[Sidenote: =Works by Prof. Peck=]
The previous examples of mushrooms have all been included in the order
of the Agarics, or "gill-bearing" fungi, the under spore-bearing
surface of the cap having been disposed in the form of laminæ or
gills. We will now pass to the consideration of a class of mushrooms
certain of which enjoy a wider reputation as "toadstools" than any
other species, a new botanical order of fungi--the Polyporei--in which
the gills are replaced by _pores_ or tubes--polyporus (many pores).
Conspicuous among the Polyporei are those great shelf-like woody
growths so frequently to be seen on the trunks of trees, and popularly
known as "punk," "tinder," and "touch-wood," and many of which increase
in size year by year by accession of growth at the rim. A few of these
lateral-stemmed species are edible during their young state, one or
two of which are included in my subsequent pages. But the most notable
group from the standpoint of esculence is the typical genus _Boletus_,
containing a large number of species, and of which Plate 20 presents a
conspicuous example. Especial attention should here be called to the
notable monograph on the Boleti of the United States by State Botanist
Professor Charles Peck, of Albany University, New York, which presents
detailed descriptions of one hundred and eight indigenous species.
Other contributions to mycological literature by this distinguished
American authority are noted in my bibliographical list at the close of
the volume.