The writer first met with it in North Carolina, near Washington, on oaks and railroad timbers, and in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. It attains quite a size, grows singly and in clusters. Its clean, cake-like appearance is attractive. Cooked it ranks with P. ulmarius, L. lepideus, and Panus strigosus. [Illustration] =PA´NUS= Fr. A name given to a tree-growing fungus by Pliny. (Plate LIV.) [Illustration: PANUS TORULOSUS. About one-fourth natural size. ] Whole fungus between fleshy and leathery, tough, not woody, texture fibrous. =Gills= unequal, tough, becoming leathery, edge acute and unbroken. =Stem= present or absent. Growing on wood. Various in form, lasting long. Allied to Lentinus but differing in the tough and very entire gills. =Spores= even, white. ANALYSIS OF SPECIES. * Stem excentric. ** Stem lateral. *** Stem absent. Pileus resupinate or dimidiate. Species of this genus are among our most observable fungi. Their settlements are frequent on decaying trees, stumps, branches, on fences, cut timber, etc. Most of them are small, but their coriaceous build prevents their shrinking in cooking. Most species have a pleasant farinaceous taste and odor, which they yield, together with a gummy substance, to soups and gravies. Tasting a small piece will immediately tell, if the species is not known, whether it is edible or of the styptic kind. * _Stem excentric._ =P. concha´tus= Fr.—Formed like _concha_, a shell-fish. =Pileus= about 3 in. across, tough and flexible, unequal, excentric or dimidiate, margin often lobed, cinnamon-color becoming pale, at length more or less scaly. =Flesh= thin. =Gills= narrow, forming decurrent lines on the stem, somewhat branched; pinkish-white then pale-ochraceous. =Stem= about ⅔ in. long, 3–4 lines thick, solid, unequal, pale, base downy. _Massee._ On trunks of beech, poplar, etc. Often imbricated and more or less grown together. Allied to Panus torulosus, but distinguished by the much thinner pileus, more expanded and excentric, also dimidiate, flaccid, cinnamon becoming pale, but the form not constant. =Stem= about ½ in. long, 4 lines thick, often compressed, downy at the base. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad, scaly when old. =Gills= decurrent in long, parallel lines, not at all resembling those of Pleurotus ostreatus, which anastomose behind, but frequently unequally branched, at first whitish or pale flesh-color, then wood-color, crisped when dry. _Fries._ Always known by its shell-like form and its tough substance. Sent to the writer by Mr. E.B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J. September, 1898. The appearance of scales upon the pileus was scarcely noticeable. Taste pleasant. The fungus is tough when old, but yields an excellent gravy. [Illustration: Photographed by Dr. J.R. Weist. PLATE LV. PANUS STRIGOSUS. ]