itter. The pileus is convex, nearly plane,
at first rather firm in substance, then becoming soft and cushion-like,
smooth, without polish, varying in color from pale ochre to yellowish or
reddish-brown or chestnut, flesh white, changing to flesh-color when
bruised, taste exceedingly bitter, cap three to eight inches in
diameter.

The tube-surface is white at first, becoming dull pinkish with age or
upon being cut or broken; rounded upward as it reaches the stem,
attached to the stem, mouths angular.

The stem is variable, tapering upward, rather stout, quite as smooth as
the cap and a shade paler in color, toward the apex covered with a
net-work which extends to the base, often bulbous.

The flesh is not poisonous but intensely bitter. No amount of cooking
will destroy its bitterness. I gave it a thorough trial, but it was as
bitter after cooking as before. It is a common Boletus about Salem,
Ohio. I have seen plants there eight to ten inches in diameter and very
heavy. They grow in woods and wood margins, usually about decaying
stumps and logs, sometimes in the open fields. July to September.

_Boletus versipellis. Fr._

THE ORANGE-CAP BOLETUS. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: Figure 295.--Boletus versipellis. Natural size.]

Versipellis is from _verto_, to change, and _pellis_, a skin. The pileus
is two to six inches in diameter, convex, orange-red, dry, minutely
woolly or downy, then scaly or smooth, margin containing fragments of
the veil, flesh white or grayish.

The tube-surface is grayish-white, tubes long, free, mouths minute and
gray.

The stem is equal or tapering upward; solid, white with scaly wrinkles;
three to five inches long; and is frequently covered with small reddish
or blackish dots or scales. The spores are oblong spindle-shaped.

This plant can be easily distinguished by the remnant of the veil which
adheres to the margin of the cap and is of the same color. It is
frequently turned under the margin adhering to the tubes. It is a large
and imposing plant found in sandy soil and especially among the pines. I
found it in J. Thwing Brooke's woods, Salem, Ohio. August to October.

_Boletus gracilis. Pk._

THE SLENDER-STEMMED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: Figure 296.--Boletus gracilis. Two-thirds natural size.]

Gracilis means slender, referring to the stem.

The pileus is one to two inches broad, convex, smooth or minutely
tomentose, the epidermis frequently cracked as in the illustratio