ITS FUNGI
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diameter, of a purplish brown colour, sprinkled with
small irregular pale warts. Common all over the Forest
from July to October.
Lepiota procera. Parasol mushroom. Stem six or eight
inches long, bulbous at the base. Cap often six inches
across, with a strong boss in the centre. Silky gray,
clad with brown scales. In open places, High Beach,
Fairmead, etc.
Lepiota rachodes. A similar species, without such a distinct
boss, and with more persistent scales, is less common.
Armillaria mellea. Very common in large clusters around
dead stumps. Cap honey colour or pale brown, rather
scaly, two to three inches broad. Largely eaten in
Austria, but not approved in this country.
Armillaria mucida. Ivory white, covered with a thick coat
of slimy gluten, grows in tufts on dead beech trunks ;
of a delicate flavour when cooked.
Tricholoma nuda. Entirely lilac or amethyst colour, cap
from two to four inches, quite smooth. Growing
amongst dead leaves. Chingford, Loughton, and High
Beach.
Tricholoma personata. Blewits. Not so common as the
last. The cap about three inches, of a dirty white ; the
stem rather short and thick, and usually tinged with
purple. Odour strong. In open places.
Clitocybe nebularis. Cap four inches or more in diameter,
mouse colour. Stem thickened downwards, four to six
inches long; gills running down the stem. Odour
strong and mealy. Grows amongst dead leaves.
Clitocybe infundibuliformis. The cap about two inches in
diameter, depressed in the centre, so as to be funnel-
shaped ; gills white and thin, running down the slender
stem. Amongst dead leaves everywhere. When dry
almost of the colour of wash-leather.
Clitocybe fragrans. Smaller than the last. Cap not more
than one inch, and not so deeply depressed. Whole
plant fragrant, like hay, or the sweet woodruff, retaining
fragrance when dry.
Clitocybe baccata. One of the most common fungi in
woods. Usually of a dull, brick-red colour, including
the gills, which are thick. The cap an inch in diameter,
and convex ; stem two to three inches long and slender.
Harmless, but not very delicate eating.
Clitocybe odora. This is also a fragrant species, with a
faint odour of anise. The cap, about two inches in
diameter, is of a dull glaucous green and nearly flat,
with a slender stem. It grows amongst dead leaves,
and has been found in Lower Epping Forest.
Collybia fusipes. Entirely of a reddish brown colour,
growing in tufts on rotten wood. Cap from two to
three inches; stem rooting, thickest in the middle,
tapering towards each end. Hawkwood, Theydon
Bois, etc.
Pleurotus ostreatus. Oyster mushroom. Grows in dense
tufts on old stumps, with the caps overlapping like
tiles, mostly of a mouse colour or pale gray, with very
white gills. Stem short and oblique. A tuft will