Fungi: Their Nature and UsesCooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Science
Fungi: Their Nature and Uses
Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt)
Fungi
It remains for us only to note the subterranean fungi, of which the
truffle is the type, to complete our enumeration of esculent species.
The truffle which is consumed in England is _Tuber æstivum_, Vitt.;
but in France the more highly-flavoured _Tuber melanospermum_,
Vitt.,[AL] and also _Tuber magnatum_, Pico, with some other species.
In Italy they are very common, whilst some are found in Algeria. One
species at least is recorded in the North-west of India, but in
Northern Europe and North America they appear to be rare, and
_Terfezia Leonis_ is used as an esculent in Damascus. A large species
of _Mylitta_, sometimes several inches in diameter, occurs plentifully
in some parts of Australia. Although often included with fungi, the
curious production known under the name of _Pachyma cocos_, Fr., is
not a fungus, as proved by the examinations made by the Rev. M. J.
Berkeley. It is eaten under the name of "Tuckahoe" in the United
States, and as it consists almost entirely of pectic acid, it is
sometimes used in the manufacture of jelly.
In the Neilgherries (S. India), a substance is occasionally found
which is allied to the native bread of southern latitudes. It is found
at an elevation of 5,000 feet. The natives call it "a little man's
bread," in allusion to the tradition that the Neilgherries were once
peopled by a race of dwarfs.[AM] At first it was supposed that these
were the bulbs of some orchid, but later another view was held of
their character. Mr. Scott, who examined the specimens sent down to
him, remarks that, instead of being the product of orchids, it is that
of an underground fungus of the genus _Mylitta_. It indeed seems, he
says, very closely allied to, if really distinct from, the so-called
native bread of Tasmania.[AN]
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