Magpie Mushroom. [Fig. 9.]
(Coprinus picaceus.)379.
This, too, is equally rare, though in some places, as in the Herefordshire woods, it is by no means infrequent. It is a very handsome but suspicious-looking plant, with the top broken up into large patches of black and white. It grows on roadsides, and has a disagreeable odour.
Gloomy Tube-Mushroom. [Fig. 10.]
(Boletus luridus.)607.
This is one of the handsomest ornaments of our woods and woody places. The prevailing tint is umber, relieved on the under surface by bright red, sometimes approaching crimson, or even vermilion; when broken or bruised it rapidly changes colour to blue. It is very common in all places where there are trees, and often comes up early in the year. It is probably more or less poisonous, though I have known it to be eaten without fatal effects.
Mr. Penrose once found a specimen as large as a milking-stool, exactly three feet in circumference.