ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
GYMNOTI (naked). Page 288.
Pileus dry, generally scaly. Spores not yellowish.
LUBRICI (_lubricus_, slimy). Page 289.
Pileus covered with a continuous, _viscid_, smooth, partly separable
cuticle. Veil fibrillose. Spores not yellowish. Gregarious, on the
ground, rarely on wood. Distinguished from Hebeloma by the gills not
being sinuate and the top of the stem not mealy.
UDI (_udus_, moist). Page 290.
Veil slight, generally hanging in fragments. Cuticle of the pileus
continuous, not separable, smooth, in places superficially downy, moist
or slightly viscid in rainy weather. Spores not yellowish. Cespitose,
growing on wood.
SAPINEI (_sapinus_, pine). Page 291.
Veil silky, very slight, adpressed to the stem or forming a silky ring
on it. Cuticle of pileus thin, the flesh splitting at the surface into
scales, not viscid. Distinguished by the gills and spores being light
yellow or tawny. Somewhat cespitose; always on pine or on the ground
among pine branches.
SERICELLI (_sericeus_, silky).
Cuticle of the pileus slightly silky, dry or at the first viscid.
None known to be edible.
The genus Flammula is not represented in our territory by a large number
of species. It is, nevertheless, not very sharply distinct from the
allied genera, Pholiota, Hebeloma and Naucoria. From Pholiota it is
especially separated by the slight development of the veil which is
merely fibrillose or entirely wanting. It never forms a persistent
membranous collar on the stem. From Hebeloma it may be distinguished by
the absence of a sinus at or near the inner extremity of the gills, by
the absence of white particles or mealiness from the upper part of the
stem and by the brighter or more distinctly rusty or ochraceous color of
the spores. From Naucoria the fleshy or fibrously fleshy stem affords
the most available distinguishing character. The genus belongs to the
Ochrosporæ or ochraceous-spored series, but the spores of its species
vary in color from ochraceous or tawny-ochraceous to rust-color or
brownish-rust color. The three things to be especially kept in mind in
order to recognize the species are the color of the spores, the adnate
or decurrent but not clearly sinuate gills and the fleshy or fibrously
fleshy stem without a membranous ring.
Our species are mostly of medium size, none being very small and one
only meriting the appellation large. They appear chiefly in late summer
or in autumn and grow in woods or in wooded regions either on the ground
or more often on decaying wood. Many are gregarious or cespitose in
their mode of growth. Some have a bitterish or unpleasant flavor and
none of our species has yet been classed as edible. Fries arranged the
species in five groups, of which the names and more prominent characters
are here given. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
The few species which the writer has found to be edible, and the two new
species found by him, were tested after the publication of the above.
Several of the species found are not mentioned herein for the reason
that a sufficient quantity was not obtained to make certain their
quality as a food. The bitterness, as far as observed, with which most
of the species are tainted disappears in cooking.
GYMNO´TI. Veil absent, pileus dry, etc.
=F. alie´na= Pk. =Pileus= thin, flexible, broadly convex, umbilicate,
dry, bare, slightly striate on the margin when old, grayish or pale
grayish-brown. =Flesh= white, fibrous. =Gills= thin, subdistant,
bow-shaped, decurrent, ochraceous-brown. =Stem= firm, fibrous-striate,
solid, slightly tapering upward, colored like the pileus, covered at the
base with a dense white tomentum. =Spores= rusty-brown, globose, 5µ
broad.
=Pileus= 3–5 cm. broad. =Stem= 5 cm. long, 4–6 mm. thick.
Gregarious on partly burned anthracite coal, Mt. Gretna, Pa. September.
_C. McIlvaine._
The species is peculiar in its color and habitat. In the dried specimen
the gills have assumed a brown color with no ochraceous tint. Mr.
McIlvaine remarks that it is an edible species, dries well, and is
excellent when cooked. Its relationship is with F. anomala Pk., but it
is a larger plant with darker color and a different habitat. _Peck_,
Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899.
It grows on partly _burned_ anthracite coal, not _buried_, as printed in
the Torrey Bulletin. The mycelium completely involves the pieces of
coal, holding them tightly in its meshes. Patches of it were strictly
limited to the size of the ash-pile containing the partly burned coal.
Quite fifty were found.
As stated, it is edible, and it is of remarkably fine substance for a
Flammula.
LU´BRICI. Pileus viscid, etc.
=F. edu´lis= Pk.—eatable. =Pileus= fleshy, convex, obtuse, glabrous,
moist, brown, grayish-brown or yellowish-brown, sometimes rimose.
=Flesh= whitish. =Lamellæ= rather broad, close, decurrent, bright tan
color, becoming brownish-rusty. =Stems= cespitose, equal, stuffed or
hollow, brown. =Spores= subelliptical, 13×5–6µ.
=Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 3–6 lines thick.
Grassy ground, along pavements, in gutters and by the side of wooden
frames of hotbeds. Haddonfield, N.J. October. _C. McIlvaine._
The collector of this species informs me that the flavor of the fresh
plant is slightly bitter, but that this disappears in cooking and the
fungus furnishes a very good and tender article of food. Successive
crops continued to appear for a month. In the dried specimens the stem
is striate. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 24, No. 3.
This new species appears annually in the same place. I have not found it
elsewhere. It is meaty and excellent.
UDI. Pileus smooth, not viscid; veil fragmentary, etc.
(Plate LXXVI_b_.
[Illustration:
FLAMMULA ALNICOLA.
Two-thirds natural size.
]
=F. alni´cola= Fr.—_alnus_, alder; _colo_, to inhabit. =Pileus= 2–3 in.
broad, _yellow_, at length becoming rust-color and sometimes green,
fleshy, convex then flattened, obtuse, slimy when moist, but not truly
viscous, at the first superficially fibrillose toward the margin.
=Flesh= not very compact, of the same color as the pileus. =Stem= 2–3
in. and more long, ½ in. thick, _stuffed then hollow_, attenuato-rooted,
commonly curved-flexuous, _fibrillose_, at first yellow, then becoming
rust-color. =Veil= _manifest_, sometimes fibrillose, sometimes woven
into a spider-web veil. =Gills= somewhat adnate, broad, plane, at first
_dingy-pallid_ or yellowish-pallid, at length together with the
plentiful spores rust-colored.
The gills vary decurrent and rounded according to situation. Odor and
taste bitter. There are two forms: _a._ Pileus irregular, fibrillose
round the margin; gills at first dingy-pallid. _b._ Salicicola, pileus
somewhat convex, smooth, rarely at the first downy-scaly; gills at first
yellowish-pallid. _Fries._
=Spores= subelliptical, 8×5µ _K._; 8–10×5–6µ _Peck_.
New York, swampy woods about base of alders, October, _Peck_, Rep. 35;
at base of alders, with adnate gills, and on birch stumps, with the
gills rounded behind, Rep. 39. Mt. Gretna, Pa., New Jersey, mixed woods,
August to November, 1898, _McIlvaine_.
Gregarious and in loose tufts, not plentiful. It is a pretty plant,
usually of a bright yellow, sometimes darker at the center of cap.
Traces of an evanescent fibrillose ring are occasionally found or the
fibrils adorn the margin of the cap. The gills next to the stem are
either rounded, attached or slightly decurrent.
Raw the taste is slightly bitter. This disappears in long cooking.
=F. fla´vida= Schaeff. (Pers.)—_flavidus_, light yellow. =Pileus=
fleshy, thin, broadly convex or nearly plane, glabrous, moist, pale
yellow. =Flesh= whitish or pale yellow, taste bitter. =Lamellæ=
moderately close, adnate, pale or yellowish becoming rust-color. =Stem=
equal, often more or less curved, hollow, fibrillose, whitish or pale
yellow, with a white mycelium at the base. =Spores= 8×5µ.
=Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–3 in. long, 1–3 lines thick.
Decaying wood of various trees. Commonly in wooded or mountainous
districts. Summer and autumn.
Our specimens were found on wood of both coniferous and deciduous trees.
The plants are sometimes cespitose. The pileus becomes more highly
colored in drying. The spores are pale rust-colored approaching
ochraceous. In Sylloge the spores of this species are described as pale
yellowish. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= broadly elliptical, 6–8×5µ _Massee_.
New York, decaying wood, _Peck_, Rep. 32, 50; _Mrs. E.C. Anthony_,
August. West Virginia, 1881–1885; Mt. Gretna, Pa. August to October.
_McIlvaine._
F. flavida is a frequent species, gregarious and tufted on decaying
wood, either standing, fallen, or as roots in the ground. The texture
and substance are good. The slight bitter when raw disappears in
cooking. The caps, only, are tender.
SAPIN´EI. Gills and spores yellowish, etc.
=F. hy´brida= Fr.—_hybrida_, a hybrid. =Pileus= about 2 in. broad, at
first tawny-cinnamon, then tawny-orange, fleshy, hemispherical with the
margin involute, then expanded, obtuse, regular and well formed, even,
_smooth, moist_. =Flesh= moderately compact, pallid. =Stem= 2–3 in.
long, 4–5 lines thick, at first _stuffed_ with a soft pith, then hollow,
_attenuated_ (almost conico-attenuated) _upward_, whitish with adpressed
silky-hairy down (becoming tawny when the down is rubbed off) slightly
striate, with white hairs at the base, and somewhat mealy at the apex.
=Veil= _manifest in the form of an annular zone at the apex of the
stem_, white or at length colored with the spores. =Gills= adnate,
somewhat crowded, _light yellow then tawny, not spotted_. _Fries._
=Spores= elliptical, tawny-ochraceous, 7–8×4–5µ _Massee_; 6×4µ _W.P._
Mt. Gretna, Pa., August, September, 1898. On ground under pine trees.
Gregarious. _W.H. Rorer._ Not elsewhere reported.
This is a handsome plant, quite prolific in the large pine groves at Mt.
Gretna, Pa. The caps are of good flavor.
=F. mag´na= Pk.—_magnus_, large. =Pileus= fleshy, broadly convex, soft,
dry, fibrillose and somewhat streaked, pale yellow or buff, the margin
commonly becoming revolute with age. =Flesh= whitish or yellowish.
=Gills= close, adnate or slightly decurrent, often crisped or wavy
toward the stem, about three lines wide, ochraceous. =Stem= equal or
thickened toward the base, fleshy-fibrous, solid, elastic, fibrillose,
colored like the pileus, brighter yellow within. =Spores= subelliptical,
ochraceous, 10×6µ.
Cespitose. =Pileus= 4–6 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, 8–12 lines
thick.
About the base of trees. Westchester county. October.
This is a large and showy species. The stems are sometimes united at the
base into a solid mass. The young gills are probably yellow, but I have
seen only mature specimens. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
New Jersey, Trenton, ground in clearing, in pairs and singly. November,
_E.B. Sterling_; Mt. Gretna, Pa. Mixed thin woods. October to November.
Near trees. Cespitose, _McIlvaine_.
Individuals of all ages were found and eaten. The young gills are very
light yellow, darkening to a deep, rich yellow.
The caps are of good substance and flavor. When very young the stems are
edible.
[Illustration]
=TUBA´RIA= W.G.S.
_Tuba_, a trumpet.
(Plate LXXVII.)
[Illustration:
TUBARIA FURFURACEA.
Natural size.
]
=Stem= _somewhat cartilaginous, fistulose_. =Pileus= somewhat
membranaceous, often clothed with the universal floccose veil. =Gills=
_somewhat decurrent_. =Spores= rust-color or (in Phæoti) brownish-rust
color.
The species referred to this subgenus were taken from Naucoria and
Galera because they correspond with Omphalia and Eccilia. The pileus is,
however, distinctly umbilicate or depressed in only a few of them; the
others are placed here on account of their somewhat decurrent gills,
which are broadest behind and triangular. _Fries._
Small and unimportant.
[Illustration]
=NAUCO´RIA= Fr.
_Naucum_, a nut-shell.
(Plate LXXVIII.)
[Illustration:
NAUCORIA SEMI-ORBICULARIS.
Natural size.
]
=Pileus= more or less fleshy, conical or convex, then expanded, _margin
at first incurved_. =Gills= free or adnate, not decurrent. =Veil=
fugacious or absent, sometimes attached in minute flakes to the edge of
the young pileus. =Stem= cartilaginous, hollow or with a spongy
stuffing. Growing on wood or on the ground, sometimes rooted. =Spores=
various shades of brown, dull or bright.
Naucoria corresponds with Collybia, Leptonia and Psilocybe; from the
latter it is distinguished by the spore colors and from Galera in the
brown-spored series by the margin of the pileus being at first incurved.
“The spores are rust-color, or brownish rust-color. The color of the
pileus is some shade of yellow. The stem is not distinctly ringed, but
sometimes a slight spore-stained band marks the place of the obsolete
ring.” _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
The members of this genus are with two or three exceptions very common,
and common over the land. The greater number grow on the ground among
grass; a few grow upon decaying wood. The stems are not of the same
texture as the cap and frequently will not cook tender. The caps,
however, are, of all species tested, tender and of good flavor. Species
of the genus are among the first to appear in spring, and well reward
the enterprising mycophagist for his early tramps.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
GYMNOTI (_Gr_—naked). Page 295.
Pileus smooth. Veil absent. Spores rust-color, not becoming
dusky-rust-color.
PHÆOTI (_Gr_—dusky). Page 296.
Pileus smooth. Gills and spores dusky rust-color. Veil rarely manifest.
LEPIDOTI (_lepis_, a scale).
Pileus flocculose or squamulose. Veil manifest.
None known to be edible.
I.—GYMNO´TI.
=N. hama´dryas= Fr.—_Gr_, a nymph attached to her tree. =Pileus= 1½-2
in. broad, _bay-brown-ferruginous_ when young and moist, pale yellowish
when old and becoming pale, slightly fleshy, convex then expanded,
gibbous, even, smooth. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 3 lines thick, _somewhat
fragile, hollow_, equal, naked, smooth, _pallid_. =Gills=
_attenuato-adnexed_, somewhat free, slightly ventricose, almost 2 lines
broad, crowded, rust-color, opaque. =Veil= none. Widely removed from
neighboring species. Pileus _somewhat separate_ as in Plutei. _Fries._
=Spores= elliptical, rust-color, 13–14×7µ _Massee_.
Haddonfield, N.J. Frequent. Solitary. On ground along pavements, under
trees, in woods. Spring to autumn. _McIlvaine._
Massee gives it as hygrophanous. I have not found it so. It is moist
after rain and dew.
The caps and upper part of the stem are tender, easily cooked and of
good flavor.
=N. cero´des= Fr. _Gr_—wax. =Pileus= ½-1 in. broad, watery cinnamon when
moist, tan-color _when dry_, somewhat membranaceous, _convex bell-shape_
and flattened, at length depressed, _obtuse_, when moist smooth,
pellucid-striate at the circumference, _when dry_ even, _slightly
silky-atomate_. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 1–2 lines thick, slightly firm,
tubed, equal, somewhat flexuous, fibrilloso-striate under a lens,
_becoming dingy bay-brown_ sometimes for the most part, sometimes only
at the base, pallid upward, mealy at the apex. =Gills= adnate,
separating, _very broad behind_, hence almost triangular, _somewhat
distant_, broad, plane, soft, distinct, pallid then cinnamon very finely
fimbriated at the edge under a lens. _Fries._
The typical form, growing among damp mosses, is quite early, gregarious,
with the colors almost those of Galera hypnorum, but otherwise very
different. _b._ Another form occurs on naked, commonly burnt soil, in
late autumn, with almost the habit of N. pediades, but with a different
color of gills and spores; this form is firmer. =Stem= 1 in. long, tense
and straight, and color more ochraceous. _Stevenson._
=Spores= 9µ _B. and Br._; smooth, 6×3µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in grass and moss, along damp
wood margins. August to October. _McIlvaine._
N. cerodes is not plentiful where I have found it. Enough has been
collected at a time to prove it esculent. It is tender, but has not much
flavor.
(Plate LXXVIII_a_.)
[Illustration: NAUCORIA STRIAPES.]
=N. stri´apes= Cke.—_stria_, a line; _pes_, a foot. =Pileus= 1–1½ in.
broad, ochraceous, bell-shaped, obtuse, then expanded, smooth, even.
=Stem= 2–3 in. long, 2 lines thick, hollow, equal, erect or flexuous,
white, _longitudinally striate_. =Gills= slightly adnate behind, rather
distant, tawny rust-color.
_Cespitose_ or gregarious. Among grass on lawn. _Stevenson._
=Spores= narrowly elliptical, 10–12×4µ _Massee_.
New Jersey, Trenton. Growing among leaves near dump. May to November.
_E.B. Sterling._
The few specimens tested were delicate and of slight flavor.
II.—PHÆ´OTI.
=N. pedi´ades= Fr.—_Gr_, a plain. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, _yellow_ or
pale yellowish-ochraceous then becoming pale, slightly fleshy, convex
then plane, obtuse, even, dry, smooth, at length crookedly cracked, but
always without striæ. =Flesh= white. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 1–2 lines
thick, _stuffed with a pith, somewhat flexuous_, tough, equal, but with
a small bulb at the base, _slightly silky becoming even, yellowish_.
=Gills= adnexed, 2 lines broad, at first crowded, at length somewhat
distant, _somewhat dingy-brown, then dingy cinnamon_.
=Spores= brownish-rust-color. The small bulb at the base is formed by
the mycelium being rolled together. Stature variable. _Fries._
=Spores= dingy rust-color, elliptical, 10–12×4–5µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in grassy places, pastures and
along pavements. Common. May to November. _McIlvaine._
In 1897 Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, abounded with N. pediades, which
were collected and eaten by many. The caps are tender and of a mushroom
flavor.
=N. semi-orbicula´ris= Bull.—_semi_, half; _orbicularis_, round. (Plate
LXXVIII, p. 294.) =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, _tawny rust-color_ then
ochraceous, slightly fleshy, convexo-expanded, obtuse, dry, even,
smooth, corrugated when dry. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, scarcely beyond 1 line
thick, cartilaginous, tough, slender, tense and straight, equal, even,
smooth, becoming pallid _rust-color_, shining, often darker at the base,
_internally containing a separate narrow tube_ which is easily broken up
into fibrils. =Gills= adnate, rarely sinuate behind, almost 3 lines
_broad_, and many times broader than the flesh of the pileus, crowded,
_pallid then rust-color_.
The pileus is slightly viscid when fresh and moist. Easily distinguished
from S. semi-globatus, with which it has been confounded, by the stem.
_Stevenson._
=Spores= 14×8µ _W.G.S._; 10×5–6µ _Massee_.
Allied to N. pediades, distinguished by its viscid cap when moist, and
dark stem.
Common over the states. Washington, D.C., _Mrs. Mary Fuller_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey. Solitary,
sometimes cespitose, very common on lawns, rich pastures, etc. April
until frost. _McIlvaine._
This is one of our first appearing toadstools, coming up when the grass
shows its full spring hue. It is found after rains until the coming of
frost. Its hemispherical caps, precise, neat, dark gills and brown
spores readily distinguish it. While usually small, patience and picking
will soon gather quarts. The caps cook easily and are of excellent
flavor.
=N. platysper´ma= Pk.—_platys_, broad; _sperma_, seed. =Pileus= convex,
becoming nearly plane, glabrous, slightly tinged with ochraceous or
reddish-yellow when young, soon whitish, the margin at first adorned
with vestiges of a white flocculent veil. =Flesh= white. =Lamellæ=
moderately close, slightly rounded behind, pallid, becoming brownish.
=Stem= equal, stuffed with a white pith, slightly flocculent or
furfuraceous above when young, whitish, the mycelium sometimes forming
white thread-like strands. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 15µ long, 12.5µ
broad.
=Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5.5 in. long, 1.5–2 in. thick.
On the ground. Compton, Cal. _Prof. A.J. McClatchie._
This species differs from N. pediades and N. semi-orbicularis, to which
it is related, by its larger, broader spores and paler color. _Peck_,
Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 25, No. 6.
This new species reported from California is so closely allied to N.
semi-orbicularis and N. pediades, both of which are edible, that it is
here given, that it may be recognized by students on the Pacific coast
or wherever it occurs.
[Illustration]
=GALE´RA= Fr.
_Galerus_, a cap.
=Pileus= more or less membranaceous, conical or oval, then expanded,
striate, margin at the first straight, then adpressed to the stem.
=Gills= not decurrent. =Stem= somewhat cartilaginous, continuous with
the pileus, but differing in texture, tubular. =Veil= none or
fibrillose. =Spores= tawny-ochraceous.
Slender, fragile, generally growing on the ground.
Galera corresponds with Mycena, Nolanea, Psathyra and Psathyrella, which
are distinguished by their spore colors. In the brown-spored series
Naucoria is separated by the margin of the pileus being at first
incurved, and Tubaria by the decurrent gills.
The genus is composed of small species, but many grow in clusters, and
are of a consistency which decreases but little in quick cooking. Those
tested are delicate in texture and flavor.
=G. lateri´tia= Fr.—_later_, a brick. =Pileus= 1 in. high, _pale
yellowish when moist_, ochraceous when dry, hygrophanous, membranaceous,
_acorn-shaped then bell-shaped_, obtuse, even, smooth, slightly and
densely striate at the margin when moist. =Stem= 3 in. and more long, 1
line thick, tubular, attenuated upward, tense and straight, even, but
_white-pruinose, whitish_. =Gills= _adnexed_ in the top of the cone,
hence appearing as if free, ascending, very narrow, _crowded, cinnamon_.
=Gills= almost adpressed to the stem, almost pendulous. Remarkably
analogous with A. ovalis, but easily distinguished by the _linear gills_
and the absence of a veil; very fragile. _Fries._
=Spores= 11×5µ _W.P._; 11–12×5–6µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. On dung and
rich pastures. June to frost. _McIlvaine._
The narrow conical cap, distinctly striate, distinguishes this species
from G. tenera. In quality there is no difference. It is a
well-flavored, delicate species.
(Plate LXXIX.)
[Illustration:
GALERA TENERA.
Two-thirds natural size.
]
=G. te´nera= Schaeff.—_tener_, tender. =Pileus= ½ in. and more high, _of
one color, pallid rust-color when damp_, becoming pale when dry,
hygrophanous, somewhat membranaceous, _conico-bell-shaped_, commonly
smooth, slightly striate when moist, wholly even when dry, opaque,
somewhat atomate. =Stem= commonly 3–4 in. long, 1 line thick, tubular,
fragile, equal or when larger thickened downward, _tense and straight,
somewhat shining_, striate upward, of the same color as the pileus when
moist, and like it becoming pale when dry. =Gills= _adnate in the top of
the cone_, appearing _as if free_, ascending, somewhat crowded, _linear,
cinnamon_.
Pastures and grassy places in woods. Common. May to November.
_Stevenson._
=Spores= ellipsoid, 14–21×8–12µ _K._; 14–8µ _W.G.S._; 14×7µ _W.P._;
12–13×7µ _Massee_; elliptical, dark rust-color, almost rubiginous,
13–16.5×8–10µ _Peck_.
Var. _pilosella_ (Agaricus pilosellus Pers.), has both pileus and stem
clothed with a minute erect pubescence when moist. A form is sometimes
found in which the center of the pileus is brown or blackish-brown.
_Peck_, 46th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.