Cap: deep blood-red or brownish red.
Stem: white with a flush of red towards the base.
Gills: cream then ochraceous.
Flesh: white staining brownish and smelling strongly of fish- or
crab-paste, and staining dark green when a crystal of green iron
sulphate is rubbed into it.
Spore-print: deep cream-colour.
Common in mixed woods; a very variable fungus with many colour-forms,
but easily recognised by the green reaction with ferrous sulphate.
~Lactarius turpis~ (Weinm.) Fries
Ugly milk-cap
_Cap_: width 60-200 mm. _Stem_: width 10-25 mm; length 40-75 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: firm, convex usually with a central depression at maturity, dark
olive-brown or dark greyish olive with a yellow-tawny, woolly margin
when young which soon disappears, and the whole cap becomes sticky
with age and turns deep purple when a drop of household ammonia is
placed on it.
Stem: short, stout, similarly coloured to the cap except for the
distinctly ochraceous apex, slimy and pitted.
Gills: crowded, cream-coloured to pale straw-coloured, but soon
spotted with dirty brown, particularly when bruised.
Flesh: white or greyish ochre exuding a milk-like liquid which lacks a
distinct smell and is white and unchanging when exposed to the air.
Spore-print: pale pinkish buff.
Spores: subglobose or ellipsoid and covered in a network of strongly
developed, raised lines interconnected by finer ones, both of which
stain blue-black in solutions containing iodine, generally 8 × 6 µm in
size (7-8 × 6-7 µm).
Marginal cystidia: lance- or spindle-shaped and filled with oily
contents.
Facial cystidia: similar to marginal cystidia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Common in woods and copses, or on heaths
especially in boggy places but always where birch is growing.
_General Information_: Easily recognised by the dull colours and
purple reaction with alkali; there is no British species with which
_L. turpis_ can be mistaken. The purple reaction is similar to that
found in the familiar school laboratory reagent litmus, for the
compound found in _L. turpis_ turns purple in alkali and reddens in
acidic solutions. First discovered by Harley in 1893 this reaction
marked the beginning of a whole series of chemical studies on the
agarics which has led to the discovery of many unique compounds.
_Illustrations_: Hvass 214 (but too green); LH 213; NB 113³; WD 38¹.
General notes on the genus _Lactarius_
There is little doubt that the genus _Russula_ and the genus _Lactarius_
are closely related; in fact they stand aside from the other agarics
in the very important character mentioned on page 46. In Europe the
easiest distinction between the two genera is that members of the genus
_Lactarius_ exude a milk-like juice which may be white or variously
coloured depending on the species involved (e.g. purple in _L. uvidus_
(Fries) Fries, yellow in _L. chrysorheus_ Fries). The cap, stem and
frequently the gills are brittle and when broken liberate the milk-like
liquid; when the fruit-body is dry, however, the presence of this liquid
may be difficult to demonstrate. The spores have a blue-black
ornamentation under the microscope when mounted in iodine, and although
when in mass the colours are not as varied as those found in the genus
_Russula_ there is every likelihood that they will play an important
role in the classification of the group in the future. The colour of the
spore-print has been rather neglected, although the genus includes some
rather unusual fungi.
[Illustration: Plate 8. Fleshy and milking fungi: Spores whitish and
borne on gills]
The odours of many species are very distinct and vary from the smell of
coconut and spice to those of various flowers; an odour commonly met
with is termed ‘oily rancid resembling butter which has become mouldy’;
in early books it was described as being the smell of bed-bugs!
The majority of the species are undoubtedly mycorrhizal: thus _L.
torminosus_ is found with birch, _L. deliciosus_ and _L. rufus_ with
conifers and _L. quietus_ with oak. Brief notes are given on additional
species:--
~L. camphoratus~ (Fries) Fries
Curry-centred milk-cap
_Cap_: width 20-50 mm. _Stem_: length 20-50 mm; width 4-6 mm.
Cap and stem: red-brown.
Gills: reddish brown.
Flesh: reddish buff with an aromatic odour resembling spices which
becomes very strong when dried and exudes a pale thin milk-like
liquid.
Common in conifer woods and plantations.
~L. deliciosus~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
Saffron milk-cap
_Cap_: width 50-120 mm. _Stem_: length 20-60 mm; width 15-25 mm.
Cap: viscid, dirty greyish ochre with flush of tawny but soon becoming
greenish with age.
Stem: dirty buff or greyish ochre, spotted with green particularly
with age or on handling.
Gills: orange-yellow bruising deep orange but becoming green with
time.
Flesh: pinkish to apricot-coloured but becoming green with age and
exuding a rich orange-red fluid which gradually becomes greyish green.
Frequent in conifer woods and plantations.
~L. glyciosmus~ (Fries) Fries
Coconut-scented milk-cap
_Cap_: width 20-50 mm. _Stem_: length 30-50 mm; width 5-8 mm.
Cap: usually with a central ‘bump’, greyish lilac, dull and minutely
scaly or velvety.
Stem: white to pale yellowish.
Gills: pale yellowish to flesh-coloured then flushed lilaceous.
Flesh: pale yellowish or flushed lilaceous, smelling strongly of
desiccated coconut and exuding a white unchanging milk-like liquid.
In woods and on heaths, particularly where birch is growing.
~L. quietus~ (Fries) Fries
Oak milk-cap
_Cap_: width 30-80 mm. _Stem_: length 40-80 mm; width 10-15 mm.
Cap and stem: milky cocoa-coloured, zoned with reddish brown.
Gills: pale ochraceous then flushed red-brown.
Flesh: similar to gills, smelling strongly of rancid oil, and exuding
a white, thin milk-like liquid which becomes very, very faintly yellow
on exposure to the air.
Common wherever oak is growing.
~L. rufus~ (Fries) Fries
Rufous milk-cap
_Cap_: width 50-90 mm. _Stem_: length 50-90 mm; width 10-15 mm.
Cap: dark red-brown with a distinct, usually sharp ‘bump’ in centre.
Stem: pale red-brown throughout or whitish at base.
Gills: pale reddish brown and exuding a white, unchanging milk-like
fluid.
In pine woods and less frequently with birches on acid heaths.
~L. torminosus~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
Woolly milk-cap
_Cap_: width 40-150 mm. _Stem_: length 60-100 mm; width 15-30 mm.
Cap: pale strawberry-pink or pale salmon colour, distinctly zoned,
slimy when wet at centre and strongly shaggy fibrillose at margin.
Stem and gills: pale strawberry colour.
Flesh: tinged salmon-pink and exuding a white unchangeable milk-like
liquid.
Frequent where birches grow.
~Amanita muscaria~ (Fries) Hooker
Fly agaric
_Cap_: width 100-175 mm. _Stem_: width 30-40 mm; length 150-275 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: bright scarlet to orange-red with scattered whitish or yellowish
fragments of veil particularly towards the centre and hanging down
from the margin, viscid when moist, striate at margin with age.
Stem: white, striate above the soft easily torn, although prominent,
ring which is white above and yellow below; stem-base swollen and
ornamented with patches of yellowish or white veil-fragments which
form concentric rings or ridges of tissue.
Gills: white, free, crowded, fairly thick, minutely toothed at their
edge.
Flesh: soft, lacking distinctive smell, or at times slightly earthy
and white, yellowish below cap-centre.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: long, hyaline under the microscope, ellipsoid, smooth about 10
× 7 µm in size (10-13 × 7-8 µm).
Marginal cystidia: composed of chains of swollen, hyaline cells.
Facial cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Found in birch-woods, less frequently
collected in the vicinity of conifers; wide-spread and fairly common,
but it is erratic in its appearance giving the impression of being
absent from a locality until one season it suddenly fruits in
profusion.
_General Information_: An easily recognised fungus because of its
striking colour. It is also very familiar and well-known because it
appears so often on Christmas cards, and features commonly in
illustrations in children’s story-books. The fungus contains a poison
which formerly was used to kill flies--hence the common name of ‘Fly
agaric’ and the scientific name from the latin name for the house-fly.
The red skin of the cap, where the major amount of the poison resides,
was cut up with a little milk and sugar or honey; flies attracted to
this sweet concoction inadvertently ate the poison and later perished.
This fungus has a very well documented and long history and appears in
the legends of many countries. It is featured in Greek mythology,
Slavic and Scandinavian folk-lore and indeed appears in the
pre-history of Indian tribes of N.E. Asia. It has even been connected
with the formation of certain sects within the early Christian church.
_Illustrations_: F. frontispiece; Hvass 1; LH 117; NB 113¹; WD 2¹.
[Illustration: Plate 9. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills]
Notes on the genus _Amanita_
The genus _Amanita_ contains many important mycorrhizal fungi including
the ‘Blusher’, _A. rubescens_ (Fries) S. F. Gray, the ‘Tawny grisette’,
_A. fulva_ Secretan, and the ‘False death-cap’, _A. citrina_ S. F. Gray.
The first grows on heaths and in woods with a variety of trees; _A.
fulva_ frequently grows with birch and _A. citrina_ with several leafy
trees although its var. _alba_ (Gillet) E. J. Gilbert appears to be
confined to beech woods. However, there is some evidence that many
members of the genus in drier more southern countries than Britain, are
non-mycorrhizal. In fact the genus as a whole may be southern-temperate
in its distribution. In the British Isles the number of species of
_Amanita_ recorded decreases as one goes north, or the frequency of
single species except for a few widespread forms falls off northwards.
In a few cases a more familiar southern species is replaced in similar
habitats by another species, e.g. _A. phalloides_ (Fries) Secretan is
replaced by _A. virosa_ Secretan the ‘Destroying angel’ in Scotland, and
_A. citrina_ frequently in the north by _A. porphyria_ (Fries) Secretan.
Species of _Amanita_ are usually large conspicuous fungi and the genus
contains some of our best known agarics. One, _A. muscaria_ (Fries)
Hooker has already been mentioned, but the genus also includes the
‘Death-cap’ _A. phalloides_ and ‘Caesar’s mushroom’ _A. caesarea_
(Fries) Schweinitz, a fungus not found in this country but considered to
be superior in edibility to all other fungi; thus edible and deadly
poisonous species are found closely related and this simply emphasises
how important it is not to eat the agarics one finds in the woods and
fields except when accompanied by a ‘real’ expert. Deaths or near
fatalities in Europe and North America are recorded annually due to the
eating of fungi belonging to this genus.
The poisonous qualities of the fungi in this genus--only a very small
amount of poison is often sufficient to produce fatal results--has led
to a close connection between these fungi and black magic and the
supernatural. This connection is even more emphasised when it is learnt
that some have an intoxicating effect. Hence the long history mentioned
earlier.
Members of the genus _Amanita_ are characterised by their anatomy and
certain macroscopic features; the former is illustrated under _A.
muscaria_, i.e. the divergent gill-trama. The main macroscopic character
of note is the presence of a volva at the base of the stem and it is
the details of this volva which helps to distinguish different species.
_A. phalloides_ has a distinct, loose, membranous sheath, in _A.
citrina_ the volva is reduced to a narrow rim around the bulbous stem
and in _A. rubescens_ and _A. muscaria_ the volva is simply a series of
concentric zones of woolly scales. All the four species noted above
possess a ring, but _A. fulva_ the ‘Tawny grisette’ and _A. vaginata_
(Fries) Vittadini the ‘Grisette’ only possess a volva; this has lead to
the use of the generic name _Amanitopsis_ in many books, now no longer
considered necessary.
The veil in _Amanita_ is probably the most highly developed amongst our
common agarics and from Appendix iv it can be seen how the scaly cap and
stem originate and how the volva differs from the ring. The volva and
cap-scales constitute what has been called the universal veil and the
ring which stretches from the cap margin to the stem has been termed the
partial veil.
The spores of species of _Amanita_ are large and their shape and
chemical reactions help to distinguish the different species within the
genus. One of the most interesting features, however, is that the
spore-mass, although usually described as white, in many species is not
white but flushed greenish grey, etc. The slight subtleties in colour of
the spore-print assist in classification.
The following notes may be instructive in conjunction with the
information above (for common names see above).
(i) Possessing a ring on the stem:--
~A. citrina~ S. F. Gray
_Cap_: width 55-80 mm. _Stem_: width 18-22 mm; length 70-80 mm.
A lemon-yellow or whitish capped agaric with bulbous stem-base, white
patches of volva on cap and white stem with flesh strongly smelling of
new potatoes.
Spores: almost globose and measuring 9-10 × 7-8 µm.
~A. excelsa~ (Fries) Kummer
_Cap_: width 75-140 mm. _Stem_: width 20-28 mm; length 85-120 mm.
A greyish or brownish capped agaric with clavate stem-base, grey
patches of volva on the cap and white concentrically scaly stem with
flesh unchanged on exposure to the air.
Spores: broadly ellipsoid and measuring 9-10 × 8-9 µm.
~A. rubescens~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
_Cap_: width 70-120 mm. _Stem_: width 12-25 mm; length 65-100 mm.
A reddish fawn or pinkish buff capped agaric with swollen stem-base,
pinkish or flesh-coloured patches of volva on cap and reddish
concentrically scaly stem with flesh becoming reddish when exposed to
the air.
Spores: ellipsoid and measuring 9-10 × 5-6 µm.
~A. pantherina~ (Fries) Secretan
‘Panther’
_Cap_: width 48-95 mm. _Stem_: width 12-20 mm; length 65-100 mm.
An olive-brown or smoky brown capped agaric with only slightly swollen
stem-base, white patches of volva on the cap and white concentrically
scaly stem with unchanging flesh.
Spores: ellipsoid and measuring 8-12 × 7 µm.
~A. phalloides~ (Fries) Secretan
_Cap_: width 70-85 mm. _Stem_: width 12-20 mm; length 85-120 mm.
A greenish or yellow-olive capped agaric with stem sheathed in
membranous volva, white patches of volva on cap and smooth, white stem
with white flesh.
Spores: broadly ellipsoid and measuring 10-12 × 7 µm.
(ii) Lacking ring on stem:--
~A. fulva~ Secretan
_Cap_: width 40-60 mm. _Stem_: width 10-15 mm; length 100-150 mm.
A thin, tawny-brown agaric with stem sheathed in membranous volva and
pale tawny, slightly scaly stem.
Spores: globose and 10-12 µm in diameter.
~A. vaginata~ (Fries) Vittadini
Differs from _A. fulva_ in the cap being metallic grey or silvery in
colour.
(b) Parasites
~Armillaria mellea~ (Fries) Kummer
Honey-fungus
_Cap_: width 50-150 mm. _Stem_: width 10-12 mm; length 75-150 mm.
_Description_: Plate 10.
Cap: at first convex then more or less flattened or slightly
depressed, very variable in colour, yellowish, olive, buff,
sand-coloured or some shade of brown, at first covered in small,
brownish or ochraceous scales which give the young cap a velvety
aspect, but gradually the scales disappear with age except at the
cap-centre; margin striate and usually paler than centre of the cap.
Stem: equal or swollen at base, often several grouped together, white
at apex above a whitish, rather thick, ring which is flushed with
olive-yellow or red-brown at its margin; stem-base fibrillose, whitish
but finally red-brown at maturity.
Gills: adnate or slightly decurrent, whitish then flushed flesh colour
and developing brownish spots with age or in cold, wet weather.
Flesh: with rather strong and unpleasant smell, white or flushed
pinkish in the cap, brown and stringy in the stem.
Spore-print: very pale cream colour.
Spores: medium-sized, hyaline, ellipsoid, less than 10 µm in length
(8-9 × 5-6 µm).
Marginal cystidia: variable, hyaline, cylindric and not
well-differentiated.
Facial cystidia: absent.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: This fungus grows in troops or is found
joined at the base to form clusters. It is always attached to old
trees, trunks, stumps and buried wood, either directly or by its
vegetative stage which darkens and aggregates to form strands
resembling boot-laces which are called rhizomorphs.
_General Information_: This rather variable, and therefore often
perplexing, fungus causes a destructive rot of trees and can travel
long distances through the soil with the use of its rhizomorphs. It
commonly grows on several species of broad-leaved trees, but can also
colonise conifer trees. It also attacks garden shrubs, such as
privet-hedges, and is particularly destructive to Rhododendrons
causing a wilt of the whole shrub and subsequent death; it has also
been recorded as attacking potatoes. The actively growing mycelium
which can often be found growing under the bark of infected trees,
exhibits a luminosity if freshly exposed and placed in a darkened
room. The rhizomorphs of _A. mellea_ are highly specialised structures
composed of mycelial threads some of which have become rather more
differentiated than is normally found in the vegetative stage of other
agarics.
_Illustrations_: F 27a; Hvass 26; LH 93; NB 141¹; WD 4³.
~Pholiota squarrosa~ (Fries) Kummer
Shaggy Pholiota
_Cap_: width 50-120 mm. _Stem_: width 17-25 mm; length 95-125 mm.
_Description_: Plate 11.
Cap: convex, but expanding and becoming flattened with a slight
central umbo, ochre-yellow to yellowish rust-colour and covered with
dark brown recurved scales which are particularly dense at the centre.
Stem: variable in length and thickness depending on how it is attached
to the substrate, whether in a deep crack or wound, or in a
depression, and how many specimens are in the cluster; its colour is
similar to that of the cap, exhibits a small, dark brown fibrillose,
torn ring or ring-zone and is ornamented with recurved red-brown
scales below that ring.
Gills: broadly adnate with a decurrent tooth and crowded, yellowish at
first then rust-coloured.
Flesh: with strong, pleasant but pungent smell, yellowish brown, soft
in the cap, fibrous in the stem.
Spore-print: rich rust-brown.
Spores: medium-sized, pale brown under the microscope, smooth,
ellipsoid, and 6-8 × 4 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: spindle-shaped, hyaline, numerous.
Facial cystidia: flask-shaped with a small apical appendage and
becoming rich yellow when immersed in solutions containing ammonia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Common in clusters in woods, gardens or
parks, on wood or at the base of the trunks of broad-leaved trees in
summer and autumn.
[Illustration: Plate 10. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills]
_General Information_: Although rather a common easily recognisable
and aesthetically pleasing fungus growing in its characteristic
clusters at the base of trees, it is a weak parasite entering the
living tissue after invading decayed areas of the tree. This is the
reason why when branches are broken off trees by wind, snow or storms,
they should be carefully trimmed to remove ragged edges and the wound
treated with a protective tar to stop the entry of rain, cold and
fungus spores. Other more destructive fungi may enter a tree through
such wounds; _P. squarrosa_ frequently attacks mountain ash or rowan.
It is recognised by the dry scaly cap and stem which helps to
distinguish it from the sticky capped _P. aurivella_ (Fries) Kummer
with similar habitat preferences but wider spores (6-9 × 4-5 µm). _P.
adiposa_ (Fries) Kummer is found on beech trees and it, too, has a
viscid cap, but the spores are 5-6 × 3-4 µm in dimensions.
_Illustrations_: Hvass 134; LH 149; WD 54².
[Illustration: Plate 11. Fleshy fungi: Spores rust-brown and borne on
gills]
(c) Saprophytes--wood inhabiting or lignicolous agarics
~Hypholoma fasciculare~ (Fries) Kummer
Sulphur-tuft
_Cap_: width 20-50 mm. _Stem_: width 6-13 mm; length 40-100 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: sulphur-yellow, flushed with sand-colour or red-brown at centre
then ochraceous yellow throughout, convex at first with margin
incurved and clothed with fibrillose remnants of a yellow-olive veil,
but then becoming flattened and losing evidence of that veil.
Stem: equal or flexuous, usually with several joined at base,
similarly coloured to the cap, fibrillose streaky or with some fibrils
from the veil stretching from the cap to the stem in young specimens.
Gills: sinuate and crowded, at first sulphur-yellow then olive-green,
but finally with a flush of purple-brown.
Flesh: with rather strong and unpleasant smell, yellow throughout.
Spore-print: purple-brown.
Spores: medium-sized, ellipsoid or ovoid, smooth, purple-brown and
less than 10 µm in length (6-8 × 4 µm).
Marginal cystidia: flasked-shaped, short, cylindric and hyaline.
Facial cystidia: more swollen than marginal cystidia and with silvery
contents which yellow in solutions containing ammonia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: The sulphur-tuft grows in dense clusters
on and around old stumps of broad-leaved trees, and can be found
throughout the year; it also grows on conifers, but less frequently.
_General Information_: It may be recognised by the greenish tint of
the immature gills and of the young cap. _H. capnoides_ (Fries) Kummer
grows on the wood of coniferous trees and has a much more ochraceous
brown cap and stem than the sulphur-tuft and slightly larger
spores--7-8 × 4-5 µm. _H. sublateritium_ (Fries) Quélet grows on
hardwoods but is bigger than _H. fasciculare_ and has a brick-coloured
cap and very sturdy stem (spores 6-7 × 3-4 µm).
_Illustrations_: F 37b; Hvass 176; LH 147; NB 141⁵; WD 76².
[Illustration: Plate 12. Fleshy fungi: Spores purplish brown and borne
on gills]
~Flammulina velutipes~ (Fries) Karsten
Velvet-shank
_Cap_: width 20-80 mm. _Stem_: width 5-10 mm; length 35-60 mm.
_Description_:
Cap: bright sand-colour or slightly red-brown at centre, convex at
first then flattened with age, smooth, slimy because of the presence
of a sticky elastic skin, rather rubbery to the touch.
Stem: cylindrical or slightly swollen towards the base, dark brown and
densely hairy or velvety, tough and rubbery to handle.
Gills: adnexed, very unequal and somewhat distant, pale yellow,
gradually becoming buff as the spores mature.
Flesh: with rather pleasant smell, yellowish, watery and soft.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium-sized, hyaline, ellipsoid and about 8 × 3-4 µm in Size
(7-9 × 3-4 µm).
Marginal cystidia: hyaline, elongate, broadly flask-shaped.
Facial cystidia: similar to marginal cystidia.
_Habitat_ & _Distribution_: Found in clusters on old stumps, fallen
trunks and on the wounded parts of standing trees.
_General Information_: This fungus can be recognised by the clustered
habit, the viscid, bright tawny cap and the dark velvety stem. This is
one of the few agarics which occurs regularly late in the season, even
appearing in the winter, although it can be seen growing in its
familiar groups at almost any time of the year. This fungus holds a
rather isolated position in classification and was once placed in the
genus _Collybia_. It may be found in several books under this last
genus.
_Illustrations_: F 18b; Hvass 80; LH 109; NB 141³; WD 21⁴.
[Illustration: Plate 13. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills]
~Mycena galericulata~ (Fries) S. F. Gray
Bonnet mycena
_Cap_: width 25-50 mm. _Stem_: width 3-6 mm; length 50-125 mm.
_Description_: