Every one knows the Champignon,—that little buff fungus which during so many months in the year comes up in successive crops, in great profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound everywhere: this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them; amid the seared and much-trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel walks. Independent of the excellent flavour of this little mushroom, which is as good as that of most funguses, two circumstances give it an additional value in a domestic point of view, viz. the facility with which it is dried, and its very extensive dissemination. When dried (two or three days’ exposure to the air is generally sufficient to effect this), the _Ag. oreades_ may be kept for years without losing any of its aroma or goodness, which on the contrary become improved by the process, so as, in fact, to impart more flavour to the dish than would have been imparted by the fresh fungus; though it is not to be denied that the flesh then becomes coriaceous and less easy of digestion.[166] From the sad accidents occasioned by persons mistaking other small and poisonous Agarics growing in the neighbourhood of the Champignon for the Champignon itself, this species is frequently looked upon with suspicion, and not often eaten in England. The Agaric the least unlike and most commonly found growing in company with the _Ag. oreades_, is the _Ag. semilobatus_, which is nearly allied to, if it be not the same as the _Ag. virosus_ of Sowerby. But as I have also heard of a gentleman who intending to gather Champignons, and taking home some _Ag. dryophilus_ by mistake, was rendered very ill by his repast, to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes for the future, I here add the botanical characters, marking what is peculiar to each in italics. _Ag. dryophilus_ is represented in Pl. VII. fig. 5. AG. DRYOPHILUS. Solitary or tufted. Pileus from one to two inches broad, whitish, pinkish, yellowish, or yellow-brown, flat, sometimes _depressed_, fleshy, thin, _fragile_, _when moist easily injured_, of a tougher substance when dry. Gills soft, tender, numerous, white, or pale yellow straw-colour. Stem shining, _hollow_, of the same colour as the pileus, but towards the apex generally darker and of a redder tinge. AG. OREADES. In dense rings, or gregarious. Pileus smooth, _fleshy_, _convex_, _subumbonate_, generally more or less _compressed_, or _sinuate_; _tough_, coriaceous, _elastic_, _wrinkled_, when _water-soaked brown_, _buff_ or _cream-colour_ when dry; the umbo often remaining _red-brown_, as if _scorched_. Gills _distant_, ventricose, of the _same tint as the pileus_ or _paler_. Stem equal, _solid_, _twisted_, very _tough_ and _fibrous_, _pure, silky, white_; base downy, somewhat rooting and attached to the roots of grass.[167] AG. SEMIGLOBATUS.