Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous

Sub-Class Basidiomycetes

Cohort HYMENOMYCETES. Gr.—a membrane, a fruit-bearing surface; Gr.—a mushroom. (So called from the hymenium or fruit-bearing surface.)

Fungi composed of membranes, fleshy, woody or gelatinous, growing on wood or on the ground. The hymenium or spore-bearing surface exposed at an early stage. The spores are borne on basidia, spread over the surface. The common mushroom is typical of the family. All the members resemble it, more or less, in organization and reproductive organs. These latter, in the mushroom, are spread over lamellæ or gills. The spores, after ripening and dissemination, germinate and produce a mycelium or thread-like vine, which in turn develops the spore-producing part of the plant. Hymenomycetes is divided into the following six Families:—

a. HYMENIUM FIGURATE.

I.	Spread over the surface of lamellæ or gills.	Agaricaceæ.
II.	Lining the interior of tubes or pores.	Polyporaceæ.
III.	Clothing the surface of spines or protuberances of various forms.	Hydnaceæ.

b. HYMENIUM EVEN.

IV.	Horizontal and mostly on the under surface.	Thelephoraceæ.
V.	Vertical and produced all over the surface.	Clavariaceæ.
VI.	Superior, gelatinous fungi.	Tremellaceæ.