on it red stains if the surface is previously moistened with water or
dilute alcohol. This is one of the smallest Russulas known to me. The
pileus was less than an inch broad and the stem less than an inch long
in all the specimens seen by me. The species is closely allied to R.
puellaris, and especially resembles the variety intensior in color. It
differs in its smaller size, even or but slightly striate margin, broad
lamellæ and in the stem or flesh not becoming yellowish spotted where
touched. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
West Virginia, 1881–1885. Pennsylvania, 1896–1897. July to September.
_McIlvaine._
It makes up in quality what it lacks in quantity.
=R. rose´ipes= (Secr.) Bres.—_rosa_, a rose; _pes_, a foot. (Plate XLIV,
fig. 5, p. 184.) =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, convex becoming nearly plane or
slightly depressed, at first viscid, soon dry, becoming slightly striate
on the thin margin, rosy-red variously modified by pink orange or
ochraceous hues, sometimes becoming paler with age, taste mild. =Gills=
moderately close, nearly entire, rounded behind and slightly adnexed,
ventricose, whitish becoming yellow. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, 3–4 lines
thick, slightly tapering upward, stuffed or somewhat cavernous, white
tinged with red.
=Spores= yellow, globose or subglobose.
The plants grow in woods of pine and hemlock and have been collected in
July and August. The flesh is tender and agreeable in flavor. _Peck_,
51st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= globose, minutely echinulate, pale ochraceous, 8–10µ diameter
_Massee_.
R. roseipes is common in West Virginia under hemlocks and spruces. At
Mt. Gretna, Pa., it grew sparingly under pines. It is excellent.
=R. Ma´riæ= Pk. =Pileus= fleshy, convex, subumbilicate, at length
expanded and centrally depressed, minutely pulverulent, bright pink-red
(crimson lake), the disk a little darker, margin even. =Lamellæ= rather
close, reaching the stem, some of them forked, venose-connected, white,
then yellowish. =Stem= equal, solid, colored like the pileus except the
extremities which are usually white. =Spores= globose, nearly smooth,
7.6µ in diameter; flesh of the pileus white, red under the cuticle,
taste mild.
=Plant= 2 in. high. =Pileus= 1.5–2 in. broad. Stem 3–6 lines thick. Dry
ground in woods. Catskill mountains. July.
The minute colored granules, which give the pileus a soft pruinose
appearance, are easily rubbed off on paper, and water put upon the fresh
specimens is colored by them. _Peck_, 24th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
New York, _Peck_, 24th and 50th Rep.; West Virginia, 1882–1885; Mt.
Gretna, Pa., solitary in mixed woods. July to September. 1897–1898.
_McIlvaine._
It is on a par with most Russulæ.
=R. ochra´cea= Fr.—_ochra_, a yellow earth. =Mild.= =Pileus= about 3 in.
across. =Flesh= rather thick at the center, becoming thin toward the
margin, pale ochraceous, soft; convex then expanded and depressed,
margin coarsely striate, pellicle thin, viscid, ochraceous with a tinge
of yellow, disk usually becoming darker. =Gills= slightly adnexed,
broad, scarcely crowded, ochraceous. =Stem= about 1½ in. long, 5–7 lines
thick, slightly wrinkled longitudinally, ochraceous, stuffed, soft.
=Spores= globose, echinulate, ochraceous, 10–12µ diameter.
In pine and mixed woods.
The mild taste and ochraceous color of every part, including the flesh,
separate the present from every other species.
Commonly confounded with Russula fellea, but known at once by its mild
taste. Agreeing most nearly with R. lutea in color, but differing in the
softer flesh, which becomes ochraceous upward; sulcate margin of the
pileus, and broader, less crowded gills. =Pileus= persistently
ochraceous, disk usually darker. =Stem= sometimes yellow, sometimes
white. _Fries._
North Carolina, borders of woods, _Curtis_; California, _Harkness and
Moore_.
Fries says that the flavor is mild, but Roze places it in the list of
suspected species, although he notes it as not acrid; it may be inferred
that he considers the flavor unpleasant. _Macadam._
“Like chicken,” not common. Boston Myc. Club Bull. 1896.
=R. lu´tea= (Huds.) Fr.—_luteus_, yellow. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad,
_yellow_, at length becoming pale, and occasionally wholly white, thinly
fleshy, soon convexo-plane or plano-depressed, sticky when moist, _even_
or when old obsoletely striate _at the margin_. =Flesh= white. =Stem= ½
in. long, 3–4 lines thick, stuffed then _hollow_, soft, fragile, equal,
even, white, never reddish. =Gills= somewhat free, connected by veins,
_crowded, narrow_, all equal, ochraceous-egg-yellow.
Always small, very regular, taste mild. _When young the pileus is always
of a beautiful yellow._ _Fries._
=Spores= yellow, echinulate, 8µ _W.G.S._; globose, rough, 6–7µ _C.B.P._;
8–10×7–8µ _Massee_.
Allied to R. vitellina, but differs in having the margin of the cap
even, and but little odor.
The plant I have so referred has the gills at first white and the stem
yellow like the pileus; it may be a new species. In beech woods,
_Morgan_; West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, in mixed woods, often
under beeches, August to November, _McIlvaine_.
The plants I have found have white gills when young (few species have
not), but rapidly become yellow. The stem is usually white when young,
and sometimes remains so, but often becomes more or less yellow.
It is a pretty species. The flavor is not as strong as in some species,
but is delicate.
=R. nauseo´sa= Fr. =Pileus= variable in color, typically _purplish at
the disk_, then livid, but becoming pale and often whitish, laxly
fleshy, thin, at first plano-gibbous, then depressed, viscid in wet
weather, _furrowed_ and somewhat tubercular at the somewhat
membranaceous _margin_. =Flesh= soft, white. =Stem= short, about 1 in.
long, 4 lines thick, spongy-stuffed, slightly striate, white. =Gills=
adnexed, ventricose, _somewhat distant_, here and there with a few
shorter ones intermixed, light yellow then dingy ochraceous.
The taste is mild, but also nauseous, as the odor often is. The habit is
that of R. nitida, of the same color of pileus, but differing in the
color of the gills. _Fries._
=Cap= about 2 in. across. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, ¼-½ in. thick.
=Spores= dingy yellow, 8–9µ diameter. _Massee._
North Carolina and Pennsylvania, _Schweinitz_; West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, in pine and mixed woods. August to October.
_McIlvaine._
The odor and taste of R. nauseosa are misnamed, therefore the plant.
They are heavy at times, when the plant is wet or old, as is the case
with R. f[oe]tens, but they are always of cherry bark. Both odor and
taste disappear in cooking. The species is as good as any Russula of its
texture.
=R. vitelli´na= Fr.—_vitellus_, yolk of egg. =Pileus= 1 in. broad,
_uni-colorous_, light yellow then wholly pallid, somewhat membranaceous,
at length _tuberculoso-striate_, somewhat dry, disk very small, slightly
fleshy. =Stem= thin, scarcely exceeding 1 in. long, 2 lines thick,
equal. =Gills= separating-free, equal, _distant_, rather thick,
connected by veins, saffron-yellow.
Pretty, very fragile, strong-smelling, mild. _Fries._
=Spores= 7–8µ diameter _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, August to October. In pine and
mixed woods, July to October. Not common in number.
This pretty species has a cherry-bark taste and smell like R. f[oe]tens,
though not so offensively heavy. It is not poisonous. A small piece of
it will affect a whole dish of other Russulæ.
=R. chamæleonti´na= Fr.—changing color like a chamæleon. =Pileus= 1–2
in. broad, thinly fleshy, soon flattened, sometimes oblique with a thin,
separable, viscid pellicle, which is at first flesh-color, then
presently changing color, becoming yellow at the disk and at length
wholly yellow, margin even, then slightly striate. =Stem= as much as 3
in. long, but thin, somewhat hollow, slightly striate, white. =Gills=
more or less adnexed, _thin, crowded_, equal, narrow, somewhat forked,
light-yellow-ochraceous.
Mild, inodorous, very fragile. =Pileus= _rosy blood-red, purplish
lilac_, etc. Sometimes even at the first yellowish at the disk. _Fries._
=Spores= globose, ochraceous, 7–8µ diameter _Massee_.
In pine and in mixed woods. August to October. _McIlvaine._
The change in color of the cap which gives name to this species is not
remarkable. Most species of Russulæ are sensitive to light. An otherwise
highly colored cap will be almost white when a leaf adheres to it. If in
youth it grows under dense shade it will be very much lighter than if
where light is generous, and will remain so. If in growing it thrusts
itself out of shadow, its color will change and it will deepen. The
apparent rarity of R. chamæleontina I think due to the close observation
necessary to detect its changes in color, which, as I have found it, are
by no means constant. It is quite plentiful in the pines of southern New
Jersey, and at Mt. Gretna, Pa., it is frequently found.
It is a good esculent species.
[Illustration]
=CANTHAREL´LUS= Adans.
_Gr_—a vase, a cup.
Hymenophore continuous with the stem, descending unchanged into the
trama. =Gills= thick, fleshy, waxy, _fold-like,_ somewhat branched,
_obtuse at the edge_. =Spores= white. Fleshy, putrescent fungi, without
a veil. _Fries._
[Illustration: CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.]
In Cantharellus the gills—vein-like and generally thick with an obtuse
edge—are entirely different from those of all the preceding genera. In
those they are thin, and distinct from the pileus and from each other.
In Hygrophorus the gills are frequently thick, but the edge is always
sharp. The species of Craterellus are funnel-shaped, resembling some of
those in Cantharellus, but are distinguished by their lack of evident
gills.
Monograph New York Species of Cantharellus, _Peck_, Bull. 1887.
The members of this genus are few, but they are choice. Of them is the
Cantharellus cibarius, of which Trattinik quaintly says: “Not only this
same fungus never did any one harm, but might even restore the dead.”
The writer first made its acquaintance when among the West Virginia
mountains in 1881. The golden patches of single and clustered cibarius,
fragrant as ripened apricots, tufting the short grass or mossy ground
under beeches, oaks and like-growing trees, through which the sunlight
filtered generously, were so tempting, that he determined there must be
luxury, even in death, from such toadstools.
Experiments made by the writer in West Virginia where the species grows
luxuriantly and is of much higher flavor than any he has found
elsewhere, prove that it is easy to transplant within congenial
habitats, either by the mycelium or spores. Nature, there, resorts to
washing masses of leaves containing the propagating parts of the fungus
along the depressions of the water-sheds, and it is found growing
plentifully where the wind has drifted forest leaves against trees,
brush, and fence-corners.
[Illustration: Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine.
PLATE XLVI.]
FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.
1. CANTHARELLUS FLOCCOSUS, 218 4. CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS, 215
2. MORCHELLA ESCULENTA, 542 5. CANTHARELLUS BREVIPES, 219
3. CRATERELLUS 508
CANTHARELLUS,
Other species of the genus do not, as a rule, grow so plentifully,
neither are they of equal excellence, but several of them are equal to
any other species. Suspicion has been thrown upon C. aurantiacus. There
is such a marked difference between the excellence of the genus in West
Virginia and other localities, that it is possible C. aurantiacus may be
noxious elsewhere, but the writer has not found it so; and it would be
an astonishing contradiction of Nature’s ways if it was.
Stevenson says: “It (C. cibarius) must have four hours slow cooking.”
The writer has found thirty minutes to be sufficient; and it will fry in
butter as quickly as any other fungus.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
MESOPUS (_mesos_, middle; _pous_, a foot). Page 215.
Stem central.
* Stem solid.
** Stem tubular.
PLEUROPUS (_pleura_, the side; _pous_, a foot).
Stem lateral.
RESUPINATUS (_resupinatus_, lying on the back).
Stem absent.
All the species known to be edible belong to Mesopus.
ME´SOPUS.
* _Stem solid._
=C. ciba´rius= Fr.—_cibaria_, food. (Plate XLVI, fig. 4, p. 214. Plate
XLVII.) =Pileus= fleshy, obconic, smooth, egg-yellow, slightly
depressed. =Gills= thick, distant, more or less branching and
anastomosing, concolorous. =Stem= firm, solid, often tapering downward,
concolorous. =Flesh= white.
=Height= 2–4 in., breadth of =pileus= 2–3 in. =Stem= 3–6 lines thick.
In open woods and grassy places. Common. July and August.
Edible. The smell of apricots is not always clearly perceptible in
American specimens. _Peck_, Monograph New York Species of Cantharellus,
Rep. 23.
=Spores= 6×8µ _W.G.S._; 7.6×5µ _Morgan_; spheroid-ellipsoid, 8–9×5–6µ
_K._; 11µ _Q._
Reported from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Columbia river to
Louisiana. June to September.
Wherever grown C. cibarius is one of the best. In European countries it
is highly rated, and is expensive. Its mode of growth varies with its
plentifulness. In the West Virginia mountains large patches of it
closely cover the ground. Clusters weighing ½ pound are frequent.
(Plate XLVII.)
[Illustration: CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.]
When shredded, or cut across the fibers, slow cooking for half an hour
is sufficient, if the plants are fresh. If gathered for some hours, they
should be soaked for a time.
=C. mi´nor= Pk. =Pileus= fleshy, thin, convex then expanded and
depressed, egg-yellow. =Gills= very narrow, distant, sparingly branched,
yellowish. =Stem= slender, subflexuous, equal, smooth, hollow or
stuffed, concolorous.
=Height= 1–2 in., breadth of pileus 6–12 lines.
In open woods. July. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= 6.4–7.6×4–5µ _Peck_.
West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania. _McIlvaine._
Grows in the West Virginia mountains, along with C. cibarius, and
separate from it. It is more tender than C. cibarius, and not equal in
flavor to those found there. I usually cooked them together and thus got
quantity well flavored.
=C. auranti´acus= Fr.—orange-yellow. (Plate CXXXVI, fig. 4, p. 508.)
=Pileus= fleshy, obconic, nearly plane above, smooth or minutely
tomentose, dull orange with the disk usually brownish, the margin
decurved and sometimes yellowish. =Gills= narrow, close, repeatedly
forked, orange, sometimes yellowish. =Stem= inequal, generally tapering
upward, colored like the pileus. =Flesh= yellowish, taste mild.
=Height= 2–3 in., breadth of =Pileus= 1–3 in. =Stem= 2–4 lines thick.
Ground and very rotten logs in woods or in fields. Common. _Peck_, 23d
Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= 6.4–7.6×4–5µ Peck, 10×5µ _Massee_.
Var. _pallidus_ Pk. =Pileus= and gills pale yellow or whitish yellow.
Stevenson says of the English species, “Unpleasant, reckoned poisonous.”
The writer’s acquaintance with C. aurantiacus has been principally
confined to West Virginia. There its taste is mild, scent but little,
flavor not distinguishable from eastern C. Cibarius. There it is
perfectly safe and wholesome; neither have the writer and his friends
any reason for condemning it.
=C. umbona´tus= Fr.—having an umbo. =Pileus= 1 in. and more broad,
_ashy-blackish_, slightly fleshy, convex when young, _umbonate, at
length depressed_, even, dry, _flocculoso_-silky on the surface, shining
brightly especially under a lens. =Flesh= soft, white, often becoming
red when wounded. =Stem= 3 in. long, about 4 lines thick, _stuffed_,
equal, elastic, villous at the base, _ash-colored_, but paler than the
pileus. =Gills= decurrent, thin, tense and straight, _crowded_,
repeatedly divided by pairs, _shining-white_.
Odor and taste scarcely notable. Gregarious. Among the taller mosses the
stem is longer. Often overlooked from its habit being that of an agaric.
It varies with the pileus squamulose and blackish.
In woods. April to August. _Fries._
The rather prominent gills of this small species are likely to confuse
those not familiar with its variance from the genuine type. Reddish
tinge to flesh not noticed in the American species. The writer has
gathered it in several states and enjoyed it for many years.
(Plate XLVIII.)
[Illustration:
CANTHARELLUS ROSELLUS.
Natural size.
]
=C. rosel´lus= Pk.—rosy. =Pileus= thin, funnel-shaped, regular,
glabrous, pale pinkish-red. =Flesh= white. =Gills= narrow, close,
dichotomous, deeply decurrent, whitish, tinged with pink. =Stem= equal,
slender, solid, subglabrous, often flexuous, colored like the pileus.
=Spores= minute, broadly elliptical, 3.5×2.5µ.
=Pileus= 4–8 lines broad. =Stem= about 1 in. long, scarcely 1 line
thick.
Mossy ground in groves of balsam. North Elba. September. This small
species belongs to the section Agaricoides, and is apparently closely
allied to C. albidus, from which its smaller size and different color
distinguish it. The pileus is sometimes deeply umbilicate. _Peck_, 42d
Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Frequent in pine woods of New Jersey, near Haddonfield, where the plant
is sturdier than described. Though small it grows gregarious and in
troops from which appetizing quantities can be gathered.
It makes a pretty dish of pinkish hue and one of rare excellence.
=C. lutes´cens= Bull.—yellowish. (Plate CXXXVI, fig. 9, p. 508.)
=Pileus= thin, fleshy, convex, umbilicate, brownish-floccose, yellowish.
=Gills= very distant, sparingly branched, arcuate-decurrent, pale
ochraceous. =Stem= slender, slightly tapering downward, smooth, shining,
bright orange-tinted yellow, stuffed or hollow.
=Height= 2–3 in., breadth of =Pileus= 8–15 lines.
Mossy ground in woods. Catskill and Adirondack mountains, also Sandlake.
August to October.
This is regarded by some as a variety of A. tubæformis. _Peck_, 23d Rep.
N.Y. State Bot.
In mixed and scrub-pine woods near Haddonfield, N.J.; mixed woods Angora
and Kingsessing, Philadelphia.
Perhaps constancy to C. cibarius has influenced the writer in favor of
members of its family, and accounts for the gusto in “Fine” set opposite
his notes to the present species. Nevertheless such is his opinion.
** _Stem tubular._
=C. flocco´sus= Schw.—woolly. (Plate XLVI, fig. 1, p. 214.) =Pileus=
fleshy, elongated funnel-form or trumpet shape, floccose-squamose,
ochraceous-yellow. =Gills= vein-like, close, much anastomosing above,
long decurrent and subparallel below, concolorous. =Stem= very short,
thick, rarely deeply rooting.
=Height= 2–4 in., breadth of =Pileus= at the top 1–3 in.
Woods and their borders. Not rare. Utica, _Johnson_. Albany and
Sandlake. July and August. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= 12.5–15×7.6µ _Peck_.
New York, _Peck_, Rep. 23; Maine, _Mrs. Stella F. Fairbanks_; West
Virginia, _McIlvaine_.
A beautiful species of good quality.
(Plate XLIX.)
[Illustration:
CANTHARELLUS BREVIPES.
Small plant, two-thirds natural size.
]
=C. bre´vipes= Pk.—_brevis_, short; _pes_, a foot. (Plate XLVI, fig. 5,
p. 214.) =Pileus= fleshy, obconic, glabrous, alutaceous or dingy
cream-color, the thin margin erect, often irregular and lobed, tinged
with lilac in the young plant; folds numerous, nearly straight on the
margin, abundantly anastomosing below, pale umber tinged with lilac.
=Stem= short, tomentose-pubescent, ash-colored, solid, often tapering
downward. =Spores= yellowish, oblong-elliptical, uninucleate, 10–12µ×5µ.
=Plant= 3–4 in. high. =Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 4–6 lines thick.
Woods. Ballston, Saratoga county. July.
This interesting species is related to the C. floccosus, both by its
short stem and its abundantly anastomosing folds. The two species should
be separated from the others and constitute a distinct section. The
flesh in C. brevipes is soft and whitish, and the folds are generally
thinner than in C. floccosus. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Plentiful in West Virginia mountains in 1884, growing in patches. Found
in mixed woods near Cheltenham, Pa., and at Springton, Pa., 1887.
In West Virginia it is prolific and rivals the C. cibarius in
excellence. The flesh is softer, not so fibrous, and cooks more readily.
In that locality there is a marked difference between C. brevipes and C.
floccosus. The latter is much longer, and markedly resembles the large
end of a gold lined cornet. Like the C. cibarius it is not of as good
quality in eastern states.
[Illustration]
=NYC´TALIS= Fr.
_Gr_—night. From inhabiting dark places.
(Plate L.)
[Illustration: NYCTALIS PARASITICUS.]
Hymenophore continuous with the stem. =Gills= fleshy, thick, juicy,
obtuse at the edge, not decurrent on the stem nor fold-like. =Veil= (in
species which have been fully observed) floccoso-pruinose.
_Fleshy fungi, not reviving, of uncertain and irregular occurrence,
differing in many respects from one another and from the rest of the
Agaricini._ _Fries._
The typical species are saprophytic on decaying fungi. But one species,
Nyctalis asterophora, reported in America. See _Peck_, 26th Rep. N.Y.
State Bot.
=MARAS´MIUS= Fr.
_Gr_—to wither or shrivel.
(Plate LI.)
[Illustration:
MARASMIUS OREADES.
About one-half natural size.
]
=Pileus= regular, thin, tough and pliant. =Gills= pliant, rather tough,
somewhat distant, variously attached or free, with an acute entire edge.
=Stem= cartilaginous or horny, continuous with the pileus but of
different texture. Not putrescent but drying up with lack of moisture,
reviving and assuming the original form with the advent of rain. This
character distinguishes Marasmius from all other genera of Agaricaceæ.
Its nearer relations are Collybia and Mycena.
Fries says that all Agaricaceæ having the smell of garlic are found in
this genus. On the ground, but generally on wood or leaves.
Professor Peck reports over forty species of this genus found in New
York state. Several not found in New York are reported from other
states. The writer has found a few such species in Pennsylvania and West
Virginia. Many untried species will probably prove to be edible; the
majority are too small to be of food value. M. urens, reported
poisonous, and M. peronatus, heretofore considered poisonous, have been
found by the writer to be edible. Several species not described herein
have been tested for edibility to a limited extent only.
In this genus occurs the famed M. oreades, the Mousseron of France, the
Champignon and Scotch bonnet of England, the Fairy-ring mushroom of
America.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
COLLYBIA (inclining to Collybia). Page 223.
=Flesh= of pileus pliant, at length rather leathery, grooved or
wrinkled, margin incurved at first. =Stem= somewhat cartilaginous;
mycelium woolly, absent in some species.
_A._ SCORTEI (_scorteus_, leathery). Page 223.
Stem solid or stuffed, then hollow, fibrous within, outside covered with
down. Gills separating from the stem, free.
* Base of stem woolly or strigose.
** Stem naked at the base, often interwoven with twisted fibers.
_B._ TERGINI (_terginus_, leathery). Page 225.
Stem rooting, distinctly _tubular_, not _fibrous_, distinctly
_cartilaginous_. Gills receding then free. Pileus thinner than in the
preceding group, hygrophanous, even or with the margin striate.
* Stem woolly below, smooth above.
** Stem when dry covered with velvety down.
_C._ CALOPODES (_Gr_—beautiful; _Gr_—a foot). Page 226.
Stem short, not rooting, often with a floccose or downy, tubercular
base. Pileus convex, involute, then plane and more or less depressed, in
which state the gills typically adnate are subdecurrent. On twigs,
branches, etc. Gregarious.
* Stem quite smooth above, shining, base not swollen.
** Stem covered with velvety down, rather swollen at the base.
MYCENA (inclining to Mycena). Page 227.