Satanical Tube-Mushroom. [Fig. 27.]
(Boletus Satanas.)606.
The specimen figured I gathered in Crab-tree Wood, near Winchester, during an architectural excursion to St. Cross. I have only once seen anything of it elsewhere, though my late friend Mrs. Gulson, of Eastcliff, has sent it on to me several times from the neighbourhood of Teignmouth.
Without doubt it is by far the most splendid of all the Boleti. The top is nearly white, very fleshy, and a little viscid; the stem is firm, exquisitely coloured, and beautifully reticulated; the under surface is brilliant crimson. It usually attains a large size, grows in woods, and as soon as broken or bruised, changes to blue.
In all likelihood it is highly poisonous.
Pungent Milk-Mushroom. [Fig. 28.]
(Lactarius acris.)505.
As its name indicates, this is a very acrid and dangerous fungus. It is said to be rare, but I have sometimes known it to be extremely abundant in the woods near London. When cut or broken, the flesh and white milk change to a dull-sienna red; this distinguishes it from all other mushrooms. To observe the change of colour it requires at times a little patience; for I have known half an hour, or even an hour, elapse before the change of colour is manifest.