s.

No botanic distinction exists between toadstools and mushrooms;
mushrooms may be regarded as edible toadstools. They are all,
botanically speaking, edible or poisonous fungi. A description follows
of the five kinds of fungi most commonly eaten, and the poisonous
species which may be mistaken for them.

=EDIBLE MUSHROOMS.=--=1. The Common Mushroom= (_Agaricus
Campestris_).--The fungi called agarici are those which have gills,
that is, little plates which look like knife blades on the under
surface of the top of the mushroom, radiating outward from the stem
like the spokes of a wheel. This is the species most frequently grown
artificially, and sold in the markets. The top or cap of this mushroom
is white, or of varying shades of brown, and measures from one and a
half to three or even four inches in diameter. It is found in the
latter part of August, in September, and in October, growing in
clusters on pastures, fields, and lawns.

The gills are pink or salmon colored in the newly expanded specimen;
but as it grows older, or after it is picked, the gills turn dark
purple, chestnut brown, or black. This is the important point to
remember, since the poisonous species mistaken for it all have white
gills. The gills end with abrupt upward curves at the center of the
cap without being attached to the stem. In the young mushroom, when
the cap is folded down about the stem, the gills are not noticeable,
as they are covered by a veil or filmy membrane, a part of which
remains attached to the stem (when the top expands), as a ring or
collar about the stem a little more than halfway up from the ground.
The stem is solid and not hollow, and there is no bulbous enlargement
at the base of the stem, surrounded by scales or a collar, as occurs
in the _fly amanita_ and other poisonous species. Neither the
_campestris_ nor any other mushroom should be eaten when over a day
old, since decomposition quickly sets in.

[Illustration: FIG. 35.

THE FIELD MUSHROOM.

(_Agaricus Campestris._)

An edible variety; very common.]

=2. Horse Mushroom= (_Agaricus Arvensis_).--This species may be
considered with the foregoing, but it differs in being considerably
larger (measuring four to ten inches across) and in having a more
shiny cap, of a white or brown hue. The ring about the stem is
noticeably wider and thicker, and is composed of two distinct layers.
The gills are white at first, turning dark brown comparatively late,
and the s