There are an infinite number of mushrooms we shall not mention. The study of fungi has only begun in this country, and there is an immense vista for future students. The amateur or beginner may be well satisfied if after one summer spent in studying mushrooms he can remember the distinguishing types of the various genera, and can say with certainty, “This is a Russula, or this a Cortinarius, or this a Tricholoma.” He will then feel he has taken one important step in this “royal road.”
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF GENERA OF HYMENOMYCETES.
Order 1. AGARICS.
The names of the genera are all derived from Greek and Latin words. Stevenson, in his book on British Fungi, has given the original words and also their meanings. We take the liberty of copying the English term only, and will place it beside the name of each genus.
Section 1. WHITE SPORES, OR LEUCOSPORÆ.
The first genus we will mention is:
HYGROPHORUS, from a word meaning moist.
This genus contains plants growing on the ground. They soon decay. The cap is sticky or watery, the gills often branched. It has a peculiarity in the fact that the hymenial cells, or the layer of mother cells, contained in the gills, change into a waxy mass, at length removable from the trama. The trama is that substance which extends with and is like in structure to the layer of mother cells.[1] It lies between the two layers of gills in Agarics. The gills seem full of watery juice, and they are more or less decurrent, i. e., extend down the stem. This genus contains many bright-colored and shining species.
We are obliged to refer to the hymenial layer in this place, though the beginner will scarcely understand the meaning of the term. The distinguishing peculiarity of this genus consists in the cells changing to a waxy mass. In the chapter on the structure of mushrooms we have