Order Hymenomycetes Tribe Pileati  

Fistulina hepatica Fr.  

Species Characters. F. hepatica. Pileus confluent with the stalk, variously shaded from dark to light red, more or less sticky with a gelatinous secretion which exudes from it; flesh succulent fibrous; tubes short, unequal, variously shaded according to the age of the plant. Spores 0.00032 × inch. ochraceous green. Grows on old stumps often on the projecting roots of oak trees. In August 1879 it was plentiful in the woods near Hall’s Spring, Baltimore County, Maryland. I was almost tempted to eat it; the taste was acrid very pleasant, & the juice stained my fingers so red that I was obliged to seek a stream of water to wash them.