contained in asci—mother cells or sacs—springing from a naked or
enclosed stratum of fructifying cells and forming a hymenium or nucleus.
The sporidia are often accompanied by simple or branched threads, which
are abortive asci, called paraphyses.
In Hymenomycetes the spores are entirely unenclosed and are borne on
stalk-like processes on the gills of Agaricaceæ, in the tubes of
Polyporaceæ, on the spines of Hydnaceæ, etc. In Ascomycetes they are
enclosed in sacs springing from the external layer of the fruit-bearing
surface, which may be on the outer surface of the plant or enclosed.
COHORT _DISCOMYCETES_. _Gr_—a sac; _Gr_—a fungus.
The most important distinctive feature of Discomycetes consists in the
disk or hymenium being fully exposed at maturity. It includes families
which contain choice edible species.
FAMILY.—=HELVELLA´CEÆ.=
Fleshy, waxy or gelatinous; hymenium or sac-bearing surface exposed at
first, or at length more or less exposed. Where a distinct stem is
present it is surmounted by a more or less definite pileus or the stem
is expanded into a club-like head. In Peziza the definite stem is absent
and the plant is seated on the supporting surface.
Many more genera than are noted below are included in Helvellaceæ, but
are not known to contain edible species.
SYNOPSIS OF THE GENERA.
* _Margin only or whole of pileus free from sides of stem._
HELVELLA. Page 536.
Pileus drooping, irregularly waved and lobed.
VERPA. Page 539.
Pileus drooping, regular, margin entire, thimble-shaped.
LEOTIA. Page 540.
Pileus fleshy, discoid.
** _Pileus adnate throughout to the stem._
MORCHELLA. Page 541.
Surface of pileus furnished with stout, anastomosing ribs bounding deep
irregular pits.
GYROMITRA. Page 546.
Surface of pileus covered with rounded, variously contorted folds.
MITRULA. Page 548.
Pileus subglobose or clavate, surface even.
SPATHULARIA. Page 549.
Pileus flattened, running down the stem for some distance on opposite
sides.
GEOGLOSSUM. Page 550.
=HELVEL´LA= Linn.
A small pot herb.
=Stem= of medium thickness. =Pileus= hanging loosely over the stem, more
or less folded, but not into pits. Hymenium on the upper side only.
Helvella esculenta is now Gyromitra esculenta, and is in bad repute.
Meanings of the unfamiliar words are too lengthy to give in the
descriptions of species. They are in the Glossary.
Dr. Badham says: “All Helvellæ are esculent, have an agreeable odor, and
bear a general resemblance in flavor to the Morell.”
(Plate CXLVI.)
[Illustration:
HELVELLA CRISPA.
Natural size.
]
=H. cri´spa= Fr.—curled. =Pileus= deflexed, lobed or variously
contorted, white or whitish. =Stem= equal or slightly swollen at the
base, deeply and uninterruptedly grooved, white or whitish. =Spores=
elliptical, 18×22µ long. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Distinguished from all other species by the stout, costate, lacunose,
hollow stem; entirely glabrous, fragile and with a semi-transparent
look. Color variable, included under the following forms:
Var. _al´ba_. Pileus whitish.
Var. _Grevil´lei_. Under surface of the pileus reddish; stem white.
Var. _incarna´ta_. Pileus and stem flesh-color.
Var. _ful´va_. Pileus yellowish or tawny. _Massee._
Pileus whitish, flesh-colored or yellowish, deflexed, lobed, at length
free, crisped. =Stem= hollow, ribbed outside forming deep pits, 3–5 in.
high, snowy white.
Edible. _Badham_, _Cordier_, _Cooke_, _Berkeley_, _Peck_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, _McIlvaine_.
H. crispa is white and variable in shape of cap. In its color it differs
from all others of its genus. It is found in the woods only, from July
until frost. It is not usually abundant. It is an esculent species and
good of its kind.
=H. Califor`nica= Phillips. =Pileus= bell-shaped or saddle-shaped,
deflexed, sublobate, free, veined beneath, purplish-brown. =Stem=
longitudinally pitted between ridges, rosy-pink. =Asci= cylindrical,
narrowed toward the base. =Sporidia= 8, elliptical, binucleate, 17×9µ
paraphyses linear, clavate and brown at the apices.
2–6 in. in diameter. =Stem= 2–6 in. high, .75–1.5 in. in diameter.
On the earth in dense forests near rocks. Sierra Nevada mountains;
California, _Harkness_.
Edible. _Harkness._
It presents characters essentially different from those of any species
hitherto described. Its nearest ally is H. crispa, from which it differs
in the color of the hymenium and stem and in being a larger species.
=H. lacuno´sa= Afzel.—uneven, pitted. =Pileus= inflated, lobed,
cinereous-black, lobes deflexed, adnate. =Stem= white or dusky, hollow,
exterior ribbed, forming intervening cavities; asci cylindrical,
stemmed; sporidia ovate, hyaline.
Solitary or gregarious; very variable in size.
North Carolina, _Curtis_; Massachusetts, _Sprague_, _Frost;_ White
mountains, _Farlow_; Rhode Island, _Bennett_; California, _H. and M._
Edible. _Cordier_, _Berkeley_, _Badham_, _Cooke_, _Curtis_.
=H. sulca´ta= Afzel.—furrowed. =Pileus= deflexed, equally 2–3 lobed,
even, compressed, darker when dry. =Stem= 2 in. long, 4–5 lines thick,
stuffed, equal, longitudinally furrowed. =Spores= very broadly elliptic,
with a single large globose nucleus, 15–18µ long _B. and Br._
Solitary, rarely gregarious.
Var. _mi´nor_ Clem. Bot. Surv. of Neb. Univ. of Neb. Pileus .8–1.2 in.,
rarely 3.2 in. wide, .8–2 in. high. Stem .8–1.2 in., rarely 4 in. high,
.6–1.4 in. wide; sporidia 15×10µ.
On shady ground. Otowanie woods, Lancaster county.
The prominent character in this species, as indicated by the name, is
the sulcate stem. The furrows are very deep, and extend, without
interruption, the entire length of the stem. The whole stem, as shown by
a cross-section, is made up of the costæ intervening between these
furrows. I do not find the stem “stuffed,” as required by the
description in Syst. Myc., Vol. II, p. 15. The pileus is generally
darker than that of H. crispa. _Peck_, 31st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
On decaying wood, stumps, trunks. Spring until autumn.
Known to be edible. _Peck._
=H. elas´tica= Bull.—elastic. =Pileus= free from the stem, drooping, 2–3
lobed, center depressed, even, whitish, brownish or sooty, almost smooth
underneath, about 2 cm. broad. =Stem= 2–3.5 in. high, 3–5 lines thick at
the inflated base; tapering upward, elastic, even or often more or less
pitted, colored like the pileus, minutely velvety or furfuraceous, at
first solid, then hollow. =Spores= hyaline, smooth, continuous,
elliptical, ends obtuse, often 1-guttulate, 18–20×10–11µ; 1-seriate;
paraphyses septate, clavate. _Massee._
It is not uncommon to find the pileus attached in one or two points to
the stem. _Peck_, 32d Rep.
Var. _al´ba_ (Pers.) Sacc.
On decaying wood. August to frost.
Massachusetts, _Frost_; Rhode Island, _Bennett_; Nebraska, _Clements_;
New York, _Peck_, Rep. 24, 32, 51.
Edible. _Unger_, _Cordier_. Known to be edible. _Peck._
=H. in´fula= Schaeff.—a head dress. =Pileus= hooded, in 2–4 irregular,
drooping lobes, at length undulate, strongly adherent to the sides of
the stem, reddish-brown or cinnamon more or less deep in color, whitish
and downy underneath, 1.5–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1½-2½ in. long, ½ in. and
more thick, usually smooth and even, sometimes compressed and
irregularly pitted, pallid or tinged with red, covered with a white meal
or down, solid when young but becoming hollow with age; asci
cylindrical, apex somewhat truncate, 8-spored. =Spores= hyaline, smooth,
continuous, elliptical, ends obtuse, 21–23×11–12µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania. Decaying trunks, stumps and roots.
_McIlvaine._
Edible. _Cooke_, _Curtis_, _Peck_.
Equal to any Helvella.
=VER´PA= Swartz.
_Verpa_, a rod.
=Ascophore= stipitate, campanulate, attached to the tip of the stem and
hanging down like a bell, surrounding but free from the side of the
stem, regular, smooth or slightly wrinkled but not ribbed, persistent,
thin, excipulum formed of interwoven, septate hyphæ, hymenium entirely
covering the outer surface of the ascophore; asci cylindrical, 8-spored.
=Spores= elliptical, continuous, hyaline or nearly so, 1-seriate;
paraphyses septate. =Stem= elongated, stuffed.
Very closely allied to Helvella; distinguished by the ascophore being
more regular in form, and more evidently deflexed round the apex of the
stem, which it surrounds like a thimble on a finger, and is quite free
from the stem except at the apex.
The species grow on the ground, in spring. _Massee._
=V. digitalifor´mis= Pers.—_digitus_, a finger. =Pileus= at first nearly
even, olivaceous-umber, dark at the apex. =Stem= obese, furnished at the
base with a few reddish radicles, white with a slight rufous tinge,
marked with transverse reddish spots; smooth to the naked eye, but under
a lens clothed with fine adpressed flocci, the rupture of which gives
rise to the spots, which are, in fact, minute scales. In the mature
plant the pileus is ¾ in. high, bell-shaped, finger-form, or subglobose,
more or less closely pressed to the stem, but always free, the edge
sometimes inflexed so as to form a white border, wrinkled, but not
reticulated, under side slightly pubescent; sporidia yellowish,
elliptic. =Stem= 3 in. high, ½ in. or more thick, slightly attenuated
downward, loosely stuffed, by no means hollow. _Berkeley._
Minnesota, _Johnson_; California, _H. and M._; New York, Buffalo,
_Clinton_; Oneida, _Warne_, May. _Peck_, 30th, 32d Rep.
Mt. Gretna, July, 1897. Road-side bank. _McIlvaine._
Sold in Italy. Vittadini. Not to be despised when one can not get better
nor to be eaten when one can. _Badham._
The substance of this fungus is the same as that of Helvella. It is
pleasant but rather tasteless.
=LEOTIA= Hill.
Ascophore stipitate, substance fleshy, soft and somewhat gelatinous.
=Pileus= orbicular, spreading; margin drooping or incurved free from the
stem, glabrous, hymenium entirely covering the upper surface. =Stem=
central, elongated; asci cylindric-clavate, apex narrowed, 8-spored.
=Spores= hyaline, continuous or 1-septate, elongated and narrowly
elliptical, obliquely 1–2 seriate; paraphyses present.
Growing on the ground, or on decaying wood. _Hill._ Emended. _Massee._
=Stem= long. =Pileus= flattened, margin incurved, covered everywhere
with the smooth, somewhat viscid hymenium.
=L. chloroceph´ala= Schw.—_chloros_, green; _kephalos_, a head.
Cespitose, stipitate. =Pileus= 4–6 lines across, depresso-globose,
somewhat translucent, more or less wavy, margin incurved, dark
verdigris-green to blackish-green. =Stem= 1–1½ in. long, almost equal,
green but often paler than the pileus, pulverulent, often twisted; asci
cylindric-clavate, apex rather narrowed, 8-spored. =Spores= smooth,
hyaline, narrowly elliptical, ends acute, often slightly curved, usually
2–3-guttulate, 17–20×5µ, irregularly 2-seriate; paraphyses slender,
hyaline.
On the ground.
Distinguished from L. lubrica by the green stem. _Massee._
North Carolina, _Curtis_; West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
Cespitose. In mixed woods, moist ground. July until long after frosts.
_McIlvaine._
A small clustered plant having a green gelatinous appearance. Quarts of
it can frequently be gathered after rains. Both it and L. lubrica have
less flavor than the larger Helvellaceæ, but they make a palatable dish.
(Plate CXLVII.)
[Illustration:
LEOTIA LUBRICA.
Natural size.
]
=L. lu´brica=, Pers.—slippery. Gregarious or in small clusters,
stipitate, somewhat gelatinous. =Pileus= irregularly hemispherical,
inflated, wavy, margin very obtuse, yellowish olive-green, 6–8 lines
across. =Stem= 1.5–2 in. high, nearly equal or more or less inflated at
the base, pulpy within then hollow, externally yellowish and covered
with minute white granules; asci cylindrical, apex slightly narrowed,
8-spored. =Spores= obliquely 1-seriate, hyaline, continuous, smooth,
often guttulate, narrowly elliptical, straight or very slightly curved,
22–25×5–6µ; paraphyses slender, cylindrical, hyaline.
On the ground in woods. _Massee._
North Carolina, _Curtis_; Massachusetts, _Frost_; Minnesota, _Johnson_;
New York, _Ellis_.
New York, _Peck_, 23d Rep.; Trenton, N.J. Cespitose on damp ground in
woods. Forty specimens, July, 1898. _E.B. Sterling_; New Jersey;
Pennsylvania. Gregarious and cespitose in several localities. July to
frost. _McIlvaine._
Irregular in appearance. Helvella-like but with a very soft gelatinous
stem, yellow. The color of the stem distinguishes it from L.
chlorocephala, which has a green stem. It is a small plant, but of good
food value. Where it occurs there is often a goodly quantity.
=MORCHEL´LA= Dill.
_Gr_—a mushroom.
Stipitate or subsessile. =Pileus= globose or ovate, adnate throughout
its length to the sides of the stem, remaining closed at the apex,
hollow and continuous with the cavity of the stem; externally furnished
with stout, branched and anastomosing ribs or plates, every part bearing
the hymenium. =Stem= stout, stuffed or hollow; asci cylindrical,
2–4–8-spored. =Spores= 1-seriate, continuous, hyaline, elliptical;
paraphyses septate, clavate.
Most nearly allied to Gyromitra; differs in the ribs of the pileus being
deep and plate-like, and anastomosing to form elongated or irregularly
polygonal deep pits.
Growing on the ground in the spring. _Massee._
Stem stout; pileus ovoid or conical, deeply folded into pits, resembling
honeycomb.
Notwithstanding Dill, the author of the genus, describes the caps as
adnate throughout their length to the stem, such is not the case.
Professor Peck arranges the genus into two groups, “in one of which the
margin of the cap is wholly attached to the stem, in the other it is
free.” In the latter group are M. bispora and M. semilibera.
The species are so much alike that botanical descriptions are omitted of
all but M. esculenta and Professor Peck’s species.
Not one of the Morells is even suspicious. They are favorites wherever
found. The Morell is one of the few species known to the settler and to
the farmer. It loves old apple orchards, probably because ashes have
been used about the trees; ashes and cinders are its choice fertilizers.
In Germany peasants formerly burned forests to insure a bountiful crop.
Mr. Moore, of San Francisco, Cal., says: “We find it in profusion on
burnt hillsides all along the Pacific coast.”
But it does not confine its habitat to burned surfaces. It grows in thin
open woods or on borders of woods. It grows under pine, ash, oaks and
other trees. Strange to say it grows under the walnut tree where very
few fungi of any kind grow. Especially does it love the white walnut or
butternut.
Morchella dry well and keep well for winter use.
=M. esculen´ta= Pers.—esculent. (Plate XLVI, fig. 2, p. 214.) =Pileus=
globose, ovate or oblong, adnate to the stem at the base, hollow, ribs
stout, forming irregular, polygonal, deep pits, pale dingy yellow, buff
or tawny, 1.25–2.5 in. high and broad. =Stem= stout, whitish, almost
even, hollow or stuffed, 1.25–2.5 in. high, .8 in. and more thick; asci
cylindrical, 8-spored. =Spores= continuous, smooth, hyaline, elliptical,
ends obtuse, 19–20×10µ, paraphyses rather slender, slightly thickened
upward.
On the ground. Spring and early summer. Edible.
Variable in form, size and color, but distinguished by the pileus being
adnate to the stem at the base, and the stout ribs anastomosing to form
irregular, polygonal pits of about equal size, and not elongated.
_Massee._
Common over the states, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. In
orchards, on ashes and cinders, under walnut, pine and oak trees. May
and June. _McIlvaine._
The common Morell varies in size, 2–4 in. high, sometimes larger. The
cap, usually broader than it is long, oval, at times tapering to a
rounded top. The cavities resemble those of a weather-beaten honeycomb,
and are whitish, or grayish or brownish. The stem is about ½ in. in
diameter. It is an easily recognized species. Edible. Choice. Total
nitrogen, according to Lafayette B. Mendel, 4.66 per cent.
=M. cras´sipes= Pers.—_crassus_, thick; _pes_, a foot. Agreeing with M.
esculenta in having the pits of the pileus irregular in form, not much,
if at all, longer than broad, and in not having a main series of more or
less parallel and vertical ribs; differing in the stout stem being much
longer than the pileus. _Massee._
Attains a height of 9 in. or more.
Not rare in May. Kansas, _Cragin_; Minnesota, _Johnson_.
Esculent. _Cooke._
=M. delicio´sa= Fr. The Delicious morell is easily known by the shape of
its cap, which is cylindrical or nearly so. Sometimes it is slightly
narrowed toward the top and occasionally curved, as in the preceding
species, but its long narrow shape and blunt apex is quite strongly
contrasted with that species. It is usually two or three times as long
as it is broad, and generally it is longer than the stem. Specimens also
occur in which the cap is slightly more narrow in the middle than it is
above and below, and rarely it is slightly pointed at the apex. The pits
on its surface are rather narrow and mostly longer than broad. The stem
is often rather short.
The plant varies from 1½-3 in. high. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Its name gives it esculent properties.
=M. con´ica= Pers.—conical. The Conical morell has the cap conical or
oblong-conical, as its name indicates. The longitudinal ridges on its
surface run more regularly from top to base than in the Common morell.
They are connected by short transverse ridges which are so distant from
each other or so incomplete that the resulting pits or depressions are
generally longer than broad, and sometimes rather irregular. The color
in the young plant is a beautiful buff-yellow or very pale ochraceous,
but it becomes darker with age.
The plants are generally 3–5 in. high, with the cap 1½-2 in. thick in
its broadest part, and distinctly broader than the stem. _Peck_, 48th
Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Kansas; California; Rhode Island; Ohio, _Lloyd_; New York; Indiana,
_H.I. Miller_, orchards, thin woods; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West
Virginia, _McIlvaine_.
The conical form distinguishes M. conica from M. esculenta, if they are
really different species, as some writers doubt. For the table there is
not any difference.
=M. bi´spora= Sor.—Two-spored. The Two-spored morell is very similar to
the Half-free morell in external appearance. It is distinguishable by
its cap, which is free from the stem almost or quite to the top. The
stem of the European plant has been described as stuffed, but in our
plant it is hollow, though possibly in very young plants it may be
stuffed. The remarkable and very distinctive character which gives name
to the species can only be seen by the aid of a microscope. In this
species there are only two spores in each ascus or sack and these are
much larger than the spores of the other species. They are two or three
times longer and sometimes slightly curved. The spores of the other
species are eight in an ascus and are very much alike in size and shape,
and do not furnish decided specific characters; but in this species
their importance can not be overlooked. Their length is about 60µ, while
in the others it is 20–25µ.
This is probably our rarest species. I am not aware that it has been
found in but one locality in our state. A few years ago Mr. H.A. Warne
detected it growing among fallen leaves in a ravine near Oneida. I have
not tested its edible qualities, but would have no hesitation in eating
it if opportunity should be afforded. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Var. _trunca´ta_. =Pileus= broadly rounded or truncate, its costæ
slightly prominent, the margin often a little recurved; paraphyses
numerous. =Stem= long.
Michigan. May. _Hicks._ _Peck_, 46th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=M. angus´ticeps= Pk.—_angustus_, narrow; _caput_, head. =Pileus=
oblong-conical and subobtuse or narrowly conical and acute, adnate to
the stem, 1–2 in. high, and about half as broad at the base, ribs
longitudinal, here and there anastomosing or connected by transverse
veins. =Stem= subequal, hollow, whitish, furfuraceous without and
within, even or rarely rough with irregular longitudinal furrows; asci
cylindrical. =Spores= elliptical, whitish tinged with ocher,
20–25×12.5–18µ; paraphyses short, clavate, with one or two septa near
the base.
Sandy soil in the borders of woods and in open places. West Albany and
Center. April and May.
Two forms occur, one with the pileus oblong-conical, rather obtuse,
often tipped with a slight umbo or papilla, and with a diameter a little
surpassing that of the stem from which the base is separated by a slight
groove; the other with the pileus narrowly conical, rather acute,
scarcely exceeding the stem in diameter and without any separating
groove. The stem and fruit are alike in both forms. The stem is usually
about equal in length to the pileus. The species is related to M. conica
and M. elata, but may be separated from both by the size of the spores
and the character of the paraphyses. In our plant I have never seen
these as long as the asci. Large forms appear also to approach M.
rimosipes, but that species has the margin of the pileus more free, the
stem proportionately longer, and the paraphyses as long as the asci, if
we may rely upon the figure of it. Our plant is edible. _Peck_, 32d Rep.
N.Y. State Bot.
The plants are commonly 2–3 in. high, with the cap generally less than
an inch broad in its widest part, but sometimes much larger specimens
occur. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
(Plate CXLIX.)
[Illustration: MORCHELLA SEMILIBERA.]
=M. semilib´era= D.C.—half-free. The Half-free morell has a conical cap,
the lower half of which is free from the stem. It rarely exceeds 1 in.
or 1½ in. in length, and is usually much shorter than its stem. The pits
on its surface are longer than broad. Deformed specimens occur in which
the cap is hemispherical and very blunt or obtuse at the apex; in others
it is abruptly narrowed above and pointed.
The plants are 2–4 in. high. The species is rare with us. _Peck_, 48th
Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= pale-yellow.
Odor feeble, becomes stronger in drying. Much less sapid than M.
esculenta. Neither of these funguses should be gathered after rain, as
they are then insipid and soon spoil. _Badham._
=GYROMI´TRA= Fr.
_Gyro_, to turn; _mitra_, a head-covering.
Ascophore stipitate; hymenophore subglobose, inflated and more or less
hollow, or cavernous, variously gyrose and convolute at the surface,
which is everywhere covered with the hymenium; substance fleshy; asci
cylindrical, 8-spored. =Spores= uniseriate, elongated, hyaline or nearly
so, continuous; paraphyses present.
Helvella of old authors.
Distinguished from Morchella by the thick, brain-like folds of the
hymenophore not anastomosing to form irregularly polygonal depressions;
and from Helvella in the hymenophore not being free from the stem at the
base.
Growing on the ground. _Massee._
(Plate CXLVIII_a_.)
[Illustration:
SECTION OF GYROMITRA
ESCULENTA.
]
=G. esculen´ta= Fr. (Plate VI, fig. 6, p. 6.) =Pileus= rounded, lobed,
irregular, gyrose-convolute, glabrous, bay-red. =Stem= stout, stuffed or
hollow, whitish, often irregular. =Spores= elliptical, binucleate,
yellowish, 20–22µ long.
The Edible gyromitra, formerly known as Helvella esculenta, is easily
recognized by its chestnut-red irregularly rounded and lobed cap with
its brain-like convolutions. The margin of the cap is attached to the
stem in two or three places. When cut through it is found to be hollow,
whitish within and uneven, with a few prominent irregular ribs or
ridges. The stem is whitish, slightly scurfy, and when mature, hollow.
In large specimens it sometimes appears as if formed by the union of two
or more smaller ones.
The plant is 2–4 in. high and the cap commonly 2–3 in. broad. Specimens
sometimes occur weighing a pound each. It is fond of sandy soil and is
found in May and June. It grows chiefly in wet weather or in wet ravines
or springy places in the vicinity of pine groves or pine trees. _Peck_,
48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.