Pileus more or less rosy, flesh compact, margin striate, epidermis adherent; _gills_ very brittle, arched in front, attenuated towards the stalk, connected below by transverse plaits, generally simple, a few forked, the imperfect gills rounded off behind; the _stalk_, which is compact, of equal dimensions, and white, is generally more or less stained with red spots of the same hue as the pileus; in the growing fungus, where the epidermis has been removed and the flesh eaten by insects, this soon acquires a tint as lively as that of the skin itself; generally I have remarked that the erosions of insects and slugs do _not_ produce any change of colour, even in the species notorious under other circumstances for manifesting such a change; thus the flesh of the _Ag. rubescens_, which turns red when it is divided, may be frequently seen half eaten through, exhibiting a white flesh; and the same is the case with the _Boletus luridus_, the flesh of which, though eroded, remains white till it is broken through. _Ag. sanguineus_, Bull. This fungus, of which the general facies and most of the botanical characters, as well as the taste and other qualities, are similar to those of the last-mentioned Agaric, differs from it in having its gills for the most part forked, many smaller ones being interposed between those that are entire, also in _not_ having its margin striate, as the _Ag. emeticus_ when moderately expanded always has. The smell of this fungus, which is only developed in drying, is, according to Vittadini, “most agreeable,” resembling that of fresh meal; to me its odour is unpleasant and like that of sour paste. _Ag. acris minor._ _Pileus_ one or two inches across, sticky, of a light muddy-pink, the _epidermis_ peeling off easily and entire from the flesh, margin not striate, flesh soft, white, and cellular; _gills_ adnate, white, forked, brittle, slightly ventricose; the margin subdenticulate; the _stalk_ of spermaceti-whiteness and appearance, solid within, brittle, the internal texture looser than the external; the surface minutely rugulose, 1¼-1½ inch, by 2-4 lines thick, intensely acrid. In meadows, throughout the summer; abundant. AGARICUS OSTREATUS, _Jacq._ PLATE X. Subgenus PLEUROPUS, Persoon. Subdivision CONCHARIA, _Fries_. “L’Ag. ostreato viene giustamente per la sua bontà ed innocenza amesso tra i funghi commestibili, de’ quali è pure permessa la vendita sulle pubbliche piazze.”—_Vitt._ _Bot. Char._ Cæispitose.[172] _Pileus_ fleshy, smooth, blackish, then cinereous, at length paler; epidermis strongly adherent, flesh fibrous, moderately firm; _gills_ anastomosing behind, not glandular, white; _stem_ sublateral or wanting. On dead trees.[173] Season, spring and autumn.