n: FIGURE 178.--Strobilomyces strobilaceus. Sections of
plants. Copyright.]

[Illustration: FIGURE 179.--Strobilomyces strobilaceus. Under view.
Copyright.]

FISTULINA Bull.

In the genus _Fistulina_ the tubes, or pores, are crowded together, but
stand separately, that is, they are not connected together, or grown
together into a stratum as in _Boletus_ and other genera of the family
_Polyporaceae_. When the plant is young the tubes are very short, but
they elongate with age.

=Fistulina hepatica= Fr. =Edible.=--This is one of the largest of the
species in the genus and is the most widely distributed and common one.
It is of a dark red color, very soft and juicy. It has usually a short
stem which expands out into the broad and thick cap. When young the
upper side of the cap is marked by minute elevations of a different
color, which suggest the papillae on the tongue; in age the tubes on the
under surface have also some such suggestive appearance. The form, as it
stands outward in a shelving fashion from stumps or trees, together with
the color and surface characters, has suggested several common names, as
beef tongue, beef-steak fungus, oak or chestnut tongue. The plant is
10--20 cm. long, and 8--15 cm. broad, the stem very short and thick,
sometimes almost wanting, and again quite long. I have seen some
specimens growing from a hollow log in which the stems were 12--15 cm.
long.

The =pileus= is very thick, 2 cm. or more in thickness, fleshy, soft,
very juicy, and in wet weather very clammy and somewhat sticky to the
touch. When mature there are lines of color of different shades
extending out radially on the upper surface, and in making a
longitudinal section of the cap there are quite prominent, alternating,
dark and light red lines present in the flesh. The =tubes=, short at
first, become 2--3 mm. long, they are yellowish or tinged with flesh
color, becoming soiled in age. The =spores= are elliptical, yellowish,
and 5--6 mu long.

The plant occurs on dead trunks or stumps of oak, chestnut, etc., in wet
weather from June to September. I have usually found it on chestnut.

The beef-steak fungus is highly recommended by some, while others are
not pleased with it as an article of food. It has an acid flavor which
is disagreeable to some, but this is more marked in young specimens and
in those not well cooked. When it is sliced thin and well broiled or
fried, the acid taste is not marked.

[Illustration: PL