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[Illustration: GIFTS OF FOREST AND FIELD.]
TOADSTOOLS, MUSHROOMS, FUNGI
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS
ONE THOUSAND
AMERICAN FUNGI
~Revised Edition~
HOW TO SELECT AND COOK THE EDIBLE; HOW TO
DISTINGUISH AND AVOID THE POISONOUS
WITH FULL BOTANIC DESCRIPTIONS
BY CHARLES MCILVAINE
PRESIDENT PHILADELPHIA MYCOLOGICAL CENTER, HONORARY MEMBER SALEM COUNTY
AND
GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N.J., MEDICAL SOCIETIES
AND
ROBERT K. MACADAM
TOADSTOOL POISONS AND THEIR TREATMENT, INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS,
RECIPES FOR COOKING, ETC., ETC.
INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT 1900, 1902
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRESS OF
BRAUNWORTH & CO.
BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS
BROOKLYN, N.Y.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations v
Preface xiii
Introduction xv
Instructions to Students xxix
Abbreviations of the Names of Authors of Species xxxv
Names of the Principal Reporters of American Species xxxvii
Text 1
Toadstool Poisoning and its Treatment 621
Recipes for Cooking and Preparing for the Table 635
Glossary 651
Index to Genera 690
Index to Species 692
Index to Recipes for Cooking and Preparing for the Table 702
Index to General Contents 703
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE FIG. TEXT PLATE
PAGE PAGE
_Frontispiece_, colored.
I. Tabular view of the genera of
Agaricaceæ 2
II. Leucosporæ. Chart of Genera 2
III. Progressive growth of Agarics 2
IV. Gill shapes 2
V. Ring shapes and positions; volva
shapes 2
VI. Colored 6
1. Amanita spreta 11
2. phalloides (white var.) 7
3. phalloides (brown var.) 7
4. muscaria 14
5. Frostiana 16
6. Gyromitra esculenta 546
VII. Section of Amanita phalloides showing
parts of an Agaric 3
VIII. Colored 18
1. Amanita chlorinosma 25
2. rubescens and section 21
3. strobiliformis 19
IX. Amanita muscaria. Half-tone 14
X. Colored 28
1. Amanitopsis vaginata 28
2. vaginata, var. livida 29
3. nivalis 29
4. strangulata 30
5. Mycena galericulata 127
6. prolifera 126
7. prolifera (section) 126
XI. 1. Lepiota procera. Section 33
XII. Colored 32
1. Lepiota Americana 48
2. naucinoides 45
3. cepæstipes 46
4. Amanita rubescens 21
XIII. Lepiota procera. Half-tone 34
XIV. Lepiota Morgani. Half-tone 36
XV. naucinoides. Half-tone 44
XV_a_. Americana 48
XVI. Colored 52
1. Armillaria mellea 55
2. mellea, var. exannulata 56
3. Lentinus lepideus 230
XVII. Armillaria mellea. Section 52
XVIII. Colored 60
1, 2. Tricholoma personatum 79
3. russula 65
4. terreum 71
5. columbetta 68
6. humile 81
XIX. Tricholoma (section) 59
XX. Tricholoma decorosum 67
XXI. Tricholoma rutilans 70
XXII. Tricholoma terreum 71
XXIII. Tricholoma imbricatum 73
XXIV. Colored 82
1, 2, 3. Clitocybe ochropurpurea 108
4. ochropurpurea (section) 108
5. maxima 99
6. maxima (section) 99
7. nebularis 85
8. amethystina 107
9. odora 90
10. laccata 107
11. infundibuliformis 100
XXV. Clitocybe clavipes 86
XXVI. Clitocybe media 87
XXVII. Clitocybe monadelpha. Half-tone 88
XXVII_a_. 1. Clitocybe multiceps 94
2. multiceps, var. 94
XXVIII. Colored 112
1. Collybia platyphylla 114
2. platyphylla, after rain 114
3. dryophila 120
4. fusipes 116
XXIX. Collybia radicata. Half-tone 112
XXIX_a_. Colored 96
Clitocybe illudens 96
XXIX_b_. Collybia velutipes 118
XXX. Collybia butyraceæ 117
XXXI. Collybia acervata 122
XXXII. Mycena galericulata 124
XXXIII. Hiatula Wynniæ 132
XXXIV. Omphalia umbellifera 132
XXXV. Pleurotus ostreatus. Half-tone 134
XXXVI. Pleurotus sapidus (section) 141
XXXVII. Colored 146
1. Hygrophorus pratensis (white var.) 152
2. pratensis (colored var.) 152
3. pratensis (after rain) 152
4. miniatus 159
5. cantharellus 156
6. virgineus 153
7. niveus 153
XXXVIII. Hygrophorus pratensis 147
XXXIX. Hygrophorus flavo-discus 157
XL. Hygrophorus fuligineus 158
XL_a_. Lactarius blennius 165
XLI. Colored 160
1. Lactarius piperatus 168
2. indigo 171
3. deliciosus 170
4. volemus 180
XLII. Lactarius hygrophoroides 180
XLIII. Lactarius subdulcis 182
XLIV. Colored 184
1. Russula cyanoxantha 198
2. emetica 201
3. flavida 197
4. sordida 190
5. roseipes 209
6. virescens 194
7. puellaris 208
XLV. Russula (section) 185
XLV_a_. Russula purpurina. Half-tone 188
XLV_b_. Russula brevipes 189
XLVI. Colored 214
1. Cantharellus floccosus 218
2. Morchella esculenta 542
3. Cantharellus cibarius 215
4. cibarius 215
5. brevipes 219
XLVII. Cantharellus cibarius 216
XLVIII. Cantharellus rosellus 218
XLIX. Cantharellus brevipes 219
L. Nyctalis parasiticus 220
LI. Marasmius oreades 221
LII. Lentinus (section) 228
LIII. Lentinus tigrinus 229
LIV. Panus torulosus 232
LV. Panus strigosus. Half-tone 232
LV_a_. Panus strigosus 234
LVI. Xerotus degener 237
LVII. Lenzites 238
LVIII. Trogia crispa 237
LVIII_a_. Schizophyllum commune 238
LVIII_b_. Colored 238
Rhodosporæ. Chart of Genera.
LIX. Volvaria bombycina. Half-tone 240
LIX_a_. Volvaria bombycina 240
LX. Volvaria volvacea 241
LXI. Colored 242
1. Pluteus cervinus 242
2. cervinus var. 245
LXII. Entoloma sinuatum 251
LXIII. Colored 254
1. Clitopilus abortivus 257
2. abortivus (aborted) 258
3. abortivus (aborted section) 258
4. prunulus 255
5. prunulus (section) 255
LXIV. Clitopilus prunulus 254
LXV. Clitopilus Orcella 256
LXVI. Leptonia 263
LXVII. Nolanea pascua 264
LXVIII. Eccilia atropuncta 265
LXIX. Eccilia carneo-grisea 265
LXX. Claudopus variabilis 266
LXXI. Colored 268
1. Hebeloma glutinosum 285
2. Pholiota caperata 270
3. squarrosa 273
4. subsquarrosa 275
LXXI_a_. Colored 268
Ochrosporæ. Chart of Genera.
LXXII. Pholiota præcox 272
LXXIII. Pholiota squarrosa 273
LXXIV. Pholiota adiposa 276
LXXV. Inocybe lanuginosa 281
LXXVI. Pluteolus reticulatus 282
LXXVI_a_. Hebeloma fastibile 284
LXXVI_b_. Flammula alnicola 290
LXXVII. Tubaria furfuracea 293
LXXVIII. Naucoria semiorbicularis 294
LXXVIII_a_. striapes 296
LXXIX. Galera tenera 300
LXXX. Bolbitius fragilis 303
LXXX_a_. Bolbitius nobilis 303
LXXXI. Crepidotus mollis 304
LXXXII. Colored 306
1. Cortinarius squamulosus 318
2. violaceus 314
3. ochraceus 319
4. Cortinarius turmalis 309
5. armillatus 323
LXXXIII. Cortinarius collinitus 313
LXXXIV. Cortinarius albo-violaceus 316
LXXXV. Cortinarius asper 317
LXXXVI. Cortinarius squamulosus 318
LXXXVI_a_. Cortinarius autumnalis 319
LXXXVI_b_. Cortinarius annulatus 320
LXXXVII. Cortinarius cinnamomeus 322
LXXXVIII. Cortinarius armillatus 323
XC. Paxillus involutus 328
XCI. Colored 332
1. Agaricus variabilis 346
2. silvicola 343
3. placomyces 345
4. campester 332
5. campester 332
XCII. Colored 330
Porphyrosporæ. Chart of Genera.
XCIII. Chitonia rubriceps 330
XCIV. Agaricus magnificus. Colored 342
XCV. Pilosace Algeriensis (section) 348
XCVI. Stropharia æruginosa 349
XCVI_a_. Stropharia semiglobata (section) 351
XCVII. Colored 352
1. Hypholoma appendiculatum 363
2. perplexum 354
3. sublateritium 359
4. Gomphidius rhodoxanthus 394
5. rhodoxanthus (section) 394
XCVII_a_. Hypholoma incertum. Half-tone 362
XCVIII. Hypholoma fascicularis 352
XCIX. Psilocybe spadicea 365
C. Psathyra gyroflexa 367
CI. Colored 368
Melanosporæ. Chart of Genera.
CII. Colored 372
1. Coprinus atramentarius 373
2. micaceus 378
3. Panæolus solidipes 385
4. solidipes (section) 385
CIII. Coprinus comatus. Half-tone 370
CIV. Coprinus macrosporus 375
CV. Coprinus fimetarius 376
CVI. Coprinus domesticus 381
CVII. Coprinus silvaticus 382
CVIII. Panæolus 384
CIX. Anellaria separata 388
CX. Psathyrella graciloides 390
CXI. Psathyrella disseminata 391
CXII. Gomphidius viscidus 394
CXII_a_. Boletinus paluster 401
CXIII. Boletinus porosus. Half-tone 402
CXIV. Colored 414
1. Boletus gracilis 467
2. subaureus 414
3. castaneus 472
CXV. Boletus spectabilis 408
CXV_a_. Boletus subluteus 412
CXVI. Colored 420
1. Boletus eccentricus 470
2. badiceps 436
3. fulvus 465
4. subsanguineus 420
5. crassipes 452
CXVII. Colored 424
1,2. Boletus bicolor 425
3. rubropunctus 429
4. pallidus 429
CXVIII. Colored 436
1. Boletus separans 445
2. Russelli 436
3. illudens 439
4. scaber areolatus 461,
463
5. edulis 445
CXIX. 1. Boletus edulis, var. clavipes 445
2,3. edulis 445
CXX. Boletus affinis 448
CXXI. Boletus scaber 462
CXXII. Colored 468
1. Boletus indecisus 468
2,3,4. felleus 469
CXXIV. Strobilomyces strobilaceus 475
CXXV. Colored 476
1. Fistulina hepatica 477
2. Polyporus sulphureus 485
CXXVI. Etching 478
1. Polyporus fumosus 479
2. Polystictus versicolor
3. Merulius corium 490
4. Polyporus perennis and section
5. Dædalea quercina
6. Fomes igniarius
7. Trametes gibbosa
CXXVIII. Polyporus frondosus. Half-tone 482
CXXIX. Polyporus intybaceus (section) 483
CXXX. Polyporus squamosus. Half-tone 480
CXXXI. Hydnum scabrosum 496
CXXXII. Hydnum repandum 497
CXXXIII. Hydnum albidum 499
CXXXIV. Hydnum coralloides. Half-tone 500
CXXXV. Hydnum caput-Medusæ 502
CXXXVI. Colored 508
1. Spathularia clavata 549
2. Peziza coccinea 559
3. aurantia 557
4. Cantharellus aurantiacus 216
5. Hypomyces lactifluorum 562
6. Hygrophorus coccineus 156
7. Craterellus sinuosus, var. crispus 510
8. cornucopoides 509
9. Cantharellus lutescens 218
CXXXVII. Sparassis crispa. Half-tone 512
CXXXVIII. Colored 522
1. Clavaria fusiformis 523
2. pistillaris (yellow var.) 524
3. Clavaria pistillaris (dark var.) 524
CXXXIX. Colored 516
1. Clavaria amethystina 516
2. aurea 520
3. formosa 520
CXL. Clavaria cinerea 518
CXLI. Clavaria cristata. Half-tone 518
CXLII. Clavaria circinans 522
CXLIII. Hirneola auricula-Judea 528
CXLIV. Tremella mesenterica 530
CXLIV_a_. Tremella mycetophila 531
CXLV. Tremellodon gelatinosum 533
CXLVI. Helvella crispa 536
CXLVII. Leotia lubrica 541
CXLVIII. Gyromitra brunnea 547
CXLVIII_a_. Gyromitra esculenta. Section 546
CXLIX. Morchella semilibera 545
CL. Mitrula vitellina 548
CLI. Geoglossum glutinosum 550
CLII. Peziza badia. Half-tone 554
CLIII. Tuber niveum (Terfezia leonis) 565
CLIV. Tuber æstivum 566
CLV. Pachyma cocos (Tuckahoe) 567
CLVI. 1. Lycoperdon, parts described (section) 568
2. echinatum 568
CLVIII. Phallus impudicus. Half-tone 572
CLIX. Mutinus caninus 575
CLX. Geaster hygrometricus 580
CLXI. Tylostoma Myenianum 582
CLXII. Calvatia cyathiformis. Half-tone 584
Lycoperdon cyathiforme.
CLXIII. Calvatia craniiformis 586
CLXIV. Calvatia elata 588
CLXV. Lycoperdon constellatum 592
CLXVI. Lycoperdon glabellum 595
CLXVII. Lycoperdon rimulatum 597
CLXVIII. Lycoperdon Wrightii, var. separans 604
CLXIX. Lycoperdon pedicellatum 600
CLXX. Lycoperdon eximium 601
CLXX_a_. Lycoperdon Curtisii 601
CLXX_b_. Lycoperdon Turneri 602
CLXXI. Lycoperdon pyriforme. Half-tone 602
CLXXII. Lycoperdon subincarnatum 604
CLXXIII. Lycoperdon pusillum 606
CLXXIV. Lycoperdon cepæsforme 606
CLXXV. Lycoperdon coloratum 607
CLXXVI. Lycoperdon acuminatum 607
CLXXVI_a_. Bovistella Ohiensis (section) 608
CLXXVII. Bovistella Ohiensis 608
CLXXVIII. Catastoma circumscissum 609
CLXXIX. Bovista minor 610
CLXXX. Scleroderma vulgare 615
CLXXXI. Polysaccum pisocarpium 618
CLXXXII. Mycenastrum spinulosum 613
PREFACE
A score of years ago (1880–1885) I was living in the mountains of West
Virginia. While riding on horseback through the dense forests of that
great unfenced state, I saw on every side luxuriant growths of fungi, so
inviting in color, cleanliness and flesh that it occurred to me they
ought to be eaten. I remembered having read a short time before this
inspiration seized me a very interesting article in the Popular Science
Monthly for May, 1877, written by Mr. Julius A. Palmer, Jr., entitled
“Toadstool Eating.” Hunting it up I studied it carefully, and soon found
myself interested in a delightful study which was not without immediate
reward. Up to this time I had been living, literally, on the fat of the
land—bacon; but my studies enabled me to supplement this, the staple
dish of the state, with a vegetable luxury that centuries ago graced the
dinners of the Cæsars. So absorbing did the study become from
gastronomic, culinary and scientific points of view, that I have
continued it ever since, with thorough intellectual enjoyment and much
gratification of appetite as my reward. I hope to interest students in
the study as I am myself interested.
For twenty years my little friends—the toadstools—have been my constant
companions. They have interested me, delighted me, fed me, and I have
found much pleasure in making the public acquainted with their habits,
structure, lusciousness and food value.
My researches have been confined to the species large enough to appease
the appetite of a hungry naturalist if found in reasonable quantity; and
my work has been devoted to segregating the edible and innocuous from
the tough, undesirable and poisonous kinds. To accomplish this, because
of the persistent inaccuracy of the books upon the subject, it was
necessary to personally test the edible qualities of hundreds of species
about which mycologists have either written nothing or have followed one
another in giving erroneous information. While often wishing I had not
undertaken the work because of the unpleasant results from personally
testing fungi which proved to be poisonous, my reward has been generous
in the discovery of many delicacies among the more than seven hundred
edible varieties I have found.
For ten years I have planned to publish in book form what I know about
toadstools; each effort to compile my information has shown me how much
more I ought to know before going into print. Even now my work is still
unfinished.
I am urged by my many toadstool friends (as I lovingly call those who,
from all over the land, send me specimens for identification, and grow
interested with me in the work), to publish what I already know upon the
subject, that they, and others, may have a helpful book to guide them to
a goodly portion of the edible species, and away from those that are
inedible or poisonous.
In this book I comply with these requests. I have selected over seven
hundred of the most plentiful and best varieties for the table, from my
toadstool bill of fare; and I describe and caution against several
species, some of which are deadly in their effects, if eaten; others of
which induce ill-effects more or less serious. One thousand species and
varieties are named and described.
Birds, flowers, insects, stones delight the observant. Why not
toadstools? A tramp after them is absorbing, study of them interesting,
and eating of them health-giving and supremely satisfying.
CHARLES MCILVAINE.
INTRODUCTION
America is without a text-book of the American species of Fungi, among
which the edible and poisonous varieties are found. Many excellent but
expensive foreign volumes describe species common to both continents,
and several special but widely scattered monographs have been published
here. The need of the mycologist, mycophagist and amateur toadstool
student is a book giving the genus, names and descriptions of the
prominent American toadstools whose edibility has been tested, or whose
poisonous qualities have been discovered. The absence of such a book,
and the universal and rapidly-growing interest all over the United
States in edible fungi, have led to the publication of the present work,
which includes every species known to be esculent in North America. As a
precautionary measure, full explications of all those known or suspected
to be poisonous are included.
Many species found in this country only have been described and named by
various authors, from the time of Schweinitz (1822) to the present day.
These have been published in the botanical magazines and in the papers
of scientific societies and colleges. The greater number have as author
Professor Charles H. Peck, New York State Botanist, who has contributed
an annual report each year from 1868. These appear in the reports of the
State Museum of New York, and coming from the pen of our ablest
mycologist are of great value to everyone interested in the study. The
classifications and (in many instances) modified descriptions by such an
eminent authority upon fungoid growth should therefore be the guides to
American forms, that the confusion created by numerous descriptions of
the same fungus by different observers may be avoided.
Professor N.L. Britton, editor of the Torrey Botanical Club, has
courteously given permission to use the descriptions of new species
given in its instructive Bulletins.
Professor A.P. Morgan and Laura V. Morgan, with equal courtesy, grant
the use of text and illustrations contained in the most complete
monograph published upon the Lycoperdaceæ (puff-balls, etc.) of America.
While the scientific classifications and descriptions have been strictly
followed, the language has been simplified—with no sacrifice of
scientific accuracy—that this volume may be fully adapted to popular
use.
Professor Peck has given his valuable assistance in the identification
of many species, all that were difficult or obscure having been
submitted to him, and the writer is deeply indebted to him for many and
long-continued courtesies, aiding in study and in the preparation of
this work.
Several new species have been found by the writer, the greater part of
excellent food value. He preferred that these should be named, described
and placed in their proper genus and section by Professor Peck,
believing it to be best for the discoverers of new species to defer to
one whose vast experience enables him to name and classify in accordance
with the demands of American species.
Where a species is vouched for as edible, it has been personally tested
by the author and his willing undertasters up to eating full meals of
it, or at least beyond all doubt as to its safety. Where others have
eaten species which he has not had the opportunity to test, their names
and opinions are given. When species heretofore under the ban of
suspicion are in this volume, for the first time, announced to be edible
(there are many of them), personal tests have not been considered
sufficient, as idiosyncrasy might have affected the results. Others, at
the writer’s request, have eaten of the species until their innocence
was fully established. In some cases, where the reputation of the fungi
eaten was especially bad, scientists of note have made elaborate and
exhaustive physiological tests of their substances, and in every
instance confirmed the human testing.
While species which contain deadly poisons are few, their individuals
are produced in great number. Nicety in distinguishing their botanic
variance from edible species closely resembling them is necessary. No
charm will detect the poison. Eating toadstools before their certain
identification as belonging to edible species, is neither bravery nor
common sense. The amateur should go slow.
The question often asked is: By what rule do you distinguish between
edible and poisonous mushrooms? The answer usually surprises the
questioner—there is no general rule. All such rules which have been
given are false and unreliable. The quality of each was learned, one at
a time. Sweet and sour apples alike grow on large and small trees, may
be red or green, large or small, oblong or globular, and no visible
appearance gives the least clue to the quality.
In a few genera certain rules may be applied, as in Clavaria--all not
bitter or tough are edible. But such generalizations are each limited to
its own genus.
The toadstools containing deadly poisons are thought to be confined to
one genus of the gilled kind—Amanita, and to Helvella esculenta, now
Gyromitra esculenta, to which are charged fatal results. The poisonous
qualities of Gyromitra esculenta are not proven. Recent testings of this
species prove it to be harmless and of good quality. By far the greater
number of species contained in Amanita are notable for their tender
substance and delicious flavor. By their stately beauty and unusual
attractiveness both the poisonous and harmless kinds are seductive. _Any
toadstool with white or lemon-yellow gills, casting white spores when
laid—gills downward—upon a sheet of paper, having remnants of a fugitive
skin in the shape of scabs or warts upon the upper surface of its cap,
with a veil or ring, or remnants or stains of one, having at the base of
its stem—in the ground—a loose, skin-like sheath surrounding it, or
remnants of one, should never be eaten until the collector is thoroughly
conversant with the technicalities of every such species, or has been
taught by one whose authority is well known, that it is a harmless
species._ This rule purposely includes the renowned Amanita Cæsaria,
everywhere written as luscious. I regard it as the most dangerous of
toadstools, because of its close resemblance to its sister plant—the
Amanita muscaria—which is deadly. In the description of these species,
other forcible reasons are given.
Another deadly species—the Amanita phalloides—is frequently mistaken by
the inexperienced for the common mushroom. Safety lies in the strict
observance of two rules: Never eat a toadstool found in the woods or
shady places, believing it to be the common mushroom. Never eat a white-
or yellow-gilled toadstool in the same belief. The common mushroom does
not grow in the woods, and its gills are at first pink, then
purplish-brown or black.
If through carelessness, or by accident, a poisonous Amanita has been
eaten, and sickness results, take an emetic at once, and send for a
physician with instructions to bring hypodermic syringe and atropine
sulphate. The dose is 1⁄180 of a grain, and doses should be continued
heroically until the 1⁄20 of a grain is administered, or until, in the
physician’s opinion, a proper quantity has been injected. Where the
victim is critically ill the 1⁄20 of a grain may be administered.
In every case of toadstool poisoning, the physician must be guided by
the symptoms exhibited. Professor W.S. Carter, by numerous exhaustive
trials upon animals, has proved that atropine, while valuable as against
the _first_, is not an antidote for the _late_ effects of the greater
toadstool poisons. (See his chapter on toadstool poisons, especially
prepared for this work.)
There are other species which contain minor poisons producing very
undesirable effects. These are soon remedied by taking an emetic, then
one or two doses of whisky and sweet oil; or vinegar may be substituted
for the whisky. A few species of fungi are innocuous to the majority of
persons and harmful to a few. So it is with many common
foods—strawberries, apples, tomatoes, celery, even potatoes. The
beginner at toadstool eating usually expects commendation for bravery,
and fearfully watches for hours the coming of something dreadful.
Indigestion from any other cause is always laid to the traditionary
enemy, fright ensues, a physician is called, the scare spreads, and a
pestilential story of “Severe Poisoning by Toadstools,” gets into the
newspapers. The writer has traced many such publications to imprudences
in eating, with which toadstools had nothing to do.
The authoritative analysis of several common food species by Lafayette
B. Mendel, of Sheffield Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Yale
University, is given, and will correct the popular error about the great
nutritive value of fungi, arising from previous erroneous analyses.
While species are reported as found in certain localities, it by no
means follows that their growth is confined to these places. A species
reported as found in the Adirondack mountains, unless belonging to the
few peculiar to northern regions and high altitudes, is reasonably sure
to be more plentiful in a like habitat south and west of them. South it
will appear earlier and its season last longer.
Size is largely dependent upon latitude and may vary greatly in the same
group. Temperature, moisture, favorable nourishment are important
factors in growth.
Each species has its favorite habitat, and will thrive best upon it.
There are few things under the sun upon which fungi do not grow. Their
mission is particularly directed toward converting decaying matter, or
matter which has accomplished its work in one direction, into usefulness
in another. They are the wood-choppers, stewards, caterers of the
forest, converters in the fields and chemists everywhere. They can not
assimilate inorganic matter because of the absence of chlorophyl in
their composition, but in organic matter they are omnivorous. When they
feed on dead substances they are called saprophytes; when their support
is derived from living tissues, parasites.
Scores of species of fungi were found in the forests, ravines and
clearings of the West Virginia mountains from 1881 to 1885 inclusive,
and eaten by the writer years before he had the opportunity to learn
their names from books or obtain the friendly assistance of experts in
identifying them. He knew the individuals without knowing their names,
as one knows the bird song and plumage before formal introduction to the
pretty creatures that charm him.
After he was able to get European publications upon the subject, and by
their aid trace the species he had eaten to their names, descriptions
and qualities, he was surprised to read that many of them were warned
against as deadly. As informed by these books, he properly ought to have
died several times. It soon became evident that authors had followed one
another in condemning species, some because they bore brilliant hues,
others because they were unpleasant when raw (just as is a potato),
rather than investigate their qualities by testing them. Here was a
realm of food-giving plants almost entirely unexplored. The writer
determined to explore it. Instead of the one hundred and eleven species
then recorded by the late Doctor Curtis as edible, my number of edible
species now exceeds his by over six hundred.[A]
Footnote A:
This book contains one hundred and fifty pages more than were
originally estimated and promised to the subscribers. That all known
edible and poisonous species might be fully described and published
within one volume, the author was compelled to cut fifty thousand
words from his manuscript. The localities from which species have been
reported and the names of the reporters have been taken out, excepting
where it was desirable to show that foreign species have been found in
the United States, and where tested species have been found by the
author. The principal cut has been from the notes of the author and of
enlarged descriptions.
Let us clear away the rubbish and superstition that have so long
obscured the straight path to a knowledge of edible toadstools. Let us
bear in mind that a mushroom is a toadstool and a toadstool is a
mushroom—the terms are interchangeable. If toads ever occupied the
one-legged seat assigned them from time immemorial, they have learned in
this enlightened age that the ground is much more reliable, and so squat
upon it, except when exercising their constitutional right to hop.
Snails, slugs, insects of many kinds, mice, squirrels and rabbits prey
upon good and bad, each to its liking, notwithstanding oft-repeated
assertion that snails and slugs infect noxious varieties only, or that
animals select the innocuous only. We are warned against those which
grow in the dark or damp; the mushroom of commerce is grown by the ton
in the subterranean quarries of France, and everywhere in vaults and
cellars for domestic use. The valued truffle never sees the light until
it is taken from darkness to be eaten, and other varieties of the best
prefer seclusion.
The wiseacres tell us that they must have equal gills, must not have
thin tops, must not turn yellow when sprinkled with salt, must not
blacken a silver spoon, that we must not eat of those changing color
when cut or broken, of those exuding milk, or those which are acrid,
hot, or bitter, and give many other specifics for determining the good
from the bad. These tests are all worse than worthless, for if
confidence is placed in them they will not only lead us away from
esculent and excellent varieties but directly into eating venomous ones.
There are whole genera of fungi which are innocuous; but in the Family
of Agaricaceæ, where the greatest variety of the edible and poisonous
species are found, it is necessary to master one by one the details of
their construction and learn to distinguish their differences as one
does those of the many kinds of roses, or pinks, or hundreds of
bright-faced pansies, and in the mastery of them lies the only charm
that will safely guide.
Carefully remove the first toadstool found from whatever it is growing
upon, and with it a portion of that from which it springs. If it is the
earth a curious white network is discernible, fine as the delicate
spinning of the spider, spreading its meshes throughout the mass. It
will often remind of miniature vines climbing over miniature lattices.
This is the mycelium from which the toadstool grew. In many instances it
penetrates the earth to a considerable depth, and takes possession of
large territory. It is often seen as the gardener turns up the soil or
its fertilizer, and is perhaps taken for a mold. If the specimen is
gathered from mat of wood leaves, the same white vine is observable
slipping in between its layers. If taken from a tree, the decaying wood
is traversed by it. From wherever a toadstool is plucked, it is removed
from its mycelium.
This mycelium is but a thread-like mass of simple cells joined together
at their ends and interlacing in a way a thousand-fold more intricate
than a Chinese puzzle. Nothing in its structure indicates what its
special product will be. The fungus which is plucked from it is in all
its parts simply a mass of these threads—cells strung together,
interlacing and ramifying.
When the season favors, the mycelium—which has, winter and summer and
from year to year, lived its hidden life, or has sprung from a
germinating spore—develops a number of its cells in a minute knob, small
as a pin head. At this point the cells make special growth efforts to
bring themselves within the favoring influences of heat and moisture;
this tiny knob labors within itself, producing cell after cell, which
takes shape and function for the future toadstool.
As it rapidly enlarges it pushes its way toward the surface of the
ground, becomes more or less egg-shaped in this stage of its growth, and
if cut in half longitudinally and examined, it will display what it is
going to be when it grows up.
Suppose that it belongs to the first of the two great sections into
which fungi are divided under the classification of Fries, who modified
that of Persoon. The first has the spores—which represent the seeds in
plants—naked, and it is called sporifera or spore-bearing. The second,
which has the spores enclosed in cells or cysts, is called sporidifera
or sporidia-bearing. If the cap of a gill-bearing toadstool be laid,
gills downward, on a watch crystal or piece of white paper for a few
hours, or, in some instances, a few minutes, a complete representation
of the spaces between the gills will be found deposited as an impalpable
powder. These are the spores.
The first section is divided into four cohorts. Two of these have
hymeniums or spore-bearing surfaces more or less expanded. These are
Hymenomycetes and Gastromycetes. In Hymenomycetes the hymenium is always
exposed in matured plants, as with the common mushroom. When young, some
plants are covered with a membrane. In Gastromycetes the hymenium is
always concealed within a covering which bursts at maturity, as with the
Lycoperdons or puff-balls. Cohort Coniomycetes includes rusts, smuts,
etc., formed for the most part on living plants. There is no hymenium
present. The spores are produced on the ends of inconspicuous threads,
free or enclosed in a bottle-like receptacle called a perithecium.
Cohort Hypomycetes is composed of those species of fungi commonly called
molds. The spores are produced, naked, from the ends of inconspicuous
threads.
In the Agaricaceæ—the first family in Hymenomycetes—the young plant is
completely enveloped. (Plate III, fig. B, p. 2.) Its head is as yet
undefined and its body may be classed as dumpy, but shut in and
protected are a great quantity of knife-like plaits (Plate III, fig. C.,
p. 2), on the outer surface of which, when the plant matures, will be
borne its spores. It therefore belongs to the Hymenomycetes, and to the
Family Agaricaceæ—gill-bearing.
If the ground becomes moist or there comes a heavy dew or a rain, the
young plant, closely compacted and very solid, which has been under the
surface for many days waiting its chance to get forth to light and air,
rapidly swells, breaks through the moistened earth, goes rapidly to
cell-making, ruptures its outside covering, the head expands and in so
doing spreads out its gills or hymenium. (Plate III, figs. C, D, E, p.
2.) The membrane which covered the gills either vanishes, or gathers
round the stem in the form of a ring or circular apron, or it may
partially adhere to the edges of the top, cap or pileus and hang as a
fringe from it; the stem elongates; the whole plant assumes the colors
of its species and in a few hours or days at most it stands forth, a
marvel of beauty, structure and workmanship.
But little is known of how these spores reproduce themselves. The
microscope fails to completely penetrate the mystery. A whole fungus is
but a mass of cells, the spore is but one of them. That these simple
cells do produce after their kind there is no doubt, but so minute is
the germ and hidden its methods that science has failed to solve them.
The first Family of Hymenomycetes is Agaricaceæ. Its members always have
gills or modifications of them. In some cases—notably in
Cantharellus—the gills have the appearance of smooth, raised veins over
which is the spore-bearing surface. The hymenium is but an extension of
the fibers of the cap, folded up like the plaits and flutings of
ruffles, and laundered with exquisite neatness. If it is carefully
detached and spread out like a fan it will cover a large surface, many
times the size of the cap from which it has been taken, and will show
that what is a consumption of material in dress ornamentation is
utilized by economical Dame Nature to increase the spore-bearing surface
within a small space and for purely business purposes—spore-bearing. The
color of these spores has much to do with the classification. The
microscope with high light reveals the delicate shades of their
coloring, but the main colors are readily distinguished by the naked eye
when the spores are collected in a mass on glass or paper.
The Polyporaceæ have in place of gills closely packed tubes on the
inside of which is the spore-bearing surface; each has a mouth from
which to eject the spores.
The Hydnaceæ bear their spores from spines or spicules of various length
protruding from the external surface of the cap. Sometimes the spines
mock in miniature the stalactites of the Caverns of Luray, sometimes the
shaggy mane of the lion, sometimes flowing locks of hair. These three
Families belong to the Cohort Hymenomycetes, having their spore-bearing
surface exposed early in life by the rupture of the universal veil.
The Lycoperdons or Puff-balls have the hymenium enclosed within an outer
case, just as the apple with its seeds is enclosed for a dumpling. When
the spores are matured the sack is ruptured and they escape as the dusty
powder so well known to all. The Puff-ball belongs to the Cohort
Gastromycetes, because its spores are protected within the hymenium
until they are matured.
There are other Families which contain edible species. The
Clavariaceæ—branched or club-shaped—often found in as beautiful forms as
delight us in coral, includes a few.
In Ascomycetes, of the covered spore division Sporidifera, there are
several species which are excellent, and as they dry readily are much
valued for flavoring purposes when winter forbids the growth of outdoor
fungi. Of these the Morell has preference. The cap is covered with
sinuosities and pits which bear the spores. There are several varieties
of the Morell in the United States. They are known among the country
people who cook and pickle them, as Honey-comb mushrooms.
The Tuberaceæ are subterranean fungi. The common truffle so much prized
by epicures is a good representative. It is found a foot or more under
the surface of the earth, and of such value is it that in some countries
pigs are trained to hunt it from its hiding place. It is one of the few
foreign growths apparently not taking kindly to our country. Efforts
have been made to import and cultivate it, but without success. It is
possible, even probable, that it may yet be found in America by
assiduous search.
I have said that there is but one way to distinguish the edible from the
non-edible fungi; that is by mastering the characteristics of each
species one by one. There are signs which point to the evil and those
which point to the good, but they must be used as signals, not
directors.
A nauseous, fetid odor should condemn a species as non-edible at once.
Those having the flavor of flour or fresh meal are generally accepted as
worthy of trial. Slimy, water-soaked, partially decomposed plants, or
those impressing one as unpleasant in any way, should never find their
place upon the table. Do not eat of any toadstool, unknown to the
collector, beyond the careful and systematic testing required to
determine whether it is edible or not.
A few species have a serious charge remaining against them; that of
partiality. They unmistakably signify with whom they will agree and with
whom they will not. These are notably Clitocybe illudens, Lepiota
Morgani, Panæolus papilionaceus, all specialized in their places in the
text.
Other species have hereditary taints upon their reputations. Most, if
not all of them have stood present tests and relieved themselves of
suspicion. But, alas that it should be so! The stigma must rest upon
them for yet a while and until their defenders are so numerous that
their purity, without a smirch, is popularly proclaimed.
Wherever wood grows and decays as it will, Polyporus, Panus, Lenzites,
Schizophyllum and kindred genera stand prominently forth in countless
numbers. The great majority of them are inedible because of their woody
substance. A few are valued as food. Very many of them yield their
soluble matter and flavor when boiled, and in this way make excellent
soups and gravies, just as flax-seed and the bark of the slippery elm
yield succulent matter. These, however, are not, with a few exceptions,
mentioned in this book. Numbers of Clavarieæ and Hydneæ are in the same
category. M.C. Cooke tersely says: “Fruits that are not peaches or
apricots may be very good plums.” In the introductions to genera their
attributes are given; under “Instructions to Students” every guide to
identification and selection will be found.
A Glossary, containing the botanic terms used in this book and, it is
believed, all other terms used by mycologists in describing fungi,
follows the descriptive text. It is strongly advised that it be
carefully studied. The roots and derivatives of the botanic terms are
fully and carefully given by Dr. John W. Harshberger, professor of
botany, University of Pennsylvania, to whom the author is specially
indebted.
The excellent Glossary published by Dr. Edwin A. Daniels, Boston, has
furnished many comprehensive definitions. It is the property of the
Boston Mycological Club, and can be obtained from its secretary for
twenty-five cents.
The determination of the proper accentuation of the generic and specific
terms has been in many cases a difficult task, and, in some cases, owing
to the dubious origin of the words in question, there is certainly room
for difference of opinion. This task has been kindly and conscientiously
performed by Prof. M.W. Easton, professor of Comparative and English
Philology, University of Pennsylvania. Thanks are due to the Hon.
Addison Brown, president of the Torrey Botanical Club, and Dr. Nathaniel
L. Britton, professor of Botany in Columbia College, authors of
“Illustrated Flora,” for the determination of the accentuation of
non-classical words ending in _inus_.
Three indexes are given: the first refers to the general contents, the
second to the genera, the third to species and their genera,
alphabetically arranged.
Mrs. Emma P. Ewing and Mrs. Sarah T. Rorer have kindly furnished some of
their recipes for the preparation of several varieties of toadstools.
The best results of the author’s long experience in cooking toadstools
are given in the chapter “Recipes for Cooking and Preparing for the
Table,” together with others selected from many sources. The personal
taste of the server must be guide to the choice.
A child-friend of the writer, in telling him of her mother’s cook, said:
“She’s a good cooker, but she has a bad temper.” A good “cooker” will
soon learn how to best display the individual flavor of each species.
And be it known that each species of toadstool has a flavor of its own.
These flavors vary as much as among meats and vegetables. No one species
can be taken as standard of excellence.
The greatest care has been taken to secure illustrations correct in
every botanic detail. With few exceptions the colored figures were drawn
and painted by the writer. To obtain this important feature the
requirements of art have frequently been sacrificed. An artist can make
a picture of a toadstool; the mycologist must guide his brush or pencil
in the making of a correct presentation. The happy combination of artist
and mycologist occurs in Mr. Val. W. Starnes, Augusta, Ga., to whom this
volume owes many of its illustrations. Mr. Frank D. Briscoe, widely
known as an artist of rare ability, has arranged and painted in groups
the studies made by the writer from typical plants, and added to the
illustrations many excellent drawings of his own.
The unfailing reliability of the sun has been masterfully used by Dr.
J.R. Weist, ex-Secretary of the American Society of Surgeons, Richmond,
Ind.; H.I. Miller, Superintendent Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad,
Terre Haute, Ind., and Mr. Luther G. Harpel, Lebanon, Pa., in making the
unexcelled photographs generously contributed by them. The author is
most thankful to them and to Mr. C.G. Lloyd, Cincinnati, Ohio—a
scientific gentleman devoting lavishly of his time and money to the
spread of mycological knowledge—for the privilege of selecting from his
extensive collection of realistic photographs those adaptable to the
species described herein.
The author’s thanks are gratefully given to the many who have by help
and encouragement furthered his efforts in producing this, the first
American text-book upon fungi. Space precludes the naming of the many,
but the few named do not outrank them in their interest, help and the
author’s appreciation:
Miss Lydia M. Patchen, President of the Westfield, N.Y., Toadstool Club
(the first in America); Mrs. E.C. Anthony, Thomas J. Collins, E.B.
Sterling, Berry Benson, Melvil Dewey, New York State Librarian; Dr. J.E.
Schadle, Prof. J.P. Arnold, University of Pennsylvania; Prof. W.S.
Carter, University of Texas; Boston School of Natural History;
Massachusetts Horticultural Society; Prof. Wm. G. Farlow, University of
Harvard.
Thus aided the author believes that his own conscientious, patient,
loved labor in the study of edible and non-edible fungi and the
production of this volume will be far-reaching in its one
object—encouraging the study of toadstools.
The time for writing a complete flora of the United States has not yet
come; a large part of the country remains as yet unexplored by
mycologists; new species are being constantly discovered in the
districts best known. Every book on the subject must be necessarily
incomplete.
On the other hand, so far as concerns the known fungus-flora, there is
imperative need of some guide to the student, which shall at least save
him some part of the weary toil of hunting through the scattered
literature in which alone, as things are at present, can be found the
information he seeks. In this book I have tried to meet this need. It is
not complete, but I have tried to so arrange the matter that the student
can always decide whether the particular specimen in hand is or is not
included, and, at least for all of our more conspicuous fungi, determine
the family and genus. If the student can do so much, the task of finding
the specific name, even when not included in this book, becomes very
much simpler.
So much for the more scientific aspect of my book. But I have also kept
in constant view the needs of the large and constantly growing number of
persons who have no aim further than to learn to know the principal
toadstools seen in their walks, just as they wish to know the principal
trees and the more conspicuous birds. For such as these, the difficulty
of deciding whether or no a particular individual fungus is described in
the brief (sketching) manuals hitherto accessible is even more
formidable than with the special student of botany.
Finally, I have kept in view throughout the work the needs of the
mycophagists. They are not pot-hunters; they care much less for the
physical pleasure of the appetite than for the close study of Nature
that their inclination leads them into. Some day the delights of a
mushroom hunt along lush pastures and rich woodlands will take the rank
of the gentlest craft among those of hunting, and may perchance find its
own Izaak Walton.
AUTHOR’S AND PUBLISHER’S NOTE.
It is the intention of the author and the publisher to keep this book up
to date. Recognizing that future testing will prove many more species of
toadstools to be edible, and that scientists will have more exact
knowledge of toadstool poisons and their antidotes, they announce that
illustrated sheets publishing new edible species and current information
upon fungi will be, from time to time, issued, conforming in shape and
style to this volume and at an acceptable price.
That the author and publishers may keep in touch with the owner of each
volume, and be informed of new discoveries in species and of new
experience, owners are requested to communicate their book numbers to
Captain Charles McIlvaine, or the Bowen-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
To catch fish one must know more than the fish; to find toadstools one
must know their season and habitats. They are propagated by their spores
and from their mycelium—that web-like growth which is the result of
spore germination.
The spores of ground-growing kinds, when shed upon the ground, are
washed by rains along the natural drainage; therefore, when a specimen
of one of these kinds is found, it is well to look up and down the
natural water-shed, and follow it. Good reward will usually come of it.
Few fungi are strictly solitary.
Careful observation of the habitats of the various genera and species
will enable the student to know what may and may not be expected in a
particular locality, and will save many a hunt.