POLYPORACEAE. TUBE-BEARING FUNGI.
In this family the cap has no gills on the upper surface, but, instead,
there are small tubes or pores. This class of plants may be naturally
divided into two groups: The perishable fungi with the pores easily
separating from the cap and from each other, which may be called
Boletaceae; and the leathery, corky, and woody fungi, with pores
permanently united to the cap and with each other, making the family
Polyporaceae.
In each group the spores are borne on the lining of the pore. A spore
print may be made in the same manner as from mushrooms having gills. The
color of the spores does not enter into the classification as in the
case of the Agaricini.
The distinctive characteristics of these genera may be stated as
follows:
Pores compacted together and forming a continuous stratum 1
Pores each a distinct tube, standing closely side by side Fistulina
1. Stem central, and stratum of spores easily separable
from the cap Boletus
1. Stratum of tubes not separating easily, cap covered
with coarse scales Strobilomyces
Stratum of tubes separating, but not easily; tubes
arranged in distinct, radiating lines. In Boletinus
porosus the tubes do not separate from the cap Boletinus
Stratum of pores not separable from cap; plant soft when
young, but becoming hard, corky, stipitate, shelving Polyporus
_Boletus. Dill._
_Boletus, a clod_. There are very many species under this genus and the
beginner will experience much trouble in separating the species with any
degree of assurance. The Boletus is distinguished from the other
pore-bearing fungi by the fact that the stratum of tubes is easily
separable from the cap. In the Polyporus the stratum of tubes cannot be
separated.
Nearly all Boleti are terrestrial and have central stems. They grow in
warm and rainy weather. Many are very large and ponderous; fleshy and
putrescent, decaying soon after maturity. It is important to note
whether the flesh changes color when bruised and whether the taste is
pleasant or otherwise. When I first began to study the Boleti there were
but few species that were thought to be edible, but the ban has been
removed from very many, even from the most wicked, Boletus Satanus.
_Boletus scaber. Fr._
THE ROUGH-STEMMED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 282.--Boletus scaber. Two-thirds natural size.]
The pileus is from two to five inches in diameter, rounded convex,
smooth, viscid when moist, minutely woolly, velvety or scaly, color from
nearly white to almost black, the flesh white.
The tubes are free from the stem, white, long, mouths minute and round.
The stem is solid, tapering slightly upward, long, dingy-white;
roughened with blackish-brown or reddish dots or scales, this being the
most pronounced characteristic by which to distinguish the species;
three to five inches long. The spores are oblong fusiform and brown.
Prof. Peck has described a number of varieties under this species, most
of which depend on the color of the cap. All are edible and good.
This is a common plant, usually found in woods and shady waste places,
from June to October. Photographed by Prof. H. C. Beardslee.
_Boletus granulatus. L._
THE GRANULATED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 283.--Boletus granulatus. One-half natural size.]
The pileus is two to three inches broad, hemispherical, then convex; at
first covered with a brownish gluten, then turning yellowish; flesh
thick, yellowish, does not turn blue; margin involute at first.
The tubes are adnate; at first white, then light yellow; the margin
distilling a pale watery fluid which when dry gives the granulated
appearance.
The stem is short, one to two inches high, thick, solid, pale yellow
above, white below, granulated. The spores are spindle-shaped,
rusty-yellow.
This plant grows abundantly in pine regions, but I have found it where
only a part of the trees were pine. The brownish gluten, always constant
on the pileus, and the gummy juice drying upon the stem, like granules
of sugar, will be strong features by which to identify the species.
They are found from July to October.
_Boletus bicolor. Pk._
THE TWO-COLORED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
The pileus is convex, smooth or merely downy, dark red, fading when old,
often marked with yellow; flesh yellow, slowly changing to blue when
bruised.
The tubes are bright yellow, attached to the stem, the color changing to
blue when bruised.
The stem is solid, red, generally red at the top, one to three inches
long.
The spores are pale, rusty-brown color.
Found in woods and open places, from July to October.
_Boletus subtomentosus. L._
THE YELLOW-CRACKED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 284.--Boletus subtomentosus. One-half natural
size.]
Subtomentosus, slightly downy. The pileus is from three to six inches
broad, convex, plane; yellowish-brown, olive or subdued tan color;
cuticle soft and dry, with a fine pubescence; the cracks in the surface
become yellow. The flesh is creamy white in mature specimens, changing
to blue, and at length leaden, on being bruised.
The tube surface is yellow or yellowish green, becoming bluish when
bruised; opening of tubes large and angular.
The stem is stout, yellowish, minutely roughened with scurvy dots or
faintly striped with brown. The spores are a rusty-brown.
The cracks in the cap become yellow, on which account this species is
called the Yellow-cracked Boletus. The taste of the flesh is sweet and
agreeable. Palmer compares it with the taste of a walnut. The plant
should not be feared because the flesh turns blue when bruised. I first
found this species in Whinnery's woods, Salem, Ohio. The specimens in
Figure 284 grew near Chillicothe and was photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
July to August.
_Boletus chrysenteron. Fr._
THE RED-CRACKED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 285.--Boletus chrysenteron. One-half natural size.
Caps yellowish to red. Flesh yellow.]
Chrysenteron means gold or golden within. The pileus is two to four
inches broad, convex, becoming more flattened, soft to the touch,
varying from light to yellowish-brown or bright brick-red, more or less
fissured with red cracks; the flesh yellow, changing to blue when
bruised or cut, red immediately beneath the cuticle.
The tube surface is olive-yellow, becoming bluish when bruised,
tube-openings rather large, angled and unequal in size.
The stem is generally stout, straight, yellowish, and more or less
streaked or spotted with the color of the cap. The spores are light
brown and spindle-shaped. This species will be easily distinguished from
B. subtomentosus because of its bright color and the cracks in the cap
turning red, whence the name of the "Red-cracked Boletus."
The cap of this species strongly resembles Boletus alveolatus, but the
latter has rose-colored spores and a red pore surface, while the former
has light brown spores and an olive-yellow pore surface. Tolerton's and
Bower's woods, Salem, Ohio, July to October.
_Boletus edulis. Bull._
THE EDIBLE BOLETUS.
[Illustration: Plate XLII. Figure 286.--Boletus edulis.
Pileus light brown, tubes yellowish or greenish-yellow. Stem bulbous and
faintly reticulate. Natural size.]
This is quite a large and handsome plant and one rather easily
recognized. The firm caps of the young plant and the white tubes with
their very indistinct mouths, and the mature plants with the tubes
changing to a greenish yellow with their mouths quite distinct, are
enough to identify the plant at once.
The pileus is convex or nearly plane; variable in color, light brown to
dark brownish-red, surface smooth but dull, cap from three to eight
inches broad. The flesh is white or yellowish, not changing color on
being bruised or broken.
The tube-surface is whitish in very young plants, at length becoming
yellow and yellowish-green. Pore openings angled. The tubes depressed
around the stem, which is stout, bulbous, often disproportionately
elongated; pale-brown; straight or flexuous, generally with a fine
raised net-work of pink lines near junction of cap, sometimes extending
to the base. The taste is agreeable and nutty, especially when young.
Woods and open places. July and August. Common about Salem and
Chillicothe, Ohio.
It is one of our best mushrooms. Captain McIlvaine says: "Carefully
sliced, dried, and kept where safe from mold, it may be prepared for the
table at any season."
_Boletus speciosus. Frost._
THE HANDSOME BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 287.--Boletus speciosus. Natural size. Cap red or
deep scarlet. Tubes bright lemon-yellow.]
Speciosus means handsome.
The pileus is three to six inches broad, at first very thick,
subglobose, compact, then softer, convex, glabrous or nearly so, red or
deep scarlet. The flesh is pale yellow or bright lemon-yellow, changing
to blue where wounded.
The tubes are adnate, small, subrotund, plane, or slightly depressed
around the stem; bright lemon-yellow, becoming dingy-yellow with age,
changing to blue where bruised.
The stem is two to four inches long, stout, subequal or bulbous,
reticulated, bright lemon-yellow without and within, sometimes reddish
at the base. The spores are oblong-fusiform, pale, ochraceous-brown,
10-12.5x4-5u.
The young specimen can be recognized by the whole plant's being of a
vivid lemon-yellow except the surface of the cap. The plant quickly
turns to green, then blue, wherever touched. It has a wide distribution
in the Eastern and Middle states. The plant in Figure 287 was found in
Haynes' Hollow by Dr. Chas. Miesse and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
As an edible it is among the best. Found from August to October.
_Boletus cyanescens. Bull._
[Illustration: Figure 288.--Boletus cyanescens.]
Cyanescens is from _cyaneus_, deep blue, so called the moment you touch
it, it turns a deep blue.
Pileus is two to four inches across, convex, then expanded, sometimes
nearly plane, frequently wavy, covered with an appressed tomentum;
opaque, pale-buff, grayish-yellow, or yellowish, flesh thick, white,
quickly changing to a beautiful azure-blue where cut or wounded.
The tubes are quite free, openings small, white, then pale-yellow,
round, changing color the same as the flesh.
The stem is two to three inches long, ventricose, hoary with fine hair,
stuffed at first, then becoming hollow, colored like the pileus.
The spores are subelliptical, 10-12.5x6-7.5u.
The specimens in Figure 288 were found on rather steep wooded hillsides,
Sugar Grove, Ohio. They were all solitary. I have found a few specimens
about Chillicothe. They are widely distributed in the Eastern states.
Captain McIlvaine says in his book the caps make an excellent dish
cooked in any way. I have never tried them. Found on hilly ground in
August and September.
_Boletus indecisus. Pk._
THE UNDECIDED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 289.--Boletus indecisus. One-half natural size.]
Indecisus means undecided; so called because it favors very closely
Boletus felleus. There is a difference in the style of the two plants by
which, after continued tasting, the student can readily separate them.
The pileus is three to four inches broad, dry, slightly downy, convex,
ochraceous-brown, plane, often irregular on the margin, sometimes wavy,
flesh white, and unchangeable, taste mild or sweet.
The tube surface is nearly plane and firmly set against the stem,
grayish, becoming tinged with flesh color in age, changing to a brown
when bruised; the mouths small and nearly round. The stem is covered
with a fine mealy substance, straight or flexuous, sometimes reticulated
above. The spores are oblong, brownish flesh color, 12.5-15x4u.
The B. indecisus can be readily told from B. felleus by its sweet taste
and brownish spores. It is my favorite of all the Boleti, indeed I think
it equals the best of mushrooms. Its favorite habitat is under beech
trees in the open. It is widely distributed from Massachusetts to the
west. Found in July and August.
_Boletus edulis. Bull.--Var. clavipes. Pk._
CLUB-FOOTED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 290.--Boletus edulis, var. clavipes. Two-thirds
natural size. Note confluent caps on right.]
Clavipes means club-footed. Pileus fleshy, convex, glabrous, grayish-red
or chestnut-color. Flesh white, unchangeable. The tubes at first concave
or nearly plane, white and stuffed, then convex, slightly depressed
around the stem, ochraceous-yellow. Stem mostly obclavate, inversely
club-shaped, and reticulate to the base. The spores oblong-fusiform,
12-15x4-5u. _Peck._ 51st Rep.
The club-footed Boletus is very closely related to B. edulis. It
differs, perhaps, in a more uniform color of the cap, and in having
tubes less depressed around the stem, and less tinted with green when
mature. The stem is more club-shaped and more completely reticulated.
The pileus in the young plant is much more highly colored and fades out
in age, but the margin does not become paler than the disk as is often
the case with B. edulis. The specimens in Figure 290 were found in
Michigan and photographed by Dr. Fischer. They are quite as good as B.
edulis.
_Boletus Sullivantii. B. & M._
[Illustration: Figure 291.--Boletus sullivantii.]
Sullivantii is named in honor of Professor Sullivant, an early Ohio
botanist.
The pileus is three to four inches broad, hemispherical at first,
glabrous, reddish-tawny or brown, brownish when dry, cracked in squares.
The tubes are free, convex, medium size, angular, longer toward the
margin, their mouths reddish.
The stem is solid, violaceous at the thickened base, red-reticulated at
the apex, expanded into the pileus.
The spores are pallid to ochraceous, oblong-fusiform, 10-20u long.
_Peck's_ Boleti in U. S.
This species is very close to Boletus scaber and Boletus edulis. It
differs from B. scaber in its reticulated stem and from B. edulis in its
larger tubes. The specimens in Figure 291 were found by Hambleton Young
near Columbus, and were photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
_Boletus parvus. Pk._
Parvus means small; so named from the smallness of the plant.
The pileus is one to two inches broad, convex, becoming plane, often
slightly umbonate, subtomentose, reddish. Flesh yellowish-white, slowly
changing to pinkish when bruised.
The tubes are nearly plane, adnate, their mouths rather large, angular,
at first bright-red, becoming reddish-brown.
The stem is equal or slightly thickened below, red, from one to two
inches long. The spores are oblong, 12.5x4u.
They are found in thin woods, July and August.
_Boletus eximius. Pk._
THE SELECT BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 292.--Boletus eximius. Two-thirds natural size.]
Eximius means select.
The pileus at first is very compact, nearly round, somewhat covered with
a mealy substance, purplish-brown, or chocolate color, sometimes with a
faint tinge of lilac, becoming convex, soft, smoky red, or
pale-chestnut, flesh grayish or reddish-white.
The tube surface is at first concave or nearly plane, stuffed, colored
nearly like the pileus, becoming paler with age and depressed around the
stem, the mouths minute, round.
The stem is stout, generally short, equal or tapering upward, abruptly
narrowed at the base, minutely branny, colored like or a little paler
than the cap, purplish-gray within.
The spores are subferruginous, 12.5-15x5-6u. This plant is found in
open woods where there are beech trees. I found it frequently on
Cemetery Hill, Chillicothe. It is widely distributed, being found from
the east to the west. July and August.
_Boletus pallidus. Frost._
THE PALLID BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
Pallidus, pale. The pileus is convex, becoming plane or centrally
depressed, soft, smooth, pallid or brownish-white, sometimes tinged with
red. Flesh is white. Tubes plane or slightly depressed around the stem,
nearly adnate, very pale or whitish-yellow, becoming darker with age,
changing to blue where wounded, the mouths small. The stem is equal or
slightly thickened toward the base, rather long, smooth, often flexuous;
whitish, sometimes streaked with brown, often tinged with red within.
Spores pale ochraceous-brown. Pileus two to four inches broad. Stem
three to five inches long. _Peck_, Boleti of the U. S.
This species is very good, tender, and appetizing. I found it quite
abundant in the woods of Gallia County and near Chillicothe, Ohio.
_Boletus alveolatus. B. and C._
THE ALVEOLATE BOLETUS.
[Illustration: Figure 293.--Boletus alveolatus.]
Alveolatus is from _alveolus_, a small hollow, referring to the pitted
form of the pore-surface, which is one of the characters of this
species. The pileus is convex, smooth, polished, usually rich crimson or
maroon, sometimes varied with paler yellowish tints; substance solid,
changing to blue on being fractured or bruised, three to six inches
broad.
The tube-surface reaches the stem proper, undulate with uneven hollows,
maroon, the tubes in section being yellow beyond their dark red mouths.
The stem is usually quite long, covered with depressions or pitted
dentations, with intermediate coarse net-work of raised ridges, red and
yellow. The spores are yellowish-brown. I found this species in the
woods near Gallipolis, Ohio, also near Salem, Ohio. The bright color of
its cap will command the attention of any one passing near it. It has
been branded as a reprobate, but Captain McIlvaine gives it a good
reputation. Found in the woods, especially along streams, August and
September. Photographed by Prof. H. C. Beardslee.
_Boletus felleus. Bull._
THE BITTER BOLETUS.
[Illustration: _Photo by Prof. Atkinson._
Figure 294.--Boletus felleus. Natural size.]
Felleus is from _fel_, gall, bitter. The pileus is convex, nearly plane,
at first rather firm in substance, then becoming soft and cushion-like,
smooth, without polish, varying in color from pale ochre to yellowish or
reddish-brown or chestnut, flesh white, changing to flesh-color when
bruised, taste exceedingly bitter, cap three to eight inches in
diameter.
The tube-surface is white at first, becoming dull pinkish with age or
upon being cut or broken; rounded upward as it reaches the stem,
attached to the stem, mouths angular.
The stem is variable, tapering upward, rather stout, quite as smooth as
the cap and a shade paler in color, toward the apex covered with a
net-work which extends to the base, often bulbous.
The flesh is not poisonous but intensely bitter. No amount of cooking
will destroy its bitterness. I gave it a thorough trial, but it was as
bitter after cooking as before. It is a common Boletus about Salem,
Ohio. I have seen plants there eight to ten inches in diameter and very
heavy. They grow in woods and wood margins, usually about decaying
stumps and logs, sometimes in the open fields. July to September.
_Boletus versipellis. Fr._
THE ORANGE-CAP BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 295.--Boletus versipellis. Natural size.]
Versipellis is from _verto_, to change, and _pellis_, a skin. The pileus
is two to six inches in diameter, convex, orange-red, dry, minutely
woolly or downy, then scaly or smooth, margin containing fragments of
the veil, flesh white or grayish.
The tube-surface is grayish-white, tubes long, free, mouths minute and
gray.
The stem is equal or tapering upward; solid, white with scaly wrinkles;
three to five inches long; and is frequently covered with small reddish
or blackish dots or scales. The spores are oblong spindle-shaped.
This plant can be easily distinguished by the remnant of the veil which
adheres to the margin of the cap and is of the same color. It is
frequently turned under the margin adhering to the tubes. It is a large
and imposing plant found in sandy soil and especially among the pines. I
found it in J. Thwing Brooke's woods, Salem, Ohio. August to October.
_Boletus gracilis. Pk._
THE SLENDER-STEMMED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 296.--Boletus gracilis. Two-thirds natural size.]
Gracilis means slender, referring to the stem.
The pileus is one to two inches broad, convex, smooth or minutely
tomentose, the epidermis frequently cracked as in the illustration;
ochraceous-brown, tawny, or reddish brown; flesh white.
The tube surface is convex to plane, depressed around the stem, nearly
free, whitish, becoming flesh-colored.
The stem is long and slender, equal or slightly tapering upward, usually
curved; pruinose or mealy. The spores are subferruginous, .0005 to .0007
inch long, .0002 to .00025 inch broad.
This is quite a pretty plant, but at first sight it will not be taken
for a Boletus. They are not plentiful in our woods. I find them only
occasionally and then sparsely. They are found in July and August, the
months for the Boleti. They grow in leaf mold in mixed woods, especially
among beech timber.
_Boletus striaepes. Secr._
Striaepes means striate stem.
The pileus is convex or plane, soft, silky, olivaceous, the cuticle
rust-color within, flesh white, yellow next the tubes, sparingly
changing to blue.
The tubes are adnate, greenish, their mouths minute, angular, yellow.
The stem is firm, curved, marked with brownish-black striations, yellow,
and brownish-rufescent at the base.
The spores are 10-13x4u. _Peck_, Boleti of the U. S.
I found some beautiful specimens in a mixed woods on the Edinger
hillside, near Chillicothe. I located them here, but observing that this
species was not common I sent some to Prof. Atkinson, who placed them
under this species. August.
_Boletus radicans. Pers._
The pileus is convex, dry, subtomentose, olivaceous-cinereus, becoming
pale-yellowish, the margin thin, involute. Flesh pale-yellow, taste
bitterish.
The tubes are adnate, their mouths large, unequal; lemon-yellow.
The stem is two to three inches long, even, tapering downward and
radiating, flocculose with a reddish bloom, pale-yellow, becoming naked
and dark with a touch.
The spores are fusiform, olive, 10-12.5x5u. _Peck_, Boleti of the U. S.
I found these specimens in the same locality with the B. striaepes.
The olivaceous cap with its peculiar involute margin and its radiating
stem will greatly assist in its determination. August.
_Boletus subluteus. Pk._
THE YELLOW BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 297.--Boletus subluteus. Natural size.]
Subluteus is from _sub_, under, nearly; _luteus_, yellow.
Pileus is two to three inches broad, convex, becoming plane, quite
viscid when moist, dull yellowish to reddish brown, frequently more or
less streaked. The flesh is whitish or dull yellow.
The tube surface is plane or convex, the tubes set squarely against the
stem, being small, nearly round, yellowish or ochraceous, becoming
darker in age.
The stem is rather long, nearly equal, about the color of the cap,
dotted both above the ring and below it; the ring is membranaceous,
quite variable and persistent, usually collapsing as a narrow ring on
the stem. The spores are ochraceous-brown, oblong or elliptical,
8-10x4-5.
Prof. Atkinson has made a careful study of both the American and the
European plants called in this country B. luteus and B. subluteus, and
has come to the conclusion that they should all be called B. luteus. In
distinguishing the two we usually say those having much gluten and
dotted above the ring are B. luteus, and those dotted both above and
below the ring are B. subluteus. The specimens in Figure 297 were
collected at the State Farm at Lancaster, Ohio, and photographed by Dr.
Kellerman. They are found in July and August.
_Boletus parasiticus. Bull._
[Illustration: Figure 298.--Boletus parasiticus.]
Parasiticus means a parasite; so called because it grows on a
Scleroderma. It is a small plant and quite rare.
The pileus is one to two inches broad, convex, or nearly plane, dry,
silky, becoming glabrous, soon tessellately cracked, grayish or dingy
yellow. Tubes decurrent, medium size, golden yellow.
The stem is equal, rigid, incurved, yellow within and without. The
spores are oblong-fusiform, pale-brown, 12.5-15x4u. _Peck._
The tubes are rather large and unequal, and inclined to run down upon
the stem.
This plant was found near Boston, Mass., by Mrs. E. B. Blackford and
photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Captain McIlvaine says it is edible but
not of good flavor. It is found in July and August.
_Boletus separans. Pk._
THE SEPARATING BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 299.--Boletus separans. One-half natural size.]
Separans, separating, alluding to the tubes sometimes separating from
the stem by the expansion of the pileus.
The pileus is convex, thick, smooth, subshining, often pitted or
corrugated; brownish-red or dull-lilac, sometimes fading to yellowish on
the margin; flesh white and unchangeable.
Tubes at first are nearly plane, adnate, white and stuffed, then convex,
depressed around the stem, ochraceous-yellow or brownish-yellow and
sometimes separating from the stem by the expansion of the pileus.
The stem is equal or slightly tapering upward; reticulated, either
wholly or in upper part only; colored like the pileus or a little
paler, sometimes slightly furfuraceous. Spores subfusiform,
brownish-ochraceous. _Peck_, Boleti of U. S.
The specimens in Figure 299 were found at Londonderry, about fifteen
miles east of Chillicothe, in a grassy woods near a stream. The taste is
agreeable when raw and quite good when cooked. This might appropriately
have been called the lilac Boletus, for that shade of color is usually
present in it, somewhere. August to October.
_Boletus auripes. Pk._
YELLOW-STEMMED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 300.--Boletus auripes. One-half natural size. Caps
yellowish-brown. Tube surface and stem yellow.]
Auripes is from _aureus_, yellow or golden; _pes_, foot; so called from
its yellow stem.
The pileus is three to four inches broad, convex, nearly smooth,
yellowish-brown, the flesh often cracking in areas in old plants; flesh
yellow at first, fading to a lighter color, in age.
The tubes are nearly plane, their mouths small, nearly round, at first
stuffed, yellow.
The stem is two to four inches long, nearly equal, often reticulated,
solid, a bright yellow on the surface and a light yellow within. The
spores are ochraceous-brown, tinged with green, 12x5u.
The whole plant, except the upper surface of the cap, is a golden
yellow, and even the surface of the cap is more or less yellow. It
favors one form of the B. edulis. It is sometimes found in mixed woods,
especially if there are mountain laurels in the woods (_Kalmia
latifolia_). It is found in July and August.
_Boletus retipes. B. and C._
THE BEAUTIFUL-STEMMED BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 301.--Boletus retipes. Natural size.]
Retipes is from _rete_, a net; _pes_, a foot; so called from the
delicate net-work seen on the stem.
The pileus is convex, dry, powdered with yellow, sometimes rivulose or
cracked in areas. The tubes are adnate, yellow.
The stem is subequal, cespitose, reticulate to the base, pulverulent
below. The spores are greenish-ochraceous, 12-15x4-5u. _Peck_, Boleti.
B. retipes is very close to B. ornatipes, but its manner of growth, its
pulverulent cap, and its greenish-ochraceous spores will at once
distinguish it. I have found them on Ralston's Run, a number from the
same mycelial cluster, as in Figure 301. The caps only are good. The
specimens in the figure were found near Ashville, N. C., and
photographed by Prof. H. C. Beardslee.
_Boletus griseus. Frost._
THE GRAY BOLETUS.
[Illustration: Figure 302.--Boletus griseus. Two-thirds natural size.]
Griseus means gray. The pileus is broadly convex, firm, dry, almost
smooth, gray or grayish black. The flesh is whitish or gray.
The tubes are attached to the stem and slightly depressed around the
stem, nearly plane, their mouths being small, nearly round, white or
whitish.
The stem is slightly unequal, tapering downward, distinctly reticulated,
whitish or yellowish, sometimes reddish toward the base. The spores are
ochraceous-brown, 10-14x4-5u. _Peck._
This plant, with us, grows singly and it is infrequently found. I have
found it always in beech woods along Ralston's Run. It is found in
August and September.
_Boletus nigrellus. Pk._
THE BLACKISH BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 303.--Boletus nigrellus. Two-thirds natural size.]
Nigrellus is a diminutive of _niger_, black. The entire plant is
blackish except the pore surface.
The pileus is three to six inches broad, rather broadly convex or nearly
plane, dry, blackish. The flesh is soft and unchangeable.
The tube-surface is rather plane, adhering to the stem, sometimes
slightly depressed around the stem, the mouths being small, nearly
round; whitish, becoming flesh-colored, changing to black or brown when
wounded.
The stem is equal, short, even, black or blackish. The spores are dull
flesh-color, 10-12x5-6u.
When I first found this specimen I was inclined to call it B. alboater,
but its flesh-colored tubes served to distinguish it. I found the
specimens in Figure 303 on Edinger's Hill, near Chillicothe. The taste
is mild and fairly good. August and September.
_Boletus Americanus. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 304.--Boletus Americanus. One-half natural size.]
This species will attract the attention of the collector because of its
very viscid cap. I found the specimens in Figure 304 growing on Cemetery
Hill, near Chillicothe, in company with Lactarius deliciosus. They were
growing near and under pine trees, both in dense groups and separately.
The caps were very viscid, yellow with a slight tinge of red. The stem
is covered with numerous reddish-brown dots.
The pileus is one to three inches broad, thin; at first rather globose,
convex, then expanded, sometimes broadly umbonate; very viscid when
moist, especially on the margin; yellow or becoming dingy or streaked
with red in age.
The tube-surface is nearly plane and the tubes join squarely against the
stem; quite large, angular, pale yellow, becoming a dull ochraceous.
The stem is slender, equal or tapering upward, firm, with no trace of a
ring; yellow, often brownish toward the base, covered with numerous
brown or reddish-brown quite persistent granular dots; yellow within.
The spores are oblong, ochraceous-ferruginous, 9-11x4-5u.
The veil is only observed in the very young specimens. Only caps are
good to eat. The specimens were photographed for me by Dr. Kellerman.
_Boletus Morgani. Pk._
MORGAN'S BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 305.--Boletus Morgani. One-half natural size.]
Morgani is named in honor of Prof. Morgan.
The pileus is one and a half to two inches broad, convex, soft,
glabrous, viscid; red, yellow, or red fading to yellow on the margin;
flesh white, tinged with red and yellow, unchangeable.
The tube-surface convex, depressed around the stem, tubes rather long
and large, bright yellow, becoming greenish-yellow.
The stem is elongated, tapering upward, pitted with long and narrow
depressions, yellow, red in the depressions, colored within like the
flesh of the pileus. The spores are olive-brown, 18-22u, about half as
broad. _Peck._
This plant is found in company with B. Russelli, which it resembles very
closely. Its smooth, viscid cap and white flesh will distinguish it. Its
stem is much more rough in wet weather than in dry. The peculiar color
of the stem will help to identify the species. I found it frequently on
Ralston's Run, near Chillicothe. It is found in many of the states of
the Union. July and August.
_Boletus Russelli. Frost._
RUSSELL'S BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 306.--Boletus Russelli. One-half natural size.]
The cap is thick, hemispherical or convex, dry, covered with downy
scales or bundles of red hairs, yellowish beneath the tomentum, often
cracked in areas. The flesh is yellow and unchangeable.
The tubes are subadnate, often depressed around the stem, rather large,
dingy-yellow, or yellowish-green.
The stem is very long, equal or tapering upward, roughened by the
lacerated margins of the reticular depressions, red or brownish red. The
spores are olive-brown, 18-22x8-10u.
The pileus is one and a half to four inches broad, the stem is three to
seven inches long, and three to six lines thick. This is distinguished
from the other species by the dry squamulose pileus and the color of the
stem. The latter is sometimes curved at the base. _Peck._
I have found this species frequently in the woods and open places about
Chillicothe. It is one of the easiest of the Boleti to determine. The
plants here have a bright brownish-red pileus, with a shade lighter
color on the stem; the latter quite rough and tapering toward the cap.
They are usually solitary. The plants in Figure 306 were collected in
Michigan and photographed by Dr. Fischer.
_Boletus vermiculosus. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 307.--Boletus vermiculosus. One-half natural
size.]
Vermiculosus means full of small worms. The pileus is broadly convex,
thick, firm, dry; smooth, or very minutely tomentose; brown,
yellowish-brown or grayish-brown, sometimes tinged with red. The flesh
is white or whitish, quickly changing to blue where wounded. The tubes
are 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.
The stem is nearly equal, firm, even, paler than the pileus. The spores
are ochraceous-brown, 10-12x4-5u. _Peck._
The plant represented in Figure 307 grew under the beech trees on
Cemetery Hill. I found it frequently in the woods, from July to
September.
_Boletus Frostii. Russell._
[Illustration: Figure 308.--Boletus Frostii. Caps blood-red and shining.
Natural size.]
Frostii is named in honor of Mr. Frost, a noted mycologist.
The pileus is three to four inches broad; convex, polished, shining,
blood-red; the margin is thin, the flesh scarcely changing to blue.
The tubes are nearly free, greenish-yellow, becoming yellowish-brown
with age, their mouths blood-red or cinnabar-red.
The stem is two to four inches long, three to six lines thick, equal or
tapering upward, distinctly reticulated, firm, blood-red. The spores are
12.5-15x5u. _Peck_, Boleti of U. S.
This is a beautiful plant. It is not plentiful, yet it is found
frequently on some of our hillsides. The plants in Figure 308 were found
in Hayne's Hollow near Chillicothe, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
The plant is found in New England and through the Middle West. I have
had beautiful plants sent me from Vermont. It is not edible, so far as I
know. Found in August and September.
_Boletus luridus. Schaeff._
THE LURID BOLETUS.
[Illustration: Figure 309.--Boletus luridus. One-half natural size.]
Luridus means pale-yellow, sallow. The pileus is convex, tomentose,
brown-olivaceous, then somewhat viscous, sooty. The flesh is yellow,
changing to blue when wounded. Tubes free, yellow, becoming greenish,
their mouths round, vermilion, becoming orange. The stem is stout,
vermilion, somewhat orange at the top, reticulate or punctuate. The
spores are greenish-gray, 15x9u.
The lurid Boletus, though pleasant to the taste, is reputed very
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 by Fries as
a variety of luridus. It will be seen on the right in Figure 309. It is
smaller than B. luridus, has a brown or reddish-brown pileus and a
slender cylindrical stem, not reticulated but dotted with squamules.
_Peck_, Boleti of the U. S. The plant is quite abundant in our woods.
Found in July and August.
_Boletus castaneus. Bull._
THE CHESTNUT BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 310.--Boletus castaneus. One-half natural size.]
[Illustration: Figure 311.--Boletus castaneus.]
Castaneus, pertaining to a chestnut. The pileus is dry, convex, then
expanded, minutely velvety; cinnamon or reddish-brown, from one to three
inches in diameter; the flesh white, not changing when bruised, cap
frequently turned upward.
The tube-surface is white, becoming yellow, tubes small and short, free
from the stem.
The stem is equal or tapering upward, colored and clothed like the cap,
short and not always straight; when young it is spongy in the center but
becomes hollow with age. The spores are pale-yellow, oval or broadly
elliptical, which is a feature to distinguish the species.
I found a number of specimens in James Dunlap's woods, near Chillicothe,
Ohio. A great majority seemed to be attacked by the parasitic fungi,
Sepedonium chrysospermum.
The caps are very fine eating. Care should be taken to use only young
specimens. Found in open woods from June to September.
_Boletus satanus. Lenz._
SATANIC BOLETUS.
Pileus convex, smooth, somewhat gluey, brownish-yellow or whitish; flesh
whitish, becoming reddish or violaceous where wounded. Tubes free,
yellow, their mouths bright red, becoming orange-colored with age. The
stem thick, ovate-ventricose, marked above with red reticulations.
_Peck_, Boleti of U. S.
Hamilton Gibson and Captain McIlvaine seem to give his Satanic majesty a
good reputation, but I would say "Be cautious." His looks always
deterred me. Found in woods from June to September.
_Strobilomyces. Berk._
Strobilomyces is from two Greek words meaning a pine-cone and a fungus.
The hymenophore is even, tubes not easily separable from it, large and
equal. It is of a brownish-gray color, its shaggy surface more or less
studded with deep-brown or black woolly points, each at the center of a
scale-like segment. The tubes beneath are covered at first with a veil
which breaks and is often found on the rim of the cap. It is a plant
that will quickly attract attention.
_Strobilomyces strobilaceus. Berk._
THE CONE-LIKE BOLETUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 312.--Strobilomyces strobilaceus. Two-thirds
natural size.]
Strobilaceus, cone-like. This is especially emphasized from the fact
that both the genus and the species are named from the fancied
resemblance of the cap to a pine cone. It is ever readily recognized
because of this character of the cap.
The pileus is convex, rough with dark umber scales drawn into regular
cone-like points tipped with dark-brown; margin veiled, flesh
grayish-white, turning red when bruised, and finally black.
Pore-surface grayish-white in young specimens, and usually covered with
the veil; tubes attached to the stem, angular, turning red when bruised.
The stem is equal or tapering upward, furrowed at the top, covered with
a woolly down. Spores dark-brown, 12-13x9u. Found at Londonderry.
Common in woods. August to September.
_Boletinus. Kalchb._
Boletinus is a diminutive of Boletus.
Hymenium composed of broad radiating lamellae, connected by very numerous
and narrow anastomosing branches or partitions, forming large angular
pores. Tubes somewhat tenacious, not easily separable from the
hymenophore and from each other, adnate or subdecurrent, yellowish.
_Peck._
_Boletinus pictus. Pk._
THE PAINTED BOLETINUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 313.--Boletinus pictus.]
Pictus, painted. This plant seems to delight in damp pine woods, but I
have found it only occasionally about Chillicothe, under beech trees. It
is readily recognized by the red fibrillose tomentum which covers the
entire plant when young. As the plant expands the reddish tomentum is
broken into scales of the same color, revealing the yellowish color of
the pileus beneath. The flesh is compact, yellow, often changing to a
dull pinkish or reddish tint where wounded.
The tube-surface is at first pale yellow, but becomes darker with age,
often changing to pinkish, with a brown tinge where bruised.
The stem is solid, equal, and covered with a cottony layer of
mycelium-threads like the pileus, though often paler. The spores are
ochraceous, 15-18x6-8u. The plants are two to four inches broad, and
one and a half to three inches high. Found from July to October.
_Boletinus cavipes. Kalchb._
HOLLOW-STEMMED BOLETINUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 314.--Boletinus cavipes.]
Cavipes is from two Latin words meaning a hollow stem.
The pileus is broadly convex, rather tough, flexible, soft, subumbonate,
fibrillose-scaly, tawny-brown, sometimes tinged with reddish or
purplish, flesh yellowish. The tubes are slightly decurrent, at first
pale-yellow, then darker and tinged with green, becoming
dingy-ochraceous with age. The stem is equal or slightly tapering
upward, somewhat fibrillose or floccose, slightly ringed, hollow,
tawny-brown or yellowish-brown, yellowish at the top and marked by the
decurrent dissepiments of the tubes, white within. Veil whitish, partly
adhering to the margin of the pileus, soon disappearing. The spores are
8-10x4u. _Peck_, in Boleti of the U. S.
This plant grows in New York and the New England states, under pine and
tamarack trees. The caps are convex, covered with a tawny-brown
fibrillose tomentum. The stems of those I have seen are hollow from the
first. The plants in Figure 314 were sent me from Massachusetts by Mrs.
Blackford.
_Boletinus porosus._ (_Berk._) _Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 315.--Boletinus porosus. Two-thirds natural size.
Caps nut-brown, yellowish-brown or olivaceous.]
These form a small but interesting species, not usually exceeding three
and a half inches in diameter nor more than two inches in height.
The cap is somewhat fleshy, nut-brown, or yellowish-brown, shading to
olivaceous in color in most of the specimens which I have found; when
fresh and moist, somewhat sticky and shining. The margins are thin,
rather even, and inclined to be involute; the shape of the cap is more
or less irregular, in many cases almost kidney-shaped.
The stem is laterally attached, tough, and gradually expands into the
pileus which it resembles in color; it is markedly reticulated at the
top by the decurrent walls of the spore-tubes. The spore-surface is
yellow, the tubes arranged in radiating rows, some being more prominent
than others, the partitions often assuming the form of gills which
branch and are connected by cross partitions of less prominence. The
stratum of tubes, while soft, is very tenacious, not separating from the
flesh of the pileus.
The odor and taste of all the specimens found were pleasant. Found in
damp woods in July and August. When a sufficient number can be found
they make an excellent dish.
It is found in abundance about Chillicothe.
_Fistulina. Bull._
Fistulina means a small pipe; so called because the tubes stand close
together and separate easily one from another.
The hymenophore is fleshy and hymenium inferior. When first seen
springing from a stump or root it looks like a large strawberry. It soon
develops into the appearance of a big red tongue. When young the upper
side is quite velvety and peach-colored, later it becomes a livid red
and loses its velvety appearance. The under surface is flesh-colored and
is rough like the surface of a tongue, owing to the fact that the tubes
are free from one another. When it is moist it is very viscid, making
your hands quite blood-stained in appearance.
_Fistulina hepatica. Fr._
THE LIVER FUNGUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XLIII. Figure 316.--Fistulina hepatica.
Beefsteak mushroom.]
This is a beautiful plant, quite common where there are chestnut stumps
and trees. I have found it on chestnut oak, quite large specimens, too.
It is one of my favorite mushrooms; one cannot afford to pass it by. Its
beautiful color will attract attention at once, and having once eaten it
well prepared, one will never pass a chestnut stump without examining
it.
[Illustration: Figure 317.--Fistulina hepatica. One-half natural size.]
The pileus is fan-shaped or semicircular, red-juicy, flesh when cut
somewhat mottled like beet-root and giving forth a very appetizing odor;
the cap is moist and somewhat viscid, the color varying from a red
(somewhat beefy) to a reddish-brown in older plants; while the spore
surface varies from strawberry-pink through a light-and dark-tan to an
almost chestnut-brown.
In young plants the color is much richer and more vivid than in those of
greater maturity. The spore surface resembles nothing so much as a very
fine sponge, the spore-tubes being short, crowded, yet distinct.
The marked peculiarity of its mode of growth is in the attachment of the
stem; somewhat thick, fleshy, and juicy, coming from the side of the
pileus like the handle of a fan, it looks as if some one had taken hold
of the cap and given it a partial twist to the right or to the left, as
may be seen in Figure 317. Another peculiarity I have noticed in this
species consists of the nerve-like lines, or veinlets, radiating from
the stem and streaking the upper surface of the cap. The taste, when
raw, is slightly but pleasantly acid. Its favorite habitat seems to be
injured places on chestnut trees, and about chestnut stumps. It is known
as Liver Fungus, Beefsteak Fungus, Oak-Tongue, Chestnut-Tongue, etc. It
is found from July to October.
I have found it plentiful about Chillicothe on chestnut stumps, and
quite generally over the state. I found some very fine specimens on the
chestnut oaks, about Bowling Green, Ohio.
When properly prepared it is equal to any kind of meat. It is one of our
best mushrooms.
_Fistulina pallida. B. and Rav._
[Illustration: Figure 318.--Fistulina pallida. Natural size.]
Pallida means pale. Pileus kidney-shaped, pallid-red, fawn or
clay-color, thick at the base and thinning toward the margin, which is
often crenate and inflexed; pulverulent, firm, flexible, tough; flesh
white.
The tubes are long and slender, mouths somewhat enlarged, whitish, the
tube surface a pale cream-color and minutely mealy, pores not decurrent
but ending with the beginning of the stem.
The stem is uniformly attached to the concave margin of the cap;
attenuated downward; whitish below, but near the cap it changes to the
same tint. The peculiar manner of attachment of the stem will serve to
identify the species, which I have found several times near Chillicothe.
The specimen in the illustration was found on the State farm, and
photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
_Polyporus. Fr._
Polyporus is from two Greek words meaning many and pores. In this genus
the stratum of the pores is not easily separated from the cap. Most of
the species under this genus are tough and corky. Many grow on decayed
wood, a few on the ground, but even these are inclined to be tough. Very
few of those growing on wood have a central stem and many have
apparently no stem at all.
_Polyporus picipes. Fr._
THE BLACK-FOOTED POLYPORUS.
[Illustration: Figure 319.--Polyporus picipes. Two-thirds natural size.
Note the black stem, which gives name to the species.]
Picipes is from _pix_, pitch or black, and _pes_, foot.
The pileus is fleshy, rigid, coriaceous, tough, even, smooth, depressed
either behind or in the center; livid with a chestnut-colored disk.
The pores are decurrent, rounded, small, tender, white, finally
reddish-gray.
The stem is eccentric and lateral, equal, firm; at first velvety, then
naked; punctate with black dots, becoming black.
The stem at the base is pitch-black, as will be seen in Figure 319. The
margin of the cap is very thin and the caps are irregularly funnel-form.
This plant is widely distributed over the United States and is quite
common about Chillicothe. Found in damp woods on decayed logs from July
to November. When very young and tender it can be eaten.
_Polyporus umbellatus. Fr._
THE SUN-SHADE POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XLIV. Figure 320.--Polyporus umbellatus.]
Umbellatus is from _umbella_, a sun-shade. Very much branched,
fibrous-fleshy, toughish. The pileoli are very numerous, one-half to one
and a half inches broad, sooty, dull-red, united at the base. Pores are
minute and white. White pileoli have sometimes occurred. _Fries._
The tufts, as will be observed from Figure 320, are very dense, and
there seems to be no limit to their branching. Notice that every cap is
depressed or umbilicate. The specimen in Figure 320 was collected near
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, by Mr. C. G. Lloyd, Cincinnati, and through his
courtesy I have used his print. I have found the plant about Chillicothe
and Sidney, Ohio. It is found on decayed roots on the ground, or on
stumps. When the caps are fresh they are quite good.
May to November.
_Polyporus frondosus. Fr._
THE BRANCHED POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 321.--Polyporus frondosus. One-fifth natural
size.]
Frondosus, full of leafy branches. The tufts are from six inches to over
a foot broad, very much branched, fibrous-fleshy, toughish.
The pileoli are very numerous, one-half to two inches broad, sooty-gray,
dimidiate, wrinkled, lobed, intricately recurved. Flesh white. Stems,
growing into each other, white.
The pores are rather tender, very small, acute, white, commonly round,
but in oblique position, gaping open and torn. _Fries._
The specimen in Figure 321 was found near Chillicothe. When tender it is
very good. Found on stumps and roots from September till the coming of
frost.
We are told that in the Roman markets this mushroom is frequently sold
as an article of food.
_Polyporus leucomelas. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 322.--Polyporus leucomelas.]
Leucomelas is from two Greek words, _leucos_, white, and _melas_, black.
The pileus is two to four inches broad, fleshy, somewhat fragile,
irregularly shaped, silky, sooty-black; flesh soft, reddish when broken.
The pores are rather large, unequal, ashy or whitish, becoming black
when drying.
The stem is one to three inches long, stout, unequal, somewhat
tomentose, sooty-black, becoming black internally. The pileus and stem
become black in places.
The spores are cylindric-fusoid, pale-brown, 10-12x4-5u.
They are usually found in pine woods. The caps are often deformed and
are easily broken. The pores resemble those of a Boletus. The plant is
quite widely distributed. The one in Figure 322 was found in
Massachusetts by Mrs. Blackford, and I photographed it after it was
partially dry. It is probably the same as P. griseus, P.
_Polyporus Berkeleyi. Fr._
BERKELEY'S POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
The pileoli are fleshy, tough, becoming hard and corky, many times
imbricated, sometimes growing very large, with many in a head;
subzonate, finally tomentose; the plant very much branched, alutaceous.
The stem is short or entirely wanting, arising from a long and thick
caudex.
The pore surface is very large, the pores are large and irregular,
angular, pale-yellowish.
I have seen some very large specimens of this species. The natural size
of the specimen in Figure 323 is two and one-fourth feet across. When
young it is edible, but not equal to P. sulphureus. It is found growing
on the ground near trees and stumps, and is a widely distributed plant.
[Illustration: Figure 323.--Polyporus Berkeleyi. One-fifth natural
size.]
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XLV. Figure 324.--Polyporus Berkeleyi.
Reduced. Natural size being 2.5 feet across.]
_Polyporus giganteus. Fr._
THE GIANT POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
Giganteus is from _gigas_, a giant. The pileoli are very numerous,
imbricated, fleshy, tough, somewhat coriaceous, flaccid, somewhat zoned;
color a grayish-brown in young specimens, the deep cream pore surfaces
tipping the pileoli, rendering it a very attractive plant; this
cream-color is quickly changed to black or deep-brown by touching it.
The pores are minute, shallow, round, pallid, at length torn.
The stem is branched, connate from a common tuber.
This is a large and certainly a very attractive plant, being very often
two to three feet across. When young and tender it is edible. Found
growing on decayed stumps and roots, it is somewhat common in our state.
I have found some quite large specimens about Chillicothe. It is easily
distinguished by its pore surface turning black or dark-brown to the
touch. When young and tender it makes a good stew, but it must be well
cooked.
_Polyporus squamosus. Fr._
THE SCALY POLYPORUS.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Figure 325.--Polyporus squamosus. Natural size.]
Squamosus means abounding in scales. The pileus is from three to
eighteen inches broad, fleshy, fan-shaped, expanded, flattened, somewhat
ochraceous, variegated, with scattered, brown, adpressed scales.
The stem is eccentric and lateral, blunt, reticulated at apex, blackish
at the base.
The pores are thin, variable; at first minute, then broad, angular and
torn; pallid. Spores are white and elliptical, 14x6u.
It is found from Massachusetts to Iowa, and grows very large. Specimens
have been reported seven feet in circumference and attaining a weight of
40 pounds.
The specimen in Figure 325 was found by Mr. C. G. Lloyd in the woods at
Red Bank, near Cincinnati. It is quite a common plant in Europe.
It is tough, but it is prepared for eating by being cut fine and stewed
for a half hour or more.
In Figure 325 the angular and torn pores are obvious, as well as the
scales which give rise to its name. Found on trunks and stumps from May
to November.
_Polyporus sulphureus. Fr._
THE SULPHUR-COLORED POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XLVI. Figure 326.--Polyporus sulphureus.]
Sulphureus, pertaining to sulphur, so called from the color of the
tube-bearing surface. In mature specimens the growth is horizontal,
spreading fan-like from the stem, undulating with radiating flutings.
The upper surface is salmon, orange, or orange-red; flesh cheesy,
light-yellow, the edge being smooth and unevenly thickened with
nodule-like prominences. In young specimens the ascending, under yellow
surface outwardly exposed.
The pore surface is a bright sulphur-yellow, which is more persistent
than the color of the cap; pores very minute, short, often formed of
inflexed masses.
The stem is short, a mere close attachment for the spreading growth. The
taste is slightly acid and mucilaginous when raw. The spores are
elliptical and white, 7-8x4-5u.
It grows on decayed logs, on stumps, and on decayed places in living
trees. The mycelium of this species will frequently be found in the
hearts of trees and remain there for years before the tree is injured
sufficiently for the mycelium to come to the surface. It may take
months, or a century, to accomplish this.
When this plant is young and tender it is a prime favorite with all who
know it. It is found from August to November. Its favorite host is an
oak stump or log.
_Polyporus flavovirens. B. & Rav._
[Illustration: Figure 327.--Polyporus flavovirens. Two-thirds natural
size.]
Flavovirens means yellowish-green or olivaceous.
The pileus is quite large, three to six inches broad, convex, expanded
funnel-form or repand, fleshy, tomentose, yellowish-green or olivaceous;
frequently the pileus is cracked when old; flesh white.
The pores are not large, toothed, white or whitish, decurrent upon the
stem which is tapering.
This plant is very common on the oak hillsides about Chillicothe. The
plants in Figure 327 were found by Miss Margaret Mace on the Governor
Tiffin farm, about twelve miles north of Chillicothe, growing in large
groups under oak trees. It is edible though often tough. It is found in
August and September. It is very abundant in this region.
_Polyporus heteroclitus. Fr._
THE BOUQUET POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 328.--Polyporus heteroclitus. One-fourth natural
size. The Pileoli bright orange.]
Heteroclitus is from two Greek words; one of two and to lean, referring
to its habit of growth, leaning apparently upon the ground or the base
of a tree or stump. It is caespitose and coriaceous. The pileoli are two
and a half inches broad, orange and sessile, expanded on all sides from
the radical tubercle, lobed, villous, zoneless.
The pores are irregularly shaped and elongated, golden yellow. _Fries._
The specimen in Figure 328 was found by Mr. Beyerly at Richmond Dale,
Ohio. It was over a foot in diameter and eight inches high, growing in
many caespitose layers, on the ground under an oak tree, from a radical
tubercle. The flesh was juicy and tender, breaking easily. The radical
tubercle from which it grew was filled with a milky juice. The flesh was
somewhat lighter in color than the outside pilei, which extended
horizontally from the tubercle. It is a very showy and attractive plant,
and as Captain McIlvaine remarks, it looks like a "mammoth dahlia" in
bloom. When young and tender it is good, but in age it becomes rank.
This plant was found July 1st. It grows in the months of June and July.
_Polyporus radicatus. Schw._
[Illustration: Figure 329.--Polyporus radicatus. One-third natural
size.]
Radicatus, from the long root the plant has. The pileus is fleshy, quite
tough, cushion-shaped, slightly depressed, pale sooty, somewhat downy.
The pores are decurrent, quite large, obtuse, equal, white.
The stem is very long, often eccentric, tapering downward, sometimes
ventricose as in Figure 329, rooting quite deep, black below.
It is found on the ground in the woods and in old clearings beside old
trees and stumps.
The blackish or brown pileus, which is more or less tomentose, with a
black stem more or less deformed, will serve to distinguish the species.
Found from September to November.
_Polyporus perplexus. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 330.--Polyporus perplexus. Two-thirds natural
size.]
The pileus is spongy-fleshy, fibrous, sessile, commonly imbricated, and
somewhat confluent, irregular, hairy-tomentose to setose-hispid,
grayish-tawny, or ferruginous, the margin subacute, sterile, the
substance within tawny-ferruginous, somewhat zonate.
The pores are two to three lines long, unequal, angular, the
dissepiments becoming brownish-ferruginous with age or where bruised.
The spores are ferruginous, broadly elliptical, .00024 to .0003 inch
long and about .0002 broad. _Peck._
This is very abundant on beech logs, growing quite large, massive,
imbricated, and confluent, the pileoli being often two to four inches
broad. It is very closely related to P. cuticularis and P. hispidus. It
can be easily distinguished from P. cuticularis by means of its straight
margin, and from P. hispidus by its small size and smaller pores. Found
from September to November.
_Polyporus hispidus. Fr._
Pileus is very large, eight to ten inches broad and three to four inches
thick, compact, spongy, fleshy but fibrous, dimidiate, with occasionally
a very short stem; generally very hairy, but sometimes smooth; the
pileus is often marked with concentric lines which seem to indicate
arrested vegetation; brown, blackish, yellowish or reddish brown, below
pale-yellow or rich sienna-brown, margin paler.
The pores are minute, round, inclined to separate, fringed, paler. The
spores are yellowish, apiculate, 10x7u. Often found on living trees, the
plant gains entrance to the living stem through the bark, by means of a
wound made by some agency, as a bird or a boring insect; soon a mass of
mycelium is formed, and from this the fruiting body is produced.
_Polyporus cuticularis. Fr._
Pileus is quite thin, spongy, fleshy, then dry; plane, hairy-tomentose,
ferruginous, then blackish-brown; margin fibrous, fimbriate, internally
loose and parallel, fibrous.
The pores are long, quite small, pale, then ochraceous; pores longer
than the thickness of the flesh. The spores are yellow or ochraceous,
very abundant, 7x4-5u. The hairs on the pileus are three-cleft.
This is very frequent in beech woods about Chillicothe. Found in
September and October.
_Polyporus circinatus. Fr._
THE ROUND POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
Circinatus is from _circinus_, a pair of compasses, hence means rounded
like a circle.
The pileus is three to four inches across, with a double cap, one cap
within another, both being compact, thick, round, plane, zoneless,
velvety, rusty-yellow to reddish-brown, the flesh being of the same
color. The upper cap is pliable, compact, soft, and covered with a soft
tomentum, the lower cap, contiguous with the stem, is woody and corky.
The pores are decurrent, extending down the stem, entire, rather small,
dusky-gray.
The stem is short and rather thick, often swollen, covered with a
reddish-brown tomentum.
This is an odd but handsome species and easily determined because of its
double cap. It is said to prefer fir woods, but I have frequently found
it in oak woods. It grows on the ground, and when young and fresh the
pilei are said to be good. I have never found more than one specimen at
a time and never in a condition to eat, though good authorities say it
is edible when young and tender. Found in September and October.
_Polyporus adustus. Fr._
Adustus means scorched, so called from the blackish color of margin.
The pileus is often imbricated; fleshy, tough, firm, thin, villous,
ash-color; margin straight, blackish.
The pores are minute, round, obtuse, whitish, soon ashy-brown.
It is abundant everywhere on fallen beech or on beech stumps. It is very
close to P. fumosus if it is not identical with it. It is found from
August to late fall.
_Polyporus resinosus._
[Illustration: Figure 331.--Polyporus resinosus. One-fourth natural
size.]
Pileus from three to six, and frequently eight, inches long; rich-brown,
varying from bright cinnamon to red, handsomely marked with delicate
pencilings radiating from the axis of growth; the color of the pileus
seems to form a binding about the edge of the light-gray pore surface,
which is closely punctured with minute elliptical pores.
The color of the pore surface readily changes to brown upon slight
pressure. The whole plant is full of a brownish juice which exudes
freely upon pressure. The plant is shelving and imbricated upon the side
of a log, without any apparent stem.
Taken altogether the Polyporus resinosus presents one of the handsomest
specimens of fungus growth that one will be likely to find in a long
day's tramp. When fresh and growing it has rather a pleasant taste.
It is found during October and November, growing on decayed logs, being
partial to the beech. Its abundance is equal to its beauty.
_Polyporus lucidus. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 332.--Polyporus lucidus. One-third natural size.]
The pileus is two to three or more inches broad, usually very irregular,
brownish-maroon, with a distinct double zone of duller dark-brown and
tan. Cap glazed especially in the center, wrinkled.
The spore surface is a very light grayish-brown in the young plant,
changing to almost a tan in older ones, pores labyrinthiform.
The stem is irregular, knotted and swollen with protuberances somewhat
resembling buds, from which develop the caps which in some cases appear
as if stuck on the stem like barnacles on a stick. Contrary to most
mushrooms the upper surface of the cap and the stem are of nearly the
same color, the stem being usually of a more brilliant red. The stem has
a distinct root extending into the ground several inches. The whole
plant is almost indescribably irregular. It is quite an attractive plant
when seen growing among the weeds and beside stumps. The plants in
Figure 332 I found growing among Datura stramonium beside old stumps in
a pasture. I have found the same species growing on oak stumps. It is
known as Ganoderma Curtisii, Berk., G. pseudo-boletus, Merrill. It is
found from August till late fall.
_Polyporus obliquus. Pers._
[Illustration: Figure 333.--Polyporus obliquus. Two-thirds natural
size.]
Obliquus means slanting, oblique. This species is widely circumfused,
usually hard, quite thick, uneven, pallid, elegant chocolate-brown, then
blackish; conversely encircled crested border.
The pores are long, very minute, obtuse, slightly angular. It grows on
dead branches of iron-wood and wild cherry. The deep chocolate-brown and
the oblique form of its pores will serve to identify the species.
It grows, with us, in the spring. I gathered this specimen in June. In
the fall I visited the same trunk, but found they had begun to decay. It
is sometimes called Poria obliqua.
_Polyporus graveolens. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 334.--Polyporus graveolens.]
Graveolens means strong scented. Corky or woody and extremely hard, very
closely imbricated and connate, forming a subglobose polycephalous mass,
Figure 334. Pileoli innumerable, inflexed and appressed, plicate, brown.
Pores concealed, very minute, round, pale-brown, the dissepiments thick
and obtuse. _Morgan._
This is a very interesting plant because of its peculiar mode of growth.
It is found in woods or clearings on dead logs or on standing dead
trees. In some parts of the state it is quite common. From the
illustration, Figure 334, it will be seen that the plant consists of an
innumerable number of pileoli forming a subglobose or elongated mass.
They are frequently three to six inches in diameter and several inches
long. I have seen them very much elongated on standing trees. When it is
young and growing it is shiny in appearance and has a reddish and
sometimes a purplish tint. The inner substance is ferruginous but
covered with a hard brown crust. The pores are brown, and when examined
with the glass are seen to be lined with a very fine pubescence. The
imbricated form of the pileoli show very plainly in the illustration.
_Polyporus brumalis. Fr._
THE WINTER POLYPORUS.
[Illustration: Figure 335.--Polyporus brumalis.]
Brumalis is from _bruma_, which means winter; so called because it
appears late, in cold weather. The specimens in Figure 335 were found in
December.
The pileus is from one to three inches broad, nearly plane, slightly
depressed in the center; somewhat fleshy and tough; dingy-brown, clothed
with minute scales, becoming smooth, pallid.
The pores are oval, slightly angular, slender, acute, denticulate,
white, 5-6x2u.
The stem is short, thin, slightly bulbous at the base, hirsute or
squamulose, pale, central.
It usually occurs singly but frequently you will find several in a
group. Found on sticks and logs, they are quite hard to detach from
their hosts. Too tough to eat. It equals Polyporus polyporus. (Retz)
Merrill.
_Polyporus rufescens. Fr._
THE RUFESCENT POLYPORUS.
Rufescens, becoming red. The pileus is flesh-colored, spongy, soft,
unequal, hairy or woolly.
The pores are large, sinuose and torn, white or flesh-colored.
The stem is short, irregular, tuberous at the base. Spores elliptical,
6x4-5u.
Rather common about Chillicothe on the ground about old stumps.
_Polyporus arcularius. Batsch._
[Illustration: Figure 336.--Polyporus arcularius. Two-thirds natural
size, showing dark brown and depressed center; also dark brown stems.]
The pileus is dark-brown, minutely scaly, depressed in the center,
margin covered with stiff hairs.
The tube surface is of a dingy cream color, openings oblong, almost
diamond-shaped, resembling the meshes of a net, the meshes being smaller
on the margin, shallow, simply marked out at the top of the stem.
The stem is dark-brown, minutely scaly, mottled, with a ground work of
cream-color; hollow. Common in the spring of the year on sticks and
decayed wood in fields or in old clearings. It is quite generally
distributed. Edible but tough.
_Polyporus elegans. Fr._
The pileus is fleshy, soon becoming woody; expanded, even, smooth,
pallid.
Pores are plane, minute, nearly round, pallid, yellowish-white.
The stem is eccentric, even, smooth, pallid; base from the first
abruptly black. This is quite common on rotten wood in the forests. It
resembles P. picipes both in appearance and habitat.
_Polyporus medulla-panis. Fr._
Effused, determinate, subundulate, firm, smooth, white, circumference
naked, submarginate, wholly composed of middle sized, rather long,
entire pores, the whole becoming yellowish in age.
I found this species on an elm log along Ralston's Run.
_Polyporus albellus. Pk._
The pileus is thick, sessile, convex or subungulate, subsolitary, two to
four inches broad, one to one and a half thick, fleshy, rather soft; the
adnate cuticle rather thin, smooth or sometimes slightly roughened by a
slight strigose tomentum, especially toward the margin; whitish, tinged
more or less with fuscus; flesh pure white, odor acidulous.
The pores are nearly plane, minute, subrotund, about two lines long;
white, inclining to yellowish, the dissepiments thin, acute.
The spores are minute, cylindrical, curved, white, .00016 to .0002 inch
long. _Peck._
This species is quite common here and is very widely distributed in the
United States.
_Polyporus epileucus. Fr._
This is quite a large and beautiful plant. It apparently grows without a
stem, its color being an unequal gray. The pileus is somewhat
coriaceous, firm, pulvinate, villous.
The pores are round, elongated, obtuse, entire, white.
This is not common with us, but I have met it a few times and always on
elm logs or stumps.
_Polyporus betulinus. Fr._
THE BIRCH POLYPORUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 337.--Polyporus betulinus.]
Betulinus is from _betulina_, birch.
The pileus is from four to ten inches across, fleshy, soon corky,
ungulate, obtuse, smooth, pale reddish-brown when mature, often mottled,
roundish, or somewhat reniform, zoneless, the oblique vertex in the
form of an umbo; pellicle thin, separating; flesh white, very thick.
The pores are short, round, minute, unequal, separable from the pileus
when fresh, but really concrete with it; white or tinged with brown,
developing slowly; when mature there are peculiar hair-like scales
attached to the pore-surface, making the plant look like a Hydnum when
viewed from the side. It is found wherever the birch tree grows. When
young and fresh it is edible, but with a strong flavor unpleasant to
many. In this state the deer eat it. The specimen in Figure 337 was
found in Wisconsin, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. This species is
the Piptoporus suberosus (L.) of Merrill.
_Polyporus cinnabarinus. Schw._
CINNABAR POLYPORUS.
[Illustration: Figure 338.--Polyporus cinnabarinus. One-third natural
size.]
Cinnabarinus like cinnabar (vermilion). The pileus is dry, more or less
spongy, pliant, rather thick, fibrous on top; flesh light or
yellowish-red, shelving.
The pores are carmine, quite small, round, entire.
This species is quite common in the woods about Chillicothe. It is
easily identified by the beautiful carmine color of the pileus and the
pore surface, the latter being a shade darker than the former, as will
be seen in Figure 338.
The specimens photographed were found in December. They grow on dead
logs and branches, commonly on the oak and wild cherry, sometimes on
maple. It is called by some authors Trametes cinnabarina.
_Polyporus vulgaris. Fr._
COMMON EFFUSED POLYPORUS.
Vulgaris, common. Quite broadly effused, very thin, adheres closely to
its host; even, white, dry. Circumference soon smooth and the whole
surface composed of firm, crowded, small, round, nearly equal pores.
Effused on dead wood, fallen branches, and frequently on moist boards.
_Polyporus lacteus. Fr._
The pileus is white, or whitish, fleshy, somewhat fibrous, fragile,
triangular in form, pubescent, azonate, margin somewhat inflexed, acute.
The pores are thin, acute, dentate, finally lacerate and labyrinthiform.
This species is found in the woods, on beech logs. It is small and thin,
not much more than an inch in width but sometimes elongated. Steep and
gibbous behind, becoming at length smooth and equal. It is not abundant
in our woods, but I have found it often. August and September.
_Polyporus caesius. Schrad._
The pileus is white, with a bluish tinge occasionally upon its surface,
soft, tenacious, unequal, silky.
The pores are small, unequal, long, flexuous, dentate, lacerate.
It is found in woods on partially decayed sticks. I have only
occasionally found a specimen in our woods.
_Polyporus pubescens. Schw._
[Illustration: Figure 339.--Polyporus pubescens. White without and
within, pubescent and shiny.]
Pubescens means downy; so called from the satiny finish of its pileus,
which is fleshy, quite tough and corky, soft, convex, subzonate,
pubescent and shiny; white without and within; the margin acute,
becoming at length yellowish and hard, with a shiny lustre.
The pores are short, minute, nearly round and plane.
The pileus is from one to two inches in width, laterally confluent and
usually very much imbricated. Quite plentiful in woods on beech logs.
July to November.
_Polyporus volvatus. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 340.--Polyporus volvatus. Natural size.]
Volvatus, bearing a volva. This is a most interesting species. The
pileus seems to be prolonged, making a volva-like protection of the
spore surface. When this volva is ruptured small heaps of spores will
often be seen on the volva, having been protected from the wind.
The plant is small, somewhat round, and before the volva is ruptured it
is very like a puffball; fleshy, smooth, attached by a small point,
whitish, slightly tinged with yellow, red or reddish-brown; the cuticle
of the pileus enveloping the entire pore-surface, thick and firm. The
pores are rather long, small, the mouths yellowish, with a tinge of
brown. The spores are elliptical and flesh-colored, .0003 to .00035 inch
long and about .0002 broad.
This plant has a wide distribution, being found in the New England and
Eastern States, and the States of the Pacific slope. I presume it will
be found wherever the spruce tree is a native.
The specimens in Figure 340 were found near Boston and were sent me
about the first of May by Mrs. Blackford. The first package I took,
before examining them, to be a new puffball, which they seemed to
resemble in their undeveloped state.
_Polystictus biformis. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 341.--Polystictus biformis. Natural size.
Frequently covered with green lichen.]
Biformis means two shapes or appearances; referring to the condition of
the pores in the young and the old plant.
The pileus is two to three inches wide, projecting from one to three
inches, often imbricated so as to cover a large surface; laterally
confluent, coriaceous, flexible, tough, subzonate, with innate radiating
fibres, the cortex fibrillose, concolorous.
The pores at first very large, simple, compound, or confluent, round,
elongated, flexuous; the dissepiments dentate, then lacerate, the
hymenium finally resolved into teeth.
When I first found this plant the hymenium had resolved into teeth, and
I supposed that I had found an Irpex. It is found in woods on logs and
stumps. Very common with us. Frequently covered with a green lichen.
July to November.
_Polystictus hirsutus. Fr._
THE BRISTLY POLYSTICTUS.
[Illustration: Figure 342.--Polystictus hirsutus. Natural size.]
Hirsutus means hairy or bristly. The pileus is corky, coriaceous,
convex, then plane, hairy with rigid bristles, zoned with concentric
furrows; of one color, whitish, sometimes these zones are quite marked
as in Figure 342.
The pore surface is at first white, or whitish, becoming dark or
brownish in age. The pores are round, the walls rather thick. It is
found on logs and stumps in the woods. It is a very common plant and
widely distributed.
_Polystictus versicolor. Fr._
THE COMMON ZONED POLYSTICTUS.
[Illustration: Figure 343.--Polystictus versicolor. One-half natural
size.]
Versicolor means varying colors. The pileus is coriaceous, thin, rigid,
plane, depressed behind; quite velvety, nearly even and shining,
variegated with colored zones, sometimes entirely white or
grayish-white, not unfrequently the whole surface is villous or woolly,
and the zones mere depressions.
The pores are minute, round, acute, lacerated, white or cream-color.
It is very common, as well as very variable in form and color. It is
frequently found on logs and is then densely imbricated. On our
hillsides it frequently grows on a small bush as in Figure 343. It is
one of the most beautiful plants in the woods.
_Polyporus gilvus. Schw._
Gilvus means pale-yellow or deep-reddish flesh-color.
The pileus is corky, woody, hard, effuso-reflexed, imbricate,
concrescent, subtomentose, then scabrous, uneven, reddish-yellow, then
subferruginous, the margin acute.
The pores are minute, round, entire, brownish-ferruginous. _Morgan._
It is very abundant throughout the state, being found on all kinds of
logs and stumps.
_Polystictus cinnamoneus. Jacq._
[Illustration: Figure 344.--Polystictus cinnamoneus.]
The pileus is an inch and a half, or less, broad, coriaceous, slightly
depressed in the center; rather rough on the surface, but with a
beautiful satiny lustre, and more or less zoned; caps often growing
together, but with separate stems; shining, a light cinnamon-brown.
The spores are rather large, angular, torn with age; cinnamon-brown,
growing darker in older plants.
The stem is one to two inches long, equal, or slightly tapering upward,
cinnamon-brown, hollow or stuffed, tough, frequently sending forth
branches from the side and base of the stem.
This is quite a beautiful plant, growing usually in patches of moss. The
caps have quite a glossy cinnamon-brown surface, which will attract the
attention of any one. They are very small and easily overlooked. Found
in August and September.
This plant is called P. subsericeus by Dr. Peck.
_Polystictus perennis. Fr._
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XLVII. Figure 346.--Polystictus perennis.]
The pileus is thin, pliant when fresh but somewhat brittle when dry. It
is minutely velvety on the upper surface, reddish-brown or cinnamon in
color; expanded or umbilicate to nearly funnel-shaped. The surface is
beautifully marked by radiations and fine concentric zones.
The stem is also velvety. The spore-tubes are minute, the walls thin and
acute, and the mouths angular, and at last more or less torn. The margin
of the cap is finely fimbriate, but in old specimens those hairs are apt
to become rubbed off. _Atkinson._
I found specimens by the roadside near Lone Tree Hill, near Chillicothe.
It is the only place in which I have found this plant. I have found
Polystictus subsericeus, or, as Prof. Atkinson calls it, P. cinnamomeus,
in a number of localities.
_Polystictus pergamenus. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 345.--Polystictus pergamenus.]
Pergamenus means parchment.
The pileus is coriaceous, thin, effused, reflexed, villous, zoned,
cinereous-white, with colored zone; pliant when fresh.
The pores are unequal, torn, violaceous, then pallid. It is very common
here on beech, maple, and wild cherry. The pores become torn so that
they resemble the teeth of the Hydnum. This is one of the most common
fungi in our woods.
The photograph is by Prof. J. D. Smith, of Akron, O.
_Fomes leucophaeus. Mont._
This has been called by many authors in America Fomes applanatus or
Polyporus applanatus. It is very common in this country but very rare in
Europe, while Fomes applanatus, which is common in Europe, is very
scarce in the United States. In general appearance they are much alike,
the applanatus having a softer tissue and echinulate spores, but our
common species, leucophaeus, has smooth spores.
The pileus is expanded, tuberculose, obsoletely zoned, pulverulent, or
smooth; cinnamon, becoming whitish; cuticle crustaceous, rigid, at
length fragile, very soft within; loosely floccose, margin tumid; white,
then cinnamon. The pores are very small, slightly ferruginous, orifice
whitish, brownish when bruised. The spore surface when fresh is soft and
white.
This attractive plant is very common in our woods and furnishes an
excellent stencil surface for drawing. Found all the year round.
_Fomes fomentarius. Fr._
THE BRACKET FOMES.
This species is very common in our woods. The brackets resemble a
horse's hoof in shape. They are smoky, gray, and of various shades of
brown. The upper surface of the bracket is quite strongly zoned and
furrowed, so as to show each year's growth. The margin is thick and
blunt, and the tube surface is concave; the openings of the tubes quite
large, so that they can be readily seen by the naked eye. The tube
surface is reddish-brown when mature. The inside was formerly used in
making tinder-sticks, which were made by rolling the fungus wood until
it was perfectly flexible and then dipping it into saltpetre.
_Fomes rimosus. Berkeley._
CRACKED FOMES.
[Illustration: Figure 347.--Fomes rimosus.]
Rimosus means cracked. The fine checks in the pileus are clearly seen in
the halftone.
The pileus is pulvinate-ungulate, much dilated, deeply sulcate;
cinnamon, then brown or blackish; very much cracked or rimose. It is
very hard, fibrous, tawny-ferruginous; the margin broad,
pruinate-velvety, rather acute.
The pores are minute, indistinctly stratified, tawny-ferruginous, the
mouths rhubarb-color. _Morgan._
This plant is very common on the locust trees about Chillicothe. I have
never found it on other wood.
_Fomes pinicola. (Swartz.) Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 348.--Fomes pinicola.]
Pinicola means dwelling on pine. It is found on dead pine, spruce,
balsam, and other conifers. It resembles Fomes leucophaeus but is
somewhat stouter and does not have as hard and firm a crust. The young
growth is at the margin, and is whitish or tinged with yellow, while the
old zones are reddish. The tube surface is whitish-yellow or yellowish.
This is frequently called Polyporus pinicolus. (Swartz.) Fr.
_Fomes igniarius. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 349.--Fomes igniarius.]
This is rather a common species in our state; black or brownish-black in
color, somewhat triangular in shape, and frequently hoof-shaped. The
zones indicating the yearly growth are plainly marked, and the tubes are
quite long and of a dark brown color. Their growth is rather slow, and
it requires years to produce some of the moderate sized specimens. Prof.
Atkinson of Cornell University found a specimen which he believed to be
over 80 years old.
This is called by many authors Polyporus igniarius (L.), Fr. Murrill
calls it Pyropolyporus igniarius. This plant is widely distributed over
the United States, and is met frequently in every wood in Ohio.
_Fomes fraxinophilus. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 350.--Fomes fraxinophilus.]
Fraxinophilus means ash-loving; rather common in this country, but does
not grow in Europe.
The pileus is between corky and woody, smooth, somewhat flattened, at
first zoneless; white when young, then reddish-brown, white around the
margin; at first even, then concentrically sulcate, pale within.
The tubes are short, pores minute, rusty-red but covered from the first
with a white pubescence and continuous with the margin; the spores
nearly round, 6-7u.
The specimens in Figure 350 were found in Haynes' Hollow on a living
ash, growing at intervals of five or six feet, one above another, to a
height of thirty feet.
_Trametes. Fr._
In case of the genus Trametes the hymenophorum descends into the trama
of the pores without any change, and is permanently concrete with the
pileus. The pores are entire. There are, however, a few of the Polypori
which are quite thin that have the trama of the same structure with the
hymenophorum. These have been separated by Fries and have been called
_Polystictus_. They are distinguished by the fact that the pores develop
from the center out and are perpendicular to the fibrillose stratum
above the hymenophorum while in the genus _Trametes_ the hymenophorum is
not distant from the rest of the pileus.
_Trametes rubescens. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 351.--Trametes rubescens.]
[Illustration: Figure 352.--Trametes rubescens.]
This is one of the neatest plants of this structure in our woods. It
grows on the small branches and many times covers them quite well. It is
resupinate, the cap being beautifully zoned as you see in Figure 351.
Frequently they grow from the side of a small tree that has fallen to
the ground and in this case they are shelving.
The pore surface is usually reddish or flesh-color, the pores being long
and irregular and inclined to be labyrinthiform in older specimens as
will be seen in Figure 352.
The whole plant is reddish or pale flesh-color. No one will fail to
recognize it from these cuts.
_Trametes scutellata. Schw._
Scutellata means shield-bearing. It is frequently quite small, an inch
or less; coriaceous, dimidiate, orbiculate or ungulate, fixed by the
apex; the pilei quite hard: white, then brownish and blackish, becoming
rugged and uneven, with white margin; hymenium disk-shaped, concave,
white-pulverulent becoming dark; pores minute, long, with thick obtuse
dissepiments. This is found on fence posts.
_Trametes Ohiensis. Berk._
The pilei are pulvinate, narrow, zoned, often laterally confluent;
ochraceous-white, tomentose, then smooth, laccate. This plant resembles
T. scutellata in many points, both in habit and in form.
_Trametes suaveolens. (L.) Fr._
Soft at first, pulvinate, white, villous, zoneless; pores rotund, rather
large, obtuse, white, then darker; anise-scented. Found on willows.
_Merulius. Fr._
Merulius means a blackbird; from the color of the fungus.
Hymenophore covered with the soft waxy hymenium, which is incompletely
porus, or arranged in reticulate, sinuous, dentate folds. This genus
grows on wood, at first resupinate, expanded; the hymenophore springing
from a mucous mycelium.
_Merulius rubellus. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 353.--Merulius rubellus. Natural size.]
Rubellus is the diminutive of _ruber_, reddish. The pileus grows in
tufts, sessile, confluent and imbricated, repand, thin, convex, soft,
dimidiate, quite tenacious; tomentose, evenly red, margin mostly
undulately inflexed, growing pale in age. Hymenium whitish or reddish,
folds much branched, forming anastomosing pores. The spores are
elliptical, hyaline, minute, 4-5x2.5-3u. The pileus is two to three
inches long and an inch and a half broad.
It is found very frequently on decayed beech and sugar trees and I have
found it growing on a live oak. The specimens in Figure 353 were
collected near Columbus and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. It is
probably the same as M. incarnati, Schw.
_Merulius tremellosus. Schrad._
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Figure 354.--Merulius tremellosus]
Tremellosus, trembling. Resupinate; margin becoming free and more or
less reflexed, usually radiately-toothed, fleshy, tremelloid, tomentose,
white; hymenium variously wrinkled and porus, whitish and
subtranslucent-looking, becoming tinged with brown in the center. The
spores are cylindrical, curved, about 4x1u. From one to three inches
across, remaining pale when growing in dark places. The margin is
sometimes tinged with a rose-color, radiating when it is well developed.
_Massee._
This plant grows in woods on wood and is quite common in our woods--both
the rose-colored and the translucent-brown. Captain McIlvaine calls
Merulius tremellosus and M. rubellus emergency species. He says they are
rather tasteless, tough, slightly woody in flavor. They are found in
October and November.
_Merulius corium. Fr._
Resupinate, effused, soft, papery, circumference at length free,
reflexed, white, villous below. Hymenium netted, porus, pallid,
tan-color.
Found on decaying-branches. Quite common.
_Merulius lacrymans. Fr._
Resupinate, fleshy, spongy, moist, tender, at first very light, cottony
and white; when the veins appear they are of a fine yellow, orange or
reddish-brown, forming irregular folds, so arranged to have the
appearance of pores (but never anything like tubes), distilling when
perfect drops of water which give rise to the specific name "weeping."
Dr. Charles W. Hoyt of Chillicothe, brought to my office two or three
plants of this species that had grown on the under side of the floor in
his wash-house. When he took up the floor the workmen discovered a
number of pendant processes, some oval, some cone-shaped. Some were
eight inches long, very white and beautiful but clearly illustrating the
weeping process. The doctor called them white rats suspended by their
tails.
_Daedalea. Pers._
Daedalea is used with reference to the labyrinthiform pores; so named
after Daedalos, the builder of the labyrinth of Crete.
The hymenophore descends into the trama without any change, pores firm,
when fully grown sinuous and labyrinthiform, lacerated, and toothed. The
habits of Daedalea are very much the same as Trametes, but they are
inodorous. Care should be taken not to confound them with the species of
Polyporus that have elongated curved pores.
_Daedalea ambigua. Berk._
[Illustration: Figure 355.--Daedalea ambigua. One-third natural size,
showing upper surface.]
[Illustration: Figure 356.--Daedalea ambigua. One-third natural size,
showing the pore surface.]
The pileus is white, corky, horizontal, explanate, reniform, subsessile,
azonate, finely pubescent, becoming smooth.
Pores from round to linear and labyrinthiform, the dissepiments always
obtuse and never lamellate.
It is a very common growth in Ohio, found on old logs of the sugar
maple. You will see the beginning of the growth in the spring as a round
white nodule which develops slowly. If the same plant is observed in
the summer it will be found to be gibbous or convex in form. It finishes
its growth in the fall when it has become explanate and horizontal,
depressed above and with a thin margin. When fresh and growing it is of
a rich cream-color and has a soft and velvety touch and a pleasant
fragrance. In Figure 355, showing the surface of the cap, the growth of
the plant shows in the form of the zones. Figure 356 shows the form of
the dissepiments. In younger specimens these are frequently round, much
like a Polyporus. There is one locality in Poke Hollow where the maple
logs are white with this species, appearing, in the distance, to be
oyster mushrooms.
_Daedalea quercina. Pk._
THE OAK DAEDALEA.
[Illustration: Figure 357.--Daedalea quercina.]
The pileus is a pallid wood color, corky, rugulose, uneven, without
zones, becoming smooth; of the same color within as without; the margin
in full-grown specimens thin, but in imperfectly developed specimens
swollen and blunt.
The pores are at first round, then broken into contorted or gill-like
labyrinthiform sinuses, with obtuse edges of the same color as the
pileus, sometimes with a slight shade of pink.
They grow to be very large, from six to eight inches broad, being found
on oak stumps and logs, though not as common in Ohio as D. ambigua. The
specimen in Figure 357 were found in Massachusetts by Mrs. Blackford and
photographed here.
_Daedalea unicolor. Fr._
Villose-strigose, cinereous with concolorous zones; hymenium with
flexuous, winding, intricate, acute dissepiments, at length torn and
toothed. The pores are whitish cinereous, sometimes fuscous; variable in
thickness, color, and character of hymenium; sometimes with white
margin; often imbricated and fuliginous when moist. Widely distributed
over the states and found on nearly all deciduous trees.
_Daedalea confragosa. Boton._
THE WILLOW DAEDALEA.
[Illustration: Figure 358.--Daedalea confragosa.]
Confragosa means broken, rough. The pileus is rather convex, corky,
rough, slightly zonate, reddish-brown, unicolorous, somewhat of a
rust-red within.
The pores are frequently round, like those of the Polyporus, but
sometimes they are elongated into gills like the Lenzites;
reddish-brown.
I have seen quite old specimens that were very difficult to distinguish
from some of the forms of Lenzites. The young plants resemble very
closely Trametes rubescens. It grows on Crataegus, willow and sometimes
on other trees, and is widely distributed. The specimen in Figure 358
was found in Massachusetts by Mrs. Blackford, and photographed in my
study.
_Favolus. Fr._
Favolus is a diminutive of _favus_, honey-comb.
The hymenium is alveolate, radiating, formed of the densely irregularly
uniting gills; elongated, diamond-shaped. Spores white. Semicircular in
outline, somewhat stipitate.
_Favolus canadensis. Klotsch._
[Illustration: Figure 359.--Favolus Canadensis.]
The pileus is fleshy, tough, thin, kidney-form, fibrillose, scaly,
tawny, becoming pale and smooth.
The pores or alveoli are angular elongated, white at first, then
straw-color.
The stem is eccentric, lateral, very short or lacking altogether.
This plant is very common around Chillicothe on fallen branches in the
woods, especially on hickory. Found from September to frost. Not
poisonous but too tough to eat. I do not believe there is any difference
between F. canadensis and Favolus Europeus. I notice that our plant
assumes different colors in different stages of its growth, and the form
of the pores also changes.
_Cyclomyces. Kunz & Fr._
Cyclomyces is from two Greek words, meaning a circle and fungus. This
genus is very distinct from other tube-bearing genera. The pileus is
fleshy, leathery or membranaceous, and usually cushion-formed. Upon the
lower surface are the plate-like bodies resembling the gills of Agarics
but which are composed of minute pores. These pore bodies are arranged
in concentric circles around the stem.
_Cyclomyces Greenii. Berk._
[Illustration: Figure 360.--Cyclomyces Greenii]
[Illustration: Figure 361.--Cyclomyces Greenii. Old specimens.]
The pileus is two to three inches broad, globose at first, convex,
sometimes undulate, somewhat zoned, tomentose, dry, cushion-formed,
cinnamon-brown, rather showy.
The gills are in concentric circles around the stem, growing larger and
larger as they reach the margin of the cap. In the young plant the gills
are divided into long divisions but in the older plant these division
lines disappear as will be seen in Figure 361. The edges of the gills
are white at first, as will be seen in Figure 361, but finally becoming
cinnamon-brown.
The stem is central, tapering upward, quite large and swollen at times
very much like Hydnum spongiosipes; the color is the same as the pileus.
This is a very interesting plant and quite rare in Ohio, however, I
found several plants in the fall of 1905, on Ralston's Run. In the same
locality I found Boletus badius, and when I first saw C. Greenii I came
near mistaking it for the same plant and so neglecting it, the caps
being at first glance so much alike.
_Gloeoporus. Mont._
Gloeoporus is from two Greek words, meaning gluten and pore. The
plants of this genus resemble the polyporus and are frequently placed
under that genus.
_Gloeoporus conchoides. Mont._
Conchoides means like a shell.
The pileus is leathery or woody, at first fleshy, soft, effused, with
upper margin reflexed; thin, silky, whitish, with edge of the margin
often reddish. It has a trembling, gelatinous, spore-bearing surface,
often somewhat elastic.
The pores are short, very small, round, cinnamon-brown.
There are several synonyms. Polyporus dichrous, Fr., and P.
nigropurpurascens, Schw. Montgomery places it in the above genus because
of its gelatinous hymenium.