A Plain and Easy Account of British Fungi; With Especial Reference to the Esculent and Economic Species (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876 edition. Excerpt: ...and is good when dried. Another species of Boletus (B. scaber) is very common in woods, but, though esculent, does not enjoy so good a reputation as the last. The tubes are white or dingy, the stem rather tough, and it is much inferior in respect of size, smell, and flavour to Boletus edulis. Boletus castaneus, a small species with a velvety, cinnamon-coloured pileus and stem, short, white, and afterwards yellowish tubes, and white unchanging flesh, is rarely found in woods, and although eaten on the Continent, is of inferior flavour. An elegant Boletus (B. elegans) is found in woods, especially of firs, which is remarkable for the brilliant golden-yellow tint, and its pileus being viscid in moist weather; the flesh is of a pale yellow, and though said to be eatable, is certainly not worthy of recommendation. Two other species (B. impolitus and B. wstivalis)., also found in woods or woodland pastures, have the reputation of being wholesome. The latter we have seen growing freely in Darenth Wood, Kent; the flesh is firm, of a nutty flavour when raw, and not to be despised when prepared for the table. It will be advisable to caution all who are inexperienced in collecting Boleti for alimentary purposes, and who may yet desire to make trial of them, that numerous species of Boletus are common to Great Britain, and several of these are unwholesome, some decidedly poisonous. If upon cutting or bruising any specimen, it should be found to change colour, it should be rejected. Some species become blue almost immediately upon wounding. Those with reddish stems, or with the edges of the tubes, i. e. the under surface of the pileus, red or crimson, should also be rejected. The large B. satanas, the very name of which conveys suspicion, should be...