poisonous. _Boletus rubeolarius_ Pers., having a short bulbous scarcely
reticulated stem, is regarded as a variety of this species. The
red-stemmed Boletus, _B. erythropus_ Pers., is also indicated as a
variety of it by Fries. It is smaller than B. luridus, has a brown or
reddish-brown pileus and a slender cylindrical stem, not reticulated,
but dotted with squamules. It has been reported from California by
Harkness and Moore. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
Var. _erythropus_ received from Dr. J.W. Harshberger, Philadelphia, May,
1896.
Often shining as if varnished and very handsome. I frequently found it
in West Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in mixed woods among
leaves. Its reputation is bad. It is undoubtedly edible by many, and is
delicious. The caution heading Luridi should be carefully observed.
=B. purpu´reus= Fr.—purple. =Pileus= convex, opaque, dry, _somewhat
velvety, purplish-red_. =Flesh= in the young plant only becoming blue,
then dark-yellow. =Tubes= nearly free, yellow or greenish-yellow, their
mouths minute, _purple-orange_, changing to blue where wounded. =Stem=
stout, firm, adorned with purple veins or dots, sometimes reticulated at
the apex only, yellow, reddish within, especially at the base. =Spores=
greenish-brown, 10–12×5–6µ.
=Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, 6–8 lines thick.
Woods. North Carolina, _Curtis_; New York, _Peck_; Minnesota, _Johnson_.
_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
West Virginia, Mt. Gretna, Pa., _McIlvaine_.
At Mt. Gretna, Pa., 1897–1898, B. purpureus was common in oak and
chestnut woods. It is a showy species, easily distinguished by its
velvety cap. In young specimens the stem is robust, then tapering
upward. When old the cap loses its rich color toward the margin,
becoming yellowish. The flesh is thick, firm and of excellent flavor. It
undoubtedly proved itself delicious and harmless to many eating it.
=B. vermiculo´sus= Pk.—wormy. =Pileus= broadly convex, thick, firm,
_dry_, glabrous, or very minutely tomentose, brown, yellowish-brown or
grayish-brown, sometimes tinged with red. =Flesh= white or whitish,
quickly changing to blue where wounded. =Tubes= plane or slightly
convex, nearly free, yellow, their mouths small, round, brownish-orange,
becoming darker or blackish with age, changing promptly to blue where
wounded. =Stem= subequal, firm, _even_, paler than the pileus. =Spores=
ochraceous-brown, 10–12×4–5µ.
Var. _Spra´guei_. (Boletus Spraguei Frost, Bull. Buff. Soc., p. 102.)
=Stem= yellow above, minutely velvety below.
=Pileus= 3–5 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, 4–10 lines thick.
Woods. New York, _Peck_; Ohio, _Morgan_; New England, _Frost_.
The species is separated from B. luridus by its dry pileus, white flesh,
even stem, which is neither reticulated nor dotted, and by its smaller
spores. I can not distinguish specimens of B. Spraguei received from Mr.
Frost, from this species. The name is scarcely appropriate, for
specimens are not always infested by larvæ. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
I have not seen this species, therefore, have not tested it. CAUTION.
=B. subvelu´tipes= Pk.—velvety-stem. =Pileus= convex, firm, subglabrous,
yellowish-brown or reddish-brown. =Flesh= whitish, both it and the tubes
changing to blue where wounded. =Tubes= plane or slightly convex, nearly
free, yellowish, their mouths small, brownish-red. =Stem= equal or
slightly tapering upward, firm, even, somewhat pruinose above, _velvety
with a hairy tomentum toward the base_, yellow at the top, reddish-brown
below, varied with red and yellow within. =Spores= 15–18×5–6µ.
=Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Woods. New York, _Peck_.
This species resembles the preceding one in general appearance, but it
is very distinct by its much longer spores and by the velvety hairiness
toward the base of the stem. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
Boletus subvelutipes is common in some localities in Pennsylvania,
especially on the Springton Hills, in chestnut and oak woods. I have
frequently eaten it and found it excellent. Others should carefully test
it.
=B. fir´mus= Frost—firm. =Pileus= convex, _very firm_, slightly
tomentose, gray, often pitted. =Flesh= _yellowish or deep-yellow_,
changing to blue where wounded. =Tubes= _adnate_, deeply arcuate,
unequal, yellow, their mouths _tinged with red_. =Stem= solid, hard,
_very finely reticulated_, yellowish, reddish at the base. =Spores=
13×3µ.
=Pileus= 2.5–4 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 in. long.
Rich moist wood. New England, _Frost_.
Apparently a well-marked and very distinct species. According to the
author, it is readily distinguished by its tenacity and generally
distorted growth. I have not seen it nor the next. _Peck_, Boleti of the
U.S.
Professor Peck’s measurement of spores, 50th Report, New York State
Botanist, is 13µ long, 6µ wide.
=B. magnis´porus= Frost. =Pileus= convex, firm, tomentose,
_golden-yellow_; tubes _scarcely adnate_, even, greenish-yellow, their
mouths light cinnabar-red. =Stem= long, slender, yellow above, red
below. =Spores= 15–18×6µ.
=Pileus= 2.5 to 3.5 in. broad.
Woods and thickets. New England, _Frost_; Ohio, _Morgan_. _Peck_, Boleti
of the U.S.
I have not recognized it. CAUTION.
=B. Fros´tii= Russell. =Pileus= convex, polished, shining, _blood-red_,
the margin thin. =Flesh= scarcely changing to blue. =Tubes= nearly free,
greenish-yellow, becoming yellowish-brown with age, their mouths
blood-red or cinnabar. =Stem= equal or tapering upward, distinctly
reticulated, firm, blood-red. =Spores= 12.5–15×5µ.
=Pileus= 3–4 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, 3–6 lines thick.
Grassy places under trees or in thin woods. New England, _Frost_; New
York, _Peck_; New Jersey, _Ellis_.
This is a highly colored, beautiful Boletus, but it is not common. The
stem sometimes fades with age, and both it and the tubes are apt to lose
their color in drying. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
I have not recognized it. CAUTION.
=B. Sullivan´tii= B. and M. =Pileus= hemispherical, glabrous,
reddish-tawny or brown, brownish when dry, cracked in squares. =Tubes=
free, convex, medium size, angular, longer toward the margin, their
mouths reddish. =Stem= solid, violaceous at the thickened base,
red-reticulated at the apex, expanded into the pileus. =Spores= pallid
ochraceous, oblong-fusiform, 10–20µ long.
=Pileus= 3–4 in. broad. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long.
Compact soil. Ohio. _Sullivant._
The species is said to be intermediate between Boletus scaber and B.
edulis. From the former it differs in its reticulated stem, from the
latter, in its larger tubes and from both in its stratum of tubes being
remote from the stem. I have not seen it. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
=B. Un´derwoodii= Pk. =Pileus= rather thin, convex, becoming nearly
plane, slightly velvety, bright brownish-red, becoming paler with age.
=Flesh= yellow, changing to greenish-blue where wounded. =Tubes= adnate
or slightly decurrent, greenish-yellow, becoming bluish where wounded,
their mouths very small, round, cinnabar red, becoming brownish-orange.
=Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, somewhat irregular, solid,
yellow without and within. =Spores= 10–12 x 5µ.
=Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Grassy woods. Auburn, Alabama. July. _Underwood._
This species is remarkable for its adnate or subdecurrent tubes, in
which it departs from the character of the tribe to which it belongs
according to the colors of the tubes. _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club,
Vol. 24, No. 3.
=B. par´vus= Pk.—_parvus_, small. =Pileus= convex, becoming plane, often
slightly umbonate, subtomentose, reddish. =Flesh= yellowish-white,
slowly changing to pinkish where wounded. =Tubes= nearly plane, adnate,
their mouths rather large, angular, at first bright red, becoming
reddish-brown. =Stem= equal or slightly thickened below, red. =Spores=
oblong, 12.5×4µ. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 2–3 lines
thick.
Grassy woods. Auburn, Ala. July. _Underwood._ _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot.
Club, Vol. 24, No. 3.
VERSIPEL´LES—_verto_, to change; _pellis_, a skin.
=Tubes= at first white or whitish, minute, round, equal, forming a
convex stratum free from the stem.
Stem black B. alboater
Stem some other color 1
1. Stem yellow at the base B. chromapes
1. Stem not yellow at the base 2
2. Margin of the pileus B. versipellis
appendiculate
2. Margin not appendiculate 3
3. Stem scabrous or B. scaber
punctate-squamulose
3. Stem even 4
4. Pileus white or whitish B. albellus
4. Pileus dark-brown B. sordidus
_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
=B. alboa´ter= Schw.—black and white. =Pileus= convex,
subtomentose-velvety, black. =Tubes= free, their mouths rather small,
white. =Stem= black.
=Pileus= 3 in. broad. =Stem= 2 in. long.
Moist woods. Frequent. North Carolina and Pennsylvania, _Schweinitz_.
In Epicrisis, p. 424, Fries adds to the description here quoted, that
the stem is flocculose-veiled. He subjoins to this as a subspecies,
Boletus floccosus Schw.; but in Syn. N.A. Fung., Schweinitz makes this a
synonym of Boletus floccopus. The species does not appear to have been
recognized by recent collectors, which seems strange unless there is
some error concerning it. Can it be a black variety of Boletus scaber?
_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
Mt. Gretna, Pa. Gravelly woods. _McIlvaine._
Cap 1½-4 in. across, convex, slightly depressed, _margin involute when
young_, black, densely velvety in youth and age—beautifully so. =Flesh=
firm, thick, solid, white changing to grayish. =Tubes= white, stuffed,
sometimes blackish when young, excepting a grayish-white circle around
stem, becoming yellowish-white when matured, rotund, minute, up to ½ in.
long, plane when young; when caps expand tubes draw away from stem
leaving a deep white depression. This drawing away apparently elongates
many dissepiments, creating a gill-like effect, decurrent upon stem.
=Stem= 2–3 in. long, swollen toward base when young, equal, expanding
into cap and tapering to a point at base; ¾-1 in. thick, slightly
compressible, hard, sooty-black, velvety near base, satiny and glossy
upward, has the appearance of having been blackened with burnt cork,
usually with narrow white band next to the tubes, no trace of veil,
composed of rather hard waved fibers, white when split, but changing to
sooty black toward base, lighter upward.
Smell like common mushroom; taste nutty.
Gregarious in sandy-conglomerate soil in mixed woods, among moss and
leaves. Mt. Gretna, Pa.
Differs from B. alboater Schw., in having densely tomentose cap, tubes
widely separated from stem in age.
A young specimen of apparently same species in same patch had very
short, decurrent tubes (not over 1 line) which were sooty-black.
Delicious.
=B. sor´didus= Frost—sordid. =Pileus= convex, subtomentose, dirty
dark-brown. =Flesh= white, slightly tinged with green. =Tubes= long,
nearly free, at first white, changing to bluish-green. =Stem= smaller at
the top, brownish, marked with darker streaks, generally greenish above.
=Spores= 10–13×5µ.
=Pileus= about 2 in. broad.
Recent excavations in woods. New England, _Frost_; Ohio, _Morgan_.
The Ohio plant occurs in damp woods, has the flesh sometimes tinged with
red and green, the tubes white, then sordid, but changing to
bluish-green when bruised, their mouths large and angular, the stem
somewhat flexuous and striate and the spores fusiform and dirty-brown,
_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
=B. versipel´lis= Fr. =Pileus= convex, _dry_, at first compact and
minutely _tomentose_, then squamose or smooth, reddish or orange-red,
the margin _appendiculate_ with the inflexed remains of the membranous
veil. =Flesh= white or grayish. =Tubes= at first concave or nearly
plane, almost or quite free, minute, sordid-white, their mouths gray.
=Stem= equal or tapering upward, solid, wrinkled-scaly, whitish or
pallid. =Spores= oblong-fusiform, 14–18×4–6µ.
=Pileus= 2–6 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, 4–10 lines thick.
Woods and open places, especially in sandy soil. North Carolina,
_Curtis_; New England, _Frost_; New York, _Peck_; California, _H. and M.
Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. _McIlvaine._
The caps are good cooked in any way.
(Plate CXXI.)
[Illustration:
BOLETUS SCABER.
One-half natural size.
]
=B. sca´ber= Fr.—_scaber_, rough. (Plate CXVIII, fig. 4, p. 436.)
=Pileus= convex, _glabrous, viscid when moist_, at length wrinkled or
lined. =Tubes= free, convex, white, then sordid, their mouths minute,
rotund. =Stem= solid, attenuated above, _roughened with fibrous scales_.
=Spores= oblong-fusiform, snuff-brown, 14–18×4–6µ.
=Pileus= 1–5 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, 3–8 lines thick.
Woods, swamps and open places. Very common and appearing through summer
and autumn.
This may fairly be called our most common and variable species. It is
recorded in nearly every local list of fungi. The pileus is convex,
hemispherical or even subconical. It may be glabrous, minutely
tomentose, subvelvety or squamulose. The flesh is white or whitish and
sometimes slightly changeable where wounded. The tubes are generally
rather long and with a rounded or convex surface. The stem is distinctly
scabrous or roughened with small blackish-brown or reddish dots or
scales, the ground color generally being whitish, grayish or pallid. The
spores have been described as pale-brown and light-yellowish. When
caught in a mass on white paper they appear to me to approach
snuff-brown. The viscidity of the pileus is not always clearly
discernible. Indeed the pileus is often quite as _dry as in_ B.
versipellis. When moistened by heavy rains it sometimes is smooth and
clammy to the touch but scarcely viscid. Several varieties have been
indicated which are expressive of the variations in the color of the
pileus.
Var. _testa´ceus_. =Pileus= brick-red.
Var. _auranti´acus_. =Pileus= orange or orange-red.
These appear to connect this species and B. versipellis.
Var. _aluta´ceus_. =Pileus= yellowish-tan color.
Var. _fuligin´eus_. =Pileus= fuliginous or cinereous-fuliginous.
Var. _fus´cus_. =Pileus= brown or dark-brown.
Var. _oliva´ceus_. =Pileus= olivaceous.
Var. _ni´veus_. =Pileus= white, when old sometimes stained with blue or
livid-blue.
To these might be added:
Var. _areola´tus_. =Pileus= rimose-areolate. (Plate CXVIII, fig. 4, p.
436.)
Var. _mutab´ilis_. =Flesh= changing slightly to brown or pinkish where
wounded.
Var. _graci´lipes_. =Stem= very slender, 2–3 in. long, 2–3 lines thick.
=Pileus= thin, translucent when held toward the light.
This Boletus is classed among the edible species, but it is said to be
less agreeable than B. edulis. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, _McIlvaine_.
The numerous varieties with their peculiarities here given by Professor
Peck will enable the finder of a Boletus with a distinctly scabrous
stem—_roughened with scales, not reticulate_—to select its name. For the
mycophagist it is enough to know that he has Boletus scaber. In all of
its varieties it is edible. The stems, often the tubes, unless young,
should be discarded, as they do not cook in the same time as the caps.
The comparative excellence of the species rests with the devourer. It
deserves a high place.
B. scaber, var. areolatus, Plate CXVIII, fig. 4, has slight flavor, but
is of pleasing consistency.
=B. durius´culus= Schulz—somewhat hard. =Pileus= 2–5 in. across,
hemispherical, minutely velvety, viscid when moist, varying in color
from pale-brown, through dingy-chestnut, to umber-brown, often becoming
cracked in areas when dry, interstices paler. =Flesh= thick, white or
tinged yellow, when cut becoming reddish copper-color. =Tubes= ½-¾ in.
long, shortened round the stem and free, openings about ⅔ mm. across,
often compound, irregularly angular, bright-yellow. =Stem= 4–7 in. long,
fusiform, thickest part 1½-2 in. across, situated below the middle,
yellowish, rough with blackish points, which are sometimes arranged in a
subreticulate manner, apex sometimes more or less grooved, solid, flesh
of upper part becoming coppery like the pileus. =Spores=
elongato-cylindrical, pale-umber, 14–16×5–6µ.
In woods. Esculent and very delicious. Allied to Boletus scaber, but
distinguished by the bright-yellow tubes and the very firm flesh, which
turns coppery-red when exposed to the air; this color eventually changes
to a dingy grayish-violet. Also allied to Boletus porphyrosporus.
_Massee._
Snow Hill, N.J. Gravelly soil, mixed woods, 1892. _McIlvaine._
The stem and tubes should be removed. The caps are very fine.
=B. albel´lus= Pk.—whitish. =Pileus= convex or gibbous, soft, glabrous,
whitish. =Flesh= white, unchangeable. =Tubes= convex, free, or nearly
so, small, subrotund, whitish, unchangeable. =Stem= _glabrous or
minutely branny_, substriate, _bulbous or thickened at the base_,
whitish. =Spores= brownish-ochraceous, 14–16×5–6µ.
=Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 3–6 lines thick.
Woods. New York, _Peck_.
This is closely related to B. scaber, of which it may possibly prove to
be a dwarf form; but it is easily distinguished by its smooth or only
slightly scurfy and subbulbous stem. It presents no appearance of the
colored dot-like squamules which are a constant and characteristic
feature of that species. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
West Virginia. Woodland Cemetery, Philadelphia. _McIlvaine._
Specimens found at Mt. Gretna, Pa., had a satiny, glossy stem,
beautifully furfuraceous, and stem _not_ thickened at base. Professor
Peck, to whom specimens were sent, writes: “Stem is a little more
furfuraceous, and not thickened at the base, otherwise the agreement is
very good.” It is good fried.
=B. chro´mapes= Frost. =Pileus= convex or nearly plane, slightly and
sometimes fasciculately tomentose, pale-red. =Flesh= white,
unchangeable. =Tubes= subadnate, more or less depressed around the stem,
white or whitish, becoming brown. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering
upward, _rough-spotted_, whitish or pallid, _chrome-yellow at the base
both without and within_, sometimes reddish above. =Spores= oblong,
12–14×4–5µ.
=Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Woods. New England, _Frost_; New York, _Peck_.
The yellow base of the stem appears to be a peculiar and constant
character by which the species may easily be recognized. It imitates
Boletus piperatus in this respect, but in everything else it is very
distinct from that plant. Sometimes the stem is so badly infested by
larvæ that it is difficult to procure a sound specimen. The spores have
a subferruginous color with a slight incarnate tint, but the
rough-dotted stem indicates a relationship with B. scaber. Through this
species, Boletus conicus and B. gracilis, the Versipelles and the
Hyporhodii appear to run together. In the Catalogue of Plants of Amherst
the specific name is “chromapus.” It would be more in accordance with
present custom to write it “chromopus.” _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
A dozen or more specimens referable to this species were found by me at
Mt. Gretna, Pa., August, 1897, in mixed woods. The caps were eaten and
were excellent.
=B. nebulo´sus= Pk. =Pileus= convex, dry, snuff-brown or smoky-brown.
=Flesh= white, unchangeable. =Tubes= convex, depressed around the stem,
pallid or brownish, becoming purplish-brown where wounded, the mouths
small, rotund. =Stem= enlarged toward the base, solid, scurfy, colored
like the pileus. =Spores= 12.5–15×6µ.
=Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Shaded banks by road-side. Raybrook. August.
No young or immature specimens were seen, and the description is to that
extent incomplete. _Peck_, 51st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
By a painting made by the writer September, 1885, Professor Peck
identified the species of which it is a picture as B. nebulosus Pk. The
following notes accompany it, which have been verified many times since
their writing:
Oak woods. West Philadelphia, Pa., September. Mt. Gretna, Pa.,
September.
=Pileus= chestnut-brown and darker, covered with small, low, black
spots; convex, often depressed in center, sharp on margin. =Flesh=
white, thick, solid, unchangeable. =Tubes= very small, and light
pinkish-brown. When touched they change to a deeper hue. =Stem= same
color as pileus, but a shade lighter, solid, scurfy, having a striate
appearance, enlarging toward base.
Taste sweet and pleasant. Cooked it is juicy, meaty and very fine.
=B. ful´vus Pk=.—brownish-yellow. (Plate CXVI, fig. 3, p. 420.) =Pileus=
thick, convex or subcampanulate, dry, glabrous, rimose-areolate,
tawny-yellow, the extreme margin dark-brown. =Flesh= spongy, tough,
white, slowly assuming a reddish tint upon exposure to the air. =Tubes=
rather long, ventricose, depressed around the stem and free or nearly
so, greenish-yellow, the mouths small, tawny-yellow. =Stem= rather long,
often narrowed and striate at the top, dotted with brownish-orange
granules or points, radicating, tough, stuffed with greenish-yellow
fibers, colored like the pileus. =Spores= unknown.
=Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 4–5 in. long, 4–8 lines thick.
Cespitose on decaying stumps. West Philadelphia, Pa. August.
_McIlvaine._
Mr. McIlvaine says that there were between twenty and thirty specimens
on and about an old stump and that they were as attractive to the eye as
a cluster of Clitocybe illudens. _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, Vol.
27, January, 1900.
Excellent in flavor, rather spongy, but fine.
HYPORHO´DII. _Gr_—somewhat rose-colored.
=Tubes= adnate to the stem, whitish, then white-incarnate from the rosy
spores.
In this tribe the tubes are at first whitish, but with the development
of the spores they usually assume a pinkish or flesh-colored hue. Wounds
of the tubes in some species cause a change in color but not to blue,
nor are the tube mouths differently colored as in the Luridi. The stem
in some is more or less reticulated but this is scarcely a constant or
reliable character in these species. Typically the spores are rosy or
flesh-colored, but I have admitted species in which they incline to
rust-colored, giving more weight to the color of the tubes than to that
of the spores.
Pileus black or blackish B.
nigrellus
Pileus some other color 1
1. Stem more than four lines thick 2
1. Stem slender, generally less than four B.
lines thick gracilis
2. Stem not reticulated 3
2. Stem more or less reticulated 4
3. Tubes angular, flesh-colored B. conicus
3. Tubes round, white B.
alutarius
4. Taste mild B.
indecisus
4. Taste bitter B. felleus
_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S.
=B. con´icus= Rav.—conical. =Pileus= convex or _subconical_, clothed
with bundled appressed _yellowish flocci_. =Flesh= white, unchangeable,
tasteless. =Tubes= ventricose, flesh-colored, becoming darker from the
spores, the mouths small, angular, slightly fringed. =Stem= glabrous,
tapering upward, pale-yellow. =Spores= fusiform, subferruginous.
=Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 2 in. long, 6 lines thick.
Damp pine woods. South Carolina, _Ravenel_.
The species is compared to Boletus scaber, from which it differs in its
smaller tubes and smooth stem, and from both this and B. albellus it
differs in the color of the tubes and in the yellowish flocci of the
pileus. I have seen no specimens, but on account of the color of the
tubes I have placed the species with the Hyporhodii. _Peck_, Boleti of
the U.S.