Cap white, 5 to 7 inches broad, fleshy, compact, convex, saucer-shaped, the margin for a long time sloping downward, with short, downy hairs (pubescent), dry, zoneless. Stem 2 to 3 inches long, 1 to 1½ inch thick, stout, solid, equal, covered with innate, thin pubescence. Gills arcuate, adnato-decurrent, rather thick, acute at the edge, somewhat distant, rather broad, connected by branches, pallid, watery, white. Milk scanty, white, very bitter. It is not said to be edible. The cap tends to become a pallid, reddish tan. This description is partially taken from Stevenson. The specimen we found had the margin revolute, it was 2½ inches broad, and the stem 2 inches long. The flesh was white and the cap was turning a brownish color. The stem slightly tapered toward the base. The milk was scanty and peppery. Found in the beginning of August in the woods. It resembles L. piperatus.
BOLETUS ALBUS = white.
The White Boletus.
Cap white, from 1½ to 3 inches broad, convex, viscid when moist, flesh white or yellowish, tubes small, nearly round (subrotund), adnate, whitish, becoming ochraceous. Stem 1½ to 3 inches long, 3 to 5 lines thick, equal, white, sometimes tinged with pink near the base. We found only one specimen of the white Boletus in August. It grew in the woods. The flesh became yellow and the stem was 1¼ inch long, and it slightly tapered toward the base.
PLEUROTUS ULMARIUS = elm.
The Elm Pleurotus.
The word pleurotus is taken from two Greek words, meaning a side and an ear. It is given on account of the stem growing in a lateral or eccentric manner. The Elm Pleurotus, so called from growing on elm trees, is considered edible. Our specimen had the cap whitish, but stained in the centre with a rusty yellowish color, 3 to 5 inches broad, thick, firm, smooth, convex, then plane. The skin was cracked in a tessellated manner. Flesh was
firm and white. Stem white, 2 to 4 inches long, 1½ to ¾ inch thick, firm, smooth, a little hairy at the base, and attached eccentrically to the cap. Gills white with a yellow hue, broad, rounded near the stem, slightly adnexed and not crowded. It was found in October, and is not common.
PLEUROTUS SAPIDUS = agreeable to taste.
The Palatable Pleurotus.
This species generally grows in clusters with the stem united at the base. Our specimen grew on a maple tree. The plants protruded from a large crack in the trunk of a tree, about four feet above the ground, and grew one above the other. They had not attained their full growth. During former seasons they had been seen of a large size. Pileus is from 2 to 5 inches broad, grayish-white, smooth. Caps often overlap one another. Flesh is white. Gills broad, whitish, decurrent, and often slightly connected by oblique branches. Stem is generally short and lateral. It grew in October. Professor Peck says that in edible qualities it resembles the oyster mushroom, P. ostreatus.