is
irregular. The species is edible, but bitter to the taste.

[Illustration: FIGURE 200.--Hydnum imbricatum. Caps brownish, spines
whitish (natural size, often larger).]

=Hydnum putidum= Atkinson.--This plant grows on the ground in woods, and
was collected in the Blue Ridge mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C., at an
elevation of about 4000 feet. It is remarkable for its peculiar odor,
resembling, when fresh, that of an Ethiopian; for its tough, zonate
pileus with a prominent white edge, and the stout irregular stem,
resembling the stem of _Hydnum velutinum_. The plants are 8--12 cm.
high, the cap 8--12 cm. broad, and the stem 2--4 cm. in thickness. The
plants grow singly, or sometimes a few close together, and then two or
more may be conjoined.

The =pileus= is first umbilicate or depressed, becoming depressed or
infundibuliform, irregular, eccentric, the margin repand, and sometimes
lobed, and lobes appearing at times on the upper surface of the cap. The
surface is first tomentose or pubescent, becoming smooth, with prominent
concentric zones probably marked off by periodical growth; the color is
first white, so that the edge is white, becoming cream color to buff,
and in age dull brown and sometimes blackish brown in the center of the
old plants. The pubescence disappears from the old portions of the cap,
so that it is smooth. The pubescence or tomentum is more prominent on
the intermediate zones. The margin is rather thick, somewhat acute or
blunt, the upper portion of the flesh is spongy and the middle portion
tough and coriaceous, and darker in color. The pileus is somewhat pliant
when moist or wet, and firm when dry, the dark inner stratum hard.

The =spines= are first white or cream color, in age changing through
salmon color, or directly into grayish or grayish brown. The spines when
mature are long, slender, crowded, and decurrent on the upper part of
the stem. The =spores= are white, globose, echinulate, 3--4 mu. The
=stem= is stout and irregular, very closely resembling the stem of
_Hydnum velutinum_, with a thick, spongy, outer layer and a central hard
core.

The odor, which resembles that of a perspiring darkey, before the plant
is dry, disappears after drying, and then the plant has the same
agreeable odor presented by several different species of Hydnum. The
odor suggests _H. graveolens_, but the characters of the stem and
surface of the pileus separate it from that species, while the tough and
pli