The shape varies. It is
sometimes long, shaped like a tongue, or roundish. It is
peculiar-looking. It is considered good for food and nourishing, but the
taste is said to be rather acid. The specimens we found varied from 2 to
5 inches in diameter. They were of a dark-red color, and were tough and
old. They grew upon a tree in a large forest, and were not found
anywhere else.
+POLYPORUS BETULINUS = birch.+
+The Birch Polyporus.+
We shall meet a great many fungi on our walks that belong to the genus
Polyporus. They are generally leathery (coriaceous) fungi, and many grow
on wood. A few are edible, but are not recommended as food. The species
P. betulinus is found on living and dead birch trees. The specimens we
found grew in great quantities, of all sizes, from 1 1/2 to 6 inches
broad. They were at first pure white, and then assumed a brownish tinge.
The edges were obtuse, the caps fleshy, then corky, smooth, the upper
ends not regular, oblique in the form of an umbo or little knob, the
pellicles or outside layers thin and easily separated.
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