HYDNACEAE--FUNGI WITH TEETH.
There is, perhaps, no family in mycology that has a greater variety in
form, size, and consistency than this. Some species are very large, some
are small, some fleshy, and some are corky or woody. The fruiting
surface is the special characteristic marking the family. This surface
is covered with spines or teeth which nearly always point to the earth.
Many of the Hydnaceae are shelving, growing on trees or logs; some grow
on the ground on central, but usually eccentric, stems. The genera of
Hydnaceae are distinguished by the size, shape, and attachment of the
teeth. The following genera are included:
Hydnum--Spines discrete at the base.
Irpex--Resupinate; with gill-like teeth concrete with the pileus.
Mucronella--Plants with teeth only and no basal membrane.
Radulum--Hymenium with thick, blunt, irregular spines.
Sistotrema--Fleshy plants with caps and flattened teeth, on ground.
Phlebia--Plants spread over the host with crowded folds or wrinkles.
Grandinia--Covered with granules, more or less smooth, and excavated.
Odontium--Covered with crested granules.
_Hydnum. Linn._
Hydnum is from a Greek word meaning an eatable fungus. The genus is
characterized by awl-shaped spines which are distant at the base. These
spines are at first papilliform, then elongated and round. They form the
fruiting surface and take the place of the gills in the family
Agaricaceae and of the pores in the family of Polyporaceae. The spines are
simple or in some cases the tips are more or less branched.
This is the greatest genus in the family and it includes many important
edible species. It may be divided into two groups: one, those species
having a cap and a central or lateral stem; the other, the species
growing with or without a distinct cap, in large imbricated masses. Some
imitate coral in structure and some seem to be a mass of spines. Many of
these plants grow to be very large and massive, frequently weighing over
ten pounds.
_Hydnum repandum. Linn._
THE SPREADING HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 362.--Hydnum repandum. Two-thirds natural size.]
Repandum, bent backward, referring to the position of the stem and the
cap. The pileus is two to four inches broad, generally irregular, with
the stem eccentric; fleshy, brittle, convex or nearly plane, compact,
more or less repand, nearly smooth; color varying from a pale buff--the
typical hue--to a distinct brick-red; flesh creamy-white, inclining to
turn brown when bruised; taste slightly aromatic, margin often wavy.
The spines are beneath the cap, one-quarter to one-third of an inch
long, irregular, entire, pointed, rather easily detached, leaving small
cavities in the fleshy cap, soft, creamy, becoming darker in older
specimens.
The stem is short, thick, solid in young specimens, hollow in older
specimens; paler than the pileus, rather rough, often set eccentrically
into the cap; one to three inches long, sometimes thickened at the base,
sometimes at the top. The spores are globose or a broad oval, with a
small papilla at one end.
The usual color of the cap is buff, sometimes very pale, almost white.
The color and smoothness of the cap have given rise to the name of
"doe-skin mushroom." I found this plant occasionally in the woods about
Salem, Ohio. It is very variable in size and color, and is quite
fragile, growing alone or in clusters. It is one of our best mushrooms
if properly cooked, and may be dried and kept for winter use. Found in
woods and open places from July to October, sometimes earlier. Specimens
in Figure 362 were found in Poke Hollow.
_Hydnum imbricatum. Linn._
THE IMBRICATED HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
Imbricatum is from _imbrex_, a tile, referring to the surface of the cap
being torn into triangular scales, seeming to overlap one another like
shingles on a roof.
The pileus is fleshy, plane, slightly depressed, tessellated scaly,
downy, not zoned, umber in color or brownish as if scorched, flesh
dingy-white, taste slightly bitter when raw, margin round.
The spines are decurrent, entire, numerous, short, ashy-white, generally
equal in length.
The stem is firm, short, thick, even, whitish. The spores are pale
yellow-brown, rough.
The bitter taste entirely leaves the plant when well cooked. It seems to
delight in pine or chestnut woods. I found it in Emmanuel Thomas' woods,
east of Salem, Ohio. It is found from September to November.
_Hydnum erinaceum. Bull._
THE HEDGEHOG HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Plate XLVIII. Figure 363.--Hydnum Erinaceum.
Two-thirds natural size. The plant is entirely white when fresh.]
Erinaceum, a hedgehog. Two to eight inches or more across. Tufts
pendulous. White and yellowish-white becoming yellowish-brown; fleshy,
elastic, tough, sometimes emarginate (broadly attached as if tuft were
cut in two or sliced off where attached), a mass of latticed branches
and fibrils. Spines one and a half inches to four inches long, crowded,
straight, equal, pendulous. The stem is sometimes rudimentary. The
spores are subglobose, white, plain, 5-6u. _Peck_, 22 N. Y. Report.
The spines when just starting are like small papillae, as will be seen in
Figure 364. Figure 363 represents a very fine specimen found on the end
of a beech log, on the Huntington Hills, near Chillicothe. It made a
meal for three families. I have found several basketfuls of this species
on this same log, within the past few years. I have also found on the
same log large specimens of Hydnum corralloides.
The photograph at the beginning of the book represents the largest
specimen I ever saw of this species. It measured eighteen inches one way
and thirteen the other, and was found on a maple tree on top of Mount
Logan. It grew from a central stem, while the one in Figure 363 grew
from a crack in a log, apparently without a stem. Plate I, Figure 1 was
photographed after it was dried. The specimen can be seen in the Lloyd
Library in Cincinnati. Found from July to October.
[Illustration: Figure 364.--Hydnum erinaceum. Young state.]
_Hydnum caput-ursi. Fr._
THE BEAR'S HEAD HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 365.--Hydnum caput-ursi.]
Caput-ursi means the head of a bear.
This is a very beautiful plant but not as common as some other species
of Hydnum. It grows in very large pendulous tufts, as Figure 365 will
indicate. It is found frequently on standing oak and maple trees,
sometimes quite high up in the trees. It is more frequently found on
logs and stumps, as are its kindred species. The plant arises out of the
wood by a single stout stem which branches into many divisions, all of
which are covered by long pendant spines. When it grows on top of a log
or stump the spines are frequently erect. It is white, becoming in age
yellow and brownish. It has a wide distribution through the states. As
an esculent it is fine. The specimen in Figure 365 was found near Akron,
Ohio, and was photographed by Mr. G. D. Smith. It is found from July to
October.
_Hydnum caput-Medusae. Bull._
THE MEDUSA'S HEAD HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 366.--Hydnum caput-Medusae. One-third natural
size.]
Caput-Medusae, head of Medusa. This is a very striking plant when seen in
the woods. The tufts are pendulous. The long wavy spines resemble the
wavy locks of Medusa, hence the name. The long soft spines cover the
entire surface of the fungus, which is divided into fleshy branches or
divisions, each terminating in a crown of shorter drooping teeth.
The color at first is white, changing in age to a buff or a dark cream,
which distinguishes it from H. caput-ursi. The taste is sweet and
aromatic, sometimes slightly pungent. The stem is short and concealed
beneath the growth.
I found this plant growing on a hickory log, on Lee's hill, near
Chillicothe, from which came the specimen in Figure 366. I have also
found it on elm and beech. Found from July to October.
It is both attractive and palatable.
_Hydnum coralloides. Scop._
THE CORAL-LIKE HYDNUM. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 367.--Hydnum coralloides. One-fourth natural size.
Entire plant white.]
This species grows in large, beautiful tufts on decaying logs, in damp
woods. It grows from a common stem, dividing into many branches and then
sub-dividing into many long and coral-like shoots, composed wholly of
attenuated interlacing branches tapering to a point. The spines grow
from one side of the flattened branches. It only needs to be seen once
to be recognized as a coral-like mushroom. It is pure white at first,
becoming creamy or dingy-white with age. It seems to delight in damp,
hilly places, yet I found it to be abundant at Sidney, and to some
extent about Bowling Green, Ohio, where it was very level. It is
plentiful around Chillicothe. One hickory log, from which the specimen
in the figure was taken, furnished me several basketfuls of this plant
during three seasons, but at the end of the third season the log
crumbled away, mycelium having literally consumed it. It is one of the
most beautiful fungi that Dame Nature has been able to fashion. It is
said that Elias Fries, when a mere boy, was so impressed with the sight
of this beautiful fungus, which grew abundantly in his native woods in
Sweden, that he resolved when he grew up to pursue the study of
Mycology, which he did; and became one of the greatest authorities of
the world in that part of Botany. In fact, he laid the foundation for
the study of Basidiomycetes, and this beautiful little coral-like fungus
was his inspiration.
It is found principally on beech, maple and hickory in damp woods, from
July to frost. I have eaten it for years and esteem it among the best.
_Hydnum septentrionale. Fr._
THE NORTHERN HYDNUM.
[Illustration: Plate XLIX. Figure 368.--Hydnum septentrionale.
Grew from a small opening in a living beech tree.]
Septentrionale, northern. This is a very large, fleshy, fibrous plant,
growing usually upon logs and stumps.
There are many pilei growing one above the other, plane, margin
straight, whole. The spines are crowded, slender and equal.
I have found a number of specimens about Chillicothe that would weigh
from eight to ten pounds each. The plant is too woody to eat. Besides,
it seems to have but little flavor. I have always found it on beech
logs, from September to October.
A very large plant grows every year on a living beech tree on Cemetery
Hill.
_Hydnum spongiosipes. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 369.--Hydnum spongiosipes. One-third natural
size.]
Spongiosipes means a sponge-like foot. Pileus convex, soft,
spongy-tomentose, but tough in texture, rusty-brown, the lower stratum
firmer and more fibrous, but concolorous.
The spines are slender, one to two lines long, rusty-brown, becoming
darker with age.
The stem is hard and corky within, externally spongy-tomentose; colored
like the pileus, the central substance often transversely zoned,
especially near the top. Spores globose, nodulose, purplish-brown, 4-6
broad. Pileus one and a half to four inches broad. Stem one and a half
to three inches long, and four to eight lines thick. _Peck_, 50th Rep.
It is found in the woods, quite plentifully, about Chillicothe. I
referred it to H. ferrugineum for a long time, but not being satisfied,
sent some specimens to Dr. Peck, who classified it as H. spongiosipes.
It is edible but very tough. Found from July to October.
_Hydnum zonatum. Batsch._
THE ZONED HYDNUM.
[Illustration: Figure 370.--Hydnum zonatum.]
Zonatum, zoned. Ferruginous; pileus equally coriaceous, thin, expanded,
subinfundibuliform, zoned, becoming smooth; tough, almost leathery in
texture, having a surface of beautiful brown, silky lustre, and with
radiating striae; margin paler; sterile.
The stem is slender, nearly equal, floccose, bulbous at the base.
The spines are slender, pallid, then of the same color as the pileus,
equal. The spores are rough, globose, pale, 4u.
The spore-bearing spines are shown in the upper plants in Figure 370.
Two of them show coalesced caps, though the stems are separate. This is
the case with H. scrobiculatum and H. spongiosipes. The plants in Figure
370 were collected by the roadside in woods on the State Farm, near
Lancaster, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
_Hydnum scrobiculatum. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 371.--Hydnum scrobiculatum. Two-thirds
natural-size.]
Scrobiculatum means marked with a ditch or trench; so called from the
rough condition of the cap. The pileus is from one to three inches
broad, corky, convex, then plane, sometimes slightly depressed; tough in
texture, rusty-brown; the surface of the cap usually quite rough, marked
with ridges or trenches, flesh ferruginous.
The spines are short, rusty-brown, becoming dark with age.
The stem is firm, one to two inches long, unequal, rusty-brown, often
covered with a dense tomentum.
This species is very plentiful in our woods, among the leaves under
beech trees. They grow in lines for some distance, the caps so close
together that they are very frequently confluent. I found the plant at
Salem, and in several other localities in the state, although I have
never seen a description of it. Any one will be able to recognize it
from Figure 371. It grows in the woods in August and September.
_Hydnum Blackfordae. Pk._
The pileus is fleshy, convex, glabrous, grayish or greenish-gray, flesh
whitish with reddish stains, slowly becoming darker on exposure; aculei
subulate, 2-5 mm. long, yellowish-gray, becoming brown with age or
drying; stem equal or stuffed, becoming hollow in drying; glabrous,
colored like the pileus; spores brown, globose, verrucose, 8-10u broad.
The pileus is 2.5-6 cm. broad; stem 2.5-4 cm. long, 3-4 mm. thick.
Mossy ground in low springy places in damp mixed woods. August. _Peck._
This species was found at Ellis, Mass., and was sent to me through
courtesy of the collector, Mrs. E. B. Blackford, Boston, for whom it was
named.
_Hydnum fennicum. Karst._
[Illustration: Figure 372.--Hydnum fennicum. Natural size, showing the
teeth.]
[Illustration: Figure 373.--Hydnum fennicum. Natural size, showing the
scaly cap.]
Pileus fleshy, fragile, unequal; at first scaly, at length breaking up;
reddish-brick color becoming darker; margin undulately lobed, two to
four inches broad. Flesh white.
The teeth decurrent, equal, pointed, from white to dusky, about 4 mm.
long.
The stem is sufficiently stout, unequal below, attenuated, flexuous or
curved, smooth, of the same color as the cap, base acute, white tomentum
outside, inside light pale-blue, or dark-gray.
The spores are ellipso-spheroidical or subspheroidical, rough, dusky,
4-6u long, 3-5u broad.
The plants in Figures 372 and 373 were found in Haynes' Hollow.
The plant is quite bitter and no amount of cooking will make it edible.
Found in woods from August to September.
_Hydnum adustum. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 374.--Hydnum adustum. Natural size.]
Adustum means scorched, burned. The pileus is two to three inches broad,
yellowish-white, blackish around the margin, coriaceous, slightly zoned;
plane at first, then slightly depressed; tomentose, thin; frequently a
plant will be found growing on the top of another plant. The spines are
at first white, adnate, short, turning flesh-color and when dried almost
black.
The stem is short, solid, tapering upward.
The plant is found growing in the woods on trunks and sticks after a
rain in July, August, and September. It is not as plentiful as Hydnum
spongiosipes and H. scrobiculatum. It is an attractive plant when seen
in the woods.
_Hydnum ochraceum. P._
OCHREY HYDNUM.
Small, at first entirely resupinate, gradually reflexed, and somewhat
repand, at first sparingly clothed with dirty-white down, at length
rugose; one to three inches broad. The spines are short, entire,
becoming pale. _Fries._
It is occasionally found on decayed sticks in the woods.
_Hydnum pulcherrimum. B. & C._
MOST BEAUTIFUL HYDNUM.
[Illustration: Figure 375.--Hydnum pulcherrimum. Showing the under side
of one of the pileoli.]
Pulcherrimum is the superlative of _pulcher_, beautiful.
The pileus is fleshy, somewhat fibrous, alutaceus, hirsute; the margin
thin, entire, incurved.
The aculei short, crowded, equal.
It is found on beech wood, frequently imbricated and laterally
confluent; a single pileus two to five inches in breadth and projecting
two to four inches. The spines are rather short, not exceeding a quarter
of an inch.
The entire plant is quite fibrous and has a hirsute surface. The color
varies from whitish to alutaceous and yellowish. It is not common with
us. Figure 375 represents one of the pilei showing the spines.
_Hydnum graveolens. Del._
FRAGRANT HYDNUM.
Graveolens means sweet-scented.
The pileus is coriaceous, thin, soft, not zoned, rugose, dark-brown,
brown within, margin becoming whitish. The stem is slender and the
spines are decurrent. The spines are short, gray.
The whole plant smells of melilot; even after it has been dried and kept
for years it does not lose this scent.
I found two specimens in Haynes's Hollow.
_Irpex. Fr._
Irpex, a harrow, so called from a fancied resemblance of its teeth to
the teeth of a harrow. It grows on wood; toothed from the first, the
teeth are connected at the base, firm, somewhat coriaceous, concrete
with the pileus, arranged in rows or like net-work. Irpex differs from
Hydnum in having the spines connected at the base and more blunt.
_Irpex carneus. Fr._
This plant, as its specific name indicates, resembles the
color of flesh. Reddish, effused, one to three inches long,
cartilaginous-gelatinous, membranaceous, adnate. Teeth obtuse
and awl-shaped, entire, united at the base. _Fries._
Found on the tulip-tree, hickory, and elm. September and October.
_Irpex lacteus. Fr._
Growing on wood, membranaceous, clothed with stiff hair, more or less
furrowed, milk-white, as its specific name indicates.
The spines are compressed, radiate, margin porus. Found on hickory and
beech logs and stumps.
_Irpex tulipifera. Schw._
[Illustration: Figure 376.--Irpex tulipifera.]
Coriaceous-membranaceous, effused; hymenium inferior, at first toothed,
teeth springing from a porus base, somewhat coriaceous, entirely
concrete with the pileus, netted and connected at the base, white or
whitish, turning yellowish with age.
This plant is very abundant here on fallen tulip trees. I have seen
entire tree tops and trunks covered with this plant. The branches after
they have been penetrated with the mycelial threads become very light
and brittle.
_Phlebia. Fr._
Lignatile, resupinate, hymenium soft and waxy, covered with folds or
wrinkles, edges entire or corrugated.
_Phlebia radiata. Fr._
[Illustration: Figure 377.--Phlebia radiata.]
Somewhat round, then dilated, confluent, fleshy and membranaceous,
reddish or flesh-red, the circumference peculiarly radiately marked. The
folds in rows radiating from the center.
The spores are cylindric-oblong, curved, 4-5x1-1.5u.
This is quite common on beech bark in the woods. Its bright color and
mode of growth will attract attention.
_Grandinia. Fr._
Lignatile, effused, waxy, granulated, granules globular, entire,
permanent.
_Grandinia granulosa. Fr._
Effused, rather thin, waxy, somewhat ochraceous, circumference
determinate, granules globular, equal, crowded.
Found on decayed wood. Quite common in our woods.