n the bark of
a dead birch tree which lay prostrate on the ground, several feet in
length, and it was literally covered with the fungi, some an inch
wide and snow white, and the largest 5 or 6 inches in width, and of a
brownish-gray tinge. These specimens became as hard as wood after they
had been kept for some time. The thin skin peeled off easily and
disclosed the snowy flesh beneath.

+POLYPORUS PERENNIS = perennial.+
+The Perennial Polyporus.+

+Cap+ is cinnamon-colored, then of a date brown, leathery, tough,
funnel-shaped, becoming smooth, zoned. +Pores+ minute, angular, acute,
at first sprinkled with a white bloom, then naked and torn. +Stem+
slightly firm, thickened downward, velvety. This is a common species,
and one meets with it everywhere on the ground, and on stumps, from July
to January. The cap is 1 1/2 to 2 inches broad, and the stem 1 inch long.

+POLYPORUS PICIPES = pitch and foot.+
+The Black-stemmed Polyporus.+

+Cap+ pallid color, then turning chestnut, often a pale yellowish livid
color, with the disc chestnut, fleshy, leathery, rigid, tough, even,
smooth, depressed at disc or behind. Flesh white. +Stem+ eccentric and
lateral, equal, firm, at first velvety, then naked, and dotted black up
to the pores. +Pores+ decurrent, round, very small, rather slender,
white, then slightly pale and yellowish. This fungus grows on the trunks
of trees, and is found as late as the middle of winter.

+POLYPORUS SULPHUREUS = brimstone.+
+The Sulphury Polyporus.+

This mushroom gains its name from the color of its pores, which are of a
bright sulphur color. It grows in tufted layers (caespitose), sometimes 1
to 2 feet long, and it cannot be mistaken. +Cap+ may measure 8 inches in
breadth, and is of a reddish-yellow color, overlapping like the shingles
of a roof (imbricated). It is wavy and rather smooth. Flesh light
yellowish, then white, splitting open. +Pores+ are minute, even, sulphur
yellow. They retain their color much better than the pileus. The plants
are generally without a stem, but there may be a short stem, which is
lateral. They grow in clusters, all fastened together and one above the
other, and of all sizes. We saw this fungus first in a dense woods,
where its bright color at once attracted our notice. It was growing in a
large cluster, closely packed one over the other. It is said to be good
for food when young and tender.

+POLYPORUS LUCIDUS = bright.+
+The Shining Polyporus.+