2. Marasmiei. Fruit-body tough, almost leathery, and persistent; spores white. Marasmius oreades forms large, regular fairy-rings on pastures and commons; it is used as seasoning in food.—Panus stipticus with eccentrically-placed stalk, in clusters on tree-stumps.—Schizophyllum has the edge of the lamellæ divided longitudinally, and the split portions revolute.—Lentinus affords a transition to Dædalea among the Polyporaceæ.
3. Russulei. Fruit-body fleshy and fragile, in which two different systems of hyphæ may be distinguished; spores thorny, white, or pale-yellow. Many are poisonous.—Russula has generally fragile and thick lamellæ reaching from stalk to edge of pileus; pileus frequently red.—Lactarius has white or yellow milky juice, which often is very acid. L. deliciosus has red-yellow milky juice, and is of a pleasant flavour. L. torminosus is poisonous.
4. Hygrophorei. Lamellæ thick and waxy, widely separated; spores white. Many species of Hygrophorus have brightly-coloured pileus and grow among the grass on moors and commons.—Nyctalis is parasitic on larger Toadstools. It is remarkable for its abundant formation of chlamydospores, whilst the basidiospores are little developed.
5. Coprinei. Fruit-bodies very soft, quickly perishable; lamellæ membranous and deliquescent. The basidia are separated from each other by paraphyses. Coprinus has coal-black spores, grows on manure, and sometimes developes sclerotia.
6. Paxillei. Fruit-body fleshy; lamellæ easily detached from the pileus and reticulately-joined near the stalk. They form a connecting link between the Agaricaceæ and Boletus.
7. Cantharellei. Lamellæ reduced to dichotomously-divided folds, decurrent on the stalk. Cantharellus cibarius (Fig. [175]) is yolk-yellow, and grows on the ground in woods (edible). It is allied to Craterellus.
Family 3. Phalloideæ.
The fruit-bodies before they are ripe are spherical or ovoid, and enclosed by a fleshy covering, the peridium, which is perforated at maturity and remains as a sheath (Fig. [179]); the fruit-bodies are hemiangiocarpic.
Order 1. Phallaceæ (Stink-horns). The peridium has a complicated structure and is composed of three layers, the intermediate one being thick and gelatinous. The gleba (the tissue which bears the hymenium) is situated upon a peculiar receptacle which expands into a porous stalk and by its sudden distension, rupturing the peridium, elevates the gleba and hymenium above the peridium, which remains as a sheath. The gleba becomes gelatinous and dissolves away as drops. To this order belong many peculiar and often brightly coloured forms, which are natives of the Southern Hemisphere.
Phallus impudicus (Stink-horn) (Fig. [179]), has a fruit-body which at first is white, heavy, and soft, and resembles a hen’s egg in shape and size. The peridium is divided into three layers (Fig. [179] e, g, f) of which the external and internal are membranous, and the middle one very thick and gelatinous; each of these has again a laminated structure. The peridium when ruptured remains as a sheath (k) at the base of the stalk. The receptacle at first is strongly compressed (h) but afterwards expands into a long stalk (l) which bears the conical gleba (m). Prior to the rupture of the peridium the gleba consists of a greenish mass (i) which, when exposed, emits a carrion-like stench serving to attract flies, by whose agency the spores are distributed. It is found commonly in hedgerows and in woods, growing on the ground. The much smaller and less common P. caninus is found on rotten tree-stumps.—In Clathrus cancellatus the receptacle expands into a bright red, reticulate structure. A native of the South of Europe. Colus, Aseroë, Mitromyces.