Mushrooms

J. M. R.

The Herald of February 5, gave a report of a banquet given at the Westminster by the Mycological Club of Boston. The club numbers about five hundred members and there were about two hundred guests present. It stated that mushrooms were served in eight different courses, and that mushroom toasts, poems, and prose articles followed. Two water-color pictures of mushrooms were given as prizes for the best paper on the subject.

That there is great interest in the study of these curious fungi, is proven by the enthusiasm of the students who are in communication with foreign clubs. The researches of all have discovered and recorded about a thousand varieties, many of which are edible, some of which are curious, and others very rare.

There is one species which has been found nowhere else in the world but on the Lynn shore. One variety is quite large and luminous enough to light faces in a dark place. Another luminous kind grows on olive trees and gives light enough to read by. One which is handsomely shaped and edible grows in tanbark, others grow on trees, and one is found only near or under railroad tracks. Many varieties are found in pastures, fields, and vacant lots. One is said to taste like lobster, another like beefsteak, another like chicken. They seem to imitate different kinds of flesh food.

A lady near Boston thought she would like a bed of mushrooms in her greenhouse. She procured some spawn and it was planted. There was no sign of life that season or the next, but two years later, the whole greenhouse was alive with them in every crack and corner. They had even displaced planks which came in their way. The lady's surprise was great. She found such an abundance of tithes in her storehouse that there was hardly room for them.

She counsulted an experienced mycologist who said the mushrooms were edible, and she had no trouble in disposing of her crop, which lasted several weeks.

In a book called "A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan," a statement is made, that the Empress Dowager of Japan amuses herself and others by hunting mushrooms. The dress of both ladies and gentlemen who participate in these "toadstool picnics," is quite minutely described.

The symmetry of form and beauty of color of many of these fungi are a delight to the eye. About three hundred varieties have been printed in water-colors and have been on exhibition and will be again this spring on Saturday afternoons at Horticultural Hall.—J. M. R.

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