_Cantharellus cibarius_
Bearing somewhat the shape of the Lactarius, but having its own
distinguishing features, is the Chantarelle (Plate 19).
[Sidenote: =Fluted gills=]
The "Agarics," as already described on page 79, are distinguished
by the feature of the gills, or thin laminated curtains--the
_hymenium_--upon which the spores are produced, and from which they are
shed beneath the mushroom. These gills vary in thickness and number in
the various species, and in one genus are so short, thick, swollen,
and branched as to give rather the effect of turgid veins than gills,
as shown in the accompanying sectional drawing. We occasionally come
upon one of these mushrooms in our walks, usually in the woods. When
it first appears the cap is rounded, and the rim folded inward towards
the stem; but in mature specimens it assumes the flat or, later, the
cup-shaped form shown in Plate 19.
[Illustration: SECTION OF CHANTARELLE]
[Illustration: _Cantharellus cibarius_]
_PLATE XIX_