungi, none have so weird an appearance as the black Geoglossum. It is well termed Earthtongue, for it springs in a tongue shape from the ground, black and glutinous. I have seen it in cultivated plantations in Wilts, in woods in Herefordshire, and abundantly among the sward of Scottish heaths all about the Western Highlands. Contrasting agreeably with this, come the troop of brilliantly-coloured Peziza. Here the hymenium is within a cup-or sometimes saucer-shaped disk. The irregular cups of the large orange species (P. aurantia) grow in gardens and plantations in most counties. I have often seen them in Kent, and I remember them also in the cemetery at Glasgow. Many of the cups were as large as half a hen's egg, bright orange within and paler without. A round species, rough on the exterior and brown within and without, quite globular in youth and never fully expanding, is frequent in hotbeds; it is the P. vesiculosa. the favourite of the family is the P. coccinea, adorning dead twigs of hazel with its scarlet cups, and forming with moss a charming winter bouquet. Children call it Fairy Bath. There are a great number of these Pezizo, some larger even than the Aurantia, though not so brilliant in hue; and others smaller and yet more minute, till they become microscopic objectslemon, white, blue, crimson, and green. The spawn of one of the latter colour imbues the wood on which it grows, and makes it very valuable for the workers in Tunbridge ware; it is the Verdigris Peziza. But The Truffles are members of this Ascomycetes class. The asci fill the inside of the plant, with the exception of branching partitions. They are subterranean in their habitat, and can only be found by means of a trained dog, who traces them by their powerful perfume.* They are famous in the annals of gastronomy, and Perigord pie owes much of its excellence to them. Under beech trees is their favourite position, and they are to be found in many districts of the South of England. Many species are sold in the Italian markets; one, with a garlic flavour, obtains as high a price as 9s. per pound. The Sphæriacei are a very large group in this class, but most of them are microscopic objects. The Cordiceps militaris is one of the prettiest members. It has a distinct stem, and its head is club-shaped. Of the same genus is the C. purpurea-the famous Ergot, so deadly in its effects. It attacks all cereals, but more especially rye. Flour made of ergotted rye is so * See "Popular Science Review," No. IV. (Vol. I.), page 496, "The Common Truffle (Tuber cibarium), by Jabez Hogg, F.L.S., &c." (illustrated). B unwholesome that when in a time of famine some Norman peasants lived upon it, they were attacked with a very horrible form of gangrene, and died in great numbers. In the history of the faculty this poison is turned to good purposes, a valuable and potent medicine being extracted therefrom. It is likely that from this plant, or one of its allies, the famous Gipsy poison, the drei, is concocted. The Candle-snuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxilon) is one of this group; its burnt-looking stems, crowned with white powder in youth, and afterwards swollen with the full asci, are familiar to us about tree stumps, etc. A few epiphytes, among which are the Hop, Rose, and Vine Mildews; a curious genus of minute Fungi infecting rotting horse-hoofs and cloth; and a series of true Moulds, as the Bread, Dung, and other Moulds, complete the group called Hyphomycetes, and conclude the list of British Fungi. A. Agaric; B. Boletus; c. Polyporus; 'D. Merulius; E. Fistulina (magnified); F. Hydnum (magnified); G. Stereum; H. Hymenochæte; 1. Tuber; J. Ascus; K. Jam Mould (magnified). |