deserving both its _name_ and the estimation in which it is held abroad.
Its flesh is firm, juicy, sapid, and nutritious. It grows under old
Scotch firs and pines, and occasionally in considerable abundance, and is
well worth the trouble of searching for from September to the beginning
of November, when it is in season. There is but one fungus which it
in any way resembles, and as that one (_Ag. torminosus_) is acrid and
poisonous, the gatherer must pay particular attention to the following
characteristic difference between the two, viz. that the milk of the _Ag.
deliciosus_ is _red and subsequently turns green_, while that of the
_Ag. torminosus_ is _white_ and _unchangeable_.
Mr. Sowerby thus speaks in praise of this species:—“I had one dressed;
it was very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the
flavour of mussels.”
Sir James Smith, in his ‘Tour,’ says:—“The market of Marseilles exhibited
a prodigious quantity of _Ag. deliciosus_, which really deserves its
name, being the most delicious mushroom known.”
The _Agaricus deliciosus_ may be served with a white sauce, or fried; but
the best way to cook them, after duly seasoning with pepper and salt, and
putting a piece of butter upon each, is to bake (in a closely-covered
pie-dish) for about three-quarters of an hour.
BOLETUS SCABER, _Fries_.
PLATE VI. FIGS. 1, 2.
“Fungo innocente e che non può cagionare alcun danno, non
molto ricercato a motivo, senza dubbio, del cambiamento di
colore in cui va soggetto la sua carne allorchè viene rotta o
compressa.”—_Vitt._
_Bot. Char._ This fungus presents itself under two distinct forms; in
the first, the _B. aurantiacus_ of Bull., the _pileus_ (generally rather
downy, but sometimes rough) is of a beautiful deep orange hue; in the
other it is cinereous.
In both cases its shape is that of a hemisphere of from three to seven
inches across, the surface of which becomes viscid when moist, and is
minutely downy. In the first variety, the _stem_ is rough with black, in
the second with orange scales.
Half a foot is its average height; it is attenuated upwards. While young,
it is very thick in proportion to the pileus, and exhibits frequently
the traces of a floccose veil. The flesh is thick and flabby, of a dingy
white, not greatly changeable in young specimens, but deepening in colour
when old, and acquiring a vinous tint;[162] the _tubes_ are of a dirty
white, those that surround the stem being shorter than the rest.
The odour of this fungus is slight; the taste subacid; the seminal dust
copious, and tawny-ferruginous. It may be cooked like the _B. edulis_,
and has an agreeable flavour; but being more viscid in substance, it
requires when stewed to be thinned with water; when dried, it loses all
odour, and is then insipid and unfit for food.
BOLETUS LURIDUS.
PLATE VI. FIGS. 3, 4, AND 5.
Nothing can be more accurate than Mr. Berkeley’s description of this
species, which I therefore subjoin:—“Woods. Summer and autumn. Common.
_Pileus_ two to six inches broad, convex, expanded, minutely tomentose,
olive, brick-red, pinkish, cream-coloured, or ferruginous-brown. _Flesh_
more or less yellow, changing to blue.[163] _Tubes_ free, yellow or
greenish; their orifices of a beautiful red or bright orange, quite
simple, round. _Spores_ olivaceous-ochre. _Stem_ very variable in length,
bulbous, tomentose, sometimes quite smooth, red with ferruginous or
the brightest yellow shades, solid, generally more or less marked or
reticulated with crimson-red, _very deleterious_”(?[164]).
AGARICUS PERSONATUS.
PLATE I. FIG. 2.
Subgenus TRICHOLOMA, _Fries_.
_Blewitts._
I never met with this fungus in Italy; it has not been described by
Vittadini, nor, that I am aware of, by any Italian mycologist; neither
is it mentioned by Cordier or Roques, in their treatises on the esculent
funguses of France. Extremely common in England, this species has already
found its way to Covent Garden, where, according to Sowerby, it is sold
under the name of “Blewitts.”[165] The favourite haunt of the Blewitt
is amidst grass, where it grows in clusters, or in large rings, seldom
appearing before October.
The botanical characters, as given by Mr. Berkeley, are as
follows:—“_Pileus_ from two to six inches broad, fleshy, firm; pale
bistre or purple-lilac, occasionally violet; convex, obtuse, very
smooth, and shining, as if oiled, but not viscid; margin involute,
pulverulento-tomentose. _Gills_ rounded; free, narrow in front, paler
than the pileus, sometimes violet, turning to a dirty flesh-colour,
especially when bruised; _stem_ from one to three inches high,
three-quarters of an inch thick, firm, bulbous, solid, mottled within
towards the apex, with watery spots; clothed more or less with villous
fibrillæ, tinged with violet; odour like that of _Oreades_, but rather
overpowering; taste pleasant.” As the “Blewitt” is apt to imbibe in wet
weather a great quantity of moisture, it should not be gathered during
rain; when not water-soaked it is a fine firm fungus with a flavour of
veal, like which it is to be dressed _en papillottes_ with savoury herbs
and the usual condiments, and the more highly seasoned the better.
AGARICUS OREADES, _Bolt_.
PLATE VII. FIG. 4.
Subgenus CLITOCYBE. Section SCORTEI, _Fries_.
_Scotch Bonnets._
Every one knows the Champignon,—that little buff fungus which during
so many months in the year comes up in successive crops, in great
profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound
everywhere: this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them; amid the
seared and much-trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy
rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel
walks. Independent of the excellent flavour of this little mushroom,
which is as good as that of most funguses, two circumstances give it an
additional value in a domestic point of view, viz. the facility with
which it is dried, and its very extensive dissemination. When dried (two
or three days’ exposure to the air is generally sufficient to effect
this), the _Ag. oreades_ may be kept for years without losing any of
its aroma or goodness, which on the contrary become improved by the
process, so as, in fact, to impart more flavour to the dish than would
have been imparted by the fresh fungus; though it is not to be denied
that the flesh then becomes coriaceous and less easy of digestion.[166]
From the sad accidents occasioned by persons mistaking other small and
poisonous Agarics growing in the neighbourhood of the Champignon for the
Champignon itself, this species is frequently looked upon with suspicion,
and not often eaten in England. The Agaric the least unlike and most
commonly found growing in company with the _Ag. oreades_, is the _Ag.
semilobatus_, which is nearly allied to, if it be not the same as the
_Ag. virosus_ of Sowerby. But as I have also heard of a gentleman who
intending to gather Champignons, and taking home some _Ag. dryophilus_ by
mistake, was rendered very ill by his repast, to prevent the recurrence
of such mistakes for the future, I here add the botanical characters,
marking what is peculiar to each in italics. _Ag. dryophilus_ is
represented in Pl. VII. fig. 5.
AG. DRYOPHILUS.
Solitary or tufted. Pileus from one to two inches broad,
whitish, pinkish, yellowish, or yellow-brown, flat, sometimes
_depressed_, fleshy, thin, _fragile_, _when moist easily
injured_, of a tougher substance when dry. Gills soft, tender,
numerous, white, or pale yellow straw-colour. Stem shining,
_hollow_, of the same colour as the pileus, but towards the
apex generally darker and of a redder tinge.
AG. OREADES.
In dense rings, or gregarious. Pileus smooth, _fleshy_,
_convex_, _subumbonate_, generally more or less _compressed_,
or _sinuate_; _tough_, coriaceous, _elastic_, _wrinkled_,
when _water-soaked brown_, _buff_ or _cream-colour_ when dry;
the umbo often remaining _red-brown_, as if _scorched_. Gills
_distant_, ventricose, of the _same tint as the pileus_ or
_paler_. Stem equal, _solid_, _twisted_, very _tough_ and
_fibrous_, _pure, silky, white_; base downy, somewhat rooting
and attached to the roots of grass.[167]
AG. SEMIGLOBATUS.
Pileus hemispherical, _viscid_ when moist, _shining_ and
_smooth_ as if varnished, obtuse, fleshy. Gills very broad,
perfectly _horizontal to the stem_, broadly adnate, with a
little tooth, minutely _serrated_, mottled with purple-brown
sporules. _Stalk very viscid_, shining when dry with a
closely-matted silkiness, _fistulose_, sometimes bulbous with
a hollow bulb; ring generally complete, reflexed, often dusted
with the dark-coloured spores.
AGARICUS NEBULARIS.
PLATE IV. FIG. 2.
Subgenus CLITOCYBE. Section DASYPHYLLI, _Fries_.
AG. PILEOLARIUS, _Bulliard_.
“Il est très-agréable au goût.”—_Bulliard._
The following description was made from some among the more
characteristic specimens of a large supply which I gathered this
autumn (1847) near Hayes, from a spot where they are in the habit of
re-appearing regularly in October.
_Pileus_ from two and a half to five inches across; at first
depresso-convex; when expanded nearly flat or broadly subumbonate, never
depressed, margin at first involute and pruinose; occasionally somewhat
waved and lobed, but generally regular in form; smooth, viscid when
moist, so that dead leaves adhere to it; grey, brown at the centre, paler
towards the circumference. _Flesh_ thick, white, unchanging; _gills_
cream-colour, narrow, decurrent, close, their margins waved, unequal,
generally simple. _Stem_ from two to four inches long, from a quarter
of an inch to an inch thick; incurved at the base, not rooting, but
attaching by means of a floccose down, round its lower portion and for
one-third of its length, a large quantity of dead leaves, by which the
plant is held erect; subequal, more or less marked with longitudinal
pits, firm externally, within of a softer substance. The _odour_ strong,
like that of curd cheese.
This Agaric appears to be local in Italy; otherwise it could scarcely
have been omitted in Vittadini’s work, nor by the author of the article
“Fungo” in the Venice edition of the ‘Dizionario Classico di Medicina:’
add to which that I have never met with it myself either at Florence,
Pisa, Naples, or Leghorn. That it grows in the neighbourhood of Rome is
certain, since I find it admirably delineated in a curious collection
of very old drawings which I purchased there. Moreover Professor
Sanguinetti, of that city, writes in terms of high commendation of this
mushroom, which, he says, may be discerned _inter alia_, “by its peculiar
odour and grateful taste: when properly cooked it is equal to any of our
funguses, rivalling not only the _Ag. prunulus_, but even the _Cæsareus_:
as few are aware of its good qualities, it seldom finds its way into the
Roman market.” The _Ag. nebularis_ requires but little cooking; a few
minutes’ broiling (à la Maintenon is best), with butter, pepper, and
salt, is sufficient. It may also be delicately fried with bread crumbs,
or stewed in white sauce. The flesh of this mushroom is perhaps lighter
of digestion than that of any other.
CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.
PLATE VIII. FIG. 1.
Tribe MESOPUS. Subdivision AGARICINI, _Fries_.
“Sunt qui hunc perniciosum scripsere. Verum etiam latranti
stomacho eum comedi; atque ex eo pulmenta parantur,
quæ si aridis mortuorum oribus admovcantur peream ni
reviviscerent!”—_Batt._
“Jure inter sapidissimos fungos numeratur.”—_Fries._
No fungus is more popular than the above, though the merits—nay, the
very existence—of such a fungus at home is confined to the Freemasons,
who keep the secret! Having collected a quantity at Tunbridge Wells,
this summer, and given them to the cook at the Calverley Hotel to dress,
I learnt from the waiter that they were not novelties to him; that, in
fact, he had been in the habit of dressing them for years, on state
occasions, at the Freemasons’ Tavern. They were generally fetched, so
he said, from, the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, and were always well
paid for. Of the _Cantharellus_, this summer (1847), the supplies were
immense! the moss under the beech-trees in Buckhurst Park in particular,
was so lavish of them, that a hamper might soon have been filled, had
there been hands to gather them. On revisiting the same park about five
weeks later, they were still continuing to come up, but in less abundance.
The botanical characters of the _Cantharellus_ are as follow:—
When young, its _stalk_ is tough, white, and solid; but as it grows this
becomes hollow and presently changes to yellow; tapering below, it is
effused into the substance of the _pileus_, which is of the same colour
with it. The _pileus_ is lobed, and irregular in shape, its margin at
first deeply involute, afterwards when expanded, wavy. The _veins_ or
plaits are thick, subdistant, much sinuated, running some way down the
stalk. The _flesh_ is white, fibrous, dense, “having the odour of
apricots” (_Purton_), or of “plums” (_Vitt._). The _colour_ yellow, that
of the yolk of eggs, is deeper on the under surface; when raw it has
the pungent taste of pepper; the _spores_ which are elliptic, are of a
pallid ochre colour (_Vitt._).[168] The _Chantarelle_ grows sometimes
sporadically, sometimes in circles or segments of a circle, and may be
found from June to October. At first it assumes the shape of a minute
cone; next, in consequence of the rolling in of the margin, the pileus
is almost spherical, but as this unfolds, it becomes hemispherical, then
flat, at length irregular and depressed.
“This fungus,” observes Vittadini, “being rather dry and tough by nature,
requires a considerable quantity of fluid sauce to cook it properly.”
The common people in Italy dry or pickle, or keep it in oil for winter
use. Perhaps the best ways of dressing the _Cantharellus_ are to stew or
mince it by itself, or to combine it with meat or with other funguses. It
requires to be gently stewed and a long time to make it tender; but by
soaking it in milk the night before, less cooking will be requisite.
The _Canth. cibarius_ is very abundant about Rome, where it fetches, not
being in great esteem, from twopence to twopence halfpenny a pound.
AGARICUS ATRAMENTARIUS, _Bull._
PLATE IX. FIGS. 1 AND 2.
Subgenus COPRINUS, _Fries_.
_Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ fleshy, campanulate, margin uneven, colour
greyish, then light brown, slightly hairy, often corrugated, sometimes
scaly in the centre. _Gills_ numerous, deep, with clear veins, light
brown, black in age, the edges grey or white, free, obtuse behind. _Stem_
about four inches high, swollen at the base, piped, juicy, fibrous,
marked with bands.
This is a common fungus in gardens, waste corners of fields, and lanes,
and occasionally growing on stumps of trees in such situations: it is
gregarious and cæspitose, and occurs both in spring and autumn. Young
specimens afford a fine ketchup.
AGARICUS COMATUS.
PLATE VII. FIGS. 1, 2, AND 3.
Subgenus COPRINUS, _Fries_.
“A fungus in great request about Via Reggio and
Lucca.”—_Puccinelli._
_Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ cylindrical, breaking up into long scales,
campanulate, epidermis thin, flesh thick in the centre, very thin and
stringy at the margins. _Gills_ numerous, quite free, leaving a space
round the top of the stem. _Stem_ from four to five inches high, rather
bulbous at the base, stuffed with fibres, brittle, ring moveable.
This fungus may be found from early spring till late in the autumn, in
meadows and waste places.
When used for making ketchup or for the table, only young specimens
should be selected.
AGARICUS HETEROPHYLLUS, _Fries_.
PLATE III. FIGS. 3 AND 4.
Subgenus RUSSULA, _Scopoli_.
MILD RUSSULÆ. RUSSULÆ MITES, AUCT.
“Non meno sicuro e gustoso del Cesareo e del l’orcino.”—_Vitt._
It is of the utmost importance that those who gather funguses for the
table, should be accurately acquainted with the different species
composing this genus; its members are so abundantly distributed; some of
them form so excellent and delicate a food, whilst others produce such
deleterious effects on the economy, that they are well entitled to a
diligent and careful attention. The limits of this work will not permit
an accurate discrimination of all the species, which would require a long
monograph to themselves; but I have endeavoured to point out amidst those
of most frequent occurrence, the three which may be selected with profit
for the table, and some others which are nearly allied, from which we
must be careful to separate them.
The three mild-flavoured _Russulæ_ are the _Ag. heterophyllus_, _Ag.
ruber_, and _Ag. virescens_; the botanical characters of the first are as
follows:—
_Ag. heterophyllus._
_Pileus_ subirregular, from three and a half to four and a half inches
across, at first convex, then more or less excavated towards the centre;
for the most part smooth, the epidermis covering it, more or less moist,
never scored or fissured, but exhibiting a continuous surface, marked by
very small raised lines, radiating as from the centre, and frequently
crossing so as to present a very minute finely reticulated meshwork,
sometimes slightly zoned, adhering to the flesh of the _pileus_, which
peels away with it in flakes resembling asbestos. It is very various in
colour, being found of all shades of yellow, lilac, azure, green, and
sometimes a mixture of these in different parts. The margin even, _i.
e._ not striate, irregularly elevated and depressed. The _gills_ are
watery white, rather numerous and thick, ascending, tapering away at
their stalk extremity, rather broader at the other, some simple but many
of them forked at the base, in a few instances branched; the imperfect
gills very few, irregular, occasionally broadly adhering to the side of
a perfect gill; the _stalk_ naked, variable as to length and size, equal
or attenuated slightly at the base, white like spermaceti, externally
rugulose, and meshed, like the pileus, with minute meandering lines,
internally stuffed with a compact subfriable medullary substance, which,
as the fungus grows old, breaks up here and there into sinuses which
gradually coalesce, till at last the whole stem becomes hollow. The
parenchyma is compact, but not thick, and does not change colour when
cut. The spores white, round, and very abundant. The _taste_ sweet and
nutty. _Odour_ none.
This excellent fungus, which Vittadini pronounces to be not surpassed
for fineness of flavour by _Am. Cæsarea_ or by _B. edulis_, with either
of which it is equally wholesome, has been introduced by Roques into the
houses of many of his friends in the environs of Paris, some of whom
prefer it to _Ag. campestris_: an opinion shared by several of our own
friends on this side the Channel. It grows in great abundance during
the summer months generally, and this year nowhere more plentifully
than under the Elm-trees in Kensington Gardens. There must be no delay
in dressing it, otherwise insects, who are as fond of it as we are,
appropriate it to their larvæ, which in a few hours will utterly consume
it; the flesh, being very tender, requires but slight cooking.
_Agaricus ruber_, Schœffer. _Ag. griseus_, Persoon.
“L’Agarico Rosso è uno dei funghi più delicati e gustosi che si
conoscono.”—_Vitt._
_Bot. Char._ _Pileus_ rather fleshy, at first hemispherical, then
obtusely convex, and, when fully expanded, more or less excavated towards
the centre. The margins at first even, at length tuberculo-sulcate, that
is, marked with lines similar to those left on the skin after cupping.
The epidermis dry in dry weather, but very sticky in moist, of various
hues, tawny-purple, olive-green, ochraceous-yellow, or several of these
united, and generally darkest at the centre; peeling off readily without
laceration of the flesh. The flesh white, when cut slightly rufescent,
when dry cream-coloured. The _gills_ fragile, cream-coloured, connected
below by transverse plaits or veins, thick and broad, but tapering away
towards the stalk, really simple, though a few imperfect gills interposed
between the entire ones, and attaching themselves to their sides give
these sometimes the appearance of being forked; the _stalk_ equal, white,
or blotched here and there with purple stains, stuffed, brittle, and
Vittadini adds, “long,” which is not my experience of it; when young it
is so short as to be entirely hid by the globose head of the unexpanded
pileus. The flesh inconsiderable but compact; _sporules_ pale-buff.
The _Ag. ruber_, the _Colombo rossa_ of the Tuscans, and _Rother
Täubling_ of Schœffer, is a complete _wood_-pigeon in its haunts; it
grows very abundantly, may be gathered from July to a very late period in
the autumn, and is as delicate and light of digestion as the _Russula_
last described. It may be readily distinguished from _Ag. alutaceus_
by the different colour of its gills and spores, which in that species
are buff, but in the _Ag. ruber_ cream-coloured: moreover the greater
thickness of the substance of the pileus of _Ag. alutaceus_, the margin
of which is deeply sulcate, even at an early period of its development,
and the pungent acrid taste, which is seldom wanting, are further means
of distinguishing it from _Ag. ruber_. _Ag. emeticus_ differs from it in
having unequal snow-white gills, and in extreme acrimony of taste.
_Agaricus virescens_, Schœff.: the Verdette? _Ag. bifidus_, Bull.
_Russula æruginosa_, Persoon.
“La carne di questo Agarico è tenera e di sapore
gratissimo.”—_Vitt._
_Pileus_ at first flatly convex; at length depressed towards the centre
with an even margin; epidermis whitish, fibrous, continuous and firmly
adhering to the flesh, dry, but coated over with a thick stratum of
opaque meal, which gradually breaking as the pileus expands maps it in
a singular and quite characteristic manner with a series of irregular
polygonal figures, in greater or less relief according to the thickness
of the coating; its colour varies slightly but is generally made up of
some admixture of green and yellow, communicating to the surface, as
Bulliard has remarked, a farinaceous or mouldy appearance. The _gills_
of some thickness, very brittle, white, sublanceolate, generally simple,
but occasionally forked, the imperfect gills interspersed without order
amongst the entire ones; the _stalk_ equal, short, its centre stuffed
with cottony fibres: somewhat compact and elastic. According to Thore, as
quoted by Persoon, this Agaric may be cultivated.[169]
It is an exceedingly delicate fungus, but not very common in England.
The best way of cooking it, according to Vittadini, is on the gridiron;
the peasants about Milan are in the habit of putting it over wood embers
to toast, eating it afterwards with a little salt, in which way it has a
savoury smell, and a taste like that of the _Cancer astacus_; when fresh
it is without odour, but acquires a very strong one while drying, which
he compares to that of salt meat. Mr. Berkeley quotes Roques’ authority
as to its being eaten in France; Vittadini, without giving any authority,
states that it is eaten in England. It loses but little of its volume in
drying.
ACRID RUSSULÆ. RUSSULÆ ACRES, AUCT.
_Agaricus alutaceus_, Persoon.
Three acrid _Russulæ_ remain to be described, _Ag. alutaceus_, _Ag.
emeticus_, _Ag. sanguineus_; all three common, though not perhaps
so common as the mild ones, and all to be avoided. The first, _A.
alutaceus_, Fries, is ranked by Vittadini among the safe kinds, he even
affixes a misplaced note of admiration after his epithet “esculentus!”
and describes it even when raw as “a dainty food, possessed of a most
agreeable flavour.”