MUSHROOM, or AGtnic Agaricus, a genus of fungi, of the suborder hymenomyeetes, having a hymenium of unequal plates or gills on the lower side of the pilots. The species are very numerous. Many of them are poisonous, many are edible, and some are among the most esteemed fungi. The species most esteemed in Britain is the COMMON Musaitoom (A eampestris), a native also of most of the temperate regions both of the northern and of the southern .hemisphere, and of which a very large and fine occurs in eastern Australia. It is fountl.during summer and autumn (but chiefly in autumn) in pastures, orchards, vineyards, etc. Its piteus is regularly convex, becom ing almost flat when old; fleshy, dry, white with a tinge of yellow or brown; of a silky smoothness on the upper surface, or somewhat scaly, but never warty; thickly set on the under side with very unequal gills, which in a young state are pink, and afterwards become dark brown. The pileus is attached by its center to the top of the stem. The stem is of a firm fleshy texture, and towards the top is surrounded by a more or less distinct white membranous ring, the remains of the curtain or vail (inclusion), which hi a young state extends to the pileus, and covers the gills. This mushroom is gathered for the table when young, being preferred when the vail is still unbroken, and the unexpanded pileus has the form of it ball or button; but both iu this state, and after wards, whilst it shows no symptoms of decay, it is used for ketchup (q.v.). It has a very pleasant smell and taste, and the flesh, when bruised, assumes a reddish 'brown colon—Very similar to it, and often sold instead of it in London and elsewhere, but rejected by all skillful houskeepers as unfit even for making ketchup, is the ST. GEORGE'S AGARIC (A. Georgiz), sometimes called whitecaps, frequent in moist pastures and near buildings in all parts of Britain. This species is easily distinguished by its larger size—the pileus being sometimes 18 in. broad—its coarser appearance, its rather disagreeable smell, the yellow color which its flesh assumes when bruised, and the lighter color of its gills.—Care must be taken not to confound the common mushroom with tho white variety of agaricus phalloides, a species not uncommon in Britain, chiefly in woods and ou the borders of woods, which is very poisonous. Perhaps it is the possibility of this mistake which has led to the prohibition of the common mushroom in Home, where many kinds of esculent fungi are brought in great abundance to the market, and where a special officer superintends the sale of them. A. plialloides is, however, easily dis tinguished by the ring at the bottom of the stein, the white color of the gills, the warts on the upper surface of the pileus, and the powerful smell, which becomes extremely disagree able as the mushroom grows old.—Another species of mushroom much in use for the table is the FAiRY-RING Musintoost (A. oreades), sometimes called Scotch bonnets—the Champignon of the French. It is common in pastures in Britain and most parts of Europe, often forming fairy rings (q.v.). It is much smaller than the common mush room, the pileus being seldom more than au inch broad, the stem taller inproportion. The stem is solid, fibrous, and tough, with no ring; the pileus smooth, fleshy, tough, convex, with a more or less distinct boss (umbo) in the center, of a watery•brown color; the flesh white. The odor is strong, but agreeable. This mushroom is used for ketchup, and is also dried and powdered for use at table as a savory addition to sauces and stews. It is constantly brought to market in England. It is liable, however, to be confounded with several poisonous species; but only one of them, A. dealbatus, forms fairy' rings, and this may be readily distinguished by its disagreeable odor, by its becoming grayish brown in zones when soaked in water, by the margin of the miens being at first rolled inwards, and by its very fine dingy whitish gills.—The other edible species of mushroom
or agaric are numerous, but they are chiefly used on the continent of Europe, and scarcely at all in Britain, although some of them are common British plants.—The ORANGE-MILKED /tannic (A. delicwsus), which grows chiefly in fir-woods and among junipers, has a viscid pileus, 4 in. or more broad, at first orange, afterwards pale, the gills and juice orange, the gills running down the stem, the smell and taste agreeable.— The MoussitRox (A. prunnlus) is common in woods and pastures, particularly on sandy soils. It has a pileus about 2 to 4 in. broad, convex, yellowish-white when young, the gills at first white, and afterwards flesh-colored. The odor is agreeable. It is much esteemed on the continent as an article of food.—The PARASOL AGARIC (A. procerus) is found in pastures, especially under trees. It loves sandy soils. It is remarkable for its long stem, 8 to 12 in. high, with a thick spongy ring. The pileus is 3 to 7 in. broad, at first obtusely conic, then bell-shaped, covered with brown scales. The taste and smell are pleasant.— The WurrE FIELD AGARIC (A. rirgineus) is one of the most common of British species, growing in pastures, with viscid or satiny white or whitish convex pileus, fully an inch broad, stem nearly 2 in. long, and light chocolate-colored distant gills, which run down the stem. It grows either singly or in groups.—The ANISE Musnnoost, or SWEET SCENTED AGARIC (A, odorus), grows in shady woods and dells among moss and decay ing leaves. It has a slightly convex pileus, about 3 in. broad, with pale gills. The odor is like that of anise.—The IvoitY Musunoost (A. eburneus) is found in woods, with' pileus 2 to 3 in. broad, of a grayish-3 elloweolor, broad gills, and a rather long and some what scaly stem.—The SMOKY Musimoosi (A. fumosus), with pileus smoke-gray above, the gills and stalk yellowish, is common in fir•woods.—All these are edible, and more or less pleasant and nutritious. Finer than most of them is the IMPERIAL MUSHROOM (A. casarius), the Aaiserling of the Germans, a species found ID loamy soils in some parts of Europe, with orange pileus and lighter yellow stem and gills; but, unhappily, it is apt to be confounded with the very poisonous amanita (q.v.)muscaria.
The common mushroom is frequently cultivated both in the open garden and in houses or sheds. To avow it in the open garden, beds are prepared, generally of earth mixed with horse-dung, partly fresh and partly from old hotbeds, and are raised into ridges almost as high as broad. To grow it in houses, boxes are filled with alternate layers of half-rotterrhoree-rbing and of Straw, a surface hiyer of fine mold. But or each of these methods there are many different modifications, none of which can here 'be detailed. In both, the production of mushrooms is sometimes left `o the chance- often almost a certainty—of spawn (mycelium) or spores existing in the dung or earth';. sometimes, to increase the probability of a speedy and abundant crop, earth is introduced into the bed or box from a pasture known to be rich in mushrooms, and mushroom spawn is also frequently planted, which is either collected where mushrooms grow, or produced by artificial means, often appearing and being propagated extensively without. the development of the mnshroom itself. The almost certain production of mushroom spawn in heaps of slightly fermenting horse-dung, straw, and earth, has been often urged as an argument in favor of the equivocal generation of fungi, but the minuteness and multitude of the spores may more reasonably be urged on the opposite side.