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Show The Hijlory of P LAN T S. F U N G [. Clafs the Second. Genus the Third. P 0 R I U M. P 0 R I u M is a genus of Fungi confifiing of a pedicle .and a ~ead ; the head of which has it's proper fub.!l:ance, in ~he under part, p1~rced with. a gr.eat b of holes of various ilia pes and dnnenfions m the feveral fpec1es, and producmg ~~fi~n~r male and female flowers. The male flowers .have neither calyx nor corolla, b t fi{l: only of antherce affixed to very iliort fiamma, and placed roun? the edges o~th~o~o;es. The female fl~wers are placed within the holes: we fee ~othm~ of them but the feed s, which are round, very minute, and placed fingly on the mner furface of the cavities. f r · h d The Poria and foleni ce both exhibit the fame appearance o p~r1oratiOns on t e un er art of the head, but, in the folenire, what we fee, as perforatiOns, are the mouths of ~multitude of tubes, which conjuntl:ly form a body, eafily feparabl~ f rom the fobfiance of the head; whereas, in the Poria, they are mere holes n~ade m the fub~ance of the head itfelf, and, therefore, are infeparable from. the rell of 1t. The holes m the others are generally much deeper than in thefe. I. P orium poris minoribus capitulo plano. The· flat-headed Porium with Jmall pores. This is a Fungus of no great beauty, but fingu!ar enough .i? it's manner o~ gr_o~th . It's pedicle is not more than an inch and an half m length, 1t s head near tht ee 1nch~s over. The pedicle is fmallefi at bottom, and gradually grows larg~r upwards. I t IS of a foft, fpungy firuB:ure, and yellowia1-brown colour. The hea~ IS flat, and undulated at the edges, irregula~l~ protuberant ?n the furface~ and rathet. deprdfed than elevated, where the pedicle IS mferted. It IS of a y~ll?w~{h~brown co~our ~n the upper part, and of a greeni!h-yellow on the under, where It IS p1erced very.thick With ~mall and iliallow holes. The whole Fungus is flefhy and fucculent, but of an Ill fmell. It s flowers fiand four at the mouth of every hole ; it's feeds are moder.ately large for thofe of a plant of this kind, and very numerous, covering the whole 1~ne r fur face. and ba(e of the holes, and giving the whole a granulated appearance. It IS common 111 forr:e parts of England. It grows ufu ally to the fiumps of trees in damp places. C. Bauhme has de(cribed it under the name of Fungus angu\ofus pediculo ex iguo ; and Sterbeck, under that of Auricula flammea malchi. 2. Porium pilofum cavitatibus maximis. The hairy Porium with very large cav ities. This is an ex tremely fingular and beautiful fpecies. It feldon{ grows to more th.an a~ inch and an half in height, and it's head is about half an inch in diameter. It's pe~1cle JS about an ei o-hth of an inch in diameter, a little larger at the ba(e than any-where el!e, and of a browcifh colour. The head is pretty much elevated, but rather femicircular than conic in it's figure. It is moderately fle{by; in colour, of a ferru gineous ~r_own, and hairy at tbe edges. I t's under part is formed into ve ry large, iliallo~ ca~tt.Jes, of au angular form, and bas fomething of the refemblance of a h~ney-comb 111 mm 1atur~, ~nd is of a white colour. The whole plant has a fi rong and dlf..1greeable fmell. It IS fiequent, in the ford1: of Dean in Gloucefier01ire, on the b ranches. of old elms and oth: r tree~ . Micheli has difl:inguiilied it by the name of Polyporus cx1guus, fu b tus rhombmdeis foraminibus fene!l:ratus. 3· Porium radice ingenti perenni. The great perennial-rooted Porium. This is, perhaps, the moll fingular of all the F ungus cbfs, and has led as many people into errors as any thing of the vegetable kind. It's The Hiftory of P L A N T S. It's root is of a fpungy, fungous texture, and increafes in an inconceivable manner in a very little time, and, as it grows in fize, it furrounds and incorporates into it's body fl:ones; flicks, or any other fubfl:ances which happen to be in the way. It is not uncommon to fee a root of it, of this implicated kind, of two or three feet in diameter, and, with the fiones it contains, or, at leafi, conneCts togetherj weighing a hundred pounds, or more: it's own matter, however, makes but a fmall part of this bulk or weight; the fmaller ftones, indeed, it furrounds fometimes, and buries in it's fubfl:ance; but the larger are feldom covered intirely with it, ufually only conneEted one to another by it. From the various parts of this root, that is, from the furfaces of thefe fl:ones, where covered with it, and from the crevices between the feveral fiones, filled up with it, grows the Fungus itfelf: this .fidl: a.rpears in form of an oblong conic body, two or three inches in length, and of about a third of an inch, or more, in diameter at the bafe. It continues in this fl:ate fome time, when it begins, by degrees, to grow tumid at the fummit, and, by degrees, expands into a complete and perfe[t head, like that of the firfi defcribed Parium. The pedicle, upon the whole, is about three inches long, and, by that time the head is fully grown, is larger at the top than at the bafe, contrary to what it originally was: It 1s fucculent and whi te. The head itfelf is about an inch and half in diameter, not elevated, but flat, or fomewhat deprefied at the infertion of the pedicle. It is tolerably thick, and of a ferrugineous colour at the top, and white, and full of fmall pores, underneath. The whole plant is of a good fmell, and may be eaten wi th fafety. It is fi·equent in Spain, Italy, and Sicily, but we have it not in England. C. Bauhine calls it Fungus in faxis proveniens ; J. Bauhine, Fungus fupra Iapides; and C<£falpinus, Fungus in lapide fungofo. The Italians call it Fungo cella pictra fungaja. Not · only the botanifis, but the foffili!l:s, in general have claimed it's root to their {hare; they have taken it to be a very fione, and there is fcarce a book on that fu bjecr, except our own, in which it is not defcribed as a mineral, under the name of Lapis fungifer. They have fuppofed the whole congeries about the root of this plant a mafs of natural fione, and have celebrated it as a peculiar fpecies of foffil, which had the fingular property of producing muilirooms, which they affure us it will at any time do on bd11g watered or laid in a damp place. ' The other fpecies of Parium will eafily be di!l:inguiilied by their names : they are, I. The final!, white, coriaceous Parium. 2. The grey, lacerated-headed Parium. 3· The fmall Parium, with an inverted head in form of a cup. 4· The yellowiili, funnel-{haped Parium. 5· The little, iliort-fialked Parium, with yellowifh, calyculated head~. 6 . . The fn:all-headed Parium, with extremely-minute pores. 7· The fmall, black1fh Ponum, with very fmall pores. 8. The branched, pale-yellow Parium. FUN G 1 Clajs the Second. Genus the Fourth. A C 0 NT I A. A C 0 NT I A is a _genus of Fungus's, confifiing of a pedicle, fupportjng a head, the u nder part of which is formed into a multitude of little fpicu- 1<r!, or iliort, conic, pointed bodies, like teeth ; and producing male and female flowers difl.inc:t. The male flowers have neither calyx nor corolla, but confi!l: of a fingle anthera, of an oblong figure, aHixed to a very iliort fiamen. The female flowers we fee no part of, except the feeds; thefe are fingle and roundi01, and both thefe, and the an~ thera~, adhere to the furfaces of the fpiculre, at the bottom of the head, but they adhere to different parts of them. The generical name is formed of the Greek ax.oJJTto vJ fpicula. I. Acontia album cra.lfum. The white, thick Acontia. This is a very delicate-tafied Fungus. It grows to the height of about four inches. It's pedicle is very thick throughout, but more fo near the bottom than elfewhere. It M hu |