TAB. XXXVI.
AGARICUS elephantinus. Bolt. t. 28. With. v. 3. 319.
Common in most woods, parks, &;c. about the month of October. In decaying they gradually turn quite black, as if burnt to charcoal, and seem almost as durable as that substance. They are so abundant in one part of Kensington Gardens, that when in the black state (which they are during great part of the year) a casual observer would think fires had been made where they grow. When in perfection they are sometimes nearly white. The gills often branch, and run one into another, but are always clumsy. This fungus has a pleasant nut-like taste; when cut it changes reddish. In the black state it supports some parasitical fungi, which we shall hereafter take an opportunity of delineating.
TAB. XXXVII.
AGARICUS peronatus. Bolt. t. 58. With. v. 3. 329.
This species is bell distinguished by the leathery appearance of the pileus, and the stalk being clothed half way up from the root with a yellowish woolly felted substance, above which it is smooth, except being a little wrinkled. We have found it at Ditchingham, Norfolk, also plentifully at Hampstead, and under hawthorns in Greenwich Park. Lady Arden has observed it under beech-trees, growing on the fallen capsules and leaves. The flavour of this species is pungent. It dries so well as to be easily recognized in that state.
