Transcriber’s Notes
Text between _underscores_ represents text printed in italics in the
source document, text between =equal signs= represents bold face text,
and text between ~tildes~ represents bold face and italic text.
Superscript texts are represented by ^{text}.
More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE LARGER FUNGI
DEDICATION
To my parents who encouraged my interests in mushrooms and toadstools
and my wife who, later, was sympathetic to my studies and assisted in
the production of the manuscript.
Hulton Group Keys
IDENTIFICATION OF THE LARGER
FUNGI
by
ROY WATLING, B.Sc., Ph.D., M.I.Biol.
Principal Scientific Officer,
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
_Editor of series_: Antony R. Kenney, M.A., B.Sc.
©
1973
R. Watling
A. R. Kenney
ISBN 0 7175 0595 2
First published 1973 by Hulton Educational Publications Ltd.,
Raans Road, Amersham, Bucks.
Reproduced and printed by photolithography and bound in
Great Britain at The Pitman Press, Bath
PREFACE
This is one of a series of books intended to introduce field-biology to
students, particularly the sixth form and early university student. The
present work is ecologically biased in order to emphasise a rather
neglected aspect of the higher fungi.
Few books on fungi have ever been designed for students. This book is
aimed primarily at this level, but if the interested amateur is assisted
and encouraged by this same text my hopes will have been doubly
achieved. Many amateurs interested in higher fungi wish only to name
their collections, or know approximately what they are before sampling
them as an addition to their diet. An understanding of our commoner
species at an early age will allow the ‘budding’ mycologist to tackle
the much needed study of the more critical forms. Mycology is still at a
descriptive stage, but it is hoped this will soon be changed and fungi
of all kinds will be studied as part and parcel of courses in ecology.
It is of course quite impossible to cover all the species in such a
small volume as this present one, but it is hoped that the examples
which have been carefully chosen are sufficiently common throughout the
country for any student to collect them in a single season. The
examples, except for very few, in fact appear in the list of higher
fungi found about the Kindrogan Field Centre, Perthshire, Scotland,
compiled from the collections made by students attending my field course
there.
The present work is arranged in three parts: the agarics are dealt with
first, the non-agarics next, both with particular reference to their
major habitat preferences, and lastly a catalogue of those more
specialised habitats which are frequently encountered. All parts are
supported at the end by lists in tabular form of those species expected
to be found in any one habitat. Keys to the major groups, families and
genera, are included to widen the scope of the book and place the
examples chosen and illustrated in the text in their position in
classification.
In the description the synonymy has been very severely pruned and only
covers the commonly seen names; they are included as part of the general
information under each species. In order for the student to expand
unfamiliar names a list of references is added at the end of the work.
The common names of the fungi, whenever possible, have been adopted from
a list produced by Dr Large, the author of _The Advance of the Fungi_,
an exciting tale of fungal parasites. The authorities for the names of
the fungi described have been reduced to accord with the minimum
requirements set out by the Code of Botanical Nomenclature. After each
description a list of references to coloured plates is given and while
some of these illustrations are not of the highest quality they are
adequate, and, more important, they are widely available. Any technical
terms appearing in the description are explained in the glossary,
although they have been kept to a minimum; the difficulty of expressing
colours has been overcome by consistently referring to one colour chart
only, (a chart designed originally for the use of mycologists and
available from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office).
I have not indicated the edibility of a particular species unless there
is no doubt as to the edibility of it, related species and those species
with which it might be easily confused. Many fungi are notoriously
difficult to identify and when one has approximately 3,000 species of
larger fungi in the country the task is even more difficult. It would be
folly therefore to indicate edibility for all the fungi described in a
book such as this; the golden rule which should be adopted is not to eat
any of the fungi one collects in the woods and fields. A fault of most
popular treatments is that they are biased towards the human diet and
selection of species is done on this basis; in the present work
selection of examples within the 270 pages has been difficult and two
factors have been particularly considered to ensure that (i)
representatives of all the major groups of fungi and genera have been
covered and (ii) a coverage has been attempted of all the common
ecological niches.
I am fully aware that the taste of a fungus may be distinctive to that
species or to a group of closely related species, but it is only a spot
character and the tasting of one’s finds is neither necessary nor
advisable; indeed it is not used in this book. The odour, however, has
been indicated whenever distinctive.
CONTENTS
_Page_
Preface 5
Introduction 9
Where to look 9
Collecting 10
Examination 11
Microscopic examination 12
Key to major groups of Larger Fungi 21
A. Agarics and their relatives 22
Key to major genera 22
(i) Agarics of woodlands and copses 27
(a) Mycorrhizal formers 27
(b) Parasites 59
(c) Saprophytes--Wood-inhabiting or lignicolous agarics 64
(d) Saprophytes--Terrestrial agarics 78
(ii) Agarics of pastures and meadows 95
(a) Agarics of rough & hill-pastures 95
(b) Agarics of chalk-grassland & rich uplands 108
(c) Agarics of meadows and valley-bottom grasslands 114
(d) Fairy-ring formers 118
(e) Agarics of urban areas--lawn and parkland agarics 122
(f) Agarics of wasteland and hedgerows 126
B. Bracket fungi and their relatives 135
Key to major genera 135
(i) Pored and toothed fungi 140
(a) Colonisers of tree trunks, stumps and branches 140
(b) Destroyers of timber in buildings 154
(c) Colonisers of cones 158
(d) Terrestrial forms 160
(ii) Cantharelles and related fungi 162
(iii) Fairy-club fungi 166
(iv) Resupinate fungi 176
C. The Jelly fungi--Key to major groups with examples 179
D. The Stomach fungi; puff-balls and their relatives--Key to
major groups with examples 186
E. Cup fungi and allies 198
F. Specialised Habitats 207
(i) Fungi of dung and straw heaps 207
(ii) Fungi of bonfire sites 216
(iii) Fungi of bogs and marshes 222
(a) _Sphagnum_ bogs 222
(b) Alder-carrs 226
(iv) Fungi of beds of herbaceous plants 227
(v) Fungi of moss-cushions 230
(vi) Heath and mountain fungi 231
(a) Moorland fungi 231
(b) Mountain fungi & Basidiolichens 236
(vii) Sand-dune fungi 238
(viii) Subterranean fungi 243
(ix) Fungal parasites 246
G. Appendix 249
(i) Species lists of specialised habitats 249
(ii) Glossary 260
(iii) Simple experiments with Fairy-rings 264
(iv) Development of the Agaric fruit-body 266
(v) References 269
H. Index 271
_Cover transparency supplied by John Markham, F. R. P. S., F. Z. S._
INTRODUCTION
The term larger fungus refers to any fungus whose study does not
necessarily require more than a low-powered lens to see most of the
important morphological features. Using such a term cuts across the
existing scientific classification, for it includes the more obvious
fungi bearing their spores on specialised reproductive cells called
basidia, fig. 5, and a few of those whose spores are produced inside
specialised reproductive cells called asci. The term is useful, however,
even though it embraces a whole host of unrelated groups of fungi; it
includes the polypores, fairy-clubs, hedgehog-fungi, puff-balls and
elf-cups, as well as the more familiar mushrooms and toadstools--or
puddockstools as they are often called in Scotland. Specimens of all
these groups will find their way some time into the collecting baskets
of the naturalist when he is out fungus-picking, along with probably a
few jelly-fungi and less frequently one or two species of the rather
more distantly related group, the morels. The biggest proportion of the
finds, however, on any one collecting day in the autumn, when the larger
fungi are in their greatest numbers, will be of the mushrooms and
toadstools; these are, collectively, more correctly called the agarics.
The early botanists and pioneer mycologists of the nineteenth century
recognised the fact that the fungi both large and small are ecologically
connected to the herbaceous plants and trees among which they grow, but
many mycologists since have tended to neglect these early observations.
Although the importance of the fungi in the economy of the woodland,
copse, field and marsh is well-known, mycologists and ecologists alike
have been rather slow to appreciate that the fungi can be just as good
indicators of soil conditions, if not better, than many other plants.
Perhaps it is rash to attempt such a treatment as you find here because
we know so little of the reasons why a particular fungus prefers one
habitat to another. However, it is envisaged and hoped that, if a
framework is provided, accurate field-notes can gradually be accumulated
and many of the secrets yet to be uncovered explained.
_Where to look_
Fungi can be found in most situations which are damp at some time of the
year. Searching for fungi can begin as soon as the spring days become
warm, although even in the colder periods of winter several finds can
be made. In summer it gets very dry and this necessitates collecting in
damper areas, such as marshes, alder-carrs, swamps and moorland bogs.
After a heavy storm in summer, on the edges of paths and roadsides,
woodland banks, in clearings in woods and in gardens, fungi can be
collected within a few days of the rain, but collecting normally reaches
a climax in August-September, the precise date depending on the locality
and the individual character of the particular year.
All woodlands are worth visiting, particularly well-established woods
with a mixture of trees. Pure pine-woods do not seem to be as good as
pine-woods with scattered birch; plantations are often disappointing
except after heavy rain or late in the season, even well into November
in mild years. Pure birch and beech, the latter particularly when on
chalky soils, are excellent areas to visit. Oak is possibly not as good
but areas with willow and alder have many unique species. The edge of
woods, sides of paths or clearings are usually more productive areas to
search in than is the depth of the wood, and a small plot of trees can
be much more rewarding than a large expanse of woodland. After some time
one is able to judge the sort of place which will yield fungi. Rotten
and burnt wood are very suitable substrates for they retain the moisture
necessary for growth of fungi even in dry conditions, so allowing
fructification to take place.
Grasslands including hill-pastures, established sand-dunes, etc., are
often excellent, but of course they are much more dependent on the
weather to produce favourable conditions for fungal development than
woodland areas where the changes in the humidity and temperature are
less extreme; prolonged mist or mild showery weather favour the fruiting
of the grassland fungi. Dung in both woods and fields is an excellent
although ephemeral substrate; many species of fungi characterise dung
whilst others will grow in manured fields, on straw-heaps or where man
has distributed the habitat.
_Collecting_
The collecting of larger fungi should not be considered a haphazard
pursuit; careless collecting often results in many frustrating hours
being spent on the identification of inadequate material, which is also
not suitable after for preservation as reference material. A few good
specimens are infinitely better than several poor ones; one is always
tempted to collect too much and then collections are inevitably
discarded. Always try to select specimens showing all the possible
stages of development from the smallest buttons to the expanded caps.
Sometimes such a range is not possible and one must be satisfied with
either a couple or only one fruit-body.
Carefully dig up or cut from the substrate the entire fungus and handle
it as little as possible. A strong pen-knife or fern-trowel is admirable
for the job. The associated plants should be noted, especially trees,
and if one is unable to identify the plants or woody debris retain a
leaf or a piece of wood for later identification. One should note in a
field-notebook any features which strike one as of interest, such as
smell, colour, changes on bruising, presence of a hairy or viscid
surface.
For transporting home the specimens should be placed in tubes, tins or
waxed paper which are themselves kept in a basket. The smallest specimen
can go in the first, the intermediate-sized forms in the tins or waxed
paper and the larger ones laid in the basket or placed in large paper
bags; plastic bags are not suitable except for very woody fungi. Thus an
assortment of tins, tubes and various sizes of pieces of waxed paper are
essential before setting out on a collecting trip. The specimens should
be placed in the waxed paper such that they can be wrapped once or twice
and the ends twisted as if wrapping a sweet.
_Examination_
_Once home always aim at examining the specimens methodically._
The first necessity is to determine whether the fungus, which has been
collected, has its spores borne inside a specialised reproductive cell
(ascus) i.e. Ascomycete, or on a reproductive cell (basidium) i.e.
Basidiomycete. By taking a small piece of the spore-bearing tissue,
mounting in water, gently tapping it and examining under a low power of
the microscope this can be easily ascertained. The tapping out is best
done with the clean eraser of a rubber-topped pencil. There are several
different shaped asci and basidia; the latter structures are more
important in our study because the Ascomycetes are in the main composed
of microscopic members.
The following procedure is necessary for the examination of your find:--
Select a mature cap of an agaric from each collection, cut off the stem
and set the cap gills down on white paper, or if the specimen is small
or is a woody or toothed fungus, or consists of a club or flattened
irregular plate, place the spore-bearing surface (hymenium) face down on
a microscope glass slide. The smaller specimens must be placed in tins
with a drop of water on the cap to prevent drying out. Even with the
larger specimens it is desirable to place a glass slide somewhere under
the cap between the gills and the paper, and if possible to enclose the
species carefully in waxed paper or in a tin. Whilst you are waiting for
the spore-print to form, notes must be made on the more easily
observable features; one is not required at this stage to examine the
microscopic characters.
All the characters which may change on drying must be noted immediately,
and these include colour, stickiness, shape, smell and texture. A
sketch, preferably in colour, however rough, can give much more
information than many score words.
Cut one fruit-body, longitudinally down with a razor or scalpel or a
sharp knife if the fruit-body is woody, and sketch the cut surfaces,
fig. 1A-B. These sketches and the rest of the collection notes should be
made such that identification and future comparisons can be achieved.
Thus always note the characters in the same order for each description.
A table of the important characters is provided here, but this is meant
as a guide not as a questionnaire. The attachment of the gills, pores or
teeth to the fruit-bodies when once the fungus is in section should be
always noted (see p. 20).
The spore-print when complete should be allowed to dry under normal
conditions and then the spore-mass scraped together into a small pile. A
microscope cover-slip should be placed on the top of the pile and
lightly pressed down. The colour of the spore-print (or deposit) can
then be compared with a standard colour chart and the spores making up
the print examined in water under a microscope.
_Microscopic examination_
When one is more experienced with fungi it will be found necessary to
carry out many microscopic observations, but when commencing the study
it is necessary only to have an ordinary microscope; a calibrated
eyepiece-micrometer is an advantage as is an oil-immersion lens. An
examination of the spores is always necessary; the examination of
features such as the sterile cells on the gill and stem, etc., varies
with the fungus under observation. Spores should if at all possible be
taken from a spore-print and mounted on a microscope slide, either in
water or in a dilute aqueous solution of household ammonia. Although for
mycologists it is often necessary to measure spores to within a ½ micron
(µm) this book has been so arranged that one only really has to
distinguish between a spore which is small (up to 5 µm), medium (5-10
µm), long (10-15 µm), or large if globose and very long (if over 15 µm);
this is not strictly accurate, but serves the purpose for an
introductory text. It is important to describe the character of the
spore, i.e. ornamentations, whether a hole (germ-pore) is present at one
end and/or a beak (apiculus) at the other (fig. 5). With white or pale
coloured spores it is useful to stain either the spore or the
surrounding liquid with a dye--10% cotton blue solution is admirable, or
a solution of 1·5 g iodine in 100 ml of an aqueous mixture containing 5
g of potassium iodine and 100 g of chloral hydrate. Both these dyes must
be accurately made up if the study of the fungi is to be taken at all
seriously; because some of the chemicals used above are not normally
required by students, a chemist must make up the reagents for you. Often
the spores turn entirely or partially blue-black or pale blue or
purplish red in the iodine solution--a useful character.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Dissection of a toadstool as recommended by the
author. For explanation see text.]
Material in good condition is always required and one of the first
things the student needs to do is train himself to collect sufficient
material in good condition. The steps by which all the structures of the
fungus used in the text can be observed are outlined below:--
Fig. 1 shows the cuts required to furnish suitable sections in order to
observe the various structures and patterns of tissue which are
important.
1. Carefully place the longitudinal section (AB) of the fruit-body which
has been sketched gill-face down under a low power or dissecting
microscope. Hairs or gluten on the cap, if present, will be made visible
by focusing up and down (figs. 2 and 3A) and/or those on the stem (fig.
3B). When any part of the cut fruit-body is not being examined retain it
in a chamber containing damp paper or moist moss; this will assist the
cells to retain their turgidity, for they frequently collapse on drying
and are difficult to observe except after performing often lengthy and
special techniques.
If only one fruit-body is available, then cut along CD and mount in a
tin box on a slide in order to obtain a spore-print (otherwise see
paragraph 6).
2. Cut off a complete gill (E) and quickly mount on a dry slide. Under
the low power of a microscope, the cystidia on the gill-margin will be
visible (fig. 4); it will be seen whether the spores are arranged in a
particular pattern (fig. 5) and whether the basidia are 2-spored or
4-spored. In white-spored toadstools it is difficult sometimes to
determine whether the basidia are 2- or 4-spored so one must confirm the
observations by other techniques.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.]
A section of the gill accompanied by a small piece of cap-tissue, as in
E, will confirm the presence or absence of noticeable cystidia (or
hairs) on the cap. Now mount the section bounded by FG and HI in a drop
of water containing either a drop of washing-up liquid and/or glycerine;
the soapy liquid helps to expel any water which may tend to cling to the
gill-margin amongst the cystidia and the glycerine stops the mount from
drying out whilst further sections for comparison are cut and examined.
It is at this time that the structure of the outermost layer of the cap
can be examined, e.g. whether it is made up of a turf-like structure;
the presence or absence of cystidia on the cap can be also confirmed
(fig. 7A-C). It is frequently necessary to tap the mount in order to
spread the tissue slightly and expose the elements; this can be done
very efficiently by light pressure from the end of a pencil to which an
eraser is attached. Cut off along line JK to eliminate marginal cystidia
from confusing the picture and mount both pieces separately.
3. Cut out a wedge of tissue from the fruit-body (L) so as to have
several gills attached to some cap-tissue; until one is familiar with
the variability of facial and marginal cystidia, carefully cut along the
line PQ (note: the cut is made one-third of the distance from the cap
margin, thus eliminating the possibility of large numbers of marginal
cystidia being examined in error for facial cystidia). Now make a second
cut along the line of RS so that finally a small block of tissue remains
(M).
Mount on a dry slide with the plane through PQ face down on the slide
and observe under a low magnification, to assess whether cystidia on the
gill-face are present or absent, and if present their general shape and
whether numerous or infrequent (fig. 8).
Mount in water/washing-up mixture as outlined above and tap gently with
the rubber attached to the end of a pencil; evenly distributed pressure
should be given. If the gills appear to be too close then rotate the
rubber a little whilst pressing in order to spread the tissue.
4. Using a low power of a microscope and looking down into the plane RS
of the unmodified block M or a similar block, one obtains by this simple
technique a very accurate idea as to the structure of the trama of the
gill (fig. 9). The organisation of this tissue is very important in
classification, some groups of toadstools having what has been described
as regular trama (fig. 9C), others irregular (fig. 9D), inverse (fig.
9B) or divergent (fig. 9A). This same tissue may be thick or sparse to
wanting, coloured or not. Such sections are often better than attempts
at very thin sections unless very specialised techniques are used. There
are few satisfactory thicknesses between the two extremes; the thick
sections you can do and the very thin requiring expert techniques.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.]
5. Take out a small block of tissue T as indicated in the figure (fig.
1). Mount immediately and repeat as in 3. This will allow the outer
layer of the cap to be more clearly seen (fig. 7A-C) and also the
structure of the flesh (fig. 10). The latter may be composed of a
mixture of filaments and ‘packets’ or ‘nests’ of rounded cells (i.e.
heteromerous), or of filaments, only some of which may be inflated (i.e.
homoiomerous); but when individual cells are swollen they never form
distinct groups. By very similar techniques it is possible to show that
the more woody fungi can have flesh composed of one of four types of
cells (Corner, 1932): these types depend on whether distinctly thickened
cells (plate 47) are present with the actively growing hyphae or not
(pp. 140-150), whether hyphae are present which bind groups of hyphae
together, etc. (plate 46).
6. Remove stem along line CD and cut out small blocks of tissue as
indicated (U, V and W). Mount immediately and examine as in paragraph 3,
for cystidia, etc. (see fig. 3).
Whilst all these sections are being cut and processed a second
fruit-body, if available, should be set to drop spores; this is done by
cutting off the cap from the stem and placing it either entirely or in
part, and with gill-edges down, on a slide in a tin.
7. Z is a ‘scalp’ of a cap; a thin sliver from the cap is placed on a
slide in a drop of water (modified with washing-up liquid, etc. as
above). After placing a cover-slip over the tissue it is tapped gently;
this will show if the cap is composed of globose to elliptic elements or
if it is composed of strictly filamentous units (figs. 6A & B). Care
must be taken not to reverse the section when transferring it to the
mountant, either by turning the scalpel or by allowing the surface
tension of the liquid to pull the section upside down. The construction
of any veil fragments will also be seen in this mount, and if a loose
covering of veil is present this should be removed before observation so
that it does not obscure the fundamental structures.
8. Examine the stipe of the fruit-body used above under a low power or
with a dissecting microscope in order to ascertain whether there are any
remains of veil and/or vegetative mycelium. If found, mount immediately
in the solution containing iodine mentioned above and examine.
Of course it is difficult to carry out the above system the first time
and be successful in seeing everything, indeed in being able to cut all
the sections 1-8. Practice makes perfect, so why not practise with a ¼
lb of mushrooms from the grocer before the autumn season starts. In this
way you will have overcome the difficulties without having to experiment
with your collections.
CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF HIGHER FUNGI WITH CAPS
Locality G. Ref. Date
Habitat notes soil type pH
vegetational community
solitary; in troops or rings
Draw or preferably paint exterior and vertical section of fruit-body
MACROSCOPIC CHARACTERS
CAP
General characters:
diameter shape consistency
colour: when immature when mature
when wet when dry
Surface
dry, moist, greasy, viscid, glutinous, peeling easily or not,
smooth, matt, polished, irregularly roughened, downy, velvety,
scaly, shaggy
Margin
regular, wavy incurved or not
smooth, rough, furrowed striate or not
Veil, if present
colour abundance or scarcity
distribution at margin, whether appendiculate or dentate
consistency, whether filamentous, membranous
GILLS, or pores or teeth etc.
remote, free, adnate, adnexed, emarginate, subdecurrent, decurrent
crowded or distant distinctly formed or not
shape interveined or not
easily separable from the cap-tissue or not
consistency (whether brittle, pliable, fleshy or waxy)
thickness width
colour: when immature at maturity
number of different lengths or number of layers
obvious features of gill-edge, tube-edge, e.g. colour, consistency
STEM
central, eccentric or lacking shape
dimensions: length thickness
hollow or not
colour: when immature when mature
consistency (whether fleshy, stringy, cartilaginous, leathery or
woody)
surface characters (whether fibrillose, dry, viscid, scaly or
smooth)
characters of stem-base
Veil, if present characters
Volva, if present characters
Ring, if present
whether single or double whether membranous or filamentous
whether persistent, fugacious or mobile whether thick or thin
whether apical, median or basal
FLESH
colour in cap: when wet when dry
colour in stem: when wet when dry
colour changes if any when exposed to air
presence or absence of milk-like or coloured fluid
(note: colour when exuded on fruit-body immediately and after some
time and when dabbed on to a clean cloth or paper handkerchief and
exposed to the air).
SMELL before and after cutting --relate to a common every day odour
MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERS
BASIDIOSPORES
colour in mass colour under microscope.
shape size type of ornamentation, if any
size and shape of germ-pore, if present
iodine reaction of spore-mass:--blue-black to dark violet
(amyloid); red-purple (dextrinoid); yellow-brown or brown
(non-amyloid)
BASIDIA number of sterigmata
CAP-FLESH type of constituent cells
GILL-TISSUE type and arrangement of cells between adjacent
hymenial faces
CAP-SURFACE type of cells composing the outermost layer--whether
filaments or rounded cells
STERILE CELLS--CYSTIDIA
presence or absence of sterile cells:--
on gill-edge on gill-margin
on cap on stem
shape, estimation of size, thick or thin-walled, hyaline or not
types of ornamentation, etc.
Key to the major classes of Larger Fungi
Spores borne externally on stalks on a clavate to cylindrical cell
Basidiomycotina
Spores produced within a clavate, cylindrical or subglobose cell
Ascomycotina
Key to major groups based on character of basidium and fruit-body shape
1. Basidia either produced in a hymenium or in a mass, and until
maturity contained within a closed fruit-body Gasteromycetes
Basidia produced in a layer of cells (hymenium) and exposed to the
air before the maturity of the spores (Hymenomycetes) 2
2. Basidia simple, a single cell (fig. 5) (Homobasidiae) 3
Basidia usually septate, or if simple then fruit-body gelatinous
and often collapsing to form a skin when dried (Heterobasidiae) 4
3. Fruit-body usually fleshy, soft and easily decaying (putrescent),
hymenium spread over the surface of gills, ridges or within tubes
Agaricales (p. 22)
Fruit-body with hymenium smooth or spread-out on teeth, ridges or
plates or if within tubes then fruit-body tough and leathery
Aphyllophorales (p. 135)
4. Basidia divided 5
Basidia simple and apex drawn out into two long necks Plate 61 (p.
185) Dacrymycetales (p. 180)
5. Basidia divided transversely by one to three horizontal septae
Plate 60 (p. 183) Auriculariales (p. 182)
Basidia divided into two or four cells by vertical septae Plate 61
(p. 185) Tremellales (p. 184)
A. AGARICS AND THEIR RELATIVES
Key to major genera
1. Spores distinctly coloured in mass and coloured individually under
the microscope 2
Spores not, or faintly, coloured in mass and hyaline under the
microscope 25
2. Spores blackish or some shade of brown 8
Spores pinkish 3
3. Stem laterally attached to the cap or absent
_Claudopus_ (and some species of _Clitopilus_)
Stem centrally attached to the cap 4
4. Stem with a cup-like structure enveloping the base _Volvariella_
Stem lacking any special structure at its base 5
5. Gills not attached to the stem (free), or with part attached to
and descending down the stem (decurrent) 6
Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem 7
6. Gills remote to free from the stem _Pluteus_
Gills distinctly attached and descending down the stem
_Clitopilus_ (see also _Eccilia_ p. 102)
7. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) _Entoloma_
Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed)
_Leptonia_ & _Nolanea_
8. Stem laterally attached to the cap _Crepidotus_
Stem centrally attached to the cap 9
9. Spore-print some shade of brown 10
Spore-print blackish to purplish black 18
10. Spore-print bright rust-brown 11
Spore-print dull clay-brown or ochraceous 16
11. Stem with the veil girdling the stem (ring), or cobweb-like
(cortina) 12
Stem without the veil girdling the stem or when present then
easily lost 13
12. Stem with distinct ring or ring-zone _Pholiota_ & related genera
Stem with cobweb-like veil or faint filamentous ring-zone
_Cortinarius_ & _Gymnopilus_
13. Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem
(adnexed to adnate) 14
Gills free of the stem, or distinctly attached to and running down
the stem (decurrent), and then often joined together at the apex
of the stem or at their base 15
14. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells _Conocybe_
Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells _Galerina_
15. Gills free of the stem and the whole fruit-body very fragile
_Bolbitius_
Gills attached to and running down the stem (decurrent), easily
separable from the cap-tissue and frequently veined at apex of
stem _Paxillus_
16. Cap scaly, fibrillose and roughened _Inocybe_
Cap smooth, greasy or viscid 17
17. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells _Agrocybe_
Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells _Naucoria_ & _Hebeloma_
18. Gills or complete fruit-body becoming liquefied _Coprinus_
Neither the gills nor fruit-body collapsing into a slurry of cells
19
19. Gills free to remote from the stem or attached and descending down
the stem (decurrent) 20
Gills attached in some way to the stem but not descending down the
stem (adnate to adnexed) 21
20. Gills decurrent; stem possessing a cobweb-like veil
_Gomphidius_ and _Chroogomphus_
Gills remote or free; stem possessing a usually persistent ring
_Agaricus_
21. Gills distinctly spotted or distinctly mottled; stem stiff but
breaking with a snap when bent; growing on dung or in richly
manured areas _Panaeolus_
Gills not spotted or distinctly mottled; stem cartilaginous or
not, and fruit-body growing on dung or not 22
22. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) and with a veil
girdling the stem _Stropharia_
Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed) or with concave
dentation near the stem (sinuate), or if adnate then lacking a
ring 23
23. Gills with concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) and cap and
stem with a cobweb-like veil _Hypholoma_
Gills attached to the stem but lacking a distinct concave
indentation near the stem 24
24. Stem stiff but breaking with a snap when bent; edge of cap
incurved at first and cap-surface composed of filamentous cells
_Psilocybe_
Stem fragile; edge of cap straight even when young and cap-surface
composed of rounded cells _Psathyrella_
25. Fruit-body fleshy and readily decaying, often firm but never tough
26
Fruit-body tough and not easily decaying 47
26. Parasitic on other agarics _Nyctalis_
Not parasitic on other agarics 27
27. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like often forked gills or simply on
irregularities 28
Spore-bearing layer (hymenium), on distinct well-formed gills 29
28. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like gills _Cantharellus_
Spore-bearing layer on surface of irregularities _Craterellus_
29. Cap easily separable from the stem 30
Cap not easily separable from the stem 31
30. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or with a persistent cup-like
structure at the base (volva); cap usually with warts or scales
distributed on its surface _Amanita_
Stem with a ring but lacking a volva; cap surface powdery, hairy
or scaly _Lepiota_ & related genera
31. Cap, stem and gills brittle; stem never stiff and either exuding
a milk-like juice or not; spores with spines or warts which stain
blue-black in solutions containing iodine 32
Cap, stem and gills soft or if stem stiff then snapping when bent;
gills never brittle 33
32. Fruit-body exuding a milk-like fluid _Lactarius_
Fruit-body not exuding milk-like fluid _Russula_
33. Gills thick, watery and lustrous (waxy) or with a bloom as if
powdered with talc; often brightly coloured 34
Gills not waxy and rarely over 1·5 mm thick 36
34. Gills rather watery and lustrous (waxy); spores smooth 35
Gills rigid not watery, with powdery bloom; spores with distinct
spines _Laccaria_
35. Fruit-body with a distinct veil and growing in woods; cap often
viscid or pale coloured _Hygrophorus_
Fruit-body lacking a veil and usually growing in fields; cap
usually brightly coloured and sometimes viscid _Hygrocybe_
36. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or stem not attached to the
centre of the cap (eccentric) 37
Stem central and lacking a ring 38
37. Stem central and possessing a ring _Armillaria_
Stem not centrally attached to the cap
members of the ‘_Pleurotaceae_’ (p. 74)
38. Stem fibrous 39
Stem stiff only in the outer layers 42
39. Gills with a concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) 40
Gills attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent) 41
40. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine
_Melanoleuca_
Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine
_Tricholoma_ & related genera
41. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine
_Leucopaxillus_
Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine
_Tricholoma_ & related genera
42. Gills thick and with rather blunt edges
_Cantharellula_ & _Hygrophoropsis_
Gills thin and with distinct and sharp edges 43
43. Gills attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent); cap
often depressed at the centre and sterile cells absent from the
gills and the surface of the cap _Clitocybe_ & _Omphalina_
Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem
(adnate to adnexed) or if descending then distinct sterile cells
on the gills, cap and stem 44
44. Cap-edge straight and usually striate when young; cap thin and
somewhat conical and gills descending down the stem or not
_Mycena_ & related genera
Cap-edge incurved, non-striate and cap rather fleshy; gills not
descending down the stem 45
45. Stem dark and woolly at least in the lower half and the cap
viscid; fruit-bodies growing in clusters on tree-trunks
_Flammulina_
Stem not dark and woolly 46
46. Cap viscid and stem usually rooting; fruit-body growing directly
on wood or attached to wood by long strands or cords of mycelium
(rhizomorphs) _Oudemansiella_
If cap viscid then fruit-body neither attached to wood by cords of
mycelium nor stem with a rooting base _Collybia_ & related genera
47. Stem central and gills often interconnected by veins; cap can be
dried and later revived, purely by moistening
_Marasmius_ & related genera
Stem not attached to the centre of the cap and fruit-body although
persistent not easily revived to natural shape after once being
dried 48
48. Spore-print blue-black with solutions containing iodine 49
Spore-print yellowish in solutions containing iodine 50
49. Gills toothed or notched along the edges _Lentinellus_
Gills even along their edges and not toothed _Panellus_
50. Gills appearing as if split down their middles _Schizophyllum_
Gills not splitting 51
51. Gills notched or toothed along their edges _Lentinus_
Gills even along their edges and not toothed _Panus_
52. Spore print yellowish, purplish, black or pink 53
Spore-print some shade of brown, but without purplish flush 56
53. Spore-print yellowish or pinkish 54
Spore-print purplish brown or blackish 55
54. Spore-print yellowish _Gyroporus_
Spore-print pinkish _Tylopilus_
55. Spore-print purplish brown _Porphyrellus_
Spore-print blackish and spores ornamented _Strobilomyces_
56. Cap glutinous and stem with or without girdling veil (ring);
within the tubes the sterile cells (cystidia) cluster together
_Suillus_
Cap at most viscid and then only in wet weather and sterile cells
within the tubes individually placed 57
57. Stem-surface covered with distinct black or dark brown or white
then darkening scales; spore-print clay-brown with or without a
flush of cinnamon-pinkish brown _Leccinum_
Stem-surface covered completely or in part with a network or
pattern of faint lines or pale yellow or red-rust but never black
dots; spore-print olivaceous buff _Boletus_ & related genera
(i) Agarics of woodlands and copses
(a) Mycorrhizal formers
~Leccinum scabrum~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
Birch rough stalks or Brown birch-bolete.
_Cap_: width 45-150 mm. _Stem_: length 70-200 mm; width 20-30 mm.
_Description_: Plate 1.
Cap: convex and becoming only slightly expanded at maturity, pale
brown, tan or buff, soft, surface dry, but in wet weather becoming
quite tacky, smooth or streaky-wrinkled and cap-margin not overhanging
the tubes.
Stem: white, buff or greyish, roughened by scurfy scales which are
minute, pale and arranged in irregular lines at the stem-apex, and
enlarged and dark brown to blackish towards the base.
Tubes: depressed about the stem, white becoming yellowish brown at
maturity, with small, white pores which become buff at maturity and
bruise distinctly yellow-brown or pale pinkish brown when touched.
Flesh: watery, very soft in the cap lacking distinctive smell and
either not changing on exposure to the air or only faintly becoming
pinkish or pale peach-colour.
Spore-print: brown with flush of pinkish brown when freshly prepared.
Spores: very long, spindle-shaped, smooth, pale honey-coloured under
the microscope and more than 14 µm in length (14-20 µm long × 5-6 µm
broad).
Marginal cystidia: numerous and flask-shaped. Facial cystidia: sparse,
similar to marginal cystidia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Found in copses and woods containing birch
trees, or even accompanying solitary birches.
_General Information_: This fungus is recognised by the pale brown
cap, the white, unchanging or hardly changing flesh and the cap-margin
not overhanging the tubes. There are several closely related fungi
which also grow with birch trees but they need some experience in
order to distinguish them. This fungus was formerly placed in the
genus _Boletus_, indeed it will be found in many books under this
name. Species of _Leccinum_ are edible and considered delicacies in
continental Europe. The majority can be separated from the other
fleshy fungi with pores beneath the cap, i.e. boletes, by the black to
brown scaly stem and rather long, elongate spores. The scales on the
stem give rise to the common name ‘Rough stalks’ which is applied to
this whole group of fungi.
_Illustrations_: F 39C; Hvass 253; LH 122; NB 155⁶; WD 89¹.
~Suillus grevillei~ (Klotzsch) Singer
Larch-bolete
_Cap_: width 30-100 mm. _Stem_: width 15-20 mm; length 50-70 mm.
_Description_: Plate 2.
Cap: convex or umbonate at first, later expanding and then becoming
plano-convex, golden-yellow or rich orange-brown, very slimy because
of the presence of a pale yellow sticky fluid.
Stem: apex reddish and dotted or ornamented with a fine network,
cream-coloured about the centre because of the presence of a ring
which soon collapses, ultimately appearing only as a pale yellow zone;
below the ring the stem is yellowish or rusty brown, particularly when
roughly handled.
Tubes: adnate to decurrent, deep yellow but becoming flushed
wine-coloured on exposure to the air, with angular and small
sulphur-yellow pores which become pale pinkish brown to lilaceous or
pale wine-coloured when handled.
Flesh: with no distinctive smell, pale yellow immediately flushing
lilaceous when exposed to the air, but finally becoming dingy
red-brown, sometimes blue or green in the stem-base.
Spore-print: brown with distinct yellowish tint when freshly prepared.
Spores: long, ellipsoid, smooth and pale honey when under the
microscope, less than 12 µm in length (8-11 µm long × 3-4 µm broad).
Marginal cystidia: in bundles and encrusted with amorphous brown, oily
material. Facial cystidia: similar in shape and morphology to marginal
cystidia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Found on the ground accompanying larch
trees either singly or more often in rings or troops.
_General Information_: This fungus is easily recognised by the poorly
developed ring, overall golden-yellow colour and pale yellow
viscidness on the cap which comes off on to the fingers when the
fruit-body is handled. There are several closely related fungi
which also grow with coniferous trees, e.g. _Suillus luteus_ Fries,
‘Slippery jack’, but many need experience in order to identify them.
All these fungi were formerly placed in the genus _Boletus_, because
of the fleshy fruit-body with pores beneath the cap. The larch-bolete
receives its common name from the close relationship of the fungus
with the larch. On drying _S. luteus_ and _S. grevillei_ may strongly
resemble one another but the former can be distinguished when fresh by
the chocolate brown, sepia, or purplish brown cap and the large
whitish, lilac-tinted ring.
[Illustration: Plate 1. Fleshy fungi: Spores borne within tubes]
[Illustration: Plate 2. Fleshy fungi: Spores borne within tubes]
Species of _Suillus_ are edible and rank highly in continental
cook-books, although they have disagreeably gelatinous-slimy caps, a
character, in fact, which helps to separate them from other fleshy
pore-fungi.
_Illustrations_: F 41a; Hvass 257; ML 187; NB 104⁴; WD 84².
~Boletus badius~ Fries
Bay-coloured bolete
_Cap_: width 70-130 mm. _Stem_: width 34-37 mm; length 110-125 mm.
(36-40 mm at base).
_Description_: Plate 3.
Cap: hemispherical, minutely velvety, but soon becoming smooth and
distinctly viscid in wet weather, red-brown flushed with date-brown
and darkening even more with age and in moist weather to become
bay-brown.
Stem: similarly coloured to the cap but paler particularly at the
apex, smooth or with faint, longitudinal furrows which are often
powdered with minute, dark brown dots.
Tubes: adnate or depressed about the stem, lemon-yellow but
immediately blue-green when exposed to the air and with angular,
rather large similarly coloured, pores which equally rapidly turn
blue-green when touched.
Flesh: strongly smelling earthy, pale yellow but becoming pinkish in
centre of the cap, and blue in the stem and above the tubes when
exposed to the air, but finally becoming dirty yellow throughout.
Spore-print: brown with a distinct olivaceous flush.
Spores: long, spindle-shaped, smooth, honey-coloured under the
microscope and greater than 12 µm in length (13-15 µm long × 5 µm
broad).
Marginal cystidia: numerous, flask-shaped and slightly yellowish.
Facial cystidia: scattered and infrequent and similar to marginal
cystidia in shape.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Found in woods, especially accompanying
pine trees, but often found fruiting on the site of former coniferous
trees, even years after the trunks or the stumps have been removed.
_General Information_: This fungus is recognised by the rounded,
red-brown cap, coupled with the pale yellow flesh and greenish yellow
tubes, both of which become greenish blue when exposed to the air.
There are several species in the genus _Boletus_ which stain blue at
the slightest touch or when the flesh is exposed to the air, e.g. _B.
erythropus_ (Fries) Secretan, a common bolete with a dark olivaceous
cap, orange pores and red-dotted stem.
The flesh of some species of _Boletus_, e.g. _B. edulis_ Fries,
however, remains unchanged or at most becomes flushed slightly
pinkish. Although many people say they recognise _B. edulis_, the
‘Penny-bun’ bolete--a name derived from the colour of the cap, there
is some doubt as to whether the true _B. edulis_ is common in Britain
as we are led to believe. _B. edulis_ and its relatives are highly
recommended as edible (see p. 35). _B. badius_ is also edible, but it
is ill-advised to eat any bolete which turns blue when cut open.
_Illustrations_: _B. badius_--F 38c; Hvass 248 (not very good); LH
191; NB 109⁵; WD 85¹. _B. edulis_: F 42a; Hvass 246; LH 191; NB 143³.
General notes on Boletes
There are nearly seventy boletes recorded for the British Isles and
evidence of others which have as yet not been fully documented. As a
group they are characterised by being fleshy, possessing a central stem
and producing their spores within the tubes, and not on gills as in the
common mushroom. It is the first character by which the boletes differ
so markedly from the other pored fungi, such as the ‘Scaly Polypore’
(see p. 140).