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STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK
OF
MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.
BY
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.
Published in Serial Form--=No. 1=--Price, 50c. per number.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E.
1897.
[Illustration: Plate A.
HYMENOMYCETES.
Agaricus (Psalliota) campester.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE A.
In Plate A is presented a sketch of the common field mushroom, Agaricus
campester. Fig. 1 represents the mature plant; Fig. 2, a sectional view
of the same; Fig. 3, the basidia, club-shaped cells from the summit of
which proceed the slender tubes called sterigmata, which support the
spores--highly magnified; Fig. 4, the sterigmata; Fig. 5, the mycelium,
highly magnified, supporting immature mushrooms; Fig. 6, the spores as
shed from an inverted mushroom cap; Fig. 7, spores magnified.
[Illustration: Plate B.
HYMENOMYCETES.
Types of the Six Orders of Hymenomycetes.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE B.
In Plate B is represented a leading type of each of the six orders of
the family Hymenomycetes:
Fig. 1. Cap with radiating gills beneath. Agaricini.
Fig. 2. Cap with spines or teeth beneath. Hydnei.
Fig. 3. Cap with pores or tubes beneath. Polyporei.
Fig. 4. Cap with the under or spore-bearing surface even. Thelephorei.
Fig. 5. Whole plant, club-shaped, or bush-like and branched. Clavarei.
Fig. 6. Whole plant irregularly expanded, substance gelatinous.
Tremellini.
Copyright, 1897, by
Thomas Taylor, M. D.,
and
A. R. Taylor.
INTRODUCTION.
In the year 1876, as Microscopist of the Department of Agriculture, I
prepared, as a part of the exhibit of my Division at the Centennial
Exhibition at Philadelphia, a large collection of water-color drawings
representing leading types of the edible and poisonous mushrooms of the
United States, together with representations of about nine hundred
species of microscopic fungi detrimental to vegetation.
In the preparation of the first collection I had the valuable assistance
of Prof. Charles H. Peck, State Botanist of New York, and in the second
the hearty co-operation of Rev. M. J. Berkeley and Dr. M. C. Cook, the
eminent British mycologists.
The popular character of this exhibit attracted the attention of the
general public, and many letters were received at the Department showing
an awakening interest in the study of fungi, particularly with regard to
the mushroom family, as to methods of cultivation, the means of
determining the good from the unwholesome varieties, etc.
My first published paper on the subject of edible mushrooms, entitled
"Twelve Edible Mushrooms of the U. S.," appeared in the annual report of
the Department of Agriculture for 1885. This was followed by others to
the number of five, and as the demand for these reports increased,
reprints were made and issued, by order of the Secretary of Agriculture,
in pamphlet form, under the general title of "Food Products." Numerous
editions of these reprints were issued by the Department up to 1894.
During the year 1894, and the first half of 1895, 36,600 of these
reports were sent out by the Department, and the supply was exhausted.
They have been out of print for more than two years. It is in view of
this fact, and in response to a great and constant demand for these
publications, that I have undertaken to publish a series of five
pamphlets on the edible and poisonous mushrooms of the United States,
which shall embody the substance of the five pamphlets on "Food
Products" above alluded to, supplemented by new matter relating to
classification, general and specific, analytical tables of standard
authors, and a continuation of the chapters on structure, etc.
Additional plates, representing leading types of edible and poisonous
mushrooms, will also be inserted in each number.
In the compilation and extension of this work I have the assistance of
my daughter, Miss A. Robena Taylor, who has given considerable attention
to the study of fungi, and who has been my faithful coadjutor in the
work of collecting specimens, etc., for a number of years.
For valuable suggestions as to structural characteristics and methods of
classification I am especially indebted to Prof. Chas. H. Peck, of
Albany, New York, Dr. M. C. Cooke, of England, and Prof. P. A. Saccardo,
of Italy.
The colored plates in pamphlet No. 1, together with a few of those which
will appear in the succeeding numbers of this series, are reproductions
of those prepared, under my direct supervision, for the pamphlets
entitled "Food Products" published by the Department of Agriculture and
referred to above.
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
May 7, 1897.
CRYPTOGAMS.
The cryptogamic or flowerless plants, _i. e._, those having neither
stamens nor pistils, and which are propagated by spores, are divided,
according to Dr. Hooper, into the following four classes:--Pteridophyta
or vascular acrogens, represented by the ferns, club-mosses, etc.;
Bryophyta or cellular acrogens, represented by the musci, scale-mosses,
etc.; Algae, represented by the "Red Seaweeds," Diatomacae, etc.; Fungi or
Amphigens, which include the molds, mildews, mushrooms, etc. The
lichens, according to the "Schwendener Hypotheses," consist of
ascigerous fungi parasitic on algae.
FUNGI.
Botanists unite in describing the plants of this class as being
destitute of chlorophyll and of starch. These plants assume an infinite
variety of forms, and are propagated by spores which are individually so
minute as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. They are entirely
cellular, and belong to the class Amphigens, which for the most part
have no determinate axe, and develop in every direction, in
contradistinction to the Acrogens, which develop from the summit,
possessing an axe, leaves, vessels, etc.
Fungi are divided by systematists into two great classes:
1. Sporifera, in which the spores are free, naked, or soon exposed.
2. Sporidifera, in which the spores are not exposed, but instead are
enclosed in minute cells or sacs, called asci.
These classes are again subdivided, according to the disposition of the
spores and of the spore bearing surface, called the hymenium, into
various families.
The sporiferous fungi are arranged into four families, viz:
1. _Hymenomycetes_, in which the hymenium is free, mostly naked, or soon
exposed. _Example, "Common Meadow Mushroom."_
2. _Gasteromycetes_, in which the hymenium is enclosed in a second case
or wrapper, called a peridium, which ruptures when mature, thus
releasing the spores. _Example, Common Puff Ball._
3. _Coniomycetes_, in which the spores are naked, mostly terminal on
inconspicuous threads, free or enclosed in a perithecium. Dust-like
fungi. _Example, Rust of Wheat._
4. _Hyphomycetes_, in which the spores are naked on conspicuous threads,
rarely compacted, Thread-like fungi. _Example, Blue Mold._
Of these four subdivisions of the Sporifera, only the Hymenomycetes and
the Gasteromycetes contain plants of the mushroom family, and these two
together constitute the class known as the Basidiomycetes. The chief
distinction of the Basidiomycetes is that the naked spores are borne on
the summits of certain supporting bodies, termed basidia. These basides
are swollen, club-shaped cells, surmounted by four minute tubes or
spore-bearers, called sterigmata, each of which carries a spore. See
Figs. 3 and 4, Plate A.
These basides together with a series of elongated cells, termed
paraphyses, packed closely together side by side, and intermixed with
other sterile cells, called cystidia, constitute the spore-bearing
surface or hymenium of the plant.
To the naked eye this hymenium appears simply as a very thin smooth
membrane, but when a small portion of it is viewed through a microscope
with high powers its complex structure is readily observed and can be
carefully studied.
The _Sporidiferous_ fungi are represented by the families Physomycetes
and Ascomycetes. The first of these consists wholly of microscopic
fungi.
_Ascomycetes._--In the plants of this family the spores are not
supported upon basidia, but instead are enclosed in minute sacs or asci
formed from the fertile cells of a hymenium. In this connection it would
be well to state that Saccardo does not recognize the divisions
_Sporifera_ and _Sporidifera_ by those names.
They are nearly the equivalent of Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes.
What Cooke names Physomycetes, Saccardo calls Phycomyceteae, introducing
it in his work between Gasteromyceteae and Myxomyceteae, which some
mycologists consider somewhat out of place.
Saccardo calls its asci (sacs which contain the spores) sporangia. He
does not regard them as genuine asci, but as corresponding more to the
peridium of the _Gasteromyceteae_ and _Myxomyceteae._
Peck says that this group seems to present characters of both
Hyphomycetes and Ascomycetes, with a preponderance towards Hyphomycetes.
It is a small group, however, and since it consists wholly of
microscopic fungi, need not be farther considered in this work.
In the Ascomycetes are included the sub-families Discomycetes,
Pyrenomycetes, and Tuberacei. Of these the Discomycetes and the
Tuberacei are the only groups which contain any of the mushrooms, and
but few of these are large enough or sufficiently tender to possess
value as esculents. A good example of the first (Discomycetes) is found
in the Morel, and of the second (Tuberacei) in the Truffle.
In the Discomycetes or "disk fungi," the spores are produced in minute
membraneous sacs, each sac usually containing eight spores. These spore
sacs are imbedded in the flesh of the exterior and upper surface of the
mushroom cap.
In the four classes, Hymenomycetes, Gasteromycetes, Discomycetes, and
Tuberacei, therefore, are included all of the plants which are here
designated under the generic term of "mushrooms."
Some idea of the relative numerical value of these classes may be
obtained from the following figures given by the distinguished British
mycologist, M. C. Cooke:
"Hymenomyceteae--total number of described species 9,600
Gasteromycetae-- " " " " " 650
Discomyceteae-- " " " known " 3,500"
(The Tuberacei comprise a very small group of subterranean fungi, and
comparatively few of the species are described.)
Saccardo in his Sylloge gives a total of 42,000 described species of
fungi of all classes, including the most minute. Of these the
Hymenomycetes include by far the largest number of edible mushrooms.
The family Hymenomycetes is divided into the following six orders:
Agaricini, Polyporei, Hydnei, Thelephorei, Clavarei, Tremellini.
In the order Agaricini the hymenium is found on the under surface of the
mushroom cap, covering pleats or gills, technically called lamellae.
These gills vary in character in the different genera, being "persistent
in such as the Agaricus, Russula, and Lentinus, deliquescent (melting)
in Coprinus, Bolbitius, etc. The edge of the gills is acute in Agaricus,
Marasmius, etc., but obtuse and vein-like in Cantharellus,
longitudinally channelled in Trogia, and splitting in Schyzophyllum."
In the Polyporei, pore-bearing mushrooms, the gills are replaced by
tubes or pores. The tubes are little cylinders, long or short, pressed
one against another, forming by their union a layer on the under surface
of the cap, and the sporiferous membrane or hymenium lines their inner
walls. Their upper end is always closed, while the lower extremity is
open to permit the outward passage of the spores. The tubes are
generally joined together and are not easily disunited. They are free,
_i. e._, separable, in the sole genus _Fistulina_. As regards their
attachment to the cap, the tubes may be firmly adherent as in the genus
Polyporus or easily detached in a single mass as in Boletus, the fleshy
form of the order Polyporei. They frequently leave a circular space of
greater or less dimensions around the stem, or they adhere to or are
prolonged upon it in such a manner that the orifices rise in tiers one
above another. The color of the tubes, although not offering as
characteristic varieties as that of the gills, changes nevertheless
according to species and according to the age of the plant. The tubes
may sometimes be of a different color from their orifices, as in
_Boletus luridus_. In some of the Boleti the color of the flesh is
changed on exposure to the air and the tubes often assume the same
tints. The tubes, generally called pores, are sometimes closely adherent
to the substance of the cap, which is often hard, corky, or coriaceous,
as seen in most of the _Polyporei_.
In the Hydnei, spine-bearing mushrooms, the hymenium is seen covering
the spines or needle-like processes which take the place of gills in
this order, and which project from the under surface of the cap. These
spines may be divided or entire, simple or ramified, and are formed of
the substance of the cap. In the early stages of development they appear
like small projecting points or papillae, those on the margin of the cap
and at the apex of the stem being always less developed, frequently
remaining in this rudimentary state. They are rounded in the species
Hydnum imbricatum, sometimes compressed in Hydnum repandum, sometimes
terminating in hairs or filaments, as in Hydnum barba Jovis, or very
much divided, as in Hydnum fimbriatum.
In the Clavarei, the whole plant consists of solid fleshy masses
without any stem of a distinct substance, sometimes club-shaped,
sometimes branched with the hymenium smoothly covering the entire
surface, never incrusting or coriaceous.
In the Thelephorei, the lower surface of the cap presents neither gills,
pores, nor spines, but instead the hymenium covers an uneven or slightly
wrinkled surface, partially striate, sometimes obscurely papillose. The
plants of this order assume a great variety of shape, from that of a
perfect cup with a central stem to an irregularly and much branched
frond. They are generally dry and tough. Very few are recommended as
edible. Prof. Peck says of this order that probably no edible species
will be found in any of its genera outside of the genus Craterellus.
In the order Tremellini we have a great departure from the character of
the substance, external appearance, and internal structure of the other
orders of the Hymenomycetes. The substance is gelatinous; the form is
lobed, folded, or convolute, often resembling the brain of some animal.
It is uniformly composed throughout of a colorless mucilage, with no
appreciable texture, in which are distributed very fine, diversely
branched, and anastomosing filaments. Towards the surface the ultimate
branches of this filamentous network give birth to globular cells, both
at their summits and laterally, which attain a comparatively large size.
These cells are filled with a protoplasm, to which the plant owes its
color. The fertile threads are not compacted into a true hymenium.
Representative types of the above-described orders of the Hymenomycetes
are shown in Plate B. The various genera, and species of these orders,
will be described more in detail in connection with the species
illustrated.
CLASSIFICATION.
Owing to the fact that botanists of various countries, writing in
diverse languages, have for more than a century been engaged in
describing the fungi of their respective countries, with their work
frequently unknown to one another, it is not surprising that there has
been constant revision, or that many changes have been made in the way
of classification and nomenclature which to the amateur student are
often confusing.
The classification by the pioneer mycologist, Elias Fries, as presented
in his several works on fungi, ignored all microscopical characters, and
Saccardo's classification, as presented in his _Sylloge Fungorum_, was
the first complete system offered in its place.
Saccardo, in 1882, commenced his Sylloge, of which not less than twelve
volumes have been published. In Saccardo's system of classification the
six orders of the Hymenomycetes are not essentially different in their
arrangement from that of Fries, although Saccardo has raised all the
subgenera of Agaricus to the rank of genera, and then altered their
sequence so as to bring them into four sections, distinguished by the
color of their spores. Having raised the old subgenera of Fries to
generic rank, Saccardo found it necessary to limit the application of
the term Agaricus to the group of fungi to which it was originally
applied by Linnaeus, viz., the common field mushroom Agaricus campester,
and its allies, represented by Agaricus arvensis, Agaricus Rodmani,
etc., or, as Prof. Peck more definitely states it, "to those of the
gilled mushrooms which have brown spores, free gills, a stem bearing a
ring, gills generally pink-colored in the early stage, and brownish
black when fully matured." M. C. Cooke, the distinguished English
mycologist, prefers to retain the _genus Agaricus_ with its original
subgenera intact, succeeded by the other genera of Agaricini, as in the
Hymenomycetes Europei of Fries, giving as his reason the belief "that
for purposes of classification features should be taken which are
present and evident in the specimens themselves, and are not dependent
on any of their life-history which cannot be presented in the
herbarium."
In a work such as the present, which is designed to be popular in
character rather than purely technical, it is deemed advisable to select
as a basis for classification that system which is most accessible to
reference by the general reading public. Saccardo's Sylloge, while
exhaustive in character and of inestimable value to the mycologist, is
written in Latin, and is, moreover, a very expensive work--facts which
render it practically unavailable to the general public.
In the compilation of this series of pamphlets I have adopted the
classification of M. C. Cooke, which, as regards the Hymenomycetes, the
family containing most of the fleshy fungi, is, with exceptions noted,
in accord with that of Saccardo. M. C. Cooke's hand-book of fungi is of
convenient size and form for ready reference.
For the convenience, however, of those who may wish to familiarize
themselves with both systems, a synopsis of _Saccardo's Genera_ of
Hymenomycetes will be given later.
STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGARICINI.
By far the greater number of the Agaricini have both cap and stem. The
form of the cap, as well as that of the stem, varies somewhat in the
different genera and species. Those which are terrestrial in habit are
generally of an umbrella-like shape, while those which grow upon trees
and decayed tree-stumps are apt to be one-sided or semi-spherical.
In many of the parasitical mushrooms the stem is absent. Where the stem
is present it is either an interrupted continuation of the hymenophore
or fleshy substance of the cap, or else is supported separately as a
pillar on which the cap rests, a more or less distinct line of
demarcation showing where the fibers terminate. Sometimes it is quite
easily detached from the cap socket, as in the Lepiota procerus. It may
be hollow or stuffed, solid or fibrillose. It varies in length and
thickness. In some species it is smooth and polished, in others rough
and hairy, reticulated, etc., sometimes tapering, sometimes distinctly
bulbous at the base.
The spores of the species differ in color and are usually globular or
oblong in shape. All of these characteristics assist in determining the
species.
MUSHROOM GILLS.
Mushroom gills, or lamellae, anatomically considered, are composed,
first, of a central portion, a prolongation of the hymenophore or flesh
of the cap, more or less dense, sometimes so thin as to be scarcely
perceptible; second, the hymenium or spore-bearing membrane covering the
surfaces of this prolonged hymenophore. They are vertical, simple,
equal, respectively, or more frequently alternating with shorter gills.
They are often evanescent and putrescent, sometimes liquefying
altogether. Their color is usually different from the upper surface of
the cap, not always similar to that of the spores borne upon them, at
least in youth; with age, however, they usually assume the color of the
mature spore. The change of color of the gills according to the age of
the plant is very important in the study of the Agaricini; it accounts
for the white gills of certain species in youth, the pink in maturity,
and the brown when aged.
The end of the gill nearest the stalk of the plant is termed the
posterior extremity; the opposite end, the anterior extremity. In most
of the Agaricini the gills are unequal. Some extend from the margin to
about half the space between it and the stem; others are still shorter.
THE VOLVA.
The volva is a membrane which envelops the entire plant in embryo,
giving it the appearance of an egg. It originates at the base of the
mushroom and furnishes it, during its foetal life, with the means of
support and nourishment. Its texture is so delicate that it generally
disappears, leaving very little trace of its existence on the adult
plant. In many of the volvate species this organ exists only so long as
they are under ground, and some mycologists restrict the term "volvati"
to such only as retain it afterwards. As the young plant expands it
breaks through the top of this volva or wrapper, and, emerging, carries
with it patches of the membrane on the upper surface of the cap. These
are more or less prominent, numerous, and thick, sometimes irregularly
disposed, sometimes regularly in the form of plates, warts, etc. At the
base of the stem of the mushroom the remains of the volva are seen in
the form of a sort of wrapper. This is more or less ample, thick, and
ascending. It is called _free_ when it is loose or easily detached from
the stem, and _congenital_ when it cannot be separated from it without
laceration. In some species it is distinctly membranous, and in others
floccose, and friable in character, sometimes appearing in ridges as a
mere border, at others broken up into scales, and, as the plant matures,
wholly disappearing. The volva is a feature of great importance in the
study of the Agaricini, of the subgenera Amanita, Volvaria, etc.
THE MUSHROOM VEIL.
The veil is not a constant feature in the Agaricini, at least it is not
always visible. When present it consists of a membrane which extends
from the margin of the cap to the stem, veiling or protecting the gills.
This membrane, called the cortina, has given its name to a numerous and
important class of mushrooms (the _Cortinarias_). It is generally
white, soft, slightly spongy, cottony, at times fibrillose or even
slightly fibrous, again in texture comparable to the spider's web, and
may be even powdery or glutinous. It exists intact only in the youth of
the plant. It is not visible in the developing mushroom, at least while
the cap is closely pressed against the stem, but as the cap expands the
membrane extends and finally breaks, leaving in some species its
remnants upon the margin of the cap and upon the stem in the usual form
of a ring or a mere zone. When the stem is not ringed the veil rises
high upon the stalk, stretches across to meet the edges of the cap, and
is afterwards reflected back over its whole surface.
MUSHROOM SPORES AND MYCELIUM.
The spore is the reproductive organ of the mushroom. It differs from the
seed of the flowering plant in being destitute of an apparent embryo. A
seed contains a plantlet which develops as such. A spore is a minute
cell containing a nucleus or living germ, the reproductive cell germ
called by some authors the germinating granule. This in turn throws out
a highly elongated process consisting of a series of thread-like cells
branching longitudinally and laterally, at length bifurcating and
anastomosing the mass, forming the vegetative process known as mycelium
or mushroom spawn.
On this mycelium, at intervals, appear knob-like bodies, called
tubercles, from which the mushrooms spring and from which they derive
their nourishment. See Fig. 5, Plate A.
Where the conditions have been unfavorable this mycelium has been known
to grow for years without bearing fruit.
Mushroom spores are very variable in size, shape, and color, but are
generally constant at maturity in the same genus. Their shape, almost
always spherical in the young plant, becomes ovate, ellipsoidal,
fusiform, reniform, smooth, stellate, sometimes tuberculate, or remains
globose. This feature, varying thus with the age of the plant, should be
studied in the mature plant.
MYCELIUM.
De Leveille has thus defined mycelium: "Filaments at first simple, then
more or less complicated, resulting from the vegetation of the spores
and serving as roots to the mushroom."
The mycelium of mushrooms or the mushroom spawn is usually white, but is
also found yellow, and even red. It is distinguished by some writers as
nematoid, fibrous, hymenoid, scleroid or tuberculous, and malacoid. The
nematoid mycelium is the most common. Creeping along on the surface of
the earth, penetrating it to a greater or less depth, developing in
manure among the debris of leaves or decayed branches, always protected
from the light, it presently consists of very delicate filamentous cells
more or less loosely interwoven, divided, anastomosing in every
direction and often of considerable extent.
Its presence is sometimes difficult to detect without the use of the
microscope, either on account of its delicacy or because of its being
intermingled with the organic tissues in which it has developed.
Sometimes mycelium unites in bundles more or less thick and branched.
This has been called the fibrous mycelium. Where the filaments
intercross closely, are felted, and inclined to form a membrane, it is
hymenoid mycelium. Where the filaments are so small and close that they
form very compact bodies, constituting those solid irregular products
called sclerotium, it is scleroid or tuberculous mycelium. With malacoid
mycelium we have nothing to do in this paper. It is a soft, pulpy,
fleshy mycelium.
Systematists have divided the Agaricini into groups according to the
color of their spores. These groups are defined as follows by various
authors:
According to--
Elias Fries, 5 groups: _Leucosporus_, white; _Hyporhodius_, pink;
_Cortinaria_, ochraceous; _Derminus_, rust; _Pratella_, purplish
black.
Rev. J. M. Berkeley, 5 groups: Very frequently pure white, but
presenting also pink, various tints of brown, from yellowish and
rufous to dark bister, purple-black, and finally black;
_Leucospori_, white; _Hyporhodii_, salmon; _Dermini_, ferruginous;
_Pratellae_, brown; _Coprinarius_, black.
Dr. Badham, 6 groups: Pure white or a yellow tinge on drying; brown;
yellow; pink; purple; purple-black; some pass successively from pink
to purple and from purple to purple-black.
Mrs. Hussey, 11 shades: White; rose; pale ocher; olivaceous-ocher;
reddish-ocher; ochraceous; yellowish olive-green; dull brown;
scarcely ferruginous; snuff-color; very dark brown.
Hogg & Johnson, 5 groups: _Leucosporei_, white; _Hyporhodii_,
salmon; _Dermini_, rusty; _Pratellae_, purplish-brown; _Coprinarii_,
black.
C. Gillet, 7 shades: White; pink; ochraceous; yellow; ferruginous;
black or purplish black; round, ovate, elongated, or fusiform,
smooth, tuberculate or irregular, simple or composite, transparent
or nebulous, etc.
Jules Bel, 5 groups: White; pink; red; brown; black.
Dr. Gautier, 5 shades: White; pink; brown; purplish-brown; black.
Constantin & Dufour, 5 groups: White; pink; ochraceous;
brownish-purple; black.
J. P. Barla, 7 groups: _Leucosporii_, white; _Hyporhodii_, pink;
_Cortinariae_, ochraceous; _Dermini_, rust; _Pratellae_,
purplish-black; _Coprinarii_, blackish; _Coprini_ and _Gomphi_,
dense black.
L. Boyer, 5 groups, 11 shades: White to cream yellow; pale pink to
ochraceous yellow; bay or red brown to brown or blackish bister;
rust color, cinnamon or light yellow.
W. D. Hay, 5 groups: White; pink; brown; purple; black.
C. H. Peck, 5 groups: _Leucosporii_, white; _Hyporhodii_, salmon;
_Dermini_, rust; _Pratellae_, brown; _Coprinarii_, black.
Saccardo divides the Agaricini into four sections, according to the
color of their spores, as follows: Spores brown, purplish brown or
black, _Melanosporae_; spores ochraceous or rusty ochraceous,
_Ochrosporae_; spores rosy or pinkish, _Rhodosporae_; spores white,
whitish or pale yellow, _Leucosporae_.
Dr. M. C. Cooke, 5 groups: _Leucospori_, white or yellowish;
_Hyporhodii_, rosy or salmon color; _Dermini_, brown, sometimes
reddish or yellowish brown; _Pratellae_, purple, sometimes brownish
purple, dark purple, or dark brown; _Coprinarii_, black or nearly
so.
These shades are somewhat different from the colors of the mushrooms'
gills, so that, when it is of importance to determine exactly the color
of the spore in the identification of a species, we may without recourse
to the microscope cut off the stem of an adult plant on a level with the
gills and place the under surface of the cap upon a leaf of white paper
if a dark-spored species, and upon a sheet of black paper if the spores
are light. At the expiration of a few hours we will find, on lifting the
cap, a bed of the shed spores which will represent their exact shade.
These may be removed to a glass slide and their size and form determined
by means of the microscope.
In the present work Dr. M. C. Cooke's grouping of the spore series is
adopted.
ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "MUSHROOM."
Various opinions have been offered as to the derivation of the word
"mushroom." According to Hay, it probably had its origin in a
combination of the two Welsh words _maes_, a field, and _rhum_, a knob,
which by gradual corruption have become _mushroom_. Some writers on the
other hand regard it as a corruption of _mousseron_, a name specifically
applied by the French to those mushrooms which are found growing in
mossy places. But it seems to be of older usage than such a derivation
would imply, and therefore the first explanation seems the more likely
to be correct.
In England the term "mushroom" has been most commonly applied to the
"meadow mushroom," that being the one best known; but English-speaking
mycologists now apply it generically very much as the French do the term
"champignon," while the name "champignon" is restricted in England to
the Marasmius oreades, or "Fairy Ring" mushroom.
Berkeley says the French word "champignon" was originally scarcely of
wider signification than our word "mushroom," though now classical in
the sense of fleshy fungi generally. The German word _Pilz_ (a
corruption of Boletus) is used to denote the softer kinds by some German
authors. Constant and Dufour, in their recently published Atlas des
Champignons, include types of a great variety of mushrooms.
Hay contends that the pernicious nick-name "toad-stool" has not the
derivation supposed, but that the first part of the word is the Saxon or
old English "tod," meaning a bunch, cluster, or bush, the form of many
terrestrial fungi suggesting it. The second syllable, "stool," is easily
supplied. "The erroneous idea of connecting toads with these plants,"
says Hay, "seems to be due to Spenser, or to some poet, possibly, before
his time." Spenser speaks of the loathed paddocks, "paddock" then being
the name given in England to the frog, afterwards corrupted to "paddic,"
and once received, readily converted by the Scotch into "puddick-stool."
It would seem, therefore, from the foregoing, that the term "toad-stool"
can have no proper relation to mushrooms, whether edible or poisonous.
The three mushrooms illustrated and described in this pamphlet, Plates
I, II, and III, are of the order Agaricini or gilled mushrooms. They are
well-defined types and of wide geographical distribution.
FOOD VALUE OF MUSHROOMS.
Rollrausch and Siegel, who claim to have made exhaustive investigations
into the food values of mushrooms, state that "many species deserve to
be placed beside meat as sources of nitrogenous nutriment," and their
analysis, if correct, fully bears out the statement. They find in 100
parts of dried _Morchella esculenta_ 35.18 per cent. of protein; in
_Helvella esculenta_, 26.31 per cent. of protein, from 46 to 49 per
cent. of potassium salts and phosphoric acid, 2.3 per cent. of fatty
matter, and a considerable quantity of sugar. The _Boletus edulis_ they
represent as containing in 100 parts of the dried substance 22.82 per
cent. of protein. The nitrogenous values of different foods as compared
with the mushroom are stated as follows: "Protein substances calculated
for 100 parts of bread, 8.03; of oatmeal, 9.74; of barley bread, 6.39;
of leguminous fruits, 27.05; of potatoes, 4.85; of mushrooms, 33.0."
According to Schlossberger and Depping, in 100 grams of dried mushrooms
they found the following proportions of nitrogenous substances:
-----------------------+--------
Varieties. | Grains.
|
Chanterelles | 3.22
Certain Russulas | 4.25
Lactarius deliciosus | 4.68
Boletus edulis | 4.25
Meadow mushroom | 7.26
-----------------------+--------
But all chemists are not agreed as to these proportions. For instance,
Lefort has found 3.51 grains of nitrogenous matter in the cap of
_Agaricus campestris_, 2.1 grains in the gills and only 0.34 of a grain
in the stem. Payen has found 4.68 grains in _Agaricus campestris_, 4.4
grains in the common Morel (_Morchella esculenta_), 9.96 grains in the
white truffle, and 8.76 grains in the black.
A much larger proportion of the various kinds of mushrooms are edible
than is generally supposed, but a prejudice has grown up concerning them
in this country which it will take some time to eradicate.
Notwithstanding the occurrence of occasional fatal accidents through the
inadvertent eating of poisonous species, fungi are largely consumed both
by savage and civilized man in all parts of the world, and while they
contribute so considerable a portion of the food product of the world we
may be sure their value will not be permanently overlooked in the United
States, especially when we consider our large accessions of population
from countries in which the mushroom is a familiar and much prized
edible. In Italy the value of the mushroom as an article of diet has
long been understood and appreciated. Pliny, Galen, and Dioscorides
mention various esculent species, notably varieties of the truffle, the
boletus and the puff-ball, and Vittadini writes enthusiastically of the
gastronomic qualities of a large number of species. Of late years large
quantities have been sold in the Italian markets. Quantities of
mushrooms are also consumed in Germany, Hungary, Russia, France, and
Austria.
Darwin speaks of Terra del Fuego as the only country where cryptogamic
plants form a staple article of food. A bright-yellow fungus allied to
_Bulgarin_ forms, with shellfish, the staple food of the Fuegians. In
England the common meadow mushroom _Agaricus campestris_ is quite well
known and used to a considerable extent among the people, but there is
not that general knowledge of and use of other species which obtains in
Continental Europe.
In the English-speaking countries much has been done by the Rev. M. J.
Berkeley, Dr. M. C. Cooke, Worthington G. Smith, Rev. John Stevenson,
Prof. Hay, Prof. Chas. H. Peck, Prof. W. J. Farlow, and others,
including the various mushroom clubs, to disseminate a more general
knowledge on this subject.
Late investigations show that nearly all the species common to the
countries of Continental Europe, and of Great Britain, are found in
different localities in the United States, and a number of species have
been found which have not been described in European works.
The geographical distribution of many species of the mushroom family is
very wide. We have had specimens of the _Morel_, for instance, sent to
us from California and Washington, on the Pacific coast, and as far
north as Maine, on the Atlantic, as well as from the southern and the
midwestern States, and the same is true of other species. The season of
their appearance varies somewhat according to the latitude and altitude
of place of growth. Mushrooms are rarely seen after the first heavy
frosts, although an exception is noted in this latitude in the species
Hypholoma sublatertium, which has been found growing under the snow, at
the roots of trees in sheltered woods. Frozen mushrooms of this and
closely allied species have revived when thawed, and proved quite
palatable when cooked.
At the present time only two species, Agaricus campester and Agaricus
arvensis, are cultivated in America. Some attempts have been made by an
amateur mushroom club in Ohio to cultivate the Morel, but the results
have not, so far, been reported. In the meantime, however, it is well to
utilize the wild mushrooms as fast as the collector can satisfactorily
identify them. The woods of all moist regions of this country abound
with edible varieties. Prof. Curtis, of North Carolina, gives a list of
over one hundred edible species found in that State alone, and nearly
all of these occur in our Northern States as well. It is not contended
that this list includes all the species which may be eaten, nor have all
of these equal value from a gastronomic point of view. Some are insipid
as to flavor, and others are too tough or too slimy to please the
popular taste.
CAUTIONARY SUGGESTIONS.
Before collecting for the table mushrooms found growing in the woods or
fields, it would be well for inexperienced persons to consult carefully
some work on the subject in which the characteristics of edible and
poisonous varieties are described and illustrated.
Considering that an opinion seems to prevail that the discoloration of
the silver spoon or small white onions when brought into contact with
mushrooms during the culinary process is an infallible test of the
poisonous species, I quote from a French author on mushrooms the
following in relation to this supposed test:
* * * We may not dispute the fact that a silver spoon or article of
brass, or onions, may not become discolored on contact with the
poisonous principle, but this discoloration is not reliable as a
test for deciding the good or bad quality of mushrooms. In fact, we
know that in the decomposition of albuminoids sulphureted hydrogen
is liberated which of itself discolors silver, brass, and onions.
I have deemed it advisable to publish this as one of the best means of
answering those correspondents who have made inquiries as to the
reliability of this test.
It is by some supposed that high colors and viscidity are indications of
non-edible species, but there are numerous exceptions here. _Russula
alutacea_--the pileus of which is often a purplish red--_Amanita
Caesarea_, and other species of brilliant coloring are known to be
edible. As to viscidity, two very viscid species, when young, are among
the highly prized esculents by those who know them, viz., _Fistulina
hepatica_, or the ox tongue, and _Hygrophorus eburneus_, the ivory
mushroom.
The method of deciding the character of mushrooms by their odor and
flavor is not to be relied upon. Edible mushrooms are usually
characterized by a pleasant flavor and odor; non-edible varieties have
sometimes an unpleasant odor, and produce a biting, burning sensation on
the tongue and throat, even in very small quantities, but several of the
_Amanitas_ have only a slight odor and taste, and certain species of
mushrooms, acrid otherwise, become edible when cooked.
In fact there is no general rule by which the edible species can be
distinguished from the unwholesome or poisonous ones. The safest as well
as the most sensible plan, therefore, is to apply the same rule as that
which we adopt in the case of the esculents among the flowering plants,
viz., to learn to know the characteristics of each individual species so
as to distinguish it from all others.
With regard to the mushrooms which have been designated as poisonous, it
should be remembered that the term "poisonous" is used relatively. While
some are only slightly poisonous, producing severe gastric irritation
and nervous derangement, but without fatal results, others, if eaten in
even very small quantity, may cause death. Happily, however, the most
dangerous species are not numerous as compared with the number that are
edible, and with careful attention on the part of the collector they may
be avoided.
Since the Amanita group is made responsible by competent authority for
most of the recorded cases of fatal poisoning, we would recommend the
amateur mycophagist to give special study to this group in order to
learn to separate the species authentically recorded as edible from the
poisonous ones.
Some writers, as a measure of precaution, counsel the rejection of all
species of Amanita. But this is, of course, a matter for individual
preference. There would seem to be no good reason why the observant
student should not learn to discriminate between the edible and the
poisonous species of the Amanita as of any other group, and they should
not be eaten until this discriminating knowledge is acquired.
Saccardo describes fifteen edible species of this group of mushrooms. We
have tested three of this number, which, on account of their abundance
in our locality and their good flavor, we would be loth to discard,
viz., A. rubescens, A. Caesarea, and A. strobiliformis.
A type of the Amanita group, which is named first in the genera of the
order Agaricini, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate B.
By reference to this figure some of the special characteristics of the
group can be observed. There are mushrooms in other genera which show a
volva or sheath at the base of the stem, and which contain edible
species, but in these the stem is ringless. The Volvariae, for instance,
show a conspicuous volva, a stem that is ringless, and pinkish spores.
The Amanitopsis vaginata carries a volva, but no ring. The spores are
white, as in the Amanita.
In gathering mushrooms either for the table or for the herbarium, care
should be taken not to leave any portion of the plant in the ground, so
that no feature shall be lost that will aid in characterizing the
species. In the careless pulling up of the plant the volva in the
volvate species is often left behind.
AGARICINI. Fries.
LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE, OR YELLOWISH).
_Genus Russula_ Fr. The _Russulae_ bear some resemblance to the
_Lactars_, their nearest allies, but are at once distinguished from them
by their want of milk.
They are very abundant in the forests and open woods. The genus is cited
by some authors as the most natural of the agarics, but, as many of the
species very closely resemble each other, it requires careful analysis
to determine them. The plants of this genus are not volvate, and have
neither veil nor ring. The hymenophore is not separate from the trama of
the gills. Although some are pure white, the caps are usually brilliant
in coloring, but the color is very susceptible to atmospheric changes,
and after heavy rains the bright hues fade, sometimes only leaving a
slight trace of the original coloring in the central depression of the
cap.
The cap in youth is somewhat hemispherical, afterwards expanding,
becoming slightly depressed in the centre, somewhat brittle in texture;
gills rigid, fragile, with acute edge; stem thick, blunt, and polished,
usually short. The spores are globose, or nearly so, slightly rough,
white or yellowish, according to the species. In R. virescens the spores
are white, while in R. alutacea the spores are an ochraceous yellow in
tint.
A number of the species are of pleasant flavor, others peppery or acrid.
Out of seventy-two described by Cooke, twenty-four are recorded as
acrid. With some of these the acridity is said to disappear in cooking,
and a few mycophagists claim to have eaten all varieties with impunity.
We have recorded, however, some well authenticated cases of serious
gastric disturbance, accompanied by acute inflammation of the mucous
membrane, caused by the more acrid of these, notably _R. emetica_ and
_R. foetens_, and in view of this fact it would seem a wise precaution
for the _amateur_ collector to discard or at least to use very sparingly
all those which have an acrid or peppery taste, until well assured as to
their wholesomeness.
The _genus Russula_ has been divided into the following tribes or
groups:--Compactae, Furcatae, Rigidae, Heterophylla, and Fragiles. The
species _Russula (Rigidae) virescens_, illustrated in Plate I, belongs
to the tribe Rigidae. In the plants of this group, the cap is absolutely
dry and rigid, destitute of a viscid pellicle; the cuticle commonly
breaking up into flocci or granules; the flesh thick, compact, and firm,
vanishing near the margin, which is never involute, and shows no
striations. The gills are irregular in length, some few reaching half
way to the stem, the others divided, dilated, and extending into a broad
rounded end, stem solid.
[Illustration: Plate I.
RUSSULA VIRESCENS FR. (EDIBLE)
The Verdette From Nature
Collected in the District of Columbia
Report of Microscopist, U. S. Department of Agriculture 1893
L. Krieger, Pinx.
AVIL. CO. LITH. PHILA.]
PLATE I.
=Russula virescens= Fries. "_The Verdette_" _or_ "_Greenish Russula_."
EDIBLE.
The cap of this species is fleshy and dry, the skin breaking into thin
patches. The margin is usually even, but specimens occur which show
striations. The color varies from a light green to a grayish or moldy
green, sometimes tinged with yellow; gills white, free from the stem or
nearly so, unequal, rather crowded; stem white, stout, solid, smooth, at
first hard, then spongy; spores white, nearly globose.
One writer speaks of the "warts" of the cap, but the term warts, used in
this connection, refers merely to the patches resulting from the
splitting or breaking up of the epidermis of the cap, and not to such
excrescences called warts, as are commonly observed on the cap of
Amanita muscaria, for instance, which are remnants of the volva.
The _R. virescens_ is not as common as some others of the Russulae, in
some localities, and hitherto seems to have attracted but little
attention as an edible species in this country, although highly esteemed
in Europe. It has been found growing in thin woods in Maryland and in
Virginia from June to November, and we have had reports of its growth
from New York and Massachusetts. The peasants in Italy are in the habit
of toasting these mushrooms over wood embers, eating them afterwards
with a little salt. Vittadini, Roques, and Cordier speak highly of its
esculent qualities and good flavor. We have eaten quantities of the
virescens gathered in Washington, D. C., and its suburbs, and found it
juicy and of good flavor when cooked.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.
Plate I exhibits four views of this mushroom (_R. virescens_) drawn and
colored from nature. Fig. 1, the immature plant; Fig. 2, advanced stage
of growth, cap expanded or plane; Fig. 3, section showing the unequal
length of the gills and manner of their attachment to the stem; Fig. 4,
surface view of the cap showing the epidermis split in characteristic
irregular patches; Fig. 5, spores, white.
AGARICINI.
COPRINARII (SPORES BLACK OR NEARLY SO).
Genus _Coprinus_ Fries. Hymenophore distinct from the stem. Gills
membranaceous, at first coherent from the pressure, then dissolving into
a black fluid. Trama obsolete. Spores, oval, even, black. M. C. Cooke.
The plants of this genus have been divided into two tribes, viz.,
_Pelliculosi_ and _Veliformis_. In the _Pelliculosi_ the gills of the
mushrooms are covered with a fleshy or membranaceous cuticle, hence the
cap is not furrowed along the lines of the gills, but is torn and
revolute. In this tribe are included the _Comati_, _Atramentarii_,
_Picacei_, _Tomentosi_, _Micacio_ and _Glabrati_. In the tribe
_Veliformis_ the plants are generally very small, and the cap much
thinner than in those of the _Pelliculosi_, soon showing distinct
furrows along the back of the gills, which quickly melt into very thin
lines. The stem is thin and fistulose.
Cordier states that all the species of _Coprinus_ are edible when young
and fresh. This is probably true, but most of them have so little
substance and are so ephemeral as to be of small value for food
purposes. _C. comatus_, _C. atramentarius_, _C. micaceus_, and _C.
ovatus_ have the preference with most mycophagists, but even these soon
melt, and should be gathered promptly and cooked immediately to be of
use for the table.
[Illustration: Plate II.
COPRINUS COMATUS FR. (EDIBLE)
The Maned Mushroom from Nature
Collected in the District of Columbia
Report of Microscopist, U. S. Department of Agriculture 1893
L. Krieger, Pinx.
AVIL. CO. LITH. PHILA.]
PLATE II.
=Coprinus comatus= Fries. _Maned or Shaggy Coprinus_.
EDIBLE.
Cap at first oblong or cylindrical, then campanulate, the cuticle
breaking into shaggy fibrous scales, color whitish, the scales generally
yellow or yellowish, margin revolute and lacerated, soon becoming black.
Gills linear, free, and close together, at first white, then pink or
purplish, turning to black. Stem hollow or slightly stuffed, nearly
equal, somewhat fibrillose, with bulb solid; the ring movable or very
slightly adherent, generally disappearing as the plant matures. Spores
oval, black, .0005 to .0007 in. long.
This species is found in abundance in different parts of the United
States, generally in rich soil, in pastures, by roadsides, in dumping
lots, etc. Of late years quantities have been gathered in the lawn
surrounding the Capitol grounds, and in the parks of the District of
Columbia, as well as in the debris of the wooden block pavements used
for surface soiling gardens in vicinity of the capital. They have been
offered for sale in open market as low as 25 cents per pound.
A correspondent from Rochester, New York, states that in a patch of his
grounds which had been quarried out and filled with street sweepings the
Coprinus comatus appeared in such quantities as to make it impossible to
walk over the space without stepping upon them, and that he was able to
gather from this small space from one to two bushels at a time in the
spring and the fall. In flavor the C. comatus resembles the cultivated
mushroom, though perhaps more delicate.
The _Coprinus ovatus_, "_Oval Coprinus_," a closely allied species, is
similar to the comatus, but smaller, more ovate in shape and delicate in
flavor, less deliquescent; stem usually 3/4 of an inch long. The
_Coprinus atramentarius_ has a mouse-gray or brownish cap with irregular
margin, slightly striated. It is not shaggy, but is spotted with minute,
innate punctate scales. The stem is hollow, somewhat ringed when young.
Spores elliptical, black.
_Coprinus micaceus_ is a very common species, and is found generally in
clusters on old tree stumps or on decaying wood. The cap is thin and of
a reddish buff or ochraceous tint, often showing a sprinkling of
glistening micaceous scales or granules; gills crowded, whitish. It is
at first ovate or bell-shaped, then expanding; striated. The stem is
white, slender, and hollow, not ringed. The spores in this species are a
very dark brown, which is unusual in the genus _Coprinus_.
It is generally found in decaying wood or old tree-stumps, growing in
dense clusters.
Prof. Peck says: "European writers do not record the '_Glistening
coprinus_' among the edible species, perhaps because of its small size.
But it compensates for its lack of size by its frequency and abundance.
In tenderness and delicacy it does not appear to be at all inferior to
the '_Shaggy coprinus_.'"
EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.
=Coprinus comatus= Fr. _The Shaggy Maned Mushroom_.
Fig. 1. A young plant.
Fig. 2. A plant partly expanded, exposing the tender pink of the gills.
Fig. 3. A mature plant, bell-shaped and shaggy, with movable ring
detached from the cap, and with stem unequal and rooting.
Fig. 4. A sectional view, showing hollow stem, thin cap, and broad,
free, linear gill.
Fig. 5. Spores black.
AGARICINI.
LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE, OR YELLOWISH.)
Genus _Marasmius_ Fries.--Tough dry shrivelling fungi--not putrescent,
reviving when moistened; veil none. Stem cartilaginous or horny. Gills
tough, rather distant, edge acute and entire. M. C. Cooke.
A characteristic of the species of this genus is their tendency to
wither with drought and revive with moisture. This biological
characteristic is of great importance in determining the true Marasmii.
The plants are usually small and of little substance.
Cooke divides the Marasmii into three tribes, and these again into
several subdivisions. In the division Scortei of this genus are classed
three species which are described in the works of most of the
Continental writers; the Marasmius oreades, which has recognized value
as an esculent, Marasmius urens and Marasmius peronatus, which have the
reputation of being acrid and unwholesome.
[Illustration: Plate III.
MARASMIUS OREADES FR. (EDIBLE)
The Fairy Ring Mushroom.
Report of Microscopist, U. S. Department of Agriculture 1893
L. K. after Gillet.
AVIL. CO. LITH. PHILA.]
PLATE III.
=Marasmius oreades= Fries. "_Fairy Ring Mushroom_."
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, convex at first, then nearly plane, pale yellowish red, or
tawny red when young, fading to yellow or buff as the plant matures,
slightly umbonate, flesh white; gills broad, wide apart, rounded or
deeply notched at the inner extremity, slightly attached to or at length
free from the stem, unequal in length, whitish or creamy yellow in
color; stem slender, solid and tough, whitish, generally one to two
inches in length and one-fourth of an inch in thickness, showing a
whitish down, easily removed, not strigose or villose, as in the
Marasmius urens. Spores white.
This species is usually found in open grassy places, sometimes in rings,
or in parts of rings, often in clusters, and writers generally agree as
to its agreeable taste and odor. When properly cooked its toughness
disappears.
Prof. Peck describes two mushrooms which are somewhat similar in
appearance to the "_Fairy Ring_," and which might be taken for it by
careless observers, viz., the Naucoria semi-orbicularis, sometimes
growing in company with it, and the _Collybia dryophila_, a wood variety
which is sometimes found in open places.
The first of these may be distinguished from the _oreades_, by the rusty
brown color of the gills, its smooth stem and rusty colored spores. In
the second the gills are much narrower and the stem is very smooth and
hollow.
The _Marasmius urens_ as described by European authors has a pale buff
cap, not umbonate but flat, and at length depressed in the centre, from
one to two inches across. The gills are unequal, free, very crowded;
cream color, becoming brownish. The stem is solid and fibrous, densely
covered with white down at the base. It is very acrid to the taste. In
habit of growth it is subcaespitose; sometimes found growing in company
with the M. oreades.
Prof. Peck says of _M. urens_ that he has not yet seen an American
specimen which he could refer to that species with satisfaction. Our
experience, so far, is the same as that of Prof. Peck.
_Marasmius peronatus_ has a reddish buff cap, with crowded thin gills,
creamy, turning to reddish brown; the stem solid and fibrous, with
yellowish filaments at the base. It is acrid in taste and is usually
found among fallen leaves in woods.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.
In Plate III, Fig. 1 represents an immature plant; Fig. 2, cap expanding
with growth; Fig. 3, cap further expanded and slightly umbonate; Fig. 4,
mature specimen, cap plane or fully expanded, margin irregular and
smooth, stem equal, smooth and ringless; Fig. 5, section showing gills
broad, free, ventricose, unequal, and flesh white; Fig. 6, spores
white.
APPENDIX A.
PRESERVING AND COOKING MUSHROOMS.
In Europe several species of mushrooms are preserved by boiling and
afterwards placing them in earthern jars or tubs filled with water,
which is renewed from time to time. This simple and economical method of
keeping mushrooms affords the people considerable provision. With regard
to the preparation of fresh mushrooms for table use, Dr. Roques, an
eminent writer on fungi, gives the following excellent suggestions:
"After selecting good mushrooms, remove the skin or epidermis, cutting
away the gills, and in some cases the stem, which is usually of not so
fine a texture.
"It is important to collect for use only young and well-preserved
specimens, because a mushroom of excellent quality may, nevertheless,
when overmature or near its decline, become dangerous for food. It then
acts as does every other food substance which incipient decomposition
has rendered acrid, irritating and indigestible. It is, moreover, rarely
the case that mushrooms in their decline are not changed by the presence
of larvae."
In Geneva a very lucrative trade is carried on in the exportation of the
"_Edible Boletus_," which is preserved for use in various ways, the
simplest of which consists in cutting the caps in slices and stringing
them, after which they are placed on hurdles in the shade to dry. They
may also be dried in a stove or oven, but the former method is
preferable, as the mushroom then retains more of its flavor or perfume.
When the slices are perfectly dried they are put into sacks and
suspended in a dry, airy place. Sometimes before the mushrooms are
sliced they are plunged into boiling water for an instant, which
treatment is said to preserve them from the ravages of insects. Several
kinds of mushrooms are preserved in the following manner: After they
have been properly washed and cleansed, they are boiled in salted water
and afterwards wiped dry. They are then placed in layers, in jars,
sprinkled with salt and pepper, and covered with pure olive oil or
vinegar. _Lactarius deliciosus_, _Cantharellus cibarius_, _Morchellas_,
_Clavarias_, etc., are thus preserved. Before using the dried mushrooms
they are soaked in tepid water for some time and afterwards prepared as
if fresh, with the usual seasoning.
RECEIPTS.
_Broiled procerus._--Remove the scales and stalks from the agarics, and
broil lightly on both sides over a clear fire for a few minutes; arrange
them on a dish over freshly made, well-buttered toast; sprinkle with
pepper and salt and put a small piece of butter on each; set before a
brisk fire to melt the butter, and serve quickly. Bacon toasted over
mushrooms improves the flavor and saves the butter.
_Agarics delicately stewed._--Remove the stalks and scales from the
young half-grown agarics, and throw each one as you do so into a basin
of fresh water slightly acidulated with the juice of a lemon or a little
good vinegar. When all are prepared, remove them from the water and put
them in a stewpan with a very small piece of fresh butter. Sprinkle with
pepper and salt and add a little lemon juice; cover up closely and stew
for half an hour; then add a spoonful of flour with sufficient cream or
cream and milk, till the whole has the thickness of cream. Season to
taste, and stew again until the agarics are perfectly tender. Remove all
the butter from the surface and serve in a hot dish garnished with
slices of lemon. A little mace or nutmeg or catsup may be added, but
some think that spice spoils the flavor.
_Cottager's procerus pie._--Cut fresh agarics in small pieces; pepper,
salt, and place them on small shreds of bacon, in the bottom of a pie
dish; then put in a layer of mashed potatoes, and so fill the dish,
layer by layer, with a cover of mashed potatoes for the crust. Bake well
for half an hour and brown before a quick fire.
_A la provencale._--Steep for two hours in some salt, pepper, and a
little garlic; then toss them into a small stewpan over a brisk fire
with parsley chopped and a little lemon juice.
_Agaric catsup._--Place the agarics of as large a size as you can
procure, layer by layer, in a deep pan, sprinkling each layer as it is
put in with a little salt. Then next day stir them several times well so
as to mash and extract their juice. On the third day strain off the
liquor, measure and boil for ten minutes, and then to every pint of
liquor add half an ounce of black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of
bruised ginger root, a blade of mace, a clove or two, and a teaspoonful
of mustard seed. Boil again for half an hour; put in two or three bay
leaves and set aside until quite cold. Pass through a strainer and
bottle; cork well and dip salt on the gills. Lay them top downwards on a
gridiron over a moderate fire for five or six minutes at the most.
_To stew mushrooms._--Trim and rub clean half a pint of large button
mushrooms. Put into a stewpan 2 ounces of butter; shake it over a fire
until thoroughly melted; put in the mushrooms, a teaspoonful of salt,
half as much pepper, and a blade of mace pounded; stew until the
mushrooms are tender, then serve on a hot dish. This is usually a
breakfast dish.
_Mushrooms a la creme._--Trim and rub half a pint of button mushrooms;
dissolve in a stewpan 2 ounces of butter rolled in flour; put in the
mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful
each of white pepper and of powdered sugar; shake the pan for ten
minutes; then beat up the yolks of two eggs with two tablespoonfuls of
cream, and add by degrees to the mushrooms; in two or three minutes you
can serve them in sauce.
_Mushrooms on toast._--Put a pint of mushrooms into a stewpan with two
ounces of butter rolled in flour; add a teaspoonful of salt, half a
teaspoonful of white pepper, a blade of powdered mace, and a half a
teaspoonful of grated lemon; stew until the butter is all absorbed; then
serve on toast as soon as the mushrooms are tender.
APPENDIX B.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING MUSHROOMS.
_Abortive_, imperfectly developed.
_Acaulescent_, _acaulous_, having a very short stem or none.
_Acetabuliform_, cup-shaped.
_Acicular_, needle-shaped.
_Aculeate_, slender pointed.
_Acuminate_, terminating in a point.
_Acute_, sharp pointed.
_Adnate_, gills firmly attached to the stem.
_Adnexed_, gills just reaching the stem.
_Adpressed_, pressed in close contact, as applied to gills.
_Aeruginous_, verdigris-green.
_Agglutinated_, glued to the surface.
_Aggregated_, collected together.
_Alveolate_, socketed or honeycombed.
_Amphigenous_, when the hymenium is not restricted to a particular
surface.
_Analogy_, superficial or general resemblance without structural
agreement.
_Anastomosing_, branching, joining of one vein with another.
_Annular_, ring-shaped.
_Annulate_, having a ring.
_Annulus_, ring round the stem of agarics.
_Apex_, in mushrooms the extremity of the stem nearest the gill.
_Apical_, close to the apex.
_Apiculate_, terminating in a small point.
_Appendiculate_, hanging in small fragments.
_Approximate_, of gills which approach the stem but do not reach it.
_Arachnoid_, cobweb-like.
_Arboreal_, _arboricle_, tree-inhabiting.
_Arcuate_, bow-shaped.
_Areolate_, divided into little areas or patches.
_Argillaceous_, clayey, like clay.
_Ascending_, directed upward.
_Asci_, _ascidia_, spore-cases of certain mushrooms.
_Attenuated_, tapering gradually to a point upward or downward.
_Band_, a broad bar of color.
_Banded_, marked with bands.
_Barbed_, furnished with fibrils or hairs.
_Basidia_, cellular processes of certain mushroom-bearing spores.
_Bibliography_, condensed history of the literature of a subject.
_Bifurcated_, divided into two, as in the gills of certain agarics.
_Booted_, applied to the stem of a mushroom when inclosed in a sheath or
volva.
_Boss_, a knob or short rounded protuberance.
_Bossed_, _bullate_, furnished with a boss or knob.
_Branched_, dividing from the sides; also styled furcate and forked.
_Brick_, trade term for a mass of mushroom spawn, in dimensions the size
of a brick of masonry.
_Broad_, wide or deep vertically.
_Bulbous_, having the structure of a bulb.
_Caespitose_, growing in tufts.
_Calcareous_, chalky, chalk-like.
_Calyptra_, applied to the portion of volva covering the pileus.
_Campanulate_, bell-shaped.
_Canaliculate_, channelled.
_Cancellate_, latticed, marked both longitudinally and transversely.
_Cap_, the expanded, umbrella-like receptacle of the common mushroom.
_Capillitium_, spore-bearing threads, variable in thickness and color,
sometimes continuous with the sterile base, sometimes free, dense, and
persistent, or lax and evanescent, often branched; found in the
Lycoperdons.
_Carious_, decayed.
_Carneous_, fleshy.
_Cartilaginous_, hard and tough.
_Castaneous_, chestnut color.
_Ceraceous_, wax-like.
_Channelled_, hollowed out like a gutter.
_Chlorosis_, loss of color.
_Cilia_, marginal hair-like processes.
_Ciliate_, fringed with hair-like processes.
_Cinerous_, ash-colored.
_Circinate_, rounded.
_Clathrate_, latticed.
_Clavate_, club-shaped, gradually thickened upward.
_Close_, packed closely side by side; also styled crowded.
_Columella_, a sterile tissue rising column-like in the midst of the
capillitium, serving as a point of insertion for the threads which
connect it with the peridium in the form of a net-work.
_Concentric_, having a common center, as a series of rings one within
another.
_Connate_, united by growing, as when two or more caps become united.
_Concolored_, of a uniform color.
_Confervoid_, from the finely branched threads.
_Continuous_, without a break, of a surface which is not cracked, or of
one part which runs into another without interruption.
_Cordate_, heart-shaped.
_Coriaceous_, of a leathery texture.
_Corrugated_, drawn into wrinkles or folds.
_Corticated_, furnished with a bark-like covering.
_Cortina_, a partial veil formed not of continuous tissue but of slender
threads, which in certain mushrooms when young unite the stem with the
margin of the cap. This membrane remains later as a filamentous ring on
the stem, or threads hanging to the margin of cap. Applied to the
peculiar veil of the Cortinarias.
_Cratera_, a cup-shaped receptacle.
_Crenate_, _crenulate_, notched at the edge, the notches blunt or
rounded, not sharp as in a serrated edge, serratures convex.
_Cribrose_, pierced with holes.
_Cryptogamia_, applied to the division of nonflowering plants.
_Cupreous_, copper-colored.
_Cuspidate_, with a sharp, spear-like point.
_Cyathiform_, cup-shaped.
_Cystidia_, sterile cells of the hymenium, generally larger than the
basidia cells, with which they are found.
_Deciduous_, temporary falling off.
_Decurrent_, as when the gills of a mushroom are prolonged down the
stem.
_Dehiscent_, a closed organ opening of itself at maturity, or when it
has attained a certain development.
_Deliquescent_, relating to mushrooms which at maturity become liquid.
_Dentate_, toothed, with concave serratures.
_Denticulate_, finely dentate.
_Dermini_, brown or rust colored spores.
_Determinate_, ending definitely; having a distinctly defined outline.
_Diaphanous_, transparent.
_Dichotomous_, paired by twos; regularly forked.
_Dimidiate_, applied to some gills of mushrooms which reach only halfway
to the stem.
_Disciform_, of a circular, flat form.
_Dissepiments_, dividing walls.
_Distant_, applied to gills which have a wide distance between them.
_Divaricate_, separating at an obtuse angle.
_Echinate_, furnished with stiff bristles.
_Echinulate_, with minute bristles.
_Effused_, spread over without regular form.
_Elongate_, lengthened.
_Emarginate_, applied to gills which are notched or scooped out suddenly
before they reach the stem.
_Embryo_, the mushroom before leaving its volva or egg stage; also any
early stage of mushrooms which may have no volva.
_Entire_, the edge quite devoid of serrature or notch.
_Epidermis_, the external or outer layer of the plant.
_Epiphytal_, growing upon another plant.
_Equal_, all gills of the same, or nearly the same length from back to
front.
_Eroded_, the edge ragged, as if torn.
_Etiolated_, whitened, bleached.
_Even_, distinguished from smooth: a surface quite plane as contrasted
with one which is striate, pitted, etc.
_Excentric_, out of center. The stems of some mushrooms are always
excentric.
_Exotic_, foreign.
_Family_, a systematic group in scientific classification embracing a
greater or less number of genera which agree in certain characters not
shared by others of the same order.
_Farinaceous_, mealy.
_Farinose_, covered with a white, mealy powder.
_Fascia_, a band or bar.
_Fasciate_, zoned with bands.
_Fasciculate_, growing in small bundles.
_Fastigiate_, bundled together like a sheath.
_Favose_, honeycombed.
_Ferruginous_, rust-colored.
_Fibrillose_, clothed with small fibers.
_Fibrous_, composed of fibers.
_Filiform_, thread-like.
_Fimbriated_, fringed.
_Fissile_, capable of being split.
_Fistular_, _fistulose_, tubular.
_Flabelliform_, fan-shaped.
_Flavescent_, yellowish, or turning yellow.
_Flexuose_, wavy.
_Flocci_, threads as of mold.
_Floccose_, downy.
_Flocculose_, covered with flocci.
_Foveolate_, pitted.
_Free_, in relation to the gills of mushrooms reaching the stem but not
attached to it.
_Fringe_, a lacerated marginal membrane.
_Fructification_, reproducing power of a plant.
_Fugacious_, disappearing rapidly.
_Furcate_, forked.
_Fuliginous_, blackish or sooty.
_Fulvous_, tawny; a rather indefinite brownish yellow.
_Furfuraceous_, with branny scales or scurf.
_Fuscous_, brownish, but dingy; not pure.
_Fusiform_, spindle-shaped.
_Genera_, plural of genus.
_Generic_, pertaining to a genus.
_Genus_, a group of species having one or more characteristics in
common; the union of several genera presenting the same features
constitutes a tribe.
_Gibbous_, in the form of a swelling; of a pileus which is more convex
or tumid on one side than the other.
_Gills_, vertical plates radiating from the stem on the under surface of
the mushroom cap.
_Glabrous_, smooth.
_Glaucescent_, inclining to glaucose.
_Glaucose_, covered with a whitish-green bloom or fine white powder
easily rubbed off.
_Globose_, nearly spherical.
_Granular_, with roughened surface.
_Greaved_, of a stem clothed like a leg in armor.
_Gregarious_, of mushrooms not solitary but growing in numbers in the
same locality.
_Grumous_, clotted; composed of little clustered grains.
_Guttate_, marked with tear-like spots.
_Gyrose_, circling in wavy folds.
_Habitat_, natural abode of a vegetable species.
_Hepatic_, pertaining to the liver; hence, liver-colored.
_Heterogeneous_, of a structure which is different from adjacent ones.
_Hibernal_, pertaining to winter.
_Hirsute_, hairy.
_Homogeneous_, similar in structure.
_Hyaline_, transparent.
_Hygrophanous_, looking watery when moist and opaque when dry.
_Hymenium_, the fructifying surface of the mushroom; the part on which
the spores are borne.
_Hymenophore_, the structure which bears the hymenium.
_Hypogaeous_, subterranean.
_Identification_, the determination of the species to which a given
specimen belongs.
_Identify_, to determine the systematic name of a specimen.
_Imbricate_, overlapped like tiles.
_Immarginate_, without a distinct border.
_Immersed_, sunk into the matrix.
_Incised_, cut out; cut away.
_Indehiscent_, not opening.
_Indigenous_, native of a country.
_Inferior_, growing below; of the ring of an agaric, which is far down
on the stem.
_Infundibuliform_, funnel-shaped.
_Innate_, adhering by growing into.
_Inserted_, growing like a graft from its stock.
_Involute_, edges rolled inward.
_Laciniate_, divided into flaps.
_Lactescent_, milk-bearing.
_Lacunose_, pitted or having cavities.
_Lamellae_, gills of mushrooms.
_Lanceolate_, lance-shaped; tapering to both ends.
_Lateral_, attached to one side.
_Latex_, the viscid fluid contained in some mushrooms.
_Laticiferous_, applied to the tubes conveying latex, as in the
Lactarias.
_Lepidote_, scurfy with minute scales.
_Leucospore_, white spore.
_Ligneous_, woody consistency.
_Linear_, narrow and straight.
_Linguiform_, tongue-shaped.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Fries, Saccardo, Kromholtz, Cooke and Berkeley, M. C. Cooke, Peck,
Stevenson, Badham, Gillet, Boyer, Gibson, Roques, Hussey, Hay, Bel,
Paulet and Leveille, Constantin and Dufour, Barla, Roze, W. G. Smith,
Vittadini.
STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK
OF
MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.
BY
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.
Published in Serial Form--=No. 2=--Price, 50c. per number.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E.
1897.
The ten mushrooms illustrated in the five plates contained in the first
number of this series belong to the family Hymenomycetes. In the present
number are presented illustrations representing three additional
specimens of the Hymenomycetal fungi (Plates V, VI, and VII). There are
also presented, in plates C and D, illustrations of nine species
comprised in four genera of the sub family Discomycetes, of the family
Ascomycetes.
Copyright, 1897, by
Thomas Taylor, M. D.,
and
A. R. Taylor.
ASCOMYCETES.
Fruit, consisting of sporidia, mostly definite, contained in asci,
springing from a naked or enclosed stratum of fructifying cells, and
forming a hymenium.--Cooke and Berkeley.
Prof. J. de Seyne states that the three elements which form the hymenium
in the families Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes are (1) the normal
basidium, that is, the fruitful club-shaped cell which supports the
naked spores, (2) the cystidium or sterile cell, an aborted or atrophied
basidium, and (3) the paraphyses, hypertrophied basidium, the one organ,
the basidium, being the basis of it all, according as it experiences an
arrest of development, as it grows and fructifies, or as it becomes
hypertrophied.
In the family Ascomycetes a minute ascus or spore case envelops the
sporidia, and takes the place of the basidium, and the hymenium consists
of (1) the asci containing the sporidia, (2) the paraphyses, and (3) a
colorless or yellowish mucilage which envelops the paraphyses and asci.
The asci are present in all species. In some species, however, the
paraphyses are rare, and the mucilaginous substance is entirely wanting.
The asci differ in shape and size, according to the species. The
paraphyses, when present, are at first very short, but they rapidly
elongate, and are wholly developed before the appearance of the asci.
They are linear, simple or branched according to the species of plant,
usually containing oily granules. There is some difference of opinion
among mycologists as to the special functions of the paraphyses, some
considering them as abortive asci, and others, like Boudier, as
excitatory organs for the dehiscence of the asci, by which the spores
are liberated.
The family Ascomycetes is rich in genera and species.
It consists largely of microscopic fungi, however, and the only group
which will be considered here is that which includes plants of the
mushroom family which are edible and indigenous to this country, viz.,
the sub-family Discomycetes.
DISCOMYCETES.
The name Discomycetes, "disk-like fungi," does not give an accurate idea
of the distinguishing characteristics of this sub-family, the discoid
form only belonging to the plants of one of its groups. In the
Discomyceteae the hymenium is superior, that is, disposed upon the upper
or exterior surface of the mushroom cap. The sporidia are produced in
membraneous asci, usually four or eight, or some multiple of that
number, in each ascus; Cooke says "rarely four, most commonly eight."
The sporidia are usually hyaline, transparent; colored sporidia are
rare.
The asci are so minute as to be imperceptible to the naked eye; but if a
small portion of the upper surface of the cap is removed with a pen
knife and placed under a microscope having a magnifying power of from
400 to 800 diameters, the asci, or spore sacks, can be separated and
their structure studied.
Of the genera included in the Discomycetes the genus Peziza comprises by
far the largest number of described species. The plants in this genus
are generally small, thin, and tough. A few of them have been recorded
as edible by European authors, but not specially commended; one form,
Peziza _cochleata_, has been spoken of by Berkeley as being gathered in
basketfuls in one county in England, where it is used as a substitute,
though a very indifferent one, for the Morel.
Vittadini says the Verpa _digitaliformis_ Persoon, a small
brownish-colored mushroom, is sold in Italian markets for soups, but
that, "although sold in the markets, it is only to be recommended when
no other fungus offers, which is sometimes the case in the spring." P.
_aurantia_ Vahl., a small Peziza growing in clusters in the grass, is
reported as edible by a member of the Boston Mycological Club, who
speaks well of it.
The genera Morchella, Gyromitra, Helvella, and Mitrula contain, however,
what may be considered the most desirable edible species. Types of these
four groups are represented in Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10, Plate C.
The plants of these genera have a stem and cap. The cap, however,
differs very much from that of the ordinary mushroom. In the genus
Morchella the cap is deeply pitted and ridged so that it presents a
honeycombed appearance. In Gyromitra the cap is convolutely lobed but
not pitted. In Helvella the cap is very irregular and reflexed, and in
Mitrula the cap is ovate or club shaped and smooth. In all four of these
genera the hymenium is superior, _i. e._, it is on the upper and outer
surface of the cap, the interior surface being barren.
In Plates C and D are figured 9 types of edible fungi included in the
family Ascomycetes, sub-family Discomycetes.
[Illustration: Plate C.
ASCOMYCETES
SUB-FAMILY DISCOMYCETES
TYPES OF FOUR OF THE LEADING GENERA OF DISCOMYCETES,
IN WHICH OCCUR EDIBLE SPECIES
T. TAYLOR, DEL.
THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.]
PLATE C.
FIG. 1. =Morchella esculenta= Pers. "_Common Morel_."
EDIBLE.
_Genus Morchella_ Dill. Receptacle pileate or clavate, impervious in the
centre, stipitate, covered with hymenium, which is deeply folded and
pitted.--Cooke.
In this genus the species have a general resemblance to each other in
size, color, form, texture, and flavor. The cap is usually a dull
yellow, sometimes slightly olive-tinted, darkening with age to a
brownish leather tinge. The stems are stout and hollow, white or
whitish. This genus has a very wide geographical distribution, but the
species are not numerous. Cooke describes twenty-four, some of them
found in India, Java, Great Britain, Central and Northern Europe,
Australia, and North America. Peck describes six species found in New
York State. The lines of demarcation between species are not very
decided; but as none of the species are known to be poisonous, it may
be considered a safe genus to experiment with.
In the Morchella esculenta the cap is ovate, in one variety rotund, the
margin attaching itself to the stem; ribs firm and anastomosing, forming
deep hollows or pits; color yellowish tan, olivaceous; spores hyaline,
colorless; asci very long. The Morel, though rare in some localities, is
found in large quantities in some of the midwestern States, sometimes in
the woods along the borders of streams, often in peach orchards, at the
roots of decaying trees.
I am informed by correspondents who have collected and eaten them that
the Morels can be gathered in abundance in the springtime along the
banks of the Missouri and tributary streams. A lieutenant in the United
States Army informs me that he found fine specimens of this species in
the mountains of California, five or six thousand feet above sea-level.
A correspondent, Mr. H. W. Henshaw, writes that he has made many
excellent meals of them, finding them on the banks of Chico Creek,
Sacramento Valley, California, on Gen. Bidwell's ranch, in April. A
correspondent in Minnesota writes: "The Morel grows abundantly in some
places here, but so prejudiced are many of the natives against
'toad-stools' that I had to eat the Morel alone for a whole season
before I could induce any one else to taste it." Mr. Hollis Webster, of
the Boston Mycological Club, reports the Morchella _conica_ as appearing
in abundance in eastern Massachusetts in May of this year. A
correspondent in West Virginia reports that quantities of a large-sized
Morel are found in the mountain regions there.
I have reports also of the appearance of the Morel in Western New York,
and on the coast of Maine and of Oregon. A miner writes to me from
Montana that he and several other miners, having lost their way in the
mountains of that State during the spring of the year, subsisted
entirely for five days on Morels which they collected.
The specimen represented in Plate C, Fig. 1, is figured from a Morchella
_esculenta_ which grew in the vicinity of Falls Church, Va., less than
ten miles from the District of Columbia. The reports which I have
received from correspondents in twenty States show that the Morel is not
so rare in this country as was formerly supposed. The advantages which
this mushroom possesses over some others are (1) the readiness with
which it can be distinguished, (2) its keeping qualities, and (3) its
agreeable taste. It is easily dried, and in that condition can be kept a
long time without losing its flavor. Though it has not the rich flavor
of the common field mushroom, it is very palatable when cooked, and when
dried it is often used in soups. It is very generally esteemed as an
esculent among mycophagists.
Fig. 2 represents the sporidia enclosed in the ascus, or spore sack,
with accompanying paraphyses.
FIG. 3. =Gyromitra= _esculenta_ Fries. "_Esculent Gyromitra_."
_Genus Gyromitra_ Fries. This genus contains very few species, but all
are considered edible, though differing somewhat in flavor and
digestibility. Five or six species are figured by Cooke. Peck speaks of
several species found in New York. One of these, G. curtipes Fries, is
also figured by Cooke as found in North Carolina. This species Cooke
regards as equal in flavor to G. esculenta. G. esculenta has a rounded,
inflated cap, irregularly lobed and hollow, smooth and brittle in
texture, reddish brown. It falls over the stem in heavy convolutions,
touching it at various points. The stem is stout, stuffed, at length
hollow, whitish or cinereous; spores elliptical with two nuclei,
yellowish, translucent. The plant is usually from two to four inches in
height, but larger specimens are found.
Fig. 4 represents the spore sack with enclosed sporidia.
Mr. Charles L. Fox, of Portland, Maine, records the Gyromitra
_esculenta_, of which he sent me a very good specimen last spring, as
quite abundant during May in the open woods near the city named.
Speaking of this species, he says: "From the point of view of their
edibility, we have classed them under two heads--the light and the dark
varieties. These differ in the locality in which they are found, in
their color and in the convolutions of their surface. Both grow large.
"The _Light Gyromitra_ is the more easily digested of the two. Its
height varies from three to five inches, cap three to five inches in
diameter. Its cap is inflated, very irregular, and twisted in large
convolutions. These convolutions are almost smooth on the surface,
sometimes showing small depressions; margin generally attached to the
stem in parts. It is a transparent yellow in color. This variety does
not grow dark brown with age. Stem white or very light buff, smooth, and
hollow. It grows best on slopes facing the south, in scant woods of
birch, maple, and pine. We have found no specimens in open places or on
the borders of woods.
"The _Dark Gyromitra_ is more common than the light variety. Its color
is generally of dark lake brown, even in the young plant, though it is
sometimes of a light warm yellow, which grows darker with age. Stem
flesh-colored or pallid, but not white, nor so light as in the first
variety. Its cap is similar in its large convolutions to that of the
light variety, but it is covered with many intricate vermiform ridges,
sometimes in high relief or even strongly undercut. Grows in mossy
places, in light sandy soil, on borders of pine woods. Its flesh is
brittle, but not so tender as that of the first variety. Both varieties
dry readily. We should advise eating the _Dark Gyromitra_ only in
moderate amounts, as, if eaten in quantity, or if old specimens are
used, indigestion or nausea is liable to follow. In regard to both
varieties, I would advise that only young specimens should be eaten at
first, as they are more tender and less pronounced in flavor than the
older plants. We have eaten, however, a considerable quantity of the
_Light Gyromitra_ with no unpleasant results. The flavor of the
Gyromitras is quite strong, and some have found it too much so to be
agreeable on the first eating. The general opinion here, however, is
favorable to the Gyromitra as an excellent addition to the table."
Some German authorities speak well of the flavor of the G. esculenta,
and it is sold in the German markets. Cordier records it as agreeable in
taste when cooked. Peck says that he has repeatedly eaten it without
experiencing any evil results, but does not consider its flavor equal to
that of a first-class mushroom. He advises also that it should be eaten
with moderation, and that only perfectly fresh specimens should be used,
sickness having resulted from eating freely of specimens that had been
kept twenty-four hours before being cooked.
I have not been fortunate in securing a sufficient quantity of fresh
specimens to test its edible qualities personally, but the testimony
received from those who have eaten it seems to point to the necessity
for moderation in eating and care in securing fresh specimens to cook.
FIG. 5. =Helvella crispa=. "_Crisp Helvella_."
_Genus Helvella_ Linn. The plants of this genus are usually small,
though a few of the species are of good size. They are not plentiful,
but they are very generally regarded as edible, the flavor bearing a
resemblance to that of the Morel. The cap has a smooth, not polished,
surface, and is very irregular, revolute, and deflexed, not honeycombed
like the Morel, nor showing the brain-like convolutions of the
Gyromitras. Color brownish pale tan, or whitish. The stem in the larger
species is stout, and sometimes deeply furrowed in longitudinal grooves,
usually white or whitish.
The species Helvella crispa is white or pallid throughout, cap very
irregular, sometimes deeply concave in the centre, with margin at first
erect, then drooping; again it is undulating, much divided and deflexed;
in fact, so irregular is the shape that scarcely two specimens will show
the cap the same in outline; stem stout and deeply channelled. Spores
elliptical, transparent. Habitat woods, growing singly or in groups, but
not caespitose.
Fig. 6, the ascus or spore sack and paraphyses.
_Genus Mitrula_ Fries. Soft and fleshy, simple capitate, stem distinct,
hymenium surrounding the inflated cap; head ovate, obtuse, inflated.--M.
C. Cooke.
Cooke says of this genus that it is scarcely so well characterized as
many with which it is associated, and that some of the species are
evidently so closely allied to some of the species of the genus
Geoglossum that it is difficult to draw the line of demarcation between
them, particularly so with the species Mitrula _pistillaris_ B. from
Louisiana.
The plants are very small, and though none are recorded as poisonous,
only one or two have any value as esculents.
FIG. 7. =Mitrula sclerotipes= Boudier.
The cap in this species is small, and the stem long and slender. The
spores are transparent, the asci club-shaped. The plants of this species
are always found springing from an oblong sclerotium; hence the name
sclerotipes.
Fig. 8 represents the sporidia enclosed in their asci with paraphyses
and individual spores, the latter magnified 800 diameters. Fig. 9,
sectional view of mature plant.
FIG. 10. =Mitrula vitellina= Sacc., var. _irregularis_ Peck.
Saccardo, in his Sylloge Fungorum, includes in this genus those having a
club-shaped cap, which brings into it, with others, the species Mitrula
_vitellina_ Sacc., formerly classed in the genus Geoglossum, and its
variety _irregularis_ Peck. The latter was first described in 1879, in
Peck's Thirty-Second Report, under the name Geoglossum _irregulare_.
Prof. Peck now gives preference to the name assigned to it by Saccardo,
and it is so recorded in Peck's later reports.
Prof. Peck records this species as edible, and recommends it as having
tender flesh and an agreeable flavor. It sometimes grows in profusion in
wet mossy places, in woods, or swampy ground. It is bright yellow in
color, clean and attractive. The cap is much longer than the stem, often
deeply lobed, extremely irregular in outline, and tapers to a short
yellowish or whitish stem. The spores are narrowly elliptical and
transparent. The specimen illustrated is from a small one figured by
Peck. The plants sometimes reach two inches in height. They are most
abundant in temperate climates.
[Illustration: Plate D.
FOUR TYPES OF THE GENUS MORCHELLA.
T. TAYLOR, DEL.
THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.]
PLATE D.
In Plate D are represented four species of the genus Morchella, viz., M.
_semilibera_, M. _bispora_, M. _conica_, and M. _deliciosa_. Morchella
_esculenta_ is figured in Plate C.
FIG. 1. =Morchella semilibera= De Candolle. "_Half Free Morel_."
EDIBLE.
Cap conical but half free from the stem as the name of the species
indicates. The ribs are longitudinal, forming oblong pits; stem hollow,
much longer than the cap, white; spores elliptical. Peck says that this
species has been described by Persoon under the name Morchella
_hybrida_, and this name is adopted in Saccardo's Sylloge Fungorum, but
most English writers prefer the first.
Fig. 2. Sectional view of Morchella _semilibera_.
Fig. 8. Sporidia of same inclosed in ascus with accompanying
paraphyses.
FIG. 3. Sectional view of =Morchella bispora= Sorokin. "_Two-Spored
Morel_."
EDIBLE.
Cap free from the stem to the top, somewhat resembling that of M.
_semilibera_, but blunt at its summit instead of conical, the outward
surface deeply pitted, inner surface smooth and barren. A characteristic
of this species which distinguishes it from others of the same genus is
found in the number of its sporidia, spores as seen in the ascus or
spore sack. In the plants of the genus Morchella the spore sacks, with
one or two exceptions, contain eight spores.
In the species M. _bispora_ the spore sacks contain but two spores and
these are much larger than the sporidia of those which contain eight.
This characteristic, however, can only be determined by the aid of the
microscope.
Cooke figures a specimen taken from those published by Sorokin in
Thumen's Exsiccata, and calls it a variety of Morchella _Bohemica_
Kromb. He says that it is not unusual to find M. _Bohemica_ with two or
four sporidia in some of the asci, mixed with others containing more,
some specimens being entirely tetrasporous, and some, as the variety
_bispora_, usually containing but two sporidia. Cooke contends that M.
bispora is simply a bisporous form of Morchella _Bohemica_, and calls it
M. _Bohemica_ var. _bispora_. It is not as common as other species.
Fig. 9 represents asci of M. bispora showing the two spores in each
ascus.
FIG. 4. =Morchella conica.= "_Conical Morel_."
EDIBLE.
Cap conical or oblong-conical, margin adhering to the stem, the
prominent ridges longitudinal and irregularly bisected with shorter
ones; the whole plant hollow throughout; color pale tan or ochraceous
yellow, growing dingy and darker with age; stem white; spores
elliptical.
This species is quite plentiful in some localities; the flavor is like
that of M. _esculenta_.
Fig. 5. Sectional view of M. _conica_.
Fig. 10. Ascus, sporidia and paraphyses.
FIG. 6. =Morchella deliciosa= Fries. "_Delicious Morel_."
Cap nearly cylindrical, blunt at the top, and usually much longer than
the stem, adnate. Plant hollow throughout. Stem white. Spores
elliptical.
Fig. 7. Sectional view of M. _deliciosa_.
Fig. 11. Ascus, sporidia, and paraphyses.
The Morchella _deliciosa_ is highly esteemed as an esculent wherever
eaten. Split open and stuffed with bread crumbs seasoned with pepper,
salt, and butter and a pinch of thyme or onion, steamed in a hot oven,
and served with butter sauce, this mushroom makes a very savory dish.
_Note._--Small specimens have been selected for illustration in this
plate in order to utilize as much as possible the plate space.
[Illustration: Plate IV.
THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.]
PLATE IV. STRUCTURE OF THE AGARICINI, GILL-BEARING MUSHROOMS.
Fig. 1. Cap or pileus umbonate, _a_; stem or stipe fistulose, tubular,
_b_; gills or lamellae adnate, and slightly emarginate.
Fig. 2. Gills remote, _i. e._, distant from the stem. (See _a_.)
Fig. 3. Gills adnexed, partly attached to the stem at their inner
extremity, _a_.
Fig. 4. Gills emarginate, with a tooth, as at _a_; stem stuffed.
Fig. 5. Cap obtuse, _e_; gills free, _i. e._, reaching the stem but not
attached thereto (see _a_); _b_ stem stuffed.
Fig. 6. Cap umbilicate, slightly depressed in the centre, _b_; gills
decurrent, _i. e._, running down the stem. (See _a_.)
Fig. 7. Basidium, cell _a_, borne on the hymenium, or spore-bearing
surface of the gills; _b_, stigmata; _c_, spores.
Fig. 8. Gills adnate, _i. e._, firmly attached to the stem at their
inner extremity, as at _a_.
Fig. 9. Cap, with border involute, _i. e._, rolled inward. (See _a_.)
Fig. 10. Lamellae or gills dentated or toothed. (See _a_.)
Fig. 11. Cap with border revolute, _i. e._, rolled backward. (See _a_.)
AGARICINI. Fries.
LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE OR YELLOWISH).
_Genus Lactarius_ Fries. The plants of this genus have neither veil nor
volva. They somewhat resemble the _Russulae_, but can be readily
distinguished from them by the greater fleshiness of the stem and by the
milky juice which exudes from the flesh. The latter is a characteristic
feature of the _Lactars_, giving to the group its name.
The species were originally arranged by Fries into groups according to
the color and quality of the milk, and of the naked or pruinose
character of the gills. Prof. Peck, however, considering the latter
character not sufficiently constant or obvious to be satisfactory, in
his early reports makes the color of the milk alone the basis of the
primary grouping of the American species.
Saccardo, in his Sylloge, follows Fries in his classification of the
species of the genus Lactarius.
In some species the milk is at first bright colored and continues
unchanged; in others it is always white or whitish, and in others again
it is at first white, changing to different hues on exposure to the air,
becoming pinkish, pale violet, or yellow. In one species (C. indigo)
both plant and milk are of indigo blue. The taste of the milk varies, as
does that of the flesh, according to species. Sometimes it is mild or
very slightly acrid, and again it resembles Cayenne pepper in its hot,
biting acridity. It is somewhat viscid or sticky in character, and
permeates to some extent the whole flesh of the mushroom, but is most
profuse in the gills, where in fresh young specimens it is seen exuding
on the slightest pressure. In old or wilted specimens it does not flow
so freely, but may be found by breaking off portions of the cap.
The plants usually present a fleshy cap, the flesh quite brittle, and
breaking in clean, even fractures. In a number of the species the upper
surface of the cap shows bands or zones of warm coloring, not found in
any of the species of the allied genus Russula. The gills are sometimes
even, more often forked, acute on the edge, color white or whitish, but
changing to yellowish or reddish tints as the plants mature, or when cut
or bruised. While they are at first adnate they become, with the
expansion of the cap, somewhat decurrent, showing in this particular a
resemblance to the plants of the genus Clitocybe. The stem is central,
except in a few species, where it is eccentric or lateral, notably the
latter in L. _obliquus_; spores white or yellowish, according to
species; Cooke says, "rarely turning yellow." They are globose, or
nearly so, and slightly rough.
This genus is a large one, and contains many acrid species. Out of
fifty-three described and figured by Cooke, more than half are given as
having the milk more or less acrid. More than forty species have been
recorded as growing in this country, and many of these are extremely
acrid in taste.
A number of the species are edible, while others have been recorded as
deleterious, poisonous, etc. L. torminosus, L. piperatus, and L.
insulsus are species about which there seems to be difference of opinion
among authors as to their wholesomeness or edibility, some contending
that, in spite of their extreme acridity, they are edible when cooked,
and others that they are deleterious in their effects. L. _deliciosus_
and L. _volemus_ have a good reputation in this country as well as
abroad, and are quite abundant in some localities. They are more
frequent in temperate climates than in northern latitudes or in the
tropics.
[Illustration: Plate V.
LACTARIOUS DELICIOSUS.
1 General form. 2 Section. 3 Spores.]
PLATE V.
=Lactarius deliciosus= Fries. "_Delicious Lactarius_" _or_ "_Orange
Milk Mushroom_."
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, viscid, at first convex, then nearly plane, becoming much
depressed in the centre, funnel-shaped, marked in the adult plant with
rings or rust-colored zones. Color of the cap dull orange, turning
paler, and grayish or greenish yellow when old or dried; margin at first
turned inwards; flesh whitish or tinged with yellow; gills decurrent,
crowded rather thick, sometimes slightly forked at the base, pale
yellow, sometimes a saffron yellow, exuding when bruised a saffron-red
or orange-colored liquid, hence the popular name of "Orange Milk
Mushroom;" stem smooth, somewhat spotted, stout, stuffed with a
yellowish pith, eventually becoming hollow; color about the same as that
of the cap. Spores subglobose, yellowish. Taste mild or very slightly
acrid when raw.
Mycophagists generally concur in the opinion that it is of very pleasant
flavor when cooked, and some speak very enthusiastically of its esculent
qualities.
Over-cooking is apt to make it tough. I find steaming in the oven with
butter, pepper, and salt, and a very small quantity of water, as oysters
are steamed, a very good method of preserving the juices and flavor.
It is found in Maryland, under the pines and sometimes in mossy and
swampy places. Prof. Underwood, President of the New York Mycological
Club, reports it as fairly abundant in Connecticut.
Lactarius _volemus_ Fries, the "Orange-Brown Lactar," somewhat resembles
the L. _deliciosus_ in shape and size, but the cap is dry and glabrous
and the skin is apt to crack in patches in somewhat the same manner as
does that of the Russula _virescens_. It is a warm orange-brown in
color, varying slightly with age, and is not zoned. The gills are white
or yellowish and crowded, adnate in the young specimens, and decurrent
in the mature, exuding a white milk when bruised. The spores are
globose, and white. It is found in open woods. The flavor is much like
that of L. _deliciosus_, although perhaps not so rich.
One author states it as his experience that the Lactars which have
_bright_-colored milk, unchanging, are usually edible and have a mild
taste. L. _indigo_ Schwein has been recorded as less abundant than some
other species, but edible. The plant is a deep blue throughout, the milk
of the same color and unchanging. The taste of both flesh and milk is
mild. Specimens of this species were sent to me from western New York
several years ago by a correspondent who found it growing in quantities
in a corn field. He had cooked several dishes of it, and reported its
flavor as very agreeable.
L. _vellereus_ and L. _piperatus_ are very common in fir woods. The
plants are large and stout, white throughout, the milk white and
excessively acrid; gills decurrent, unequal and narrow. The milk in
_vellereus_ is apt to be scanty but copious in _piperatus_.
Of L. _piperatus_, Worthington Smith says: "So strongly acrid is the
milk that if it be allowed to trickle over tender hands it will sting
like the contact of nettles; and if a drop be placed on the lips or
tongue the sensation will be like the scalding of boiling water." He
records it as "poisonous." Fries and Curtis say that, "notwithstanding
its intense acridity, it is edible when cooked." Cordier, while
recording it as edible, says that the milk, and butter made from the
milk of cows fed with it, are bitter and nauseous, although cows eat it
with avidity. Gibson, while quoting one or two authors as to its
edibility when cooked, says: "Its decidedly ardent tang warns me not to
dwell too enthusiastically upon its merits in a limited selection of
desirable esculents." The Secretary of the Boston Mycological Club,
writing in the Club bulletin, says "it has been eaten as a sort of duty
after the acridity was cooked out," but does not commend it. It is
spoken of as "an unattractive fungus which usurps in the woods the place
that might well be occupied by something better." In this opinion I
fully concur.
L. _torminosus_, "_Wooly Lactarius_," sometimes called the "_Colic
Lactarius_," has been termed acrid and poisonous by Badham. Cordier and
Letellier, on the other hand, say that it can be eaten with impunity
when cooked. Gillet declares it deleterious and even dangerous in the
raw state, constituting a very strong and drastic purgative. One author
states that, although it does not constitute an agreeable article of
food, it is eaten in some parts of France and in Russia. Considering the
differences of opinion which exist with regard to this and other
extremely acrid species, it would seem the part of prudence for persons
with delicate stomachs to avoid the use of very acrid species, for,
though the acridity may be expelled by cooking, there would seem to be
no necessity for risking unpleasant or dangerous results while the range
of unquestionably wholesome and agreeable species is sufficiently wide
to satisfy the most enthusiastic mycophagist.
AGARICINI.
LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE OR YELLOWISH).
Armillaria Fries. Cooke places Armillaria in the order Agaricini, _genus
Agaricus_, making of it a _sub_-genus. Saccardo, in taking it out of
Agaricus, elevates it to the position of a separate genus. The name
Armillaria is derived from a Greek word, meaning a ring or bracelet,
referring to its ringed stem.
In the plants of the Armillaria the veil is partial in infancy,
attaching the edge of the cap to the upper part of the stem; the stem
furnished with a ring. Below the ring the veil is concrete with the
stem, forming scurfy scales upon it. The gills are broadly adnexed. In
abnormal specimens the ring is sometimes absent, or appearing only in
scales, running down the stem. Spores white. The species are few; eight
are recorded as growing in the United States. Cooke describes twelve
species found in Great Britain.
[Illustration: Plate VI.
AGARICUS (ARMILLARIA) MELLEUS.
Group from Hynesboro Park, Md., U. S.
K. MAYO, del.]
PLATE VI.
=Ag. (Armillaria) melleus= Vahl. "_Honey-Colored Armillaria._"
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, rather thin at the margin, at first subconical, then
slightly rounded, or nearly plane, clothed with minute hairy tufts;
margin sometimes striate, color varying, usually a pale-yellowish or
honey color or light reddish brown; flesh whitish. Gills whitish or
paler than the cap, growing mealy with the shedding of the profuse white
spores, and often spotted with reddish-brown stains, adnate, ending with
decurrent tooth. Stem fibrillose, elastic, stuffed or hollow, ringed,
and adorned with floccose scales which often disappear with age; in some
varieties distinctly bulbous at the base, in others showing tapering
root. Specimens occur in which the ring is wanting or only traces of it
appear in the form of scales encircling the stem. Veil usually firm,
membraneous, and encircling the stem in a well-pronounced ring or
collar, but sometimes filmy as a spider's web, in very young specimens
hiding the gills, but breaking apart as the cap expands.
Manner of growth caespitose, generally on decayed tree stumps, although
the group figured in the plate was found growing on moist sand, mixed
with clay, on a roadside in Hynesbury Park.
Authors differ widely as to the value of this species as an esculent. I
have only eaten the very young and small specimens when cooked, and
found them very palatable. A Boston mycophagist records it as "very
good," fried after five minutes' boiling in salted water. Prof. Peck,
having tried it, considers it "a perfectly safe species, but not of
first-rate quality." It is very common in Maryland and Virginia, and in
the mountain districts prolific. I have talked with Bohemians and with
Germans who have gathered it in basketfuls in the vicinity of the
District of Columbia, who speak well of it, considering it a valuable
addition to the table. Its prolific growth makes it valuable to those
who like it. There are no species recorded as dangerous in this group.
Ag. (Armillaria) robustus, a very stout species, with a fleshy, compact,
smooth cap, bay color or tawny, occurs in the Maryland woods, and in the
open woods of the Massachusetts coast.
AGARICINI. Fries.
_Genus Cantharellus_ Adans. In the plants of this genus the hymenophore
or fleshy substance of the cap is continuous with the stem. They are
fleshy, membranaceous, and putrescent, having neither veil, ring, nor
volva. The stem is central, except in a few species, where it is
lateral. A characteristic of the genus which separates it from other
genera of the Agaricini is the vein-like appearance of the gills. They
are very shallow and so obtuse on the edges as to present the appearance
of a network of swollen branching veins. They are usually decurrent and
anastomosing. It is a small genus. Cooke figures nineteen species. Among
the described species C. cibarius is the only one whose edible qualities
have been highly recommended. C. umbonatus, a very small plant, found in
eastern Massachusetts is commended by those who have eaten it. They are
usually found in woods, and amongst moss. One species, _C. carbonatus_,
is found upon charred ground.
[Illustration: Plate VII.
CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS FR.
1, 2, 3, 4 Various stages of growth. 5 A section.
6 Spores. 7 Spores and basidia.
From Hynesbury, Md., U. S.
Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing Co., New York.]
PLATE VII.
=Cantharellus cibarius= Fries. "_The Edible Chantarelle_."
EDIBLE.
Cap a rich golden yellow, like the yolk of an egg; at first convex,
later concave and turbinated; margin sinuous, undulate, smooth,
shining, and more or less lobed; diameter from two to four inches;
flesh pale yellow or whitish; veins or gills rather thick and wiry,
remarkably decurrent, usually very much bifurcated and of the same
golden yellow as the cap; stem solid or stuffed, slightly attenuated
downwards, yellow; spores white or pale yellowish, elliptical.
European authors esteem it very highly, and some speak of the odor as
like that of ripe apricots. The plant as found in Maryland and Virginia
has a slightly pungent but agreeable taste when raw, and a pleasant odor
when cooked. It is ranked as one of the best of the wood mushrooms by
those who have eaten it in this locality (District of Columbia). It is
found here in abundance, after light rains, in fir woods. Berkeley
states that it is somewhat rare in England, where it is held as a
delicacy, but quite common on the continent. We have had specimens from
various localities throughout the States. Cooke says the spores are
white. Peck and Gibson record them as yellow. I find them white,
sometimes slightly tinted with yellow.
The _Chantarelle_ takes its name from a Greek word signifying a cup or
vase, referring to its shape and possibly also to its rich golden color;
_cibarius_ refers to its esculent qualities.
The variety _rufipes_ Gillet closely resembles C. _cibarius_, but is
darker, with the stem _rufous_, reddish, at the base.
C. _aurantiacus_ Fries bears a sufficient resemblance to C. _cibarius_
to be sometimes taken for it, although the cap is tomentose and of a
much deeper orange in tint, the gills more crowded, darker than the cap,
and the stem less stout. In the variety _pallidus_ the whole plant is
very light or buff yellow, and the gills nearly white. C. aurantiacus
has been recorded as poisonous or unwholesome by some of the earlier
authors, others say that they have eaten it, but do not commend it.
RECEIPTS FOR COOKING.
_Stuffed Morels._--Choose the freshest and lightest colored Morels, open
the stalk at the base, fill with minced veal and bread-crumbs, secure
the ends of the stalk and place between thin slices of bacon.
The Morel should not be gathered immediately after heavy rains, as it
becomes insipid with much moisture. The flavor is said to grow stronger
in drying.
_Escalloped Mushrooms._--(From Mr. Frank Caywood, Fredericktown, Ohio,
November 14, 1893.) Season as directed in the usual methods for
mushrooms and add a small quantity of vinegar to hasten the cooking.
Cook slowly until tender; rapid boiling evaporates the flavor. When
done, put in from a pint to a quart of sweet milk and heat. Take a
pudding dish and put in a layer of broken crackers; light milk crackers
are the best. Put lumps of butter and pepper and salt over the crackers.
Next a layer of the tender mushrooms with some of the hot gravy and
milk. Continue these layers until the dish is full, having a layer of
crackers on top. Place the dish in the oven and bake slowly until the
crackers are browned.
_Mushroom Fritters._--Take nice large tops, season, and dip into batter
and fry in hot butter as other fritters.
_Mushrooms en ragout._--Put into a stewpan a little "stock," a small
quantity of vinegar, parsley, and green onions chopped up, salt and
spices. When this is about to boil, the cleaned mushrooms are put in.
When done remove them from the fire and thicken with yolks of eggs.
The Lactarius _deliciosus_ may be served with a white sauce or fried.
Badham says the best way to cook them is to season first with pepper,
salt, and small pieces of butter, and bake in a closely covered pie dish
for about three quarters of an hour.
The Cantharellus, being somewhat dry, requires more fluid sauce in
cooking than the juicier mushrooms, and is best minced and slowly stewed
until quite tender. Some advise soaking it in milk a few hours before
cooking. The Italians dry or pickle it or keep it in oil for winter use.
Persoon gives the following recipes for cooking the Morel: 1st. Wash and
cleanse thoroughly, as the earth is apt to collect between the ridges;
dry and put them in a saucepan with pepper, salt, and parsley, adding or
not a piece of bacon; stew for an hour, pouring in occasionally a little
broth to prevent burning; when sufficiently done, bind with the yolks of
two or three eggs, and serve on buttered toast.
2. _Morelles a l'Italienne._--Having washed and dried, divide them
across, put them on the fire with some parsley, scallion, chives,
tarragon, a little salt, and two spoonfuls of fine oil. Stew till the
juice runs out, then thicken with a little flour; serve with bread
crumbs and a squeeze of lemon.
MUSHROOM GROWING.[A]
[A] A part of the matter presented under this caption was contributed by
the author to the Health Magazine and appeared in the March number
(1897) of that periodical.
To France is due the credit of being the first country to cultivate
mushrooms on a large scale, and France still supplies the markets of the
world with canned mushrooms. The mushroom which is cultivated in the
caves and quarries of France, to the exclusion of all others, is the
Agaricus arvensis (the "Snowball"), a species of field mushroom.
Of late years France has found a formidable competitor in the culture of
mushrooms in Great Britain. The English market gardeners find their
moist, equable climate favorable to outdoor culture, and abundant crops
are grown by them in the open air, chiefly, however, for the home
market.
That mushroom growing can be made a lucrative business is shown by the
experience of a well-known English grower, Mr. J. F. Barter, who on one
acre of ground has produced in the open air, without the aid of glass,
an average of from ten to twelve thousand pounds of mushrooms annually;
the price obtained for them varying according to the season, but
averaging ten pence, or twenty cents, per pound for the whole year. The
value of twelve thousand pounds of mushrooms at ten pence per pound
would be L.500 sterling or $2,500.
For the purposes of comparison the following are quoted from the Pall
Mall Gazette, as exceptional prices realized in England for other fruits
and vegetables in recent years:
Pounds sterling per statute acre:
Very early gooseberries, 100; onions, 192; early lettuces, 100; plums,
100; potatoes, 100; strawberries, 150; black currants, 168; filberts,
200.
It will be seen that onions and filberts head the list, but the product
of an acre of mushrooms has been shown to be worth more than double that
of either filberts or onions.
In the localities specially favorable to hop growing 30 cwt. of hops to
the acre is considered exceptional, while the average price has been
quoted at 3 pounds sterling, or about one-fifth of the sum obtained from
Mr. Barter's acre of mushrooms. Three months in the year the weather
does not favor outdoor culture, and these months Mr. Barter spends in
manufacturing brick spawn, which he exports to this and other countries.
Among those who have been very successful in indoor culture are Mr.
William Robinson, editor of the "London Garden," and Mr. Horace Cox,
manager of the "Field."
In America, where mushroom culture is still comparatively in its
infancy, there have already been obtained very encouraging results by
painstaking growers. Most of the cultivation has been in the northern
and midwestern States, where the climatic conditions seemed most
favorable to indoor culture. A few figures as to the revenue obtained in
this way may be interesting to readers.
An experienced Pennsylvania grower states that from a total area of
5,500 square feet of beds, made up in two mushroom houses, he obtained a
crop of 5,000 pounds of mushrooms in one season, or about one pound to
the square foot. These sold at an average of a little over 50 cents per
pound. A third house, with 19,000 square feet of beds, produced 2,800
pounds, or one and one-half pounds to the square foot. This house
yielded a net profit of one thousand dollars. This, however, can be
quoted only as showing the possibilities of careful culture by
experienced growers under very favorable circumstances. Amateurs could
scarcely expect such good results. Three-fourths of a pound to the
square foot would probably come nearer the average. A Philadelphia
grower gives the average price secured from fifty shipments of mushrooms
in one season at 54 cents per pound. New York dealers report higher
rates than this. A Washington florist who utilizes the lower shelves of
his propagating houses for the purpose of mushroom growing informed me
that during two seasons he received 60 cents per pound wholesale,
shipping to New York, and that he sold one thousand dollars worth in one
season. Mr. Denton, a market gardener of Long Island, who cultivates in
houses built for the purpose, markets from 1,700 to 2,500 pounds per
year.
Thus far the market is in the hands of a comparatively few dealers in
the neighborhood of large cities, but there is certainly no good reason
why the growing of mushrooms should not be more generally undertaken by
the farming community. Certainly no one has better facilities than are
at the command of the enterprising American farmer. On most farms the
conditions are favorable or could easily be made so for mushroom
culture, on a moderate scale, at least. Generally there are disused
sheds, old barns, etc., which with a small outlay could be transformed
into mushroom houses, and where timber is plentiful the cost of building
a small mushroom house would be repaid by the profits accruing from the
business.
In the culture of mushrooms there are open, to the enterprising with
small capital, four sources of profit: first, the sale of the fresh
mushrooms; second, the manufacture of mushroom catsup; third, the
canning of the small button mushroom for exportation; and, fourth, the
manufacture of spawn.
It is well in this, as in all new industries, to begin in a small way,
and if success is attained it is easy to extend operations on a larger
scale. My advice to amateurs is to begin with one or two beds in a
well-drained cellar or shed where good ventilation and even temperature
can be secured at moderate cost. In the underground cellar economy is
secured by the saving in fuel. The beds can be made on the floor, flat,
ridged or banked against the wall, ten or twelve inches deep in a warm
cellar, and from fifteen to twenty inches in a cool cellar. The boxing
for the sides and ends may be built six or eight inches higher than the
beds to give the mushrooms plenty of head room.
DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING THE COMPOST FOR THE BEDS.
Procure not less than a cartload of clean, fresh stable manure. Place it
under cover, to protect it from rain and drain water, mix well and heap
up the whole mass into a mound three feet high then beat the mound
firmly down to prevent undue heating. Repeat this operation every other
day until its rank smell is gone, taking care that on each turning the
outside dry manure is placed in the centre of the mound. By this means
the stable odor is dissipated while its heating properties are equally
distributed. Add to this from one-fourth to one-fifth of clean, rich
garden mould. Mix well. After this careful handling, the mass may be
considered fit for bedding purposes. When placed in the beds the mass
should be compacted again by beating with the back of a spade or trowel.
The bed surface should appear moist but not wet, smooth and of firm
consistence. From day to day it will be necessary to test its general
temperature by means of a thermometer. To this end make at various
places at different depths openings sufficiently large to admit the use
of a thermometer. It will be found that the temperature is highest
nearest the bottom. Test at various points. At first the temperature
will run high; 105 to 120 Fahrenheit is probably as high as it will
reach, but in a few days it will fall to 85 or 80 Fahrenheit. At this
point spawn the bed. For this purpose make holes in the top of the bed
about six inches apart and two inches deep with a blunt dibble or broom
handle. Place in these holes or openings a piece of brick spawn about
the size of a hen's egg, and cover the holes with manure; finish by
packing the same, keeping the surface of the bed smooth and moist. The
spawn should be slightly moistened before using. Should the surface of
the bed become dry, use water from a fine sprinkling pan. The
temperature of the cellar or house in which the bed may be placed should
range between 55 and 75, and should not be lower than 50. If the
spawn is good and all conditions attended to, the white filaments should
appear spreading through the bed within eight or ten days after
spawning. When the white spawn is observed on or near the surface, cover
the whole surface with from one to two inches of garden loam well
pulverized. A good general rule for spawning the bed is to wait until
the heat of the bed is on the decline and has fallen to at least 90
Fahrenheit. If the heat in the middle of the bed runs too high the
spawn is killed. The experience of a number of growers has shown that a
bed spawned at 60 to 80 and kept at 55 after the mushrooms appear
gives better results than one spawned at 90.
The quality of the manure makes some difference in its temperature. That
obtained from stables where horses are grass fed will be of lower normal
temperature and will chill quicker than that obtained from corn or oat
fed stock.
A solution of saltpeter in proportion of about fifteen grains to a quart
of water, occasionally spread over the bed with a fine hose, helps to
accelerate the growth of the mushrooms.
The proper condition of the manure as regards dryness or moistness can
be readily ascertained by squeezing it in the hand; it should be
unctuous enough to hold together in a lump, and so dry that you cannot
squeeze a drop of water out of it. Excessive moisture in the manure has
been often a cause of failure. It should be remembered also that when
the heat of the manure is on the decline it falls rapidly, five, often
ten degrees a day, till it reaches about 75, and between that and 65
it may rest for weeks.
One of the principal causes of the failure of mushroom culture in this
country is the use of old or poor spawn. Good spawn should have a fresh,
mushroomy odor, and a bluish-white appearance on the surface. In buying
spawn one should always go to reliable seedsmen.
COMPOST FOR MUSHROOM BEDS.
Sawdust has been used in England for mushroom beds, after having been
used for stable bedding, with very good results. It has also been used
successfully in the District of Columbia. In fact, the very large models
of cultivated mushrooms exhibited by the Division of Microscopy of the
Department of Agriculture at the World's Fair in Chicago were moulded
from mushrooms which were grown on the writer's premises, in a
composition of sawdust stable bedding, combined with about one-fourth
garden mould, but I am confident, at the same time, that much depends on
the kind of timber the sawdust is made from. In this case the sawdust
came from spruce.
MUSHROOM CULTURE IN CANADA.
A Canadian correspondent informs me that he, with others, has been very
successful in growing mushrooms in the open air during the summer months
in Canada, and gives the following directions for preparing the beds in
the colder latitudes:
Place under a shed such amount of clean stable manure as may be required
for the beds, turning it over and over until all free ammonia has
escaped and the tendency of undue fermentation and evolution of high
temperature has greatly modified. To effect this, it is necessary to
heap up the manure each time in a mound, say three feet high after
turning, and beat it firmly down (the exclusion of free air prevents
overheating). To put the manure in proper condition for use in the beds,
from two to four weeks' treatment may be required, but much depends on
the quality of the manure and temperature of the atmosphere. Before
making the beds, and several days after the last turning, test the
internal temperature of the mound in the following manner: Make a hole
with a broomstick through the mound from top to bottom, and suspend a
thermometer half way down in the hole for, say, an hour. The temperature
may be as high as 150 F. After the lapse of the time stated, beat the
mound more firmly down to prevent rise of temperature. Test again two
days after in the same manner. If the temperature has risen several
degrees the mound must be again taken down, turned over, and remade. If,
on the other hand, the temperature has fallen to 100 F., the permanent
bed may be made. If indoor growth is desired, such as a cellar,
outbuilding, or cave, the atmosphere must not fall below 50 F., nor be
over 80 F. Air drafts cannot be permitted. The floor must be dry and
the atmosphere moist. The cellar may be dark, or moderately light.
Growers differ in opinion in this respect. Growers generally add to the
manure about one-fourth or one-fifth garden soil, but success has been
attained without the use of garden soil, except as surface dressing
after spawning the bed; an excessive use of loam, in any case, tends to
lower the temperature too rapidly. Having prepared a box or frame-work
for the bed twelve inches deep, fill it up to within two inches of the
top; beat gently down with a board, or a brick, until it is even and
compact. On the following day make holes in the bed, with a dibble, ten
inches deep, in which suspend a thermometer half way down for an hour.
Should the temperature have fallen to 90 F., cover lightly with straw
and test on the following day. Should the temperature prove to be going
down, say to 80 F., or 85 F., it is safe to plant the spawn; but
should the temperature be on the rise, wait until it is falling. One
grower has stated that his greatest success has been when the spawn was
planted at the temperature of 75 F. Should the temperature fall too
quickly and the surface be too dry, sprinkle with water at blood heat,
using a very fine hose, and cover the bed with straw.
The spawn brick should be cut into pieces, about the size of an egg, and
planted in holes made in the bed, about two inches deep and about six
inches apart. The holes are then filled up and about two inches of
garden soil sifted over the surface of the bed. Tamp the bed surface
gently with the back of a spade. Mushrooms may be expected for table use
in about six or seven weeks, provided the spawn is good and the
temperature has not fallen below 50 F. In outdoor culture the beds must
be well covered with straw or canvas, and had better be under a shed
roof with southern exposure.
The spawn used by this grower is the "brick" spawn, imported from Carter
& Holborn, London, England.
CULTIVATION OF MUSHROOMS IN JAPAN.
The Japanese are very successful in cultivating a mushroom which they
call "Shiitake" or "Lepiota shiitake." China also produces the same
mushroom, but of an inferior quality. The Chinese therefore prefer the
mushroom cultivated by the Japanese, which they import from Japan in
large quantities. It is cultivated on a variety of trees, but is said to
grow best on the "Shiinoki," a species of oak (Quercus cuspidata).
There are three varieties of "Shiitake," the spring, summer, and autumn
crops differing somewhat in quality. The method of growing the
"Shiitake" is given by the Japanese Commissioner of Agriculture as
follows:
"Trees of from twenty to fifty years' growth are cut down at the
approach of winter when the sap has ceased to run, and after the lapse
of twenty or thirty days, according to the condition of the drying of
the wood, are sawed into logs of 4 or 5 feet in length. Into each of
these logs incisions are made with a hatchet, at intervals of about 6
inches, and they are piled regularly upon a frame-work erected at a
height of about 1 foot above the ground, under the trees. The location
of the ground selected for piling the logs should be the slopes of a
forest, facing southeast or southwest. After keeping the logs as above
described for from two to three years, they are immersed in water for
twenty-four hours in the middle of November, and again laid one upon
another for about four days; if it is in a cold district, the pile is
covered with straw or mats. At the expiration of the fourth day the logs
are obliquely tilted against poles fixed horizontally to the trees at a
height of about 4 feet in a well-ventilated and sunny situation. The
mushrooms soon appear in quantity, and, after twenty or thirty days'
growth, are ready for harvesting."
Recent reports of the Japanese Agricultural Department show the total
value of the annual export of "Shiitake" to be nearly five hundred
thousand "yen" (silver).
MANUFACTURE OF SPAWN.
As many tons of artificial spawn are yearly imported into this country,
it would seem that the manufacture of spawn in the United States might
prove a profitable form of investment.
"BRICK SPAWN."
For commercial purposes the English method of making the spawn into
bricks has some advantages over the French "flake" process. Its compact
and uniform shape makes the brick more convenient for storage and
general handling, and greatly facilitates its transportation to long
distances. Brick spawn is made in the following manner: Clean horse
droppings, cow manure, loam, and road sweepings are beaten up in a
mortar-like consistency and then formed into bricks, moulds being used,
slightly differing in shape with different makers, but usually thinner
and wider than common building bricks. The following proportions are
given: (1) Horse droppings the chief part; one-fourth cow dung;
remainder loam. (2) Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter for
the greater part; cow dung, one third; and the rest mould or loam. (3)
Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts. When about half dry,
depressions are made in the bricks, sometimes in the centre, and
sometimes in each corner, and small pieces of good spawn are placed in
these depressions, and plastered over with the material of the brick.
The cakes are then laid out to dry, standing on their edges, and when
nearly dry are piled in pairs with the spawn-larded surfaces face to
face. The bricks are then stacked away, and covered with sweet
fermenting litter, sufficiently to cause a heat of 60 F. It should not
be over 70 F. One spawn manufacturer says that the most rapid and
successful growth of the mycelium is attained when the temperature is
from 63 F. to 67 F. The bricks are examined frequently during the
process, and when the mycelium of the old spawn has permeated the whole
mass like a fine white mould, the bricks are taken out and dried in a
well-ventilated dark place. They are then placed in a cool, dark
storehouse, where they are not subject to dampness and where the
temperature is about 50 F., not over 65 or below 35 F. Slight
ventilation is necessary, but not enough to make the bricks dust-dry.
Keeping the spawn dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again
submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat, its pristine
activity returns. Dampness, combined with heat, stimulates the growth of
mycelium; frost also destroys the vitality of the spawn. It is evident,
therefore, that these conditions should not exist in the store-room.
One manufacturer advocates piling the bricks, after spawning, on a clay
floor, packing closely four bricks deep, and covering them with sifted
loam. By this method it is claimed that danger of "fire fang" will be
avoided, as the bricks will be kept at a perfectly uniform temperature
of about 60 or 66, which causes the spawn to run quickly and
uniformly. In from four to six weeks they are ready to take out and dry
for use or storage.
The French or "Flake" spawn comes in light masses of loose, dry litter.
It is obtained in the following way: A bed is made up as if for
mushrooms in the ordinary way, and spawned with "virgin" spawn, and when
the bed is thoroughly impregnated with spawn, it is broken up and set
aside to dry. This spawn is usually sold in small boxes, containing from
two to five pounds, but it also can be obtained in bulk when it is
purchased by weight. The French or "flake" spawn is much more expensive
than the English or "brick" spawn. It is claimed by some very successful
growers, who have tried both, that the brick spawn produces heavier and
fleshier mushrooms than the French "flake."
"MILL TRACK" SPAWN.
"Mill track" spawn was formerly considered the best in England, but
since horse power has given place to steam power in the mills there is
now no further supply of mill track, and it is practically superseded by
the "brick" spawn. The real "mill track" is the natural spawn that has
spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse droppings in mill
tracks, or the sweepings from mill tracks.
SPAWN PRODUCED IN A MANURE HEAP.
During the past year I have made some experiments in the pine and oak
woods of Hynesboro' Park, Maryland, with relation to spawn culture, an
account of which may prove of interest to students in this line of
investigation. Several loads of stable manure and oak-leaf bedding were
well mixed and formed into a mound about three feet in height, having a
diameter of six feet, and tapering to about four inches in depth at the
outer edge. The mass was quite moist and slightly tamped to give it
general consistency. It was exposed to the open air, without protection,
during the months of September, October, and November. In the meantime,
frequent rains occurred. On examination it was found that the rains did
not penetrate to a depth of more than four inches. On opening up the
centre of the mound, it was observed that the portion thus exposed
consisted of highly decomposed leaves, and presented a white mass of
matted, "burned" mycelium. It was evident that the temperature at that
point had risen considerably above 100 Fahr. The mycelium was,
doubtless, produced in abundance before the temperature reached 100
Fahr. and became scorched as the temperature increased. On examining the
outer edges, where the depth was only twelve inches, I found an
abundance of mycelium which did not show any appearance of having been
scorched by undue temperature. Since no mycelium had been added to the
mound, it is evident that the spores which produced it must have been
present, although unobserved, and awaiting only the proper conditions
for development, _i. e._, for budding and the production of mycelium. At
the end of the third month, groups of the common meadow mushroom,
Agaricus campestris, together with some fine examples of Tricholoma
terreum, an edible mushroom, common to these woods, appeared on the
edges of the mound.
APPENDIX A.
CONTINUATION OF GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING MUSHROOMS.
_Maculate_, spotted.
_Marginate_, having a distinct border.
_Matrix_, the substance upon which a mushroom grows.
_Medial_, at the middle; of the ring of a mushroom which is between
superior or near the apex of the stem, and distant or far removed from
the apex.
_Merismoid_, having a branched or laciniate pileus.
_Moniliform_, contracted at intervals in the length, like a string of
beads.
_Multifid_, having many divisions.
_Multipartite_, divided into many parts.
_Mycelium_, the delicate threads proceeding from the germinating spores,
usually white and popularly termed spawn.
_Narrow_, of very slight vertical width.
_Netted_, covered with projecting reticulated lines.
_Nucleus_, the reproductive germ in the spore.
_Obconic_, inversely conical.
_Obcordate_, like an inverted heart.
_Oblique_, slanting.
_Oblong_, longer than broad.
_Obovate_, inversely egg-shaped, broadest at the apex.
_Obtuse_, blunt or rounded.
_Ochrospore_, ochre-colored spore.
_Orbicular_, having the form of an orb.
_Order_, group of a classification intermediate between tribe and
family.
_Ostiole_, _ostiolum_, mouth of the perithecium; orifice through which
the spores are discharged.
_Ovate_, egg-shaped.
_Pallid_, pale, undecided color.
_Papillate_, _papillose_, covered with soft tubercles.
_Paraphyses_, sterile cells found with the reproductive cells of some
plants.
_Parasitic_, growing on and deriving support from another plant.
_Partial_, of a veil clothing the stem and reaching to the edge of the
cap but not extending beyond it.
_Patent_, spreading.
_Pectinate_, toothed like a comb.
_Pedicel_, foot-stock.
_Pedicillate_, having a pedicel.
_Pelliculose_, furnished with a pellicle or distinct skin.
_Penciled_, with pencil-like hairs either on the tip or border.
_Peridium_, general covering of a puff-ball, simple or double, dehiscent
or indehiscent at maturity.
_Perithecia_, bottle-like receptacles containing asci.
_Peronate_, used when the stem has a distinct stocking-like coat.
_Persistent_, inclined to hold firm, tenacious.
_Pervious_, forming an open tube-like passage.
_Pileate_, having a cap.
_Pileoli_, secondary pilei; arising from a division of the primary
pileus.
_Pileus_, the cap, receptacle, or one part of a mushroom; other parts
are the stem and gills.
_Pilose_, covered with hairs.
_Pits_, depressions in cells or tubes resembling pores, applied also to
hollow depressions in the surface of the cap of the morel.
_Plumose_, feathery.
_Pore_, orifice of the tubes of polypores.
_Poriform_, in the form of pores.
_Porous_, having pores.
_Powdery_, covered with bloom or powder.
_Projecting_, the anterior end jutting out beyond the margin.
_Proliferous_, applied to an organ which gives rise to secondary ones of
the same kind.
_Pruinose_, covered with frost-like bloom.
_Pruniform_, plum-shaped.
_Pubescent_, downy.
_Pulverulent_, covered with dust.
_Pulvinate_, cushion-shaped.
_Punctate_, dotted with points.
_Pyriform_, pear-shaped.
_Quaternate_, arranged in groups of four.
_Receptacle_, a part of the mushroom extremely varied in form,
consistency, and size, inclosing the organs of reproduction.
_Remote_, when the margin of the gill comes to an end before reaching
the stem.
_Reniform_, kidney-shaped.
_Repand_, bent backwards.
_Resupinate_, of mushrooms spread over the matrix without any stem and
with the hymenium upwards; inverted by twisting of the stalk.
_Reticulate_, marked with cross lines like the meshes of a net.
_Revolute_, rolled backwards; of the margin of a cap, the opposite of
involute.
_Rhodospore_, rose or pink spore.
_Rimose_, cracked.
_Ring_, a part of the veil adhering to the stem of a mushroom in the
shape of a ring.
_Rivulose_, marked with lines like rivulets.
_Rubiginous_, rust colored.
_Rufescent_, reddish in color.
_Rugose_, wrinkled.
APPENDIX B.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Hollis Webster, Secretary of the Boston
Mycological Club, the following list of mushrooms, which have been
collected and eaten by members of that club during the past year, has
been supplied to me:
AMANITA.
A. _Caesarea_ Scop., "True Orange."
A. _rubescens_ Persoon.
A. _vaginata_ Bull.
LEPIOTA.
L. _procera_ Scop., "Parasol Mushroom."
L. _rachodes_ Vilt.
L. _Americana_ Pk.
L. _naucinoides_.
ARMILLARIA.
A. _mellea_ Vahl, "Honey Mushroom."
TRICHOLOMA.
T. _equestre_ L.
T. _sejunctum_ Low, "Yellow Blusher."
T. _portentosum_ Fr.
T. _coryphacum_ Fr.
T. _russula_ Schaeff.
T. _columbetta_ Fr.
T. _gambosum_ Fr., "St. George's Mushroom."
T. _personatum_.
T. _nudum_.
HYGROPHORUS.
H. _virgineus_ Fr.
H. _fuligineus_ Frost.
H. _flavo discus_ Frost, "Yellow Sweet-Bread."
H. _hypothejus_ Fr.
H. _puniceus_ Fr.
LACTARIUS.
L. _piperatus_ Fr.
L. _deliciosus_ Fr.
L. _volemus_ Fr.
RUSSULA.
R. _virescens_ Fr.
R. _lepida_ Fr.
R. _punctata_ Gt.
R. _aurata_ Fr.
R. _ochracea_ Fr.
R. _alutacea_ Fr.
CANTHARELLUS.
C. _cibarius_ Fr.
C. _umbonatus_ Fr.
MARASMIUS.
M. _oreades_ Fr., "Fairy Ring."
M. _scorodonius_ Fr.
M. _alliaceus_ Fr.
HYPHOLOMA.
H. _sublateritium_ Schaeff.
H. _candolleanum_ Fr.
H. _perplexum._
H. _appendiculatum_ Bull.
COPRINUS.
C. _comatus_ Fr., "Shaggy Mane."
C. _ovatus_ Fr.
C. _atramentarius_.
C. _micaceus_ Fr.
C. _fimetarius_ Fr.
CORTINARIUS.
C. _turmalis_ Fr.
C. _sebaceus_ Fr.
C. _caerulescens_ Fr.
C. _collinitus_ Fr.
C. _violaceus_ Fr.
C. _albo violaceus_ Pers.
C. _cinnamomeus_ Fr.
C. _cinnamomeus_ var. _semi-sanguineus_ Fr.
CLITOCYBE.
C. _clavipes_ Fr.
C. _odora_ Fr.
C. _dealbata_ Low.
C. _laccata_ Scop.
C. _multiceps_ Pk.
C. _infundibuliformis_ Schaeff.
COLLYBIA.
C. _dryophila_ Bull.
C. _velutipes_ Curt.
PLEUROTUS.
P. _ostreatus_ Fr.
P. _sapidus_ Kalch.
P. _ulmarius_ Fr., Elm-tree Mushroom.
P. _pluteus cervinus_ Schaeff.
CLITOPILUS.
C. _prunulus_ Scop.
C. _orcella_ Bull.
C. _unitinctus_ Pk.
C. _Seymourianus_ Pk.
PHOLIOTA.
P. _caperata_ Pers., "The Gypsy."
P. _praecox_ (when too old is bitter).
P. _adiposa_.
AGARICUS (Psalliota).
A. _arvensis_.
A. _cretaceus_ Fr.
A. _campester_ L.
A. _silvicola_ Vilt.
SPARASSIS.
S. _crispa_ Fr.
CLAVARIA.
(Any and all Clavarias found are generally eaten by us without
identification).
C. _botrytes_ Pers.
C. _amethystina_ Bull.
C. _coralloides_ L.
C. _cinerea_ Bull.
C. _aurea_ Schaeff.
C. _rugosa_ Bull.
C. _pistillaris_ L.
LYCOPERDON.
L. _cyathiforme_ Bose.
L. _giganteum_ Batsch.
L. _pyriforme_ Schaeff.
L. _saccatum_ Fr.
MORCHELLA.
M. _esculenta_ Bull.
M. _conica_ Pers.
PEZIZA.
P. _aurantia_ Vahl.
STROBILOMYCES.
S. _strobilaceus_ Berk.
FISTULINA.
F. _hepatica_ Fr., "Beef Steak Mushroom."
POLYPORUS.
P. _betulinus_ Fr. (coriaceous when old).
P. _sulphureus_ Fr.
HYDNUM.
H. _imbricatum_ L.
H. _repandum_ L.
H. _caput-medusae_ Bull.
Also thirteen of the Boleti.
STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK
OF
MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.
BY
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.
Published in Serial Form--=No. 3=--Price, 50c. per number.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E.
1897.
[Illustration: Plate E.
THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.]
PLATE E.
Plate E illustrates various forms and positions of the annulus or ring
characteristic of certain species of mushrooms, together with the
cortina or veil of which the ring, if present, is the remnant, in some
species, either as it appears entire or as a fringe on the margin of the
cap, contrasting these forms with a sectional view of a species in which
the veil or ring is always wanting.
Fig. 1. Ring broad, reflexed or deflexed, or both; situated high up on
the stem, as in _Armillaria mellea_.
Fig. 2. Ring situated about midway of the stem, deflexed and pendulous
as in _Amanita muscaria_.
Fig. 3. Ring about half midway of the stem, split, and radiating
outwards, as in _Agaricus arvensis_.
Fig. 4. Ring drooping.
Fig. 5. Ring persistent, movable, wholly detached, in age, from the tall
and slender stem, upon which it easily slips up and down. A species of
great beauty, _Lepiota procera_.
Fig. 6. Ring narrow, scarcely perceptible above the middle of the stem;
remnants of the veil adhering to the margin of the cap as a fugacious
web.
Fig. 7. Ring generally wanting--_Tricholoma nudum_. Remnants of the veil
seen on the margin of the cap.
Fig. 8. Remnants of the veil appearing on the margin of the cap as a
fringe, and particularly on the stem as a mere fibrillose zone of a
darker color as in the _Cortinarii_.
Fig. 9. Plant exhibiting the cortina unbroken, the extremities of its
delicate arachnoid threads attached to cap and stem, respectively.
Fig. 10. Section of a Russula, in which genus the ring is always
wanting; veil none.
[Illustration: Plate F.
THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, D. C.]
PLATE F.
Plate F illustrates by section or otherwise various forms of these
gill-like processes characteristic of species, considered either with
regard to marginal outline or position of their posterior extremity:
Fig. 1. Gills distant.
Fig. 2. Gills crowded.
Fig. 3. Gills flexuose.
Fig. 4. Gills unequal.
Fig. 5. Bifurcated.
Fig. 6. Anastomosing veins.
Fig. 6a. Sectional view.
Fig. 7. Gills narrow.
Fig. 8. Gills broad.
Fig. 9. Lanceolate.
Fig. 10. Ventricose.
Fig. 11. Anteriorly rounded.
Fig. 12. Posteriorly rounded.
Fig. 13. Emarginate.
Fig. 14. Emarginate and denticulate.
Copyright, 1897, by
Thomas Taylor, M. D.,
and
A. R. Taylor.
AGARICINI.
_Subgenus Hypholoma_. Hymenophore continuous with the stem, veil woven
into a fugacious web, which adheres to the margin of the pileus. Gills
adnate or sinuate; spores brownish purple, sometimes intense purple,
almost black.--M. C. Cooke.
This subgenus has been divided into the following five groups:
1. Fasciculares.--Pileus smooth, tough, bright colored when dry, not
hygrophanous. Examples, Ag. (Hypholoma) _sublateritius_ and Ag.
(Hypholoma) _fascicularis_.
2. Viscidi.--Pileus naked, viscid. Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _oedipus_.
3. Velutini.--Pileus silky, with innate fibrils. Example, Ag.
(Hypholoma) _velutinus_.
4. Flocculosi.--Pileus clad with floccose superficial evanescent scales.
Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _cascus_.
5. Appendiculati.--Pileus smooth and hygrophanous. Example, Ag.
(Hypholoma) _Candollianus_.
The species are not numerous. They are generally either gregarious or
caespitose, and are often found in clusters upon tree stumps, or
springing from the buried roots of stumps. A few species are found in
short grass in open places; but few are recorded as edible, and one, H.
_fascicularis_, has been classed as deleterious by Berkeley, Cooke, and
some of the earlier authors. I find, however, no authenticated case of
poisoning by this species, and, indeed, have as yet found no species of
Hypholoma which could be satisfactorily identified as H. fascicularis.
The few species of Hypholoma which I have tested have been palatable,
and one or two are of very delicate flavor.
[Illustration: Plate VIII.
EDIBLE
Agaricus (Hypholoma) _sublateritius_ Fries (Hypholoma sublatertium)
"Brick Top."
Group from Seabrooke Woods, Md.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE VIII.
=Ag. (Hypholoma) sublateritius= Schaeff. "_Red Tuft_." (=Hypholoma
sublateritium=) "_The Brick Top_."
EDIBLE.
The cap of this species is fleshy and obtuse, convexo-plane, sometimes
showing a superficial whitish cloudiness upon the margin coming from the
veil, which soon disappears, leaving it smooth and dry; color tawny
brick red, with pale straw margin; flesh compact and whitish, turning
yellow when wilted. Stem stuffed and fibrillose, tapering downward. Near
its attachment to the cap the color is very light yellow; lower down and
towards the root it is covered with patches and lines of burnt sienna
color. It bears no distinct ring. In very young plants the filmy veil is
sometimes perceived, reaching from the margin of the cap to the stem.
This disappears as the cap expands, sometimes leaving the stem obscurely
annulate. Gills adnate in full-grown specimens, slightly decurrent,
somewhat crowded, dingy white or cinereous, turning to dark olive, never
yellow; in old or wilted specimens changing to a dark brown. In old
specimens the cap is a reddish brown and the gills are sometimes stained
with the purplish brown of the spores.
This is a very common species and very abundant in pine and oak woods. I
have seen an oak stump in Prince George's County, Md., measuring from 3
to 4 feet in height, literally covered with mushrooms of this species.
This mushroom has been recorded as suspicious by some writers, probably
owing to its slightly bitter taste, but I have thoroughly tested its
edible qualities, both uncooked and prepared in various ways for the
table, using the caps only. It keeps well when dried, and when ground
into powder, with the addition of boiling water and a little pepper and
salt, makes a very pleasant and nutritious beverage. It is most abundant
in the early autumn, and is gathered in this latitude well into the
winter, even when the snow is on the ground.
Our American plant is less heavy and more graceful in aspect than the
same species in England, as figured in English works, but the general
characteristics are the same.
Ag. (Hypholoma) _fascicularis_ Hudson, recorded as deleterious, is
figured in "Cooke's Illustrations."
Dr. Berkeley thus distinguishes these two species from each other. Cap
of _sublateritius_ is obtuse, discoid; that of _fascicularis_,
subumbonate. Flesh of the former, compact, dingy-white; that of the
latter, yellow. Stem in _sublateritius_ is "stuffed," attenuated
downwards, ferruginous; stem of _fascicularis_ hollow, thin, flexuose.
The gills in both species are adnate, crowded; but in _fascicularis_
they are also linear and deliquescent, and are _yellow_ in color.
NOTE.--In the Friesian arrangement of the genera of the order Agaricini,
which is adopted by M. C. Cooke, Hypholoma finds place as a subgenus of
the genus Agaricus, spore series Pratelli. Saccardo in his Sylloge
elevates Hypholoma to the rank of a separate genus and places it in his
spore series Melanosporae.
[Illustration: Plate IX.
EDIBLE
Agaricus (Hypholoma) _Candollianus_, Fries., variety _incertus_ Peck
Figured from specimens collected in the District of Columbia
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE IX.
=Agaricus (Hypholoma) incertus= Peck. (_Hypholoma incertum_.)
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy but fragile, smooth and hygrophanous, moist; at first convex,
then expanding; color creamy white. Gills adnate, narrow, crowded,
whitish in young specimens, turning to a pinkish dun color, later to a
rosy cinnamon, sometimes showing when mature a slightly purplish tint.
Stem smooth, slender, long and hollow, with slight striations near the
apex, white. Specimens occur in which the stem is obscurely annulate
arising from the attachment to it of fragments of the veil, but usually
it is ringless.
The typical species of Hypholoma have the fleshy part of the cap
confluent with the stem, but in H. _incertum_ the stem is not confluent
and is easily separated from the cap as in the Lepiotas. This mushroom
was first recorded by Peck in his early reports as the variety
"_incertus_" of the species Agaricus (Hypholoma) Candollianus, but has
since been recorded by Saccardo as a distinct species, Hypholoma
incertum.
Two species of Hypholoma have the same habit and sufficiently resemble
_incertum_ to be taken for it, if not carefully examined as to points of
difference. These are H. _Candollianum_, named in honor of A. De
Candolle, and H. _appendiculatum_. In the first named of these two
species the cap is whitish, the gills at first violet in color, changing
to dark cinnamon brown. In H. appendiculatum the pileus is rugose when
dry, and sprinkled with atoms. It is darker in color than that of H.
incertum; Cooke says tawny or pale ochre; Massee says bay, then tawny.
The gills are sub-adnate, in color resembling those of H. incertum; stem
slender, smooth, and white.
From the foregoing it will be seen that H. _incertum_ agrees more nearly
with H. _Candollianum_ in the color of the cap, but more nearly with H.
_appendiculatum_ in the color of the gills. Saccardo recognizes the
three as "distinct species of the _genus Hypholoma_." As all are edible,
the slight differences observed are interesting chiefly to the
mycologist. The mycophagist will find them equally valuable from a
gastronomic point of view. In taste they resemble the common mushroom.
They are more fragile, however, and require less cooking than the
cultivated mushroom. Broiled on toast or cooked for ten minutes in a
chafing dish, they make a very acceptable addition to the lunch menu.
The specimens figured in Plate IX were selected from a crop of thirty or
more growing in the author's garden, in very rich soil at the base of a
plum-tree stump. For several seasons past small crops have been gathered
from the same spot, as well as around the base of a flourishing peach
tree. Quantities of all three species have been gathered in the short
grass of the Capitol grounds for a number of seasons, and in the various
parks of the District of Columbia. Specimens have been received from
western New York and Massachusetts. Those growing upon soil very heavily
fertilized are apt to be somewhat stouter and shorter stemmed than those
coming up through the short grass in the parks.
ANALYTICAL TABLE.
The following compendious analytical table showing prominent
characteristics of the leading genera and subgenera of the order
Agaricini, according to Fries, Worthington Smith, and other botanists,
which appears in Cooke's Hand Book, revised edition, will be found
helpful to the collector in determining the genus to which a specimen
may belong.
ORDER AGARICINI
I. Spores white or very slightly tinted--Leucospori
1. Plant fleshy, more or less firm, putrescent (neither
deliquescent nor coriaceous)
2. Hymenophore free
3. Pileus bearing warts or patches free from the
cuticle (volvate) _Amanita_
3. Pileus scaly, scales concrete with the cuticle
(not volvate) _Lepiota_
2. Hymenophore confluent
4. Without cartilaginous bark
5. Stem central
6. With a ring _Armillaria_
6. Ringless
7. Gills sinuate _Tricholoma_
7. Gills decurrent
8. Edge acute _Clitocybe_
8. Edge swollen obtuse CANTHARELLUS
7. Gills adnate
9. Parasitic on other Agarics NYCTALIS
9. Not parasitic
10. Milky LACTARIUS
10. Not milky
11. Rigid and brittle RUSSULA
11. Waxy HYGROPHORUS
5. Stem lateral or absent _Pleurotus_
4. With cartilaginous bark
12. Gills adnate _Collybia_
12. Gills sinuate _Mycena_
12. Gills decurrent _Omphalia_
1. Plant tough, coriaceous or woody
13. Stem central.
14. Gills simple MARASMIUS
14. Gills branched XEROTUS
13. Stem lateral or wanting
15. Gills toothed LENTINUS
15. Gills not toothed PANUS
15. Gills channelled longitudinally or crisped TROGIA
15. Gills splitting longitudinally SCHIZOPHYLLUM
15. Gills anastomosing LENZITES
II. Spores rosy or salmon color--Hyporhodii
16. Without cartilaginous bark
17. Hymenophore free
18. With a volva _Volvaria_
18. Without a volva
19. With a ring _Annularia_
19. Ringless _Pluteus_
17. Hymenophore confluent, not free
20. Stem central
21. Gills adnate or sinuate _Entoloma_
21. Gills decurrent _Clitopilus_
20. Stem lateral or absent _Claudopus_
16. With cartilaginous bark
22. Gills decurrent _Eccilia_
22. Gills not decurrent
23. Pileus torn into scales _Leptonia_
23. Pileus papillose, sub-campanulate.
24. Gills membranaceous, persistent _Nolanea_
24. Gills sub-deliquescent BOLBITIUS
III. Spores brownish, sometimes rusty, reddish or
yellowish brown.--Dermini.
25. Without cartilaginous bark.
26. Stem central.
27. With a ring.
28. Ring continuous _Pholiota_
28. Ring arachnoid, like a spider's
web filamentous or evanescent.
29. Gills adnate terrestrial CORTINARIUS
29. Gills decurrent, or acutely adnate,
mostly epiphytal, _Flammula_
27. Without a ring.
30. With rudimentary volva _Acetabularia_
30. Without a volva.
31. Gills adhering to the hymenophore,
and sinuate.
32. Cuticle fibrillose or silky _Inocybe_
32. Cuticle smooth viscid _Hebeloma_
31. Gills separating from the
hymenophore, and decurrent, PAXILLUS
26. Stem lateral or absent _Crepidotus_
25. With cartilaginous bark.
33. Gills decurrent _Tubaria_
33. Gills not decurrent.
34. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Naucoria_
34. Margin of pileus always straight.
35. Hymenophore free _Pluteolus_
35. Hymenophore confluent _Galera_
IV. Spores purple, sometimes brownish purple, dark purple,
or dark brown.--Pratellae.
36. Without cartilaginous bark.
37. Hymenophore free.
38. With a volva _Chitonia_
38. Without a volva _Psalliota_
37. Hymenophore confluent.
39. Veil normally ring shaped on the stem _Stropharia_
39. Veil normally adhering to the margin of
the pileus _Hypholoma_
36. With cartilaginous bark.
40. Gills decurrent _Deconica_
40. Gills not decurrent.
41. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Psilocybe_
41. Margin of pileus at first straight _Psathyra_
V. Spores black or nearly so.--Coprinarii.
42. Gills deliquescent COPRINUS
42. Gills not deliquescent.
43. Gills decurrent GOMPHIDIUS
43. Gills not decurrent.
44. Pileus striate _Psathyrella_
44. Pileus not striate _Panaeolus_
In the Friesian classification which, with modifications, has prevailed
for many years among mycologists, the _genus Agaricus_ included in its
_subgenera_ the greater part of the species of the order _Agaricini_.
The subgenera, printed in the above table in italics, were included in
this genus. The genera are printed in capitals. In the Saccardian
system, all the _subgenera_ of _Agaricus_ having been elevated to
_generic_ rank, the term Agaricus is limited to a very small group which
includes the _subgenus Psalliota_ of Fries, the species being
characterized by fleshy caps, free gills, ringed stem, and dark brown or
purplish brown spores. As restricted, it naturally falls into the spore
series _Melanosporeae._
In the white-spored section, Leucospori, the recorded edible species
occur in the following genera: Marasmius, Cantharellus, Lactarius,
Russula, Hygrophorus, Collybia, Pleurotus, Clitocybe, Tricholoma,
Armillaria, Lepiota, and Amanita. The plants of Marasmius are usually
thin and dry, reviving with moisture. Cantharellus is characterized by
the obtuseness of the edges of the lamellae, Lactarius by the copious
milky or sticky fluid which exudes from the plants when cut or bruised.
Russula is closely allied to Lactarius, and the plants bear some
resemblance in external appearance to those of that genus, but they are
never milky, and the gills are usually rigid and brittle. In Hygrophorus
the plants are moist, not very large, often bright colored, and the
gills have a waxy appearance. The Collybias are usually caespitose, the
stems exteriorly cartilaginous, in some species swelling and splitting
open in the centre.
In Pleurotus the stem is lateral or absent. The plants are epiphytal,
usually springing from the decaying bark of trees and old stumps.
In Clitocybe the plants are characterized by a deeply depressed, often
narrow cap, with the gills acutely adnate, or running far down the stem,
which is elastic, with a fibrous outer coat covered with minute fibers.
Many of the species have a fragrant odor. The Tricholomas are stout and
fleshy, somewhat resembling the Russulas, but distinguished from them by
the sinuate character of the gills, which show a slight notched or
toothed depression just before reaching the stem (represented in Fig. 4,
Plate IV). Typical species of Armillaria show a well-defined ring and
scales upon the stem, the remains of the partial veil, and the plants
are usually large, and caespitose. The Lepiotas are recognized by the
soft, thready character of the fleshy portion of the cap, and the
fringed scales formed by the breaking of the cuticle. The ease with
which the ringed stem is removed from its socket in the cap is another
characteristic which distinguishes the plants from those of other
genera.
The Amanitas are distinguished by the volva, which sheathes the somewhat
bulbous stem at its base and the ring and veil which in the young plant
are very distinct features, the whole plant in embryo being enveloped in
the volva.
The Amanita group, besides containing some very good edible species, is
also credited with containing the most dangerous species of all the
mushroom family, and some which are undoubtedly fatal in their
effects.[A]
[A] A more detailed description of this group will appear in No. 5 of
this series.
The Nyctali are minute mushrooms parasitic on other mushrooms.
In Omphalia, the plants are quite small, with membranaceous caps, gills
truly decurrent, and cartilaginous stems.
The Myceneae are generally very small, slender, and fragile, usually
caespitose, with bell-shaped caps, sinuate gills, not decurrent, and
cartilaginous stems. In some species the plants exude a milky juice.
In the genera Panus, Lentinus, Lenzites, Schizophyllum, Xerotus, and
Trogia, the plants are leathery or coriaceous, dry and tough, and though
none are recorded as poisonous, they are too tough to be edible.
The mushrooms having pink or salmon colored spores, section Rhodosporii,
form the smallest of the four primary groups of Agaricini, the number of
known species not exceeding 400, and most of these are tasteless, or of
disagreeable odor, while some are recorded as unwholesome.
The species are pink-gilled when mature, though often white or whitish
when very young.
The recorded edible species are found in Volvaria, Clitopilus, and
Pluteus. The Volvariae are characterized by the very large and perfect
volva which wraps the base of the stem in loose folds, the ringless
stem, and the pink, soft, liquescent gills, which are free and rounded
behind. The cap is not warted; in some species it is viscid, and in
_bombycinus_, recorded by several authors as edible, and by some as
doubtful, it is covered with a silky down.
In Clitopilus the odor of the edible species is more or less mealy. The
cap is fleshy, and the margin at first involute. Two edible species
which closely resemble each other--viz., Clitopilus _prunulus_, "Plum
mushroom," and Clitopilus _orcella_, "Sweetbread mushroom,"--are highly
recommended for their delicacy of flavor.
In Leptonia most of the species are small, thin, and brittle,
corresponding with Mycena in the white-spored series, and with Psathyra
and Psathyrella in the dark-spored series.
Eccilia corresponds with Omphalia. Claudopus corresponds with Pleurotus
in its habit of growth and lateral stem, differing in the color of the
spores.
Annularia includes only a few small species having a ringed stem, no
volva, and free pink gills. Cooke says of this subgenus that no British
species are known.
The recorded species of Pluteus have their habitat on tree stumps,
sawdust, or upon fallen timber. One species, Pluteus _cervinus_, is
recorded as edible, but not specially commended. Of Entoloma,
Worthington Smith says, "It is allied to Tricholoma, though most of the
species are thinner and often brittle. It agrees also in structure with
Hebeloma and Hypholoma." None of the species are recorded as having
value as esculents.
The genus Bolbitius is described by Cooke as a small genus intermediate
between Agaricus and Coprinus on the one side, and Coprinus and
Cortinarius on the other. The species are small and ephemeral. Saccardo
places Bolbitius in his division Melanosporae, although the spores are
ochraceous.
In the section Pratelli Psalliota and Hypholoma contain mushrooms which
are of exceptionally fine flavor. In the first of these is found the
common field mushroom Agaricus campester and its allies.
The black-spored section Coprinarii contains two genera which include a
few recorded edible species, viz., Coprinus and Gomphidius. The
Psathyrellas correspond in size to the Mycenas in the white-spored
series and to the Psathyras in the purple-spored section; the gills are
free or adnate and turn black when mature. None of the species are
edible.
In Paneolus the plants are somewhat viscid when moist, the gills are
described as "clouded, never becoming purple or brown." They are usually
found on manure heaps near cities. None are edible.
Saccardo in his Sylloge combines the Pratellae and Coprinarii, making of
them one section which he calls _Melanosporeae_.
G. Massee, the British mycologist, makes of the black-spored and the
purple and purplish-brown spored series two divisions, calling them,
respectively, _Porphyrosporeae_ and _Melanosporeae_.
The recorded edible species of the spore section Dermini are found in
Pholiota, Cortinarius, and Paxillus. The larger proportion of the
Pholiotas grow upon tree stumps. They have a fugacious, persistent
friable ring, and are liable to be confused with the Cortinarii, unless
attention is paid to the spidery veil and the iron-rust tint of the
spores of the latter. Only a few of the species are recorded as edible,
but none are known to be poisonous. Cortinarius is a large genus. It
contains a larger proportion of edible species than Pholiota, and none
are recorded as poisonous. The cobweb-like veil which extends from stem
to margin of cap in the young species, and the rust-colored spores which
dust the gills as the species mature, distinguish the genus from all
others.
A characteristic feature of Paxillus, and one which makes it easily
distinguishable from others of the same group, is the ease with which
the gills as a whole can be separated from the substance or fleshy
portion of the cap. There is an exception to this in the species
Paxillus involutus, recorded by Peck as edible.
POLYPOREI.
Hymenium lining the cavity of tubes or pores which are sometimes broken
up into teeth or concentric plates.--Berkeley's Outlines.
The plants of this second primary group or order of the family
Hymenomycetes exhibit a greater dissimilarity of form and texture than
do those of the Agaricini. Some of its genera consist almost wholly of
coriaceous or woody plants. A few contain fleshy ones. Some of the
species have a distinct stem, while others are stemless. With regard to
the receptacle in the plants of the genera _Boletus_, _Strobilomyces_,
etc., it forms a perfect cap, like that of the common Agaric, a cushion
of tubes taking the place of gills on the under surface of the cap, the
hymenium in this case lining the inner surface of the tubes from which
the spores drop when mature.
In some species, such as those of the genus Poria, the receptacle is
reduced to a single thin fibrous stratum, adhering closely to the matrix
and exposing a surface of crowded pores, and in others it consists of
fibrous strata formed in concentric layers.
A number of groups, each of which was treated in the original Friesian
classification as a single genus, have more recently been recognized as
comprising several distinct genera. In the Saccardian system the genera
Trametes, Daedalea, Merulius, Porothelium, and Fistulina still retain the
generic rank assigned to them by Fries, but the old genus Boletus is
subdivided into four genera, Boletus, Strobilomyces, Boletinus, and
Gyrodon, while Polyporus, originally a very large genus, is subdivided
into the genera Polyporus, Fomes, Polystictus, and Poria. This
arrangement was in part suggested by Fries in his later works, and is
accepted by M. C. Cooke, as indicated in his latest work on fungi.
Quoting M. C. Cooke, "_Strobilomyces_ is _Boletus_ with a rough warty
and scaly pileus; _Boletinus_ is _Boletus_ with short, large radiating
pores; and _Gyrodon_ is _Boletus_ with elongated sinuate irregular
pores, all fleshy, firm fungi of robust habit, possessing stem and cap."
The species of the genus Polyporus as now restricted are somewhat fleshy
in the young stage, shrinking as they mature and dry, and becoming
indurated with age. In Fomes the species, of woody consistency from the
first, have no room for shrinkage, and are quite rigid; the tubes being
in strata, and the strata growing yearly, the species are virtually
perennial. The pileus of the plant shows a rigid polished crust
resulting from resinous exudations.
In Polystictus the plants are usually small, thin, tough, and irregular
in outline, the tubes exceedingly short, with thin walls, which easily
split up, giving the pores at times a toothed or fringed appearance. The
surface is velvety, or hairy, and zoned in varying colors. They are very
common upon decaying tree stumps, often covering the surface of the
stump in gaily colored layers. Not esculent.
Poria is composed of resupinate species with the pores normally in a
single series, the whole stratum spread over, and adhering to the
matrix. The species are coriaceous or woody. Not esculent.
The plants of the genus Trametes allied to Fomes are epiphytal, with the
trama the same in substance and color as the hymenophore. The tubes do
not form in regular strata, but are sunk into the substance of the
pileus. The plants are coriaceous, and none are edible.
Daedalea closely resembles _Trametes_ with the tubes forming deep
labyrinthiform depressions. Whole plant woody, sessile.
Hexagonia, allied by its characteristics to Polystictus, has large
hexagonal pores, with firm, entire dissepiments.
In Favolus the plants are slightly fleshy and substipitate with the
pores angular, and radiating from the stem. Not edible.
The species of the genus Laschia are recognized by the shallow
irregular pores and the vein like character of their dissepiments (or
pore walls). Substance slightly gelatinous.
In the plants of Porothelium, irregular papillae take the place of tubes,
and the plants are sub-membranaceous and resupinate, having the habit of
those of Poria.
The genus Merulius has been termed the lowest and most imperfect of the
genera of Polyporei. It presents a soft, waxy spore-bearing surface,
reticulated with obtuse folds. Solenia, by early authors placed in
Discomycetes, thence transferred to Auricularini, and by some authors
associated with Cyphella in Theleporei, now finds place as one of the
genera of Polyporei as given by Saccardo.
The above-mentioned genera, together with Myriadoporus, Ceriomyces,
Bresadolia, Theleporus, Gloeporus, and Cyclomyces, constitute the
Polyporeae of the Saccardian system.
_Myriadoporus_ is a North American genus. It is a form of the genus
Polyporus, but with pores in the _interior_ as well as on the _exterior_
surface. _Ceriomyces_ is generally regarded as a spurious genus. It is
similar to _Myriadoporus_, but with internal pores and only spurious
pores externally. Of _Bresadolia_ Cooke says "there is only one
described species, and of this only one specimen has been found."
_Theleporus_ is an African genus of which only one species is known.
_Gloeporus_ is a form of resupinate Polyporus, except that the
hymenium or pore-bearing surface is gelatinous instead of being firm.
_Cyclomyces_ is a genus with some features of Lenzites; it is leathery.
All of these are more or less coriaceous. None are edible. _Campbellia_
is a new genus. It is _Merulius_ with a pileus and central stem.
The edible Polyporeae are found in the genera Boletus, Strobilomyces,
Gyrodon, Boletinus, Polyporus, and Fistulina. Of these, the first four
genera contain most of the edible species as well as a few which have
been regarded as unwholesome or poisonous.
In the genus Polyporus as now restricted, the species Polyporus
_sulphureus_ Fries is perhaps the one most likely to be selected for
table use, the others becoming very quickly indurated or tough, and this
should be gathered when very young, as in maturity it loses its fleshy
consistency and becomes dry and tough. It is common on old tree stumps
and is often found on the dead wood of living trees, the bright yellow
and vivid orange red tints which characterize the young plant making it
very conspicuous.
It is easily recognized by its irregular, closely overlapping frond-like
caps, white flesh, and the very small sulphur-yellow tubes. The spores
are white, elliptical. The flesh of young specimens is somewhat juicy.
The geographical distribution is wide, and in places where a moist, warm
temperature prevails plants of this species often attain very large
proportions, sometimes completely encircling the trunk of a tree at its
base. The bright colors fade as the plant matures, and the plant
becomes indurated and friable, when very old crumbling readily in the
hands.
To prepare for the table, very thin slices of young specimens should be
cut and either allowed to slowly simmer on the back of the range, or
soaked in milk and then fried in butter.
Of the genus Fistulina but one species, Fistulina hepatica, figured in
Plate X, is recorded as edible and indigenous to this country.
[Illustration: Plate X.
FISTULINA HEPATICA
1 Specimen, upper view. 2 Same, under view.
3 Specimen, upper view. 4 Same, under view.
5 Spores.
K. MAYO, del.]
PLATE X.
=Fistulina hepatica= Bull. "_Beefsteak Mushroom_," "_Liver Fungus_."
EDIBLE.
_Genus Fistulina_ Bull. Hymenophore fleshy, hymenium inferior, that is,
on the under surface of the cap, at first papillose; the papillae at
length elongated, and forming distinct tubes.
Besides Fistulina _hepatica_, five species of this genus are recorded in
Saccardo's Sylloge, viz., F. _radicata_ Schw., F. _spathulata_ B. & C.,
F. _pallida_ B. & R., F. _rosea_ Mont., and F. _antarctica_ Speg.; the
last indigenous to Patagonia.
F. _hepatica_ is the only species with which I am familiar. The plants
of this species are very irregular in form, rootless, epiphytal, often
stemless, and sometimes attached to the matrix by a very short stem.
This fungus is frequently found upon old oak, chestnut, and ash trees,
developing in the rotting bark. It appears first as a rosy pimple, or in
a series of red granules. In a very short time it becomes tongue-shaped,
sometimes kidney shaped, assuming the color of a beet root. As it
increases in size it changes form again, becoming broad in proportion to
its length, and changing in color to a deep blood red, and finally to a
dull liver tint. Its lower surface is often paler than its upper, it
being tinged with yellow and pinkish hues.
One author states that it requires about two weeks to attain its highest
development, after which it gradually decays.
It varies in size from a few inches to several feet in circumference.
Rev. M. J. Berkeley mentions one which weighed thirty pounds. It has
been styled, the "_poor man's fungus_," and in flavor resembles meat
more than any other.
The substance is fleshy and juicy in the early stage. The pileus is
papillose, the papillae elongated, and forming distinct tubes as the
pileus expands. These tubes are separable from each other, and with age
become approximate and jagged at their orifices. The tubes are at first
yellowish, with a pink tinge, becoming dingy with age. The fleshy
substance, or hymenophore, is often veined in light and dark red
streaks. The juice is pellucid, red, and slightly acid. Spores at first
nearly round, becoming elliptical, salmon color.
This fungus is esteemed in Europe, where it is eaten prepared in a
variety of ways.
When young and tender it can be sliced and broiled or minced and stewed,
making a delicious dish. When too old the stock is rather tough for good
eating, but the gravy taken from it forms a rich flavoring for a
vegetable stew or a meat ragout. The following recipe for cooking this
mushroom has been recommended:
Slice and macerate it, add pepper and salt, a little lemon, and
chopped onions or garlic; then strain and boil the liquid, which
makes most excellent gravy, resembling that of good beefsteak.
The Fistulina hepatica is well known in Europe, and is found in
different parts of the United States, in some places growing abundantly.
I have gathered some fine specimens in Maryland and Virginia, but none
as large as that described by Dr. Berkeley.
RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.
_To Pot Mushrooms._--The small open mushrooms suit best for potting.
Trim and rub them; put into a stewpan a quart of mushrooms, 3 ounces of
butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne and
mace, mixed, and stew for ten or fifteen minutes, or till the mushrooms
are tender; take them carefully out and drain them perfectly on a
sloping dish, and when cold press them into small pots and pour
clarified butter over them, in which state they will keep for a week or
two. Writing-paper placed over the butter, and over that melted suet,
will effectually preserve them for weeks in a dry, cool place.
_To Pickle Mushrooms._--Select a number of sound, small pasture
mushrooms, as nearly alike as possible in size. Throw them for a few
minutes into cold water, then drain them, cut off the stalks, and gently
rub off the outer skin with a moist flannel dipped in salt; then boil
the vinegar, adding to each quart two ounces of salt, half a nutmeg
grated, a dram of mace, and an ounce of white pepper corns. Put the
mushrooms into the vinegar for ten minutes over the fire; then pour the
whole into small jars, taking care that the spices are equally divided;
let them stand a day, then cover them.
_Baked Mushrooms._--Peel the tops of twenty mushrooms; cut off a portion
of the stalks and wipe them carefully with a piece of flannel dipped in
salt. Lay the mushrooms in a tin dish, put a small piece of butter on
the top of each, and season with pepper and salt. Set the dish in the
oven and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. When done,
arrange them high in the centre of a very hot dish, pour the sauce
around them, and serve quickly and as hot as you possibly can.
_Mushrooms with Bacon._--Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having
cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry them
in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms
and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will
absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt
and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.
_Mushroom Pie._--A very good mushroom pie is made in the following
manner: Chop a quart of mushrooms into small pieces, season to taste,
and add one pound of round steak chopped fine and seasoned with a small
piece of onion. If the steak is lean, add a small piece of suet, unless
butter is preferred to give flavor. Put the chopped steak and mushrooms
in deep saucepan with cover, and stew slowly until tender. Make a crust
as for beefsteak pie and put in a deep earthern dish, lightly browning
the under crust before adding the stew, and cover with a crust lightly
punctured.
In some parts of Russia mushrooms form an important part of the diet of
the people, especially during the Lenten season, when the fast of the
Greek church is very strictly kept, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter are
forbidden.
Provision is made for this season in the securing of quantities of dried
and salted mushrooms, which are cut up in strips and made into salads
with a dressing of olive oil and vinegar. The poorer classes to whom the
olive oil is unattainable use the rape seed and other vegetable oils in
the cooking of their mushrooms.
The following recipes are translated from a recently published Russian
work on the subject of mushrooms, cultivated and wild:
Select fresh, sound Boleti, cut off the caps, and, after wiping clean
with a napkin, place them in a sieve, pouring over them scalding water;
when thoroughly drained, leave them where there is a free current of air
until perfectly dry. Next string them upon stout twine, leaving spaces
between to allow of free circulation of air. If convenient, they can be
dried artificially by placing in a not too hot oven with the door open.
Dried by either method, they can be kept all winter. Before using, they
should be soaked in water or milk until soft. In this condition they
make very good flavoring for soup or gravy, and can also be used as
filling for pies.
_Mushrooms Cooked in Butter._--Wipe the mushrooms clean and dip in dry
flour. Heat a quantity of butter to boiling temperature in a saucepan,
seasoning with a small piece of onion. Drop the flour-covered mushrooms
into the boiling butter, shaking the pan constantly over the fire. When
the mushrooms are cooked add sour cream to taste. Before serving,
sprinkle with grated muscat nut.
_Mushroom Pickle._--Select only young button mushrooms. Put them for a
few moments in boiling water lightly salted and vinegared. Boil vinegar
(only the best should be used), spicing it according to taste. Allow the
vinegar to cool. Put the mushrooms in layers in a jar and pour over them
enough spiced vinegar to cover. Seal tightly.
_Salted Piperites._--Only the caps are taken of the Lactarius piperites.
They are placed first in salted scalding water for several minutes. The
water is then gently pressed out with a napkin, the mushrooms are
placed on sieves and cold water poured over them. They are then placed
in layers in a jar, each layer sprinkled with salt, and whole pepper and
minced onion scattered over the layer. When the jar is full a thin round
board is placed upon the top layer and pressed down with weights, and as
the mass gives way mushrooms are added until the jar is compactly
filled. The jar is then covered with parchment or otherwise tightly
sealed. Eight gallons of mushrooms require from one to one and a half
glasses of salt. This makes a good salad when treated with oil.
NOTE.--L. piperites is an extremely acrid mushroom when in the raw
state, and the Russians do not stew it, but prepare it in the above way,
taking the precaution to scald thoroughly with salted water before
putting away. The precaution of scalding through several waters is a
wise one to use in the preparation of all mushrooms inasmuch as the
poisonous principle of most mushrooms is soluble in scalding water.
Dilute vinegar is frequently used in the same manner. Vinegar should not
be used in metal vessels unless porcelain-lined.
LIST OF THE GENERA OF HYMENOMYCETES.
The following list of the genera of Hymenomycetes, summarized from
Kellerman's Synopsis of Saccardo's Sylloge Fungorum, will be found
useful for reference:
I.--AGARICACEAE.
_Leucosporeae._ (Spores white or slightly tinted yellowish.)
GENERA.
Amanita Pers.
Amanitopsis Roze.
Lepiota Fries.
Schulzeria Bres.
Armillaria Fries.
Tricholoma Fries.
Clitocybe Fries.
Collybia Fries.
Mycena Fries.
Hiatula Fries.
Omphalia Fries.
Pleurotus Fries.
Hygrophorus Fries.
Lactarius Fries.
Russula Pers.
Cantharellus Adans.
Arrhenia Fries.
Nyctalis Fries.
Stylobates Fries.
Marasmius Fries.
Heliomyces Lev.
Lentinus Fries.
Panus Fries.
Xerotus Fries.
Trogia Fries.
Lenzites Fries.
Tilotus Kalch.
Hymenogramme B. & Mont.
Oudemansiella Speg.
Pterophyllus Lev.
Rachophyllus Berk.
Schizophyllum Fries.
_Rhodosporae_ (spores pink or salmon color), corresponding to the
Hyporhodii of Fries.
GENERA.
Volvaria Fr.
Annularia Schulz.
Pluteus Fries.
Entoloma Fries.
Clitopilus Fries.
Leptonia Fries.
Nolanea Fries.
Eccilia Fries.
Claudopus Worth. Smith.
_Ochrosporae_ (spores tawny ochraceous, or light rusty tint of brown),
corresponding to the Dermini of Fries.
GENERA.
Pholiota Fries.
Locillina Gill.
Inocybe Fries.
Hebeloma Fries.
Flammula Fries.
Naucoria Fries.
Pluteolus Fries.
Galera Fries.
Tubaria Worth. Smith.
Crepidotus Fries.
Cortinarius Fries.
Paxillus Fries.
_Melanosporae_ (spores black, dark-brown or purplish-brown), combining
the attributes of both the Coprinarii and the Pratelli of Fries.
GENERA.
Chitonia Fries.
Agaricus Linn.
Pilosace Fries.
Stropharia Fries.
Hypholoma Fries.
Psilocybe Fries.
Deconica Worth. Smith.
Psathyra Fries.
Bolbitius Fries.
Coprinus Pers.
Panaeolus Fries.
Annellaria Karsh.
Psathyrella Fries.
Gomphidius Fries.
Anthracophyllum Ces.
Montagnites Fries.
II.--POLYPORACEAE (Polyporei).
GENERA.
Boletus Dill.
Strobilomyces Berkeley.
Boletinus Kalchbr.
Gyrodon Opatowski.
Fistulina Bull.
Polyporus Mich.
Fomes Fries.
Polystictus Fries.
Poria Pers.
Trametes Fries.
Hexagonia Fries.
Daedalea Pers.
Myriadoporus Peck.
Ceriomyces Corda.
Bresadolia Speg.
Cyclomyces Kunz.
Favolus Fries.
Gloeoporus Mont.
Laschia Fries.
Merulius Hall.
Theleporus Fries.
Porothelium Fries.
Solenia Hoffm.
III.--HYDNACEAE (Hydnei).
GENERA.
Hydnum Linn.
Caldesiella Lace.
Hericium Pers.
Tremellodon Pers.
Sistotrema Pers.
Irpex Fries.
Radulum Fries.
Plebia Fries.
Lopharia K. & M. Ow.
Grandinia Fries.
Grammothele B. & C.
Odontia Pers.
Kneiffia Fries.
Mucronella Fries.
IV.--THELEPHORACEAE (Thelephorei).
GENERA.
Craterellus Fries.
Hypolyssus Pers.
Thelephora Ehrh.
Cladoderris Pers.
Beccariella Ces.
Stereum Pers.
Hymenochaete Lev.
Skepperia Berk.
Corticium Fries.
Peniophora Cooke.
Coniophora D. C.
Michenera B. & C.
Matula Mass.
Hypochnus Fries.
Exobasidium Weron.
Helicobasidium Pat.
Cyphella Fries.
Friesula Speg.
Cora Fries.
Rhipidonema Matt.
V.--CLAVARIACEAE (Clavariei).
GENERA.
Sparassis Fries.
Acartis Fries.
Clavaria Vaill.
Calocera Fries.
Lachnocladium Lev.
Pterula Fries.
Ptifula Pers.
Pistallaria Fries.
Physalacria Peck.
VI.--TREMELLACEAE (Tremellini)
GENERA.
Auricularia Bull.
Hirneola Fries.
Platygloea Schroet.
Exidia Fries.
Ulocolla Bref.
Craterocolla Bref.
Femsjonia Fries.
Tremella Dill.
Naematelia Fries.
Gyrocephalus Pers.
Delortia Pat. & Gail.
Arrhytidia Berk.
Ceracea Cragin.
Guepinia Fries.
Dacryomitra Pul.
Collyria Fries.
GENERA MINUS CERTA.
Hormonyces Bon.
Ditiola Fries.
Apyrenium Fries.
BREFIELD'S CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI.
A system of classification of fungi which is receiving attention from
mycologists is that recently presented by the distinguished German
author Dr. Oscar Brefield. Dr. Brefield's exhaustive investigations into
the life-history of fungi in general have been such as to entitle his
views to consideration, although the system presents some
inconsistencies which may prevent its adoption in its entirety.
According to the Brefield system, as summarized by his colleague Dr. Von
Tavel, Fungi are divided into two primary classes: (1) the
_Phycomycetes,_ or lower fungi nearest like the algae, _consisting of a
one-celled thallus with sexual as well as non-sexual modes of
reproduction_, and (2) the Mesomycetes and the Mycomycetes, _having a
divided or many celled thallus, propagated by non-sexually formed
spores_. The Phycomycetes are further divided into two large sections,
based on their methods of reproduction, termed, respectively,
Zygomycetes and Oomycetes. These include the old typical Mucors, the
Peronosporeae or "rotting moulds," once classed with the Hyphomycetes,
the Saprolegniaceae, "Fish Moulds," of aquatic habit, the
Entomophthoraceae, "Insect Moulds," together with some minor groups. The
Mesomycetes connect the Phycomycetes with the Mycomycetes. The class
Mycomycetes is primarily divided into two sections, viz., Ascomycetes
and Basidiomycetes, with the Ustilagineae, "Smut Fungi," in Mesomycetes,
forming a transitional group between Phycomycetes and the Basidiomycetal
group of the higher fungi.
The Ascomycetes are primarily subdivided into _Exoasci_ and _Carpoasci,_
groups based on the character of the asci. In the first, _Exoasci,_ the
asci are naked and borne directly on the mycelium; in the second,
_Carpoasci,_ they are enclosed in a wrapper composed of fertile hyphae
and sterile threads, having also accessory fruit forms. The first
includes Endomycetes and Taphrineae. In the second are included the
groups Gymnoasci, Perisporaceae, Pyrenomycetes, Hysteriaceae,
Discomycetes, and Helvellaceae.
The Basidiomycetes characterized by the possession of basidia are
arranged in two groups, based on the character of the basidia: (1) the
Protobasidiomycetes, in which the basidia are septate, divided, and (2)
the Autobasidiomycetes, in which the basidia are not divided, and bear a
definite number of spores.
The first of these (Protobasidiomycetes) includes the following distinct
groups: (1) the Uredineae, "Rust Fungi," which have horizontally divided
basidia, always free, never enclosed; (2) the Auricularieae, having
basidia somewhat resembling those of the Uredineae, but which are borne
in fruit bodies with open hymenia; (3) Pileacreae, having horizontal
septate basidia in closed receptacles; and (4) Tremellineae, having
vertically divided basidia borne in gymnocarpous receptacles--that is,
those in which the hymenium is exposed while the spores are growing.
The Autobasidiomycetes are characterized by undivided basidia, bearing
spores only at the apex. This group is subdivided into three sections:
(1) Dacryomycetes, which includes the lowest of the Tremelloid forms,
with club-shaped basidia, nearly approaching the true Hymenomycetal
type, together with several groups of minor import; (2) Gasteromycetes;
and (3) Hymenomycetes, with Phalloideae placed in the group as a
subsection of Gasteromycetes.
The above can only be considered as a very brief abstract of the system
of classification proposed by Dr. Brefield, but it will serve to give
some idea of the principle on which the system is based, which is
sufficient for our present purpose. Those who wish to study the system
in detail will find it treated in a comprehensive manner in Dr. Von
Tavel's summary as it appears in the _Vergleichende Morphologie der
Pilze_, Jena, 1892.
CONIOMYCETES AND HYPHOMYCETES.
In the original classification of Fries two of the primary divisions of
the sporiferous Fungi were termed, respectively, _Coniomycetes_ and
_Hyphomycetes_. This arrangement was accepted by Berkeley, the term
_Coniomycetes_ being applied to all fungi in which the naked spores,
appearing like an impalpable dust, were the principal feature of the
plant, and the term _Hyphomycetes_ to fungi in which the threads or
hyphae bearing the spores were the most conspicuous feature.
Coniomycetes, as broadly interpreted by Berkeley and other mycologists
of his day, included the Uredineae or "rust fungi," the Ustilagines or
"smut fungi," the Sphaeropsideae, and the Melanconieae. This arrangement
was very unsatisfactory on account of the distinctively different
character of the methods of reproduction of the respective groups, and
they have since been disassociated and by some authors ranked as
distinct orders or families. Others combine Uredinei and Ustilaginei in
one group under the name Hypodermei.
Familiar examples of Uredinei are seen in the rust of the Barberry leaf,
etc., and of the Ustilaginei in the "smut" of corn and the "bunt" of
wheat.
Some authors combine the Sphaeropsideae with the closely allied
Melanconieae. M. C. Cooke contends that the _Sphaeropsideae_ should be
considered apart from the _Melanconieae,_ on the fundamental basis that
the former possess a distinct perithecium, while the latter do not.
The _Sphaeropsideae_ as recently defined by Cooke are "Fungi _possessed of
a perithecium, but without asci_, ... sporules or stylospores being
produced internally at the apex of more or less distinct supporting
hyphae or pedicels, termed sporophores."
The Sphaeropsideae somewhat resemble the Pyrenomyceteae in external
characteristics, but differ from them in the absence of asci and
paraphyses. Saccardo retains all the species in his Sylloge, but
relegates them to an inferior position as imperfect fungi.
The group _Pyrenomycetes_, or _Sphaeriacei_, as at first recognized by
_Fries_, included not only the _Sphaeriacei_ and the _Perisporacei_, but
also the _Sphaeropsidei_ and _Melanconiaceae_. Later, when ascigerous
fungi were separated from stylosporous fungi, this group was revised,
the ascigerous species only being retained. As at present limited, the
Pyrenomycetes are "_ascigerous_ fungi having the fructification enclosed
within a perithecium."
They constitute a very large group, the described species, according to
Cooke's Census of Fungi, numbering not less than 10,500, or at least
1,000 more than all the recorded species of Hymenomycetes. The plants
are microscopic in size, and grow upon vegetable or animal substances.
HYPHOMYCETES.
With regard to the Hyphomycetes, Cooke takes the ground that in their
internal relations to each other, and their external relations to the
remaining orders, the Hyphomycetes are undoubtedly a well-defined and
natural group, and should have place as such in a systematic work. It is
a large order, containing nearly 5,000 species, mostly parasitic on dead
animals and vegetable matter. The spores, termed conidia, are free, as
in Hymenomycetes. The species are microscopic in size, and the hyphae are
strongly developed. They have no hymenium and no true basidia, and are
non-sexual in their reproduction.
The four primary sections are the Mucedineae, or "white moulds;" the
Dematieae, or "black moulds;" the Stilbea, with the hyphae or thread-like
filaments pallid or brown, and densely cohering, and the Tubercularieae,
with the hyphae densely compacted in wart-like pustules of somewhat
gelatinous consistency.
The divisions called Melanconieae, Sphaeropsideae, and Hyphomyceteae are not
recognized in the Brefield system of classification as distinct groups.
Massee and Cooke, with other mycologists, take exception to this
omission and its implication, in their discussion of the subject, giving
consistent reasons for the retention of these groups in systematic
works.
PHYCOMYCETES OR PHYSOMYCETES.
As originally defined by Berkeley, this group was composed chiefly of
the old typical Mucors and their allies, and was then termed
Physomycetes. In the newer system of classification its original
definition has been extended so as to include a number of groups
somewhat dissimilar in their habits and characteristics, but "united
under the conservating bond of a dimorphic reproduction," and the name
has been changed to Phycomycetes. As at present recognized "the
Phycomycetes are characterized by a unicellular mycelium, often
parasitic on plants or animals, sometimes saprophytic, developed in the
air or in water. Reproduction sexual or asexual." As thus interpreted,
Phycomycetes includes the Mucoracei; the Peronosporaceae, or "rotting
moulds;" the Cystopi, or "white rusts;" the Saprolegniaceae, or "fish
moulds;" the Entomophthoraceae, or "insect moulds," together with a few
minor groups of doubtful natural affinity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Saccardo, P. A. "Sylloge Sphaeropsidearum et Melanconiearum," in Sylloge
Fungorum. Vol. iii. Imp. 8vo. Padua, 1884.
L. A. Crie. _Recherches sur les Pyrenomycetes inferieurs du group de
Depazees._ 8vo. Paris, 1878.
J. C. Corda. _Icones Fungorum._ Fol. 6 vol. Prague, 1837-'54.
Bonorden. _Zur Kenntniss der Coniomyceten u. Cryptomyceten._ 4to. Halle,
1860.
M. C. Cooke. _The Hyphomycetous Fungi of the United States._ 8vo. 1877.
P. A. Saccardo. _Sylloge Fungorum._ Vol. iv.--"Hyphomyceteae." Padua,
1886.
De Toni, J. B. "Sylloge Ustilaginearum et Uredinearum," in Saccardo,
_Sylloge Fungorum._ Imp. 8vo. Vol. vii, pt. ii. Padua, 1888.
Geo. Winter in Rabenhorst's _Kryptogamen Florader Pilze_. 8vo. Cuts.
1884.
Geo. Massee. _British Fungi--Phycomycetes and Ustilagineae._ 8vo. Cuts.
London, 1891.
O. Brefield. _Bot. Untersuch. ue. Hefenpilze._ Leipzig, 1883.
Tulasne. "Memoire sur les Ustilaginees comparees aux Uredinees." Ann.
des Sci. Nat., 3d series, vol. vii. Paris, 1847.
M. Woronin. Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Ustilagineen. 1882.
M. C. Cooke. Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould. 12mo. Col. plates. London,
1870.
C. B. Plowright. _A Monograph of the British Uredineae and Ustilagineae._
8vo. London, 1889.
W. C. Smith. _Diseases of Field and Garden Crops._ 12mo. Cuts. London,
1884.
D. D. Cunningham. _Conidial Fructification in the Mucorini._
R. Thaxter. "The Entomophthoreae of the United States." Memoirs of Boston
Society of Natural History. Vol. iv, 4to. Plates. 1888.
L. Mangin. _Sur le Structure des Peronosporees._ Paris, 1890.
K. Lindstedt. _Synopsis d. Saprolegniaceen._ 8vo. Four plates. Berlin,
1872.
M. Cornu. "Monographie des Saprolegniees." Ann. des Sci. Nat., 5th
series. Vol. xv. Paris, 1872.
M. C. Cooke. _Synopsis Pyrenomycetum._ 2 parts. 8vo. London, 1884-'86.
A. de Zaczewski. "Classification naturelle des Pyrenomycetes." Bull.
Soc. Myc. de France, vol. x. 1894.
J. B. Ellis and B. M. Everhart. _The North American Pyrenomycetes._
M. C. Cooke. _Mycographia,_ vol. i. "Discomycetes." Col. plates. Imp.
8vo. London, 1879.
W. Phillips. _A Manual of British Discomycetes._ Im. 8vo. Plates.
London, 1887.
P. A. Saccardo. "Sylloge Discomycetum," in _Sylloge Fungorum_. Vol.
viii. Padua, 1889.
R. Hartig. _Text Book of Diseases of Trees._ Roy. 8vo. London, 1894.
Geo. Massee. The Evolution of Plant Life, Lower Forms. 12mo. London,
1891.
Marshall Ward. Diseases of Plants. 12mo. Cuts. London, 1884.
A. De Bary. _Recherches sur le Developpement de quelques champignons
parasites._ 8vo. Plates. Berlin, 1878-'94.
APPENDIX.
_Superior_, the upper surface; applied to the ring when near the apex of
the stem.
_Tetraspore_, _tetra_ Gr. four; spores.
_Theca_, cell-mother, the protoplasm of which originates by
segmentation; a certain number of spores, usually eight, held in
suspension in the protoplasm of the theca without being attached to each
other or to the cell walls.
_Thecaspore_, the spore thus encased.
_Tomentose_, downy, with short hairs.
_Torsive_, spirally twisted.
_Torulose_, a cylindrical body swollen and restricted alternately.
_Toxic_, poisonous.
_Trama_, the substance proceeding from the hymenophore, intermediate
between the plates (central in) of the gills of agarics.
_Transverse_, crosswise.
_Tremelloid_, jelly-like.
_Truncate_, ending abruptly, as if cut short; cut squarely off.
_Tubaeform_, trumpet-shaped.
_Tubercle_, a small wart-like excrescence.
_Tubular_, hollow and cylindrical.
_Turbinate_, top-shaped.
_Typical_, agreeing closely with the characters assigned to a group or
species.
_Umbilicate_, having a central depression.
_Umbo_, the boss of a shield; applied to the central elevation of the
cap of some mushrooms.
_Umbonate_, having a central boss-like elevation.
_Uncinate_, hooked.
_Unequal_, short imperfect gills interspersed among the others.
_Universal_, used in relation to the veil or volva which entirely
envelops the mushroom when young.
_Variety_, an individual of a species differing from the rest in
external form, size, color, and other secondary features, without
perpetuating these differences only under exceptional circumstances.
_Veil_, in mushrooms a partial covering of the stem or margin of the
pileus.
_Veliform_, a thin veil-like covering.
_Venate_, _Veined_, intersected by swollen wrinkles below and on the
sides.
_Ventricose_, swollen in the middle.
_Vernicose_, shining as if varnished.
_Verrucae_, warts or glandular elevations.
_Verrucose_, covered with warts.
_Villose_, _villous_, covered with long, weak hairs.
_Virescent_, greenish.
_Virgate_, streaked.
_Viscid_, covered with a shiny liquid which adheres to the fingers when
touched.
_Viscous_, gluey.
_Volute_, rolled up in any direction.
_Volva_, a substance covering the mushroom, sometimes membranous,
sometimes gelatinous; the universal veil.
_Walnut brown_, a deep brown like that of some varieties of wood. (Raw
umber, and burnt sienna and white.)
_Wart_, an excrescence found on the cap of some mushrooms; the remains
of the volva in form of irregular or polygonal excrescences, more or
less adherent, numerous, and persistent.
_Zone_, a broad band encircling a mushroom.
_Zoned_, furnished with one or more concentric circles.
Although some writers apply the terms spore, sporidia, sporophore,
sporules, and conidia somewhat indiscriminately to all spore bodies, in
order to avoid confusion, it is now recommended by the best authorities
that certain distinctive limitations should be adhered to in the use of
these terms. Saccardo, in defining the terms which he employs, accepts
the term spores as applicable exclusively to the naked spores supported
on basidia, as found in the Basidiomyceteae. The term sporidia he limits
to spores produced or enclosed in an ascus, as in the Ascomyceteae. The
term sporules he applies to the spores of imperfect fungi, where they
are enclosed in perithecia (microscopic cups or cells), such as the
Sphaeropsidea. The term conidia he uses to designate the spores of
imperfect fungi without perithecia or asci, such as the Hyphomyceteae and
the Melanconieae. This arrangement is in accordance with M. C. Cooke's
published views on the subject, except in the case of the spore bodies
of the Melanconieae, which he prefers, for well-defined reasons, to call
sporules.
In accordance with these limitations, the terms _spermatia_,
_stylospores_, and _clinospores_ are merged in _sporule_.
Other terms appropriate to their development are employed to designate
the spores of Uredineae, Phycomyceteae, etc.
STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK
OF
MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.
BY
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.
Published in Serial Form--=No. 4=--Price, 50c. per number.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E.
1897.
Copyright, 1897, by
Thomas Taylor, M. D.,
and
A. R. Taylor.
GASTEROMYCETES.
Hymenium more or less permanently concealed, consisting in most cases of
closely packed cells of which the fertile ones (the basidia) bear naked
spores on distinct spicules, exposed only by the rupture or decay of the
investing coat or peridium. Berkeley's Outlines.
This family has been subjected to numerous revisions since the days of
Fries, when its structural characteristics were not so well understood
as at present.
Montagne and Berkeley are credited with being the first to show the true
structure of the hymenium in the puff-balls, as well as to demonstrate
the presence of basidia. This important discovery led to the correlating
of the Gasteromycetes with the Hymenomycetes under the common title
Basidiomycetes, both having the spores borne upon basidia. The two
families still remained distinct, however, not only because of the
dissimilarity in their external features but principally on account of
the difference in the disposition and character of the hymenium.
In the Hymenomycetes the hymenium is exposed to the light from the
first, and the spores drop from the basidia as they mature; whereas in
the Gasteromycetes the hymenial pulp, or gleba, consisting of the spores
with the supporting basidia and the hyphae, is enclosed within the
substance of the fungus, and the spores are exposed only on the decay of
the investing coat.
The basidia of the Gasteromycetes, though resembling those of the
Hymenomycetes, are more variable in form and the number of the spores
not so constant. They perform the same functions and bear spicules,
sometimes in pairs, sometimes quaternate, each spicule being surmounted
by a spore. They dissolve away as the spores mature and can, therefore,
only be observed in the very young stage of the plant. The spores of the
Gasteromycetes are usually colored and, except in the subterranean
species, globose. As seen through the microscope they have often a rough
warty appearance, sometimes spinulose. Paraphyses may be present as
aborted basidia, but cystidia are rarely distinguished. A characteristic
of a large proportion of the plants is the drying up of the hymenial
substance, so that the cavity of the receptacle becomes at length filled
with a dusty mass composed of spores and delicate threads, the remains
of the shriveled hyphae.
The following table will serve to show the distinctive features of the
four primary divisions of the Gasteromycetes:
_Lycoperdaceae_.--Hymenium fugitive, drying in a dusty mass of
threads and spores, dispersed by an opening or by fissures of the
peridium. Terrestrial.
_Phalloideae_.--Hymenium deliquescent and slimy; receptacle pileate;
volva universal. Foetid fleshy fungi.
_Hypogaei_, or _Hymenogastreae_.--Hymenium permanent, not becoming
dusty or deliquescent except when decayed. Capillitium wanting.
Subterranean.
_Nidulariaceae_.--Receptacle cup-shaped or globose; spores produced
on sporophores or short basidia enclosed in globose or disciform
bodies (sporangia) contained within a distinct peridium.
Terrestrial.
The section Lycoperdaceae contains upwards of 500 species or more than
two-thirds of the whole number of recorded species of the
Gasteromycetes. Lycoperdon, Bovista, and Geaster, its most conspicuous
genera, are said to contain the largest number of well-known species. A
few are edible.
The Phalloideae include about 90 species. The plants are usually
ill-smelling and unwholesome. Some are stipitate, others are latticed,
etc. Some are conspicuous for their bright coloring. In the young stage
they are enclosed in an egg-shaped volva having a gelatinous inner
stratum.
The plants of the Nidulariaceae are very minute, tough, and widely
distributed. The species Cyathus, the "bird's-nest fungus," is quite
common in some localities, and is interesting because of its peculiar
form. The individual plant is very small, not more than two centimeters
high. It resembles an inverted bell, or a miniature wine-glass. A
delicate white membrane covers the top at first. This disappears as the
plant matures, revealing lentil-shaped bodies packed closely together
like eggs in a nest. These oval bodies are the peridiola containing the
spores. They are usually found upon rotten wood or sticks on the ground.
Sixty-five species are recorded, but none are edible.
The plants of the division Hypogaei or Hymenogastreae are subterranean in
habit, preferring a sandy soil. They are usually somewhat globose in
form, having a thick outer coat or peridium, though in some of the
genera the outer coat is very thin or obsolete. They are dingy in color.
In the young plants the interior substance somewhat resembles that of
the truffle, but is streaked and mottled. When old the gleba consists of
a dusty mass of threads and spores. They are known under various
appellations, such as "underground puff-balls," "false truffles," etc.
The Hypogaei are analogous to the Tuberacei, except that the spores are
not contained in asci as in the latter. Cooke says they appear to be the
link which unites the Basidiomycetes to the Ascomycetes by means of the
Tuberacei or genuine Truffles. In the young stage the basidia in the
Hypogaei are easily distinguished by the aid of the microscope.
In external features and habit of growth the species of Elaphomyces, a
genus of Tuberacei, closely resemble the Hypogaei, and in old age, when
the _asci_ have disappeared, it is difficult to distinguish the plants
of this genus from the Hypogaei.
The genus _Melanogaster_ contains an edible species, _M. variegatus_,
Tulasne, commonly known in Europe as the "Red Truffle" or "False
Truffle." _M. variegatus_ is usually gregarious and subterranean in
habit. The exterior is minutely granular, tawny yellow or reddish rust
color; the interior soft, bluish-black, streaked with yellow, the spore
mass in maturity becoming pubescent. The odor is pleasantly aromatic,
and the taste sweet. Under trees in woods. The variety _Broomeianus_
Berk. is paler in the marbling, which shows reddish instead of yellow
streaks. The pulpy mass is at first white, changing to a yellowish,
smoky hue.
LYCOPERDACEAE AND PHALLOIDEAE.
The plants figured in Plates G and H belong to the Lycoperdaceae and
Phalloideae.
LYCOPERDACEAE.
Massee, who has given the Puff-Ball group very close study, says that in
the gleba of the Lycoperdaceae, "at a very early period two sets of hyphae
are present. One, thin-walled, colorless, septate and rich in
protoplasm, gives origin to the trama, and elements of the hymenium, and
usually disappears entirely after the formation of the spores; the
second type consists of long thick-walled aseptate or sparsely septate,
often colored hyphae, which are persistent and form the capillitium. The
latter are branches of the hyphae forming the hymenium."
GENERA LYCOPERDON AND BOVISTA.
To the genera Lycoperdon and Bovista belong most of the "Puff-balls" and
all of the species figured in Plate G. In the plants of these two genera
the peridium is more or less distinctly double, and the hyphae, or
delicate threads which are seen mixed with the dusty mass of spores in
the mature plant, forming what is called the capillitium, are an
important element in classification.
_Genus Lycoperdon_ Tourn. In this genus the investing coat or peridium
is membranaceous, vanishing above or becoming flaccid; bark or outer
shell adnate, sub-persistent, breaking up into scales or warts;
capillitium soft, dense, and attached to the peridium, base spongy and
sterile.
[Illustration: Plate G.
Gasteromycetes.
Six Types of the "Puff-Ball" Group.
Edible.]
PLATE G.
EDIBLE PUFF-BALLS.
FIG. 1.--=Lycoperdon caelatum= Fries. "_Collapsing Puff-Ball_."
Peridium flaccid above, with mealy coating, obtuse, at length
collapsing, the sterile stratum cellulose. Inner peridium distinct from
the outer all round; capillitium nearly free, collapsing when mature,
threads long and brittle; spores dingy olive, turning brown; base
stem-like, broad and blunt, with root, obconical, somewhat spongy.
Common in pastures and open woods. Edible when young, but not much
commended. Plant pale cream color.
FIGS. 2 and 3.--=Lycoperdon gemmatum= Batsch. "_Warted Puff-Ball_,"
"_Studded Puff-Ball_."
Plant sub-globular, with a stem-like base; white or cinereous, turning
to light greyish-brown, the surface warty, the warts unequal, the larger
ones somewhat pointed, the smaller granular. As the warts fall off they
leave the surface of the denuded peridium somewhat dotted or slightly
reticulated. Flesh, when young, firm and whitish. The plants of this
species are small, variable in form, sometimes turbinated, sometimes
nearly globose, or depressed globose, but usually the basal portion is
narrower than the upper portion. The stem varies in thickness and
length; sometimes it is quite elongated, in some instances absent.
Capillitium and spores yellowish-green, turning dark olive or brown.
Columella present. When the spores are fully ripe the peridium opens by
a small apical aperture for their dispersion. The plants are sometimes
densely caespitose, and crowd together on the ground or on decaying wood
in large patches after warm rains. They are found both in fields and
open woods during summer and autumn. They are edible when young, but not
specially well flavored. There are several varieties. Plants sometimes
oval or lens-shaped.
In Var. _hirtum_ the plant is turbinate, subsessile, and hairy, with
slender, spinous warts. The variety _papulatum_ is subrotund, sessile,
papillose and pulverulent, the warts being nearly uniform in size.
Plants from one to two inches in height.
FIGS. 4 and 5.--=Lycoperdon pyriforme= Schaeffer. "_Pear-Shaped
Puff-Ball_."
Plant dingy white or brownish yellow; pear-shaped, or obovate pyriforme,
sometimes approaching L. gemmatum in size and shape, but easily
distinguished from that species by the surface features of the peridium
and the internal hyphae. The persistent warts which cover the surface of
the peridium are so minute as to appear to the naked eye like scales. In
some instances the peridium is almost smooth, and sometimes cracks in
areas, inner peridium thin and tough. The hyphae are thicker than the
spores and branched, continuous with the slightly cellular base, and
forming a columella inside the peridium. Spores greenish-yellow, then
brownish-olive, smooth and globose.
The short stem-like base of the plant terminates in fiber-like rootlets,
creeping under the soil and branching, thus attaching large clusters of
the young plants together. They are often found in quantity on the mossy
trunks of fallen trees.
FIG. 6.--=Lycoperdon giganteum= Batsch. "_Giant Puff-Ball_."
The Giant Puff-Ball, so generally neglected, is one of the most valuable
of the edible mushrooms. It is readily distinguished from other
puff-balls and allied fungi by its large size. It is subglobose in form,
often flattened at the top and usually wider than deep. The peridium or
rind is membranaceous, smooth, or very slightly floccose, and creamy
white at first, turning to pale yellowish-brown when the plant is old.
When young it is filled with a white, seemingly homogeneous fleshy
substance of pleasant flavor. This substance changes, when mature, to an
elastic, yellowish or olivaceous brown, cottony but dusty mass of
filaments and spores. The peridium is very fragile above, cracking into
areae in the mature plant and breaking up and falling away in fragments,
thus allowing the dispersion of the spores. The capillitium and spores
are at first greenish-yellow, turning to dingy olive. The plants vary in
size, but average from ten to twenty inches in diameter. In the columns
of the _Country Gentleman_ some years ago there appeared a description
of a puff-ball of this species which weighed forty seven pounds and
measured a little over eight feet in circumference. It was found in a
low, moist corner of a public park. Specimens weighing from twenty to
thirty pounds are recorded as being found in different parts of the
country; but specimens of such large dimensions are unusual. This
species is found in many parts of the United States. It is the L.
_bovista_ of Linn. Sacc.
A correspondent writes that he has found the giant puff-ball in great
abundance growing on the Genessee Flats, Livingstone Co., New York.
Another writes from Nebraska that it is quite abundant on the prairies
there in summer. A third writes from Missouri, "Since the late rains we
have had puff-balls in abundance, and find them delicious made into
fritters."
The puff-balls should be gathered young. If the substance within is
white and pulpy, it is in good condition for cooking, but if marked with
yellow stains it should be rejected.
Vittadini says:
"When the giant puff-ball is conveniently situated you should only take
one slice at a time, cutting it horizontally and using great care not to
disturb its growth, to prevent decay, and thus one may have a fritter
every day for a week."
Different authors write with enthusiasm of the merits of the giant
puff-ball as an esculent.
Mrs. Hussey, an English botanist, gives the following receipt for
"puff-ball omelet:"
First, remove the outer skin; cut in slices half an inch thick; have
ready some chopped herbs, pepper, and salt; dip the slices in the yolk
of an egg, and sprinkle the herbs upon them; fry in fresh butter, and
eat immediately.
I have tested fine specimens of the giant puff-ball gathered in the
public parks of Washington, D. C., finding it delicious eating when
fried in batter.
FIGS. 7 and 8.--=Lycoperdon cyathiforme= Bose. "_Cup-shaped
Puff-Ball_."
Synonyms--L. fragile Vitt. L. albopurpureum Frost.
Plant nearly globose, with a short, thick, stem-like base, color
varying, cinereous, brown, tinged with violet.
Rind or peridium smooth, or minutely floccose, scaly in the mature
plant, cracking into somewhat angular areas, the upper portion finally
falling away in fragments, leaving a wide cup-shaped base, with
irregular margin, which remains long after the dispersion of the spores
and capillitium. This basal portion is often tinged with the purplish
hue of the spores. Spores rough, purplish-brown. Capillitium same color
as the spores.
Lycoperdon _cyathiforme_ is a more common species than L. _giganteum_,
and is deemed quite equal to the latter in flavor. The plants are of
good size, being from 4 to 10 inches in diameter.
They are frequently found in open fields and grassy places after
electric storms. When sliced and fried in egg batter, they taste much
like the _giganteum_ or _giant puff-ball_.
A puff-ball which is not inferior to either of the two last-named
species, though not as large, and perhaps not as abundant as either, is
the Lycoperdon _saccatum_ of Fries, sometimes called the "Long-stemmed
puff-ball," because of its elongated stem.
The plants of this species are attractive in appearance, usually
hemispherical, or lentiform in shape, with cylindrical stem-like base.
The peridium is thin and delicate, breaking into fragments; creamy white
in the young stage, and clothed with delicate warts, so minute as to
give the surface a soft mealy appearance, the under surface somewhat
plicate. Capillitium sub-persistent and dense. Both spores and
capillitium brown.
LYCOPERDACEAE.
_Genus Bovista_ Dill. Peridium papery (or sometimes corky), persistent;
the outer rind, sometimes called the bark, quite distinct from the
inner, at length shelling off. Capillitium sub-compact, equal, adnate to
the peridium on all sides; spores pedicillate, brownish.
FIGS. 9 and 10.--=Bovista plumbea= Pers. _Lead-Colored Bovista_.
Plant small, spherical, having a double shell or peridium, the inner one
white and the outer one smooth and greyish lead-color or bluish-grey,
and shelling off at maturity. When young the interior is filled with a
creamy white substance. This soon begins to disintegrate, and, as the
spores mature, changes to a mass of dusty brown spores and threads. When
the spores are ready for dissemination a small aperture appears in the
top of the peridium, through which they push their way outwards like a
little puff of smoke.
When young, and while the flesh is white throughout, the plant is
edible, although so small that it would take a quantity to make a good
dish. It is found chiefly in pastures in the autumn. Sometimes found
growing in company with Agaricus campestris. Of pleasant flavor when
young.
Fig. 11. Basidium and spores of a Lycoperdon highly magnified.
An English author states that inflammation of the throat and swelling of
the tongue have been known to ensue from eating some of the small
species of Lycoperdon in the raw state. It would be a wise precaution,
therefore, to cook all of the smaller species well before eating.
The genus Scleroderma is allied to Lycoperdon, but differs from it in
the absence of a capillitium, and in the thick indehiscent outer skin,
or peridium, which bursts irregularly on the maturity of the spore-mass,
the flocci adhering on all sides to the peridium and forming distinct
veins in the central mass.
The species Scleroderma _vulgare_ is very common in woods, and has
sometimes been mistaken for a form of Truffle. The plants are not very
attractive, and the odor is rank. They are subsessile and irregular in
shape, with a hard outer skin, the larger form of a yellowish or
greenish brown hue, and covered with large warts or scales, the smaller
very minutely warty, and of a darker brown hue. The internal mass is of
a bluish-black hue, threaded through with white or greyish flocci.
Spores dingy. The interior becomes pulverulent when the plant matures.
This species has been eaten in its young state when cooked, but the
flavor is by no means equal to that of the large puff-balls. It is
sometimes attacked by a fungus larger than itself, called Boletus
_parasiticus_, and this parasite is again attacked by a species of
Hypomyces, one of the genera of the Pyrenomycetes, which grows in
patches upon dead fungi.
PHALLOIDEAE OR PHALLACEAE.
The Phalloideae, sometimes called the "Stink-horn" fungi on account of
their foetid odor, are not numerous, the whole number of described
species being about eighty. The plants are watery, quick in growth, and
decay very rapidly. They are varied in form and are quite unlike the
ordinary mushroom types. In some of the genera the plants are columnar
and phalloid, in other clathrate or latticed, in others again the disk
is stellate, and in one genus it is coralloid, but they are all
enclosed, in the early stage, in a volva which is at first hidden or
partially hidden beneath the surface of the ground. A gelatinous stratum
is contained within the firmer outside membrane.
_Genus Ithyphallus_. In this genus the cap is perforated at the top,
free from the stem and reticulate. No veil. The mature plants are
columnar in form with the remains of the volva enclosing the column-like
stem at the base; the cap in its deeply pitted reticulations somewhat
resembling that of the _Morel_, although of different texture.
[Illustration: Plate H.
Gasteromycetes.
Phalloideae.
Figs. 1 to 6, Ithyphallus impudicus, Linn. "Foetid Mushroom."
Fig. 7, Clathrus cancellatus, Fr. "Latticed Mushroom."
Unwholesome.]
PLATE H.
FIGS. 1 to 6.--=Ithyphallus= _impudicus_ Linn. "_Foetid Wood Witch_."
In the embryonic stage the plant is enclosed in a volva which is
composed of three layers, the outer one firm, the intermediate one
gelatinous, and the inner one consisting of a thin membrane. The gleba,
or spore-bearing portion, in the early stage forms a conical honeycombed
cap within the inner shell or membrane, concealing the stem to which it
is attached. The stem at this stage is very short, cylindrical, and
composed of small cells filled with a gelatinous substance. The volva is
about the size of a hen's egg. On maturity it ruptures at the apex. The
stem rapidly expands and, elongating, elevates the cap into the air. The
stem becomes open and spongy, owing to the drying of the gelatinous
matter and its quick expansion.
The whole plant attains a height of from four to ten inches in a few
hours. The hymenial surface is on the outside of the cap, the spores
being embedded in its glutinous coated ridges and depressions. The
hymenium is at first firm but rapidly deliquesces, holding the spores in
the liquid mass. The cap is greenish or greenish-gray in color, changing
to a dark bottle-green. In its deliquescent state the odor is very
repulsive. While enclosed in the volva the unpleasant odor is not so
perceptible, and it has been eaten in that condition without unpleasant
effects, but in its mature stage it is considered unwholesome, and
certainly its offensive odor would be quite sufficient to deter most
persons from attempting to test its edible qualities. Flies, however,
are very fond of the fluid, and consume it greedily and with impunity.
It is found in gardens and woods, its presence being detected several
rods away by the offensive odor. Specimens occur in which the color of
the cap is white or reddish.
In the allied genus _Mutinus_ the pileus is adnate and is not perforated
at the apex. Mutinus _caninus_ resembles _impudicus_ in form, but the
cap is continuous with, not free from the stem, and is crimson in color,
covered with a greenish-brown, odorless mucus. The stem is hollow,
whitish, tinted with a pale yellow or orange color. Not common.
_Genus Clathrus_ Mich. In this genus the receptacle is sessile, and
formed of an obovate globular net-work. At first wholly enclosed in a
volva which becomes torn at the apex and falls away, leaving a
calyx-like base at its point of contact with the stem.
FIG. 7.--=Clathrus cancellatus= Tourn.
UNWHOLESOME.
Receptacle bright vermillion or orange red, covered at first with a
greenish mucus which holds the colorless spores. Volva white or pale
fawn color. Odor strongly foetid.
MYXOMYCETES OR MYXOGASTERS.--"_Slime Fungi_."
In their early history the Myxomycetes, or "slime moulds," were classed
with the gasteromycetal fungi, and by Fries grouped as a sub-order of
the Gasteromycetes, under the name Myxogasters. From this connection
they were severed in 1833 by Link, who, recognizing certain distinctive
features which entitled them to consideration as an entirely separate
group, ranked the Myxogasters, as a separate order, under the title
_Myxomycetes_, _Slime moulds_. De Bary, in a monograph on the subject
written some years later, questioned the right of this group to the
place assigned it in the vegetable world, claiming that the Myxogasters
were as nearly related to the animal as to the vegetable kingdom, and
changing the name to Mycetozoa. Massee assailed this position in his
"Monograph of the Myxogasters," pointing out that De Bary derived his
reasons and deductions from the early or vegetative stage of the fungi,
without taking sufficiently into account the characteristics of the
later or reproductive stage in which the great disparity between these
organisms and those of the lower animals becomes apparent.
Dr. Rostafinski, the Polish botanist, and pupil of De Bary, adopts the
name given the group by De Bary, but applies it in a more restricted
sense, classifying on a botanical basis. Both De Bary and Massee have
their earnest disciples. M. C. Cooke takes the ground that the
Myxomycetes are entitled to mention as "_fungi_ which produce their
fructification enclosed within a peridium," although considering them as
an aberrant group which, on account of certain peculiarities of their
early or vegetative stage, should no longer be classed as having
affinity with Gasteromycetes. Without further discussion of the subject,
it is sufficient, for our present purpose, to state that mycologists now
very generally agree in regarding this group as quite distinct from the
Gasteromycetes.
The species are minute, rarely exceeding a millimeter in diameter, at
first pulpy, then dry. In the early or vegetative stage the "slime
mould" is plasmoidal, consisting of a mass of protoplasm without cell
wall, and prefers damp surfaces, such as rotting leaves, moist logs,
etc. The whole substance is slippery or slimy and presents different
hues, red, orange, violet, brown, etc., according to species, but never
green. It is in the reproductive or fruiting stage that their
resemblance to microscopic puff-balls appears, the sporangium in many
species exhibiting a distinct peridium or outer coat which encloses the
spores together with the hair-like threads called the capillitium. On
the ripening of the spores this peridium ruptures, allowing their
escape, the capillitium lending valuable aid in their dissemination.
GENERA OF GASTEROMYCETES, ACCORDING TO SACCARDO.
I.--PHALLACEAE, OR PHALLOIDEAE.
Dictyophora, Desvaugh.
Ithyphallus, Fr.
Mutinus, Fr.
Kalchbrennera, Berk.
Simblum, Klotzsch.
Clathrus, Mich.
Colus, Cav. & Sech.
Lysurus, Fr.
Anthurus, Kalchbr.
Calathiscus, Mont.
Aseroe, La Bill.
Staurophallus. (?)
II.--NIDULARIACEAE.
Nidularia, Fr. & Nordh.
Cyathus, Hall.
Crucibulum, Tul.
Thelebolus, Tode.
Dacryobolus, Fr.
Sphaerobolus, Tode.
Polyangium, Link. } Genera delenda.
Atractobolus, Tode. }
III.--LYCOPERDACEAE.
Gyrophragmium, Mont.
Secotium, Kunze.
Polyplocium, Berk.
Cycloderma, Klotzsch.
Mesophellia, Berk.
Cauloglossum, Grev.
Podaxon (Desv.) Fr.
Sphaericeps, Welw. & Curr.
Tylostoma, Pers.
Queletia, Fr.
Battarrea, Pers.
Husseya, Berk.
Mitremyces, Nees.
Geaster, Mich.
Diplocystis, B. & C.
Diploderma, Link.
Trichaster, Czern.
Broomeja, Berk.
Coilomyces, B. & C.
Lanophila, Fr.
Eriosphaera, Reich.
Bovista, Dill.
Calvatia, Fr.
Lycoperdon, Tourn.
Hippoperdon, Mont.
Scleroderma, Pers.
Castoreum, C. & M.
Xylopodium, Mont.
Areolaria, Forquigu.
Phellorina, Berk.
Favillea, Fr.
Polygaster, Fr.
Polysaccum, D. C.
Testicularia, Klotzsch.
Arachnion, Schw.
Scoleciocarpus, Berk.
Paurocotylis, Berk.
IV.--HYMENOGASTRACEAE (HYPOGAEI).
Hysterangium, Vitt.
Octaviania, Vitt.
Rhizopagon, Fr.
Melanogaster, Corda.
Hymenogaster, Vitt.
Hydnangium, Walk.
Gautieria, Vitt.
Macowanites, Kalchbr.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
E. Fischer, etc. "Gasteromycetae," Saccardo, _Sylloge Fungorum_. Vol.
vii, part i. Padua, 1888.
Chas. H. Peck. "United States species of Lycoperdon."
Geo. Massee. "Monograph of the British Gasteromycetes." _Annals of
Botany,_ Nov., 1889. "Monograph of the Genus Lycoperdon" in _Journal
Royal Micro. Soc._ London, 1887.
C. Bambeke. _Morphologie du Phallus impudicus._ Gand, 1889.
A. P. Morgan. "North American Geasters" in _American Naturalist_. Roy.
8vo. 1887.
L. and C. Tulasne. "Essai d'une Monographie des Nidulariees." Ann. des
Sci. Nat. 8vo. Paris, 1844.
M. C. Cooke. _The Myxomycetes of Great Britain._ Plates. 8vo. London,
1877. _The Myxomycetes of the United States_, by the same author. New
York, 1877.
Geo. Massee. _A Monograph of the Myxogasters._ Col. plates. Roy. 8vo.
London, 1892.
A. De Bary. "Die Mycetozoon" (_Schleimpilz_). Plates. 8vo. Leipzig,
1864.
J. Rostafinski. _Sluzowce, Mycetozoa Monografia._ Plates. 4to. Paris,
1875.
Geo. A. Rex. New American Myxomycetes. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
part iii, Dec. 16, 1890, pp. 436-438.
Balliet Letson. "Slime Molds." The Ornithologist and Botanist. Vol. i.
Binghamton, N. Y., Nov., 1891, p. 85. 1 col.
Thos. H. McBride. "The Myxomycetes of Eastern Iowa." Bulletin from the
Laboratories of Natural History of the State University of Iowa. Iowa
City, Iowa, 1892.
AGARICINI.
_Subgenus Lepiota_ Fries. Veil universal and concrete, with the cuticle
of the pileus breaking up in the form of scales. Gills typically free,
often remote, not sinuate or decurrent. Stem generally distinct from the
hymenophore. Volva absent. Habitat terrestrial, mostly found on rich
soil or in grassy places. (In Saccardo's _Sylloge_, Lepiota is given
generic rank.)
The Lepiotas have a wide geographical distribution. No less than 225
species have been recorded as found in different parts of the world.
These are pretty evenly divided between the torrid and temperate zones.
They are generally smaller than the Amanitas, less fleshy and somewhat
dry and tough. The flesh is soft and thready, not brittle. In the plants
of most of the species the cap is rough, the cuticle being broken up
into tufts or scales. These tufts are readily distinguished from the
warts which characterize certain species of Amanita, being formed from
the breaking up of the cuticle with the concrete veil, while the
wart-like excrescences seen upon Amanita _muscaria_, for example, are
composed of fragments of the volva, which is always found enclosing the
very young plants of the genus Amanita.
A few of the species are characterized by a smooth cap; in some
instances it is granulose or mealy. Usually the cuticle is dry, but in a
few of the species it is viscid. The stem is generally long and hollow,
and, being of different texture from the flesh of the cap, is easily
separated from it, often leaving a distinct socket at the junction of
stem and cap. It is sometimes smooth, sometimes floccose. In some
species it is bulbous at the base, in others not. The ring which
encircles the stem is at first continuous with the cuticle of the cap,
breaking apart with its expansion. It is sometimes movable, sometimes
evanescent.
The species generally are considered edible, or innoxious. None are
recorded as dangerous. A mycophagist from Augusta, Ga., reports,
however, that the members of a family in that vicinity were made quite
ill from eating the Lepiota _Morgani_, a greenish-spored species of
Lepiota, while he himself ate of the same dish, experiencing no
unpleasant effects. I have had no personal experience with this species.
Two edible species of Lepiota, which are widely commended as of good
quality, and which are sufficiently abundant to have value as esculents,
are figured in Plate XI. A third, Ag. (Lepiota) cepaestipes, var.
cretaceus--Lepiota _cretacea_, figured in Plate XI-1/2, is an exotic
species found in greenhouses. It is of very delicate flavor.
[Illustration: Plate XI.
EDIBLE
Figs. 1 to 4 Agaricus (Lepiota) procerus, Fries (Lepiota procera)
"_Parasol Mushroom_."
Figs. 5 to 9 Lepiota naucinoides Peck. (Agaricus naucinus Fries)
"_Smooth White Lepiota_."
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XI.
FIGS. 1 to 4.--=Ag. (Lepiota) procerus= Scop. (=Lepiota procera=).
"_Parasol Mushroom_."
EDIBLE.
Cap at first ovate, then expanded, showing distinct umbo, cuticle thick,
torn into evanescent scales; gills remote from the stem, free, white, or
yellowish-white; stem long, slender, variegated with brownish scales,
hollow or slightly stuffed, bulbous at the base, and bearing a
well-defined thickish ring, which in the mature plant is movable. Spores
white, elliptical. The color of the cap varies from a light tan or
ochraceous yellow to a dark reddish-brown. The surface showing beneath
the lacerated cuticle is of a lighter hue than the cuticle, and is silky
and fibrillose, giving the cap a somewhat shaded or spotted appearance.
The flesh is dry, soft and thready, white. Taste and odor pleasant.
Cap from 3 to 5 inches broad; stem from 5 to 10 inches high.
This species is commonly found in pastures and in open grassy places;
sometimes in open woods near cultivated fields, usually solitary or in
very small clusters. It is a favorite among mycophagists. Lepiota
_racodes_ closely resembles Lepiota _procera_, and by some botanists the
two are regarded as forms of the same species. In L. _racodes_ the
pileus is at first globose, expanded, and finally depressed in the
centre; the cuticle is thin and broken into persistent scales; the whole
plant smaller than L. procera. Flesh slightly reddish when bruised.
Edible. There is also a white variety (_puellaris_) with a floccose
squamose cap.
PLATE XI.
FIGS. 5 to 9.--=Ag. (Lepiota) naucinus= Fries (=Lepiota naucinoides=
Peck). "_Smooth White Lepiota_."
EDIBLE.
Cap at first sub-globose, then curved, the surface smooth and satiny
when dry, creamy white; gills close and slightly rounded at the inner
extremity towards the stem, free from the stem, white; stem white,
smooth, hollow, and bulbous at the base; ring thick, distinct, movable,
white. The gills, soon after gathering, become suffused with a faint
pinkish or fleshy tint. The spores are white, sub-elliptical. Specimens
occur in which there is a slight granulation in the centre of the cap,
but they are rare. The variety _squamosa_ shows the surface of the cap,
somewhat broken into thick scales.
L. _naucinoides_ is a very clean and attractive looking mushroom,
usually symmetrical in shape. It is a fleshier mushroom than L.
_procera_, and is found in grassy places, in lawns, sometimes in
gardens, or by roadsides, especially where the soil is rich. The
specimens figured in Plate XI were gathered in a rose garden, growing in
loamy soil. Specimens have been received from different States, some of
them much larger than those here illustrated.
This mushroom is recorded by some authors as equal in flavor to the
Parasol mushroom. When stewed with butter it makes a very appetizing
dish.
There is a fatally poisonous mushroom to which it bears some
resemblance, and which might be taken for it, viz., Amanita _verna_, or
"Spring mushroom." It is therefore necessary, in order to guard against
such a mistake, to give particular attention to the characteristics of
these two mushrooms. They are both white throughout, and both have white
spores and ringed stem. Amanita _verna_, however, carries a white volva
or cup-shaped sheath at the base of the stem, and the gills do not show
a pinkish or flesh colored tinge at any stage. In Lepiota _naucinoides_,
as in all the Lepiotas, the volva is wanting. Amanita _verna_ is apt to
be moist and clammy to the touch, and is tasteless. L. _naucinoides_ is
dry, and has a pleasant flavor. The first is found _wholly_ in _woods_;
the second prefers pastures, open grassy places, and gardens, though
sometimes found in light woods. I have never found an Amanita in a lawn,
pasture, or garden.
An edible mushroom, Agaricus (Psalliota) _cretaceus_, found in pastures,
bears a slight resemblance to L. _naucinoides_, when the color of the
spores and gills are not taken into consideration. In the former the
gills very quickly change from their early stage of rosy pink to a dark
purplish-brown color, like that of the common mushroom. The spores are
purplish-brown, while in L. _naucinoides_ the pinkish hue which tinges
the fading plant is very faint, and changes to a very light tan color
with age. The spores being white, the gills retain their white color for
a long time, never changing to dark brown.
L. _Americana_ Pk. A. & S., L. _excoriata_ Schaeff., and L.
_rubrotincta_ Pk. have been tested and are of good flavor.
L. _Americana_ has a reddish or reddish-brown cap, umbonate, with close
adpressed scales and white flesh. The gills are broad and free from the
stem, sometimes anastomosing near it, white; stem white, hollow,
tapering towards the cap, annulate. When dried the whole plant has a
brownish-red hue. When cut or bruised it sometimes exudes a reddish
juice. Miss Banning reports specimens found in Druid Hill Park,
Baltimore. I have gathered very beautiful specimens in Montgomery
county, Md. This mushroom sometimes grows to a very large size.
L. _excoriata_ has a pale fawn-colored cap, slightly umbonate, with thin
cuticle, breaking into scales; gills remote, white; stem white, hollow,
and short, nearly cylindrical. Odor faint, pleasant.
L. _rubrotincta_ Pk. "_Red-tinted Agaric_." Cap reddish or pinkish,
broadly umbonate and clothed with adpressed scales; gills whitish, free,
and close; stem nearly equal or slightly thickened at the base, with a
well-developed persistent white or pinkish ring. Spores white,
sub-elliptical.
L. _holosericeus_ Fries has a fleshy white cap, soft, silky, and
fibrillose, a solid bulbous stem, with persistent broad, reflexed ring,
and free ventricose, white gills. Edible. It is found in gardens and
cultivated places.
L. _acutesquamosa_ Wein, found in greenhouses and soil in gardens, is a
heavy but not very tall species. The cap is obtuse, and fleshy, at first
floccose. As the cap expands it bristles with erect pointed tufts or
scales. The gills are white or yellowish, lanceolate and simple, free
from the stem. Stem bulbous, somewhat stuffed, rough or silky below the
ring, and downy above. Ring persistent. Color of cap whitish or light
brown, with darker scales.
L. _granulosus_ Batsch. Cap thin, wrinkled or corrugated, granulose,
mealy; gills white, _reaching the stem_, sometimes free. Plants very
small and varying in color--pink, yellow, and white, according to
variety.
L. _amiantha_. Plants very small, ochraceous in color, with yellow flesh
and white gills _adnate_ and crowded.
L. _cepaestipes_ Sow. Cap thin, broad, sub-membranaceous, broadly
umbonate, adorned with mealy evanescent scales, margin irregular; gills
white, at length remote. Stem hollow and floccose, narrow at top,
ventricose; ring evanescent. Generally found in hothouses. Cap 1 to 3
inches broad. Stem 3 to 6 inches high. Spores white.
L. _cristata_ is a common species found on lawns and in fields where the
grass is short. The plants are small, the cap from 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches in
width. Not very fleshy. The cuticle of the cap is at first continuous
and smooth but soon breaks into reddish scales. The stem is fistulose,
slender and equal; gills free. Odor and taste somewhat strong and
unpleasant.
[Illustration: Plate XI-1/2.
Agaricus (Lepiota) cepaestipes--var. cretaceus, Peck. (Lepiota
cretacea.)
Edible.
From Nature.]
PLATE XI-1/2.
=Ag. (Lepiota) cepaestipes=, variety =cretaceus= Peck (=Lepiota
cretacea=).
EDIBLE.
This very delicate and beautiful agaric is found on tan and leaves in
hothouses.
The specimens here delineated were gathered in one of the hothouses of
the Agricultural Department and first described and figured in _Food
Products_, No. 2, of the report of the Division of Microscopy. The
plants are a pure white throughout, and both stem and pileus are
covered with small chalk-white mealy tufts. Berkeley says, "this species
is probably of exotic origin, as it never grows in the open air." It is
also met with in the hothouses of Europe. Specimens have been received
from contributors who gathered them in greenhouses in different
localities. This species should not be confounded with the
purplish-brown spored mushroom Agaricus (Psalliota) cretaceus, which has
pink gills turning to dark brown and is allied to the common meadow
mushroom.
Lepiota _cretacea_ is a delicious mushroom when broiled, or cooked in a
chafing dish, and served on hot buttered toast. It has a pleasant taste
when raw.
Lepiota _Morgani_ Peck, the "_Green-Spored Lepiota_," is an exception to
the general type of Lepiotas in the color of its gills and spores. It is
western and southern in its range. This species is described by Peck in
the Botanical Gazette of March, 1897, p. 137, as follows: "Pileus
fleshy, soft, at first sub-globose, then expanded, or depressed, white,
the brownish or alutaceous cuticle breaking up into scales except on the
disk; lamellae close, lanceolate, remote, white, then green; stem firm,
equal, or tapering upwards, sub-bulbous, smooth, webby-stuffed, whitish,
tinged with brown, annulus rather large, movable; flesh both of the
pileus and stem white, changing to reddish, and then to yellowish hue
when cut or bruised; spores ovate, sub-elliptical, mostly uninucleate,
.0004 to .0005 inches long, .0003 to .00032 broad, sordid green.
"Plant 6 to 8 inches high, pileus 5 to 9 inches broad, stem 6 to 12
lines thick. Open dry grassy places. Dayton, Ohio. A. P. Morgan."
AGARICINI.
_Genus Cortinarius_ Fries. This genus is distinguished by a cob-web-like
veil, dry persistent gills, which in the mature plants become
discolored, and pulverulent with the rusty or ochraceous colored spores.
The veil is very delicate, resembling a spider's web. It is not concrete
with the cuticle of the cap, but extends from its margin to the stem, in
the young plants sometimes concealing the gills, but disappearing as the
cap expands. Sometimes a few filaments are seen depending from the
margin of the cap or encircling the stem.
In the young plants of this genus the gills vary very much in color.
They are whitish, clay-color, violet, dark purple, blood-red, etc.,
according to species, but, as the plants mature, the gills become dusted
with the rust-colored falling spores, and with age usually become a
rusty ochraceous, or cinnamon color. The stem in some of the species is
distinctly bulbous and in others equal, cylindrical, or tapering. In
identifying the species it is necessary, in order to ascertain the true
color of the gills, to examine the plants at different periods of
growth.
The genus Cortinarius is a large one, and contains many beautiful
species. It is mainly confined to temperate regions. Not a single
species has been recorded as found in Ceylon, the West Indies, or
Africa, but one tropical species is found in Brazil. Nearly four hundred
species have been described, and over three hundred and seventy of these
belong to the United States and Europe. A few are found in the extreme
southern or temperate portion of South America, and several are reported
from a temperate elevation among the Himalayas. Sweden and Great
Britain, with their temperate climates, claim a large proportion of the
European species. Not many of the Cortinarii have been recorded as
edible, and none as dangerous. The Rev. M. J. Berkeley records, however,
a case of poisoning by one of the species, C. (Inoloma) _bolaris_ Pers.,
which though not fatal was somewhat alarming, the symptoms being great
oppression of the chest, profuse perspiration, and the enlargement for
two days of the salivary glands of the patient. I have seen no other
statements relating to the poisonous properties of this species, and the
results alluded to may have been owing to some individual idiosyncrasy.
Berkeley, in his "Outlines," gives the following description of this
mushroom: "Pileus fleshy, obsoletely umbonate, growing pale, variegated
with _saffron-red, adpressed, innate_ scales; stem stuffed, then hollow,
nearly equal, squamose, of the same color as the cap; gills
subdecurrent, crowded, watery, cinnamon color. Cap 1 to 2 inches broad.
Stem 2 to 3 inches long." In beech woods in September and October.
The genus Cortinarius has been divided by some authors into the
following six groups: (1) _Phlegmacium_, in which the cap is fleshy and
viscid, the veil partial, and the stem firm and dry; (2) _Myxacium_, in
which the veil is universal and glutinous, hence the cap and stem both
viscid; cap thin and the gills adnate or decurrent; (3) _Inoloma_, in
which the cap is fleshy, dry, and at first silky with innate fibrils;
veil simple and stem slightly bulbous; (4) Dermocybe, in which the
pileus is thinly fleshy, dry, and at first downy, becoming smooth; the
veil single and fibrillose; flesh watery, colored when moist, stem equal
or attenuated downwards; (5) Telamonia, in which the cap is moist, at
first smooth or dotted with the superficial fragments of the veil, the
stem ringed below, or peronately scaly from the remains of the universal
veil; (6) Hydrocybe, in which the cap is thin and moist, not viscid,
smooth, or covered with superficial white fibrils; stem rigid, not
scaly, veil thin, occasionally collapsed in an irregular ring. These
subdivisions have been designated as _tribes_ by some botanists and
_subgenera_ by others, etc. To the divisions Inoloma and Phlegmacium,
respectively, belong the two species illustrated in Plate XII.
[Illustration: Plate XII.
EDIBLE
Figs. 1 to 4 Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus, Linn.
"_Violet Cortinarius_."
Figs. 5 to 7 Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) caerulescens, Fries.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XII.
FIGS. 1 to 4.--=Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus= Fr. "_Violet
Cortinarius_."
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, at first convex, then nearly plane, dotted with hairy tufts
or scales, margin at first involute, color purple or dark violet, flesh
soft, purplish; gills distant, broad, adnate, somewhat rounded near the
stem, at first purplish violet, changing to an ochraceous or brownish
cinnamon color as the plant matures; stem solid, somewhat bulbous at the
base, purple; cortina or veil white or tinged with violet, sometimes
bluish.
This is a handsome species, and though it is somewhat rare in many
localities, its pretty and unusual coloring does not allow it to be
easily overlooked. It is edible, and has a mushroomy taste when raw.
Agaricus _nudus_ Bull, a purple species with white spores, is sometimes
confounded with it. There are other purple species of Cortinarius not so
pleasant to the taste, which bear some resemblance to C. _violaceus_.
The specimens figured in Plate XII were gathered near Dedham, Mass., on
open ground on the border of a stretch of pine woods.
FIGS. 5 TO 7.--=Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) caerulescens=.
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, at first convex, then plane, surface even, viscid; color
bluish or violet; gills adnexed and crowded, at first bluish, changing
to violet or purplish hues; stem solid, short, and thick, with a broadly
bulbous base, same color as the cap; veil filmy, single. In woods and on
the borders of woods. This mushroom varies in color, the bluish or
purplish tints being quite susceptible to atmospheric changes. When
growing in the shade or well-sheltered places, it is much darker in hue
than when exposed unsheltered to the bright sunlight. The specimen
figured in Plate XII was gathered on low ground near a pine grove in
Essex County, Mass.
Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) _purpurascens_ Fr. bears a slight resemblance
to _caerulescens_, but can be distinguished from it by the spotted or
zoned character of the cap and the broadly emarginate gills.
Cortinarius _turmalis_, an edible autumnal species, having an ochraceous
or brownish-yellow cap with emarginate or decurrent gills, the latter at
first whitish, then reddish clay color, is found in abundance in some
parts of Maryland. The gills are never tinged with purple or blue. The
flesh is white. The plants are easily discovered by those familiar with
their habitat, as they grow under pine needles in groups, forming small
mounds extending over large spaces, and in these hiding places, in the
autumnal months, they are free from insects and dust. I have collected a
bushel of them in less than an hour in fresh condition in October. Some
of the French authors do not class this species as edible. Gillet, in
his Hymenomycetes of France, enumerates fifty-three edible species of
Cortinarius, but places _turmalis_ among the suspects. I find this
mushroom not only edible, but very valuable, because of its abundance in
the localities where found. It is often densely caespitose. The plant,
when mature, is from 3 to 5 inches high.
C. _sebaeceus_, found also in pine woods, is recorded as edible. The
plant is tall, white-stemmed, with broad tan-colored, somewhat viscid
cap; emarginate gills, clay color at first, at last cinnamon color; stem
solid, stout, fibrillose, and equal.
Cortinarius _collinitus_, Smeared Cortinarius, and Cortinarius
_cinnamomeus_, with its variety semi-sanguinea, have also been tested,
and found edible. The first of these is somewhat common. The plants when
fresh are covered with a glutinous substance, and this should be removed
before cooking. Cap smooth under the glutinous coat, light brown or
tawny yellow in color, flesh white; gills whitish or light gray when
young, cinnamon-hued in the matured plant. Stem solid, nearly equal,
cylindrical, yellowish, and somewhat scaly. C. _cinnamomeus_ belongs to
the division Dermocybe. The cap is thin at first, silky with innate
fibrids, becoming smooth, and varies from light brown to a dark cinnamon
color. The gills are yellowish, then cinnamon; stem downy or silky,
yellow. The variety _semi-sanguinea_ has the lamellae red, almost as in
the preceding species.
C. (Phlegmacium) _varius_, "Variable Cortinarius," edible, has a compact
fleshy viscid, even cap, brownish in color, gills at first violet,
changing to cinnamon, stout solid stem, white or whitish, adorned with
adpressed flocci, flesh white.
Cortinarius (Telamonia) _armillatus_ Fries is given in M. C. Cooke's
list of edible Cortinarii. Cap fleshy but not thick, fibrillose and
slightly scaly, bright bay color, thin uneven margin; stem solid, dingy,
rufescent, showing irregular red zones or bands elongated and slightly
bulbous at the base; gills distant, broad, pallid in color at first,
changing to dark cinnamon. C. (Telamonia) _haematochelis_ Bull. (edible),
somewhat resembles the former in color and size, though not so bright a
brown. Cap thin, silky-fibrillose; gills adnate, narrow and crowded,
light cinnamon; stem long, solid, dingy, with a reddish zone.
C. (Hydrocybe) _castaneus_ Bull., _Chestnut Cortinarius_ (edible), is
found in woods and gardens. The plants of this species are usually
small. Cap at first campanulate, expanding, sometimes slightly umbonate
in the centre, chestnut color; gills ventricose, crowded, purplish,
changing to rust color; stem short, hollow or stuffed, cartilaginous,
equal, pallid, reddish brown, or tinged with violet; veil white.
_Subgenus Collybia_ Fries. Cap at first convex, then expanded, not
depressed, with an involute margin; gills reaching the stem, but not
decurrent, sometimes emarginate; stem hollow, with cartilaginous bark of
a different substance from the hymenophore, but confluent with it; often
swollen and splitting in the middle; spores white. The plants are
usually found growing upon dead tree stumps; some grow upon the ground;
a few are parasitic on other fungi or springing from _sclerotia_, small
impacted masses of mycelium. The species are generally small and firm
and of slow growth. A few are edible, some few have an unpleasant odor.
On account of the cartilaginous stem and the dryness of their substance,
some of the smaller species are apt to be taken for Marasmii. Note:
Saccardo in his Sylloge gives Collybia generic rank.
[Illustration: Plate XIII.
EDIBLE
Figs. 1 to 3 Agaricus (Collybia) fusipes, Bull.
"_Spindle Foot Collybia_."
Figs. 4 to 6 Agaricus (Collybia) maculatus, A. & S.
"_Spotted White Collybia_."
Figs. 7 to 9 Agaricus (Collybia) velutipes, Curt.
"_Velvet Footed Collybia_."
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XIII.
FIGS. 1 to 3.--=Ag. (Collybia) fusipes= Bull. "_Spindle-Foot
Collybia_."
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, somewhat tough, convex, then plane, smooth, even or slightly
cracked in places, umbo evanescent, reddish brown; gills adnexed, nearly
free, broad, distant, at length separating near the stem, firm, white,
changing to fawn color, or pale brown often spotted; stem long, stuffed,
then hollow, externally cartilaginous, contorted, swollen in the middle,
cracking in longitudinal slits, fusiform, tapering narrowly to a rooted
base, reddish brown. On stumps in woods in the autumn. Cap 1 to 2 inches
broad; stem 2 to 6 inches long. This species is densely caespitose. It is
very generally recorded among authors as edible, although the flesh is
somewhat tough. It requires long and slow cooking. An English author
recommends it for pickling. Only the caps should be used for this
purpose.
FIGS. 4 to 6.--=Ag. (Collybia) maculatus= A. & S. (=Collybia
maculata=). "_Spotted White Collybia_."
Cap fleshy and compact, convexo-plane, obtuse, smooth, even, margin
thin, at first involute, turned inwards, white; stem long and stout,
externally cartilaginous, ventricose, sometimes striate, tapering
towards the base; gills free, or nearly so, narrow, crowded, somewhat
linear, white, becoming spotted. Taste slightly acid. The whole plant is
creamy white, becoming spotted and stained throughout with rusty-brown
or foxy-red tints. The plants are usually large, long stemmed, and grow
in irregular clusters on decayed tree stumps in woods. Specimens of a
large size have been gathered in the fir woods near Mattapoisett,
Massachusetts. Cap 3 to 5 inches broad; stem 3 to 5 inches long. The
variety _immaculatus_ differs from the typical form in not becoming
spotted and in the broader gills, which are serrated.
FIGS. 7 to 9.--=Ag. (Collybia) velutipes= Curt. "_Velvet-Footed
Collybia_."
Cap fleshy, thin, at first convex, then plane, obtuse, smooth, viscid,
tawny or brownish yellow, turning dark; flesh yellowish and soft; gills
slightly adnexed, pale yellow; stem tough, stuffed, externally
cartilaginous, sometimes slender, but usually thick, covered with a
brown velvety down, dark bay color. This is a very common species in
some localities. It is densely caespitose, growing in heavy clusters on
old logs and tree trunks in parks, woods, and gardens. The plants are
quite gelatinous when cooked. Group figured from illustration by M. C.
Cooke.
Collybia _radicata_ Rehl. is recorded as an edible species. The plants
have a thin, slightly fleshy cap, slightly umbonate, wrinkled, and
glutinous at maturity; distant, white, adnexed gills, and tall, slender,
rigid stem. The latter is often twisted and usually attenuated upwards,
color pale brown. It has a long tapering root entering deeply into the
soil. This species is solitary in habit, and is commonly found in grass,
or near decayed stumps. Cap from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, stem 6
inches to 10 inches in length.
Collybia _esculenta_ Jacq., a small species found in pine woods as well
as in pastures in the spring, is recorded as edible by a number of
authors. In this species the cap is nearly plane, obtuse, and smooth,
brownish; gills adnate, whitish; stem very slender, fistulose, equal,
tough, smooth, reddish clay color, deeply rooting.
APPENDIX.
As Chief of the Division of Microscopy, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
the author prepared for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago a
collection of models of edible and poisonous mushrooms, for which a
medal and diploma were there awarded. The same collection, which now
belongs to the Museum of the Department of Agriculture, was exhibited at
the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in 1895, where a diploma was again awarded
for it, and has since been exhibited at the exposition of 1897 in
Nashville, Tenn. The models composing this collection, about one
thousand in number, were made from actual specimens and colored to
nature, the same species being generally represented by numerous
specimens so as to illustrate the various stages in the life of the
plant, habit of growth, etc.
The following is a list of the mushrooms represented in this collection,
among which there are types of most of the genera in which species
recorded as edible occur:
Amanita _Caesarea_ Schaeff. "Orange Amanita." Edible.
Amanita _rubescens_ Pers. "The Blusher." "Reddish-Brown Amanita."
Edible.
Amanita _strobiliformis_ Vitt. "Fir-Cone" or "Pine-Cone Amanita."
Edible.
Amanita _pantherinus_ D. C. "Panther Mushroom." Poisonous.
Amanita _phalloides_ Fr. "Poison Amanita." Poisonous.
Amanita _muscaria_ Linn. "Fly Amanita." "False Orange." Poisonous.
Amanita _verna_ Bull. "Spring Mushroom." "Vernal Amanita." Poisonous.
Amanitopsis _vaginata_ Roze. "The _Grizette."_ "Sheathed Amanitopsis."
Edible.
Lepiota _procera_ Scop. "Parasol Mushroom." "Tall Lepiota." Edible.
Lepiota _racodes_ Vitt. "Ragged Lepiota." Edible.
Armillaria _mellea_ Fr. "Honey Mushroom." Edible.
Tricholoma _terreum_ Schaeff. "The Gray Cap." Edible.
Clitocybe _illudens_ Schw. "Giant Clitocybe." Unwholesome.
Clitocybe _odora_ Bull. "Odorous Clitocybe." Edible.
Clitocybe _laccata_ Scop. Edible.
Collybia _fusipes_ Bull. "Spindle-Foot Collybia." Edible.
Pleurotus _ostreatus_ Jacq. "Oyster Mushroom." Edible.
Pleurotus _ulmarius_ Jacq. "Elm Pleurotus." Edible.
Volvaria _bombycina_ Schaeff. "Silky Volvaria." This species has been
recorded by some authors as poisonous. Hays, after testing it, speaks
well of it, and states that is eaten on the Continent.
Volvaria _speciosa_ Fr. Not commended.
Pholiota _caperata_ Pers. Edible.
Agaricus _campester_. "Field Mushroom." Edible.
Agaricus _arvensis_ Schaeff. "Horse Mushroom." Edible.
Hypholoma _sublateritium_. "Brick Top." Edible.
Hypholoma _Candolliana_. Edible.
Coprinus _comatus_ Fr. "Shaggy Mane Mushroom." Edible.
Coprinus _atramentarius_. "Inky Coprinus." Edible.
Cortinarius _turmalis_ Fr. Edible.
Cortinarius _caerulescens_ Fr. Edible.
Hygrophorus _conicus_ Fr. Conical Mushroom. Has been recorded by a
number of authors as poisonous. Some later writers speak of it as
edible.
Hygrophorus _puniceus_ Fr. "Purplish Hygrophorus." Edible.
Hygrophorus _ceraceus_ Fr. "Waxen Hygrophorus." Edible.
Lactarius _deliciosus_ Fr. "Delicious Lactarius." Edible.
Lactarius _volemus_ Fr. "Orange-brown Lactarius." Edible.
Lactarius _torminosus_ Fr. This mushroom is said to contain an acrid
juice which acts seriously on the stomach and alimentary canal.
Lactarius _rufus_ Fr. Intensely acrid.
Lactarius _vellereus_ Fr. Extremely acrid.
Lactarius _piperatus_. "Fiery Milk Mushroom." Extremely acrid when raw.
The Russians parboil it, throwing away the liquid, before preparing for
pickling. A noted German chemist reports it "not very safe."
Russula _alutacea_ Fr. Yellow-gilled Russula. Edible.
Russula _virescens_ Fr. Edible.
Russula _cyanoxantha_ Schaeff. "Variable Russula." Edible.
Russula _emetica_ Fr. This mushroom is extremely acrid when raw; by some
authors it is recorded as poisonous, by others as edible. Chemical
analysis has shown that it contains a varying proportion of muscarin, as
well as cholin, etc.
Cantharellus _cibarius_ Fr. "The Chantarelle." Edible.
Marasmius _oreades_ Bolt. "The Fairy Ring Mushroom." Edible.
Boletus _edulis_ Bull. Edible.
Boletus _scaber_ Fr. Edible.
Boletus _granulatus_ Linn. Edible.
Boletus _brevipes_ Pk. Edible.
Boletus _luteus_ Linn. Edible.
Boletus _pachypus_ Fr. Edible.
Boletus _Americanus_ Pk. Edible.
Boletus _subtomentosus_ Linn. Edible.
Boletus _castaneus_ Bull. Edible.
Boletus _Satanus_ Lenz. "White-topped Boletus." Recorded as poisonous.
Boletus _luridus_ Schaeff. "Red-pored Boletus." Recorded as poisonous.
Strobilomyces _strobilaceus_ Bull. Edible.
Fistulina _hepatica_ Fr. "Beefsteak Fungus." Edible.
Polyporus _sulfureus_ Bull. Edible.
Hydnum _repandum_ Linn. Edible.
Hydnum _erinaceum_ Bull. Edible.
Sparassis _crispa_ Wulf. Edible.
Clavaria _cinerea_ Bull. Edible.
Clavaria _rugosa_. Edible.
Lycoperdon _gemmatum_ Fr. Edible.
Lycoperdon _giganteum_ Fr. "Giant Puff-Ball." Edible.
Lycoperdon _pyriforme_ Schaeff. "Pear-shaped Puff-Ball." Edible.
Scleroderma _vulgare_ Fr.
Morchella _esculenta_ Pers. Edible.
Morchella _conica_ Bull. Edible.
Hirneola _auricula Judae_ Bull. Edible.
Ithyphallus _impudicus_ Linn. Unwholesome.
Clathrus _cancellatus_ Linn. Unwholesome.
NOTE.--In addition to the above there were also represented a number of
coriaceous or woody species which grow upon trees, old stumps, etc.
STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK
OF
MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA
EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.
BY
THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.
AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.
_Fellow of the A. A. A. S.; Hon. Member of the Mic. Section Royal
Inst., Liverpool, England; Member of Honor of the International
Medical Society of Hygiene, Brussels; Member of the American and
Washington Chemical Societies; French Chemical Society, Paris; of
the American Textile Society; Medical Society of Washington, D. C.;
Cor. Member Academy of Arts and Sciences of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Cor.
Member Mic. Societies of New York, Buffalo, etc., etc._
Published in Serial Form--=No. 5=--Price, 50c. per number.
WASHINGTON, D. C.:
A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E.
1898.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
It has not been possible to represent all the genera of mushrooms which
contain species having value as esculents within the compass of this
series of five pamphlets, but the demand for these promises to justify
the publication, at a future date, of a second series, which the author
now has in preparation.
A. R. T.
Copyright, 1898, by
Thomas Taylor, M. D.,
and
A. R. Taylor.
AGARICINI.
LEUCOSPORI--(Spores White).
Subgenus _Pleurotus_ Fries. The Pleuroti are similar in some respects to
the Tricholomas and Clitocybes, some of the species having notched gills
near the stem, and others, again, having the gills decurrent, or running
down the stem. Most of the species grow upon dead wood or from decaying
portions of live trees. Very few grow upon the ground. The stem is
mostly eccentric, lateral, or wanting; when present it is homogeneous or
confluent with the substance of the cap; the substance may be compact,
spongy, slightly fleshy, or membranaceous. Veil evanescent or absent.
The spores are white or slightly tinted.
M. C. Cooke figures over thirty species of Pleurotus found in Great
Britain, and describes 45 species found in Australia. With few
exceptions, all of these grow upon wood. Very few have value as
esculents.
[Illustration: Plate J.
Agaricus (Pleurotus) ostreatus, Jacq.
Edible.
_T. Taylor, del._]
PLATE J.
=Ag. (Pleurotus) ostreatus= Jacq. "_Oyster Mushroom_."
EDIBLE.
Cap soft, fleshy, smooth, shell-shaped, white or cinereous, turning
brownish or yellowish with age. Flesh white, somewhat fibrous. Gills
white, broad and decurrent, anastamosing at the base. Stem usually not
well defined, lateral, or absent. Spores elliptical, white. The caps are
sometimes thickly clustered and closely overlapping, and sometimes wide
apart. This mushroom has long been known as edible both raw and cooked.
It has a pleasant but not decided flavor and must be cooked slowly and
carefully to be tender and easily digestible. Old specimens are apt to
be tough. It is found on decaying wood and often on fallen logs in moist
places or upon decaying tree-trunks. It is frequently recurrent on the
same tree. I have gathered great quantities of the Oyster mushroom
during several seasons past from a fallen birch tree which spanned a
small stream. The lower end of the tree rested on the moist ground at
the edge of the stream. Specimens have been found on the willow, ash and
poplar trees, and upon the apple and the laburnum.
Pleurotus _sapidus_ Kalchb. _Sapid Pleurotus_. Edible.
This species closely resembles the Oyster mushroom in form and habit of
growth, and is by some considered only a variety of _P. ostreatus_. It
grows usually in tufts with the caps closely overlapping, varying in
color white, ashy, grayish or brownish. Flesh white. The stems are
white, smooth and short, mostly springing from a common base. The gills
are white and very broad, and decurrent. The spores assume a very pale
lilac tint on exposure to the atmosphere.
Pleurotus _ulmarius_ Bull. "_Elm Pleurotus_." Edible.
The Elm Pleurotus is quite conspicuous by reason of its large size and
light color. The cap is smooth and compact, usually whitish with a dull
yellowish tinge in the center. Flesh white. The skin cracks very easily,
giving it a scaly appearance. The gills are broad, and toothed or
notched near their point of attachment to the stem as in the
Tricholomas, white in color, turning yellowish with age. The stem is
firm and smooth, solid and rather eccentric, thick and sometimes
slightly downy near the base, from two to four inches in length.
Although this mushroom seems to prefer the elm and is most frequently
found on trees of that species, it is found also upon other trees, but
principally the maple, the ash, the willow, and the poplar. It grows
upon live trees, usually where the branches have been cut away, and upon
stumps as well. Most authors recommend it as an esculent, although it
has not the rich flavor of some other mushrooms. It dries well and can
be kept thus for winter use. This species has a wide range and grows
most abundantly in the autumn. Its resistance to cold has been
frequently remarked.
AGARICINI.
Subgenus _Amanita_. The Amanitas are usually large and somewhat watery,
the flesh brittle rather than tough. The very young plants are enveloped
in a membranous wrapper, which breaks apart with the expansion of the
plant, leaving a more or less persistent sheath at the base of the stem.
The universal veil is distinct and free from the cuticle of the cap. The
cap is convex at first, then expanded; in some species naked and smooth;
in others, clothed with membranaceous patches of the volva. The stem is
distinct from the fleshy substance of the cap, ringed and furnished with
a volva or sheath. In some of the species this sheath is connate with
the base of the stem, firm and persistent. In others, it is friable, at
length nearly obsolete.
The ring is usually persistent, deflexed, more or less prominent, in
rare cases pressed close against the stem, and sometimes scarcely
distinguishable from it. The gills in most of the species are free from
the stems, but there are exceptions to this rule. Spores white. As to
geographical distribution, according to M. C. Cooke, seven-eighths of
the species are distinctly located in the temperate zone, one-twentieth
at a temperate elevation, and only one-twentieth presumably tropical.
Out of the eighty species, about sixty are North American and European,
and one species is found on the slopes of the Andes, in South America.
As heretofore stated, this group among mushrooms is made responsible for
most of the well authenticated cases of fatal poisoning by mushrooms. It
would be judicious, therefore, for those who are not thoroughly familiar
with the characteristics of the edible Amanitas to defer making
experiments with them for table use until that familiarity is acquired.
Saccardo in his _Sylloge_ describes no less than fifteen edible species
of Amanita as found in different parts of the world. Of those I have
personally been able to identify but three which are common in this
country, and which have been well tested. Specimens of these three
species are illustrated in Plates XIV and XIV-1/2 of this pamphlet. They
are each and all found in varying abundance in different parts of the
United States.
[Illustration: Plate XIV.
EDIBLE AMANITAS.
Figs. 1 to 4 Ag. (Amanita) Caesareus, Scop. (Amanita Caesarea)
"Orange Amanita."
Figs. 5 to 9 Ag. (Amanita) rubescens. Pers. "The Blusher."
"Reddish Brown Amanita."
EDIBLE.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XIV.
FIGS. 1 to 4. =Ag. (Amanita) Caesareus= Scop. (=Amanita Caesarea=).
"_Orange Amanita_," "_True Orange_."
EDIBLE.
Cap at first convex, afterwards well expanded; _smooth_, free from
warts, striate on the margin; color orange-red or bright lemon-yellow,
with red disk; gills lemon-yellow, rounded near the stem, and free from
it; stem equal or slightly tapering upwards, stuffed with cottony
fibrils, or hollow (color clear lemon-yellow), bearing a yellowish ring
near the top and sheathed at the base with large, loose, membranous,
white volva. Odor faint but agreeable. Spores white, elliptical.
The whole plant is symmetrical in form, brilliant in coloring, clean and
attractive in appearance. The American plant seems to differ in some
slight respects from the European as figured and described in European
works. In Europe the pileus or cap is said to vary in color, being
sometimes white, pale yellow, red or even copper color, although it is
usually orange-yellow. My own observation of the American plant of this
species agrees with that of Prof. Peck in that the cap is uniform in
color, being at first bright reddish-orange or even brilliant red,
fading with age to yellow, either wholly or only on the margin. No white
specimens have been as yet recorded in this country. The red color
disappears in the dried specimens. The striations of the margin are
usually quite deep and long and almost as distant as in the edible
species Amanitopsis _vaginata_. Some European writers have described the
flesh or substance of the cap as yellowish. In our plant the flesh is
white, but stained with yellow or red immediately under the cuticle.
Amanita _Caesarea_ is the only one of the Amanitas which has yellow
gills.
Berkeley, in his "Outlines of British Fungi," describes A. Caesarea as it
is found in some parts of Continental Europe, but states that up to the
date of his writing it had not been found in Great Britain. It is not
recorded in the more recent lists of British fungi by M. C. Cooke nor in
that of Australian fungi by the same author. The species has a wide
range in this country, and though not very common in the North, in some
localities, as in the pine and oak woods of North Carolina, it is found
in great abundance. Dufour states that it is much esteemed as an
esculent in France, and though rare in the northern part of that
country, it is common in the center and the south of France in autumn.
It is well known in different portions of Continental Europe, and is
frequently figured in contrast with its very poisonous congener, Amanita
muscaria, or "False Orange," commonly known as the "Fly Amanita," or
"Fly-Killer."
A careless observer might mistake one for the other, but with a little
attention to well-defined details the edible form can be readily
distinguished from the poisonous one.
In analyzing the species the attention should be directed to the
following characteristics of the two mushrooms: In A. _Caesarea_ the cap
is _smooth_, the stem, gills and ring _lemon-yellow_, and the cup-shaped
wrapper or volva which sheathes the base of the stem is white and
_persistently membranous_.
In A. _muscaria_ the cap is _warty_ or shows the traces or remains of
warts; the gills _white_, stem _white_, or only very slightly yellowish,
and the wrapper or volva is evanescent, breaking up into ridge-like
patches adhering to the base of the stem.
The Amanita Caesarea has long been esteemed as an esculent in foreign
countries, and was known in ancient times to the Greeks and Romans. It
is known under the following names: "Orange," "Caesar's mushroom,"
"Imperial mushroom," "Yellow-egg," "Kaiserling," etc. Mycologists who
have tested it agree as to its edibility and delicate flavor.
The specimens figured in Plate XIV represent the average size of those
which I have gathered in the vicinity of the District of Columbia. Much
larger ones have been gathered in the woody portions of Druid Hill Park,
Baltimore, Md.
Dufour writes: "This mushroom, the "true oronge," is cooked in a variety
of ways, and it always constitutes an exquisite dish." This author gives
the following recipes for cooking the _Caesarea_, which he calls the
"Oronge:"
_Oronge a la bordelaise._--The stem is minced with fine herbs,
bread-crumbs, and garlic, and seasoned with pepper and salt. This hash
is placed in the concavity of the caps, and all is put to bake with good
oil in a pan steamed in a chafing dish.
_Oronge a l'Italienne._--Stew gently with a little butter and salt, then
serve with a sauce composed of oil seasoned with the juice of lemon,
pepper, garlic, and extract of sweet almond.
The Spanish are fond of this mushroom, and it is said to enter into
their national dish, olla podrida, a mixture of meat, vegetables, and
spices, whenever it can be obtained.
It is sometimes fried in butter or olive oil and seasoned with sugar.
PLATE XIV.
FIGS. 5 to 9.--=Ag. (Amanita) rubescens= Pers. (=Amanita
rubescens=). "_The Blusher_," "_Reddish Brown Amanita_."
EDIBLE.
Cap at first convex then expanded, margin even or very slightly
striated, usually reddish-brown or reddish-fawn color, covered with
mealy, more or loss persistent warts; flesh white, changing to a reddish
or pinkish tinge, where cut or bruised, the reddish tinge most intense
in the bulbous portion of the base of the stem; _gills reaching the stem
and forming decurrent lines upon it_, white, becoming spotted with rusty
or wine red stains when bruised or attacked by insects; stem ringed,
whitish or dingy white, becoming brownish or spotted, with reddish-brown
stains. The base of the stem is usually bulbous, the bulb sometimes
tapering to a point at the root, and in some instances ending abruptly.
The ring or collar which encircles the stem near the top is membranous,
and usually well defined.
The volva which completely envelops the young plant is very friable and
soon disappears. Fragments of the volva may be seen in the shape of
scales or small particles upon the mushroom stem, and in wart-like
patches upon the cap. In the representations of this mushroom which
appear in European works the cap is a deeper reddish-brown tint than I
have found it here. The color of the cap is usually a light reddish
brown or reddish gray, sometimes almost white. This species is found
usually in light open woods. In a warm moist climate it appears early in
the season, and can be gathered until the frosts come. Taste very
pleasant.
There is a poisonous species, Amanita _pantherinus_, rare, which has a
viscid brown warted cap bearing a slight resemblance to that of the
_rubescens_, but the gills do not turn red when bruised, and the volva
at the base of the stem is well defined and persistent.
The _rubescens_ is very plentiful in the woods of Maryland and Virginia,
and specimens have been received from different parts of the country. I
have frequently eaten it stewed with butter, and found it very good
eating. Hay speaks of it as being eaten in England, where it is called
the "Blusher." Cooke says it is pleasant both in taste and odor. It is
spoken of by French authors as of delicate flavor, and as well known in
some parts of France. In preparing for the table bring the mushroom to a
quick boil and pour off the first water, then stew with flavoring to
suit the taste.
The specimens of this species represented in Plate XIV were collected in
the woods of Forest Glen, Maryland. They are often found of much larger
size and much lighter in coloring, with the stains upon the gills redder
in color. The very young plants as they burst through the surface of
the soil show a distinct volva at the base of the stem. In the mature
plant this disappears, often leaving the slightly bulbous base quite
smooth.
[Illustration: Plate XIV-1/2.
Agaricus (Amanita) strobiliformis, Vitt. "Fir-Cone Mushroom."
Edible.
From Nature.
_T. Taylor, del._]
PLATE XIV-1/2.
=Ag. (Amanita) strobiliformis= Fries (=Amanita strobiliformis=).
"_Fir-cone Mushroom_."
EDIBLE.
Cap fleshy, convex at first, then expanded, covered with persistent
white warts, margin even, white; flesh white, firm and compact; gills
rounded behind and free from the stem, white; stem solid, the bulbous
base tapering, furrowed with concentric and longitudinal channels at the
root, and extending well into the ground, white; ring large, soon
splitting; volva breaking up and appearing in concentric ridges upon the
stem. Spores white.
This mushroom is very pleasant to the taste when raw as well as when
cooked. It is found in light woods or on the borders of woods where the
soil is somewhat friable, generally solitary, but sometimes two or three
are found clustered together. The plants are sometimes so large that two
or three of them would make a very good meal. Specimens have been found
with the cap measuring 8 to 9 inches across when expanded, the stem
varying from 6 to 8 inches in height, and from 1 to 3 inches in
thickness. When young the plants are generally snowy white throughout,
changing with age to a dingy white or cinereous hue. The specimens
figured in the plate formed one of a cluster of three mushrooms of this
species found growing in the fir woods of the District of Columbia.
During some seasons I have found the _strobiliformis_, or "Fir-cone
mushroom," fairly plentiful in some parts of Maryland, and in other
seasons it has been rare. The whole plant when young is enclosed in a
white membranous wrapper.
Although this species is very generally recognized by mycologists as
edible, I would advise great caution in selecting specimens for table
use, since there is a dangerous species which might be mistaken for it
by one not familiar with the characteristics of both species; I refer to
a form of Amanita muscaria with ochraceous yellow cap which, when faded
or bleached by the sun and rain, sometimes approaches, in tint, the
dingy white of old or faded specimens of the _strobiliformis_. Both
species have _white gills_, _white stems_, and _white flocculent veil_.
The volva is evanescent in both, leaving traces of its existence in
concentric ridges at the base, and part way up the stem.
In the species _strobiliformis_, the flesh of the cap is white
throughout, as well as the cuticle.
In the yellowish _muscaria_, the flesh _immediately_ beneath the cuticle
of the upper surface of the cap is yellowish, frequently deepening at
the disk to orange hue.
The cap of Amanita _muscaria_ is very attractive to flies, but proves
to them, as also to roaches and to some other insects, a deadly poison.
The juice of _strobiliformis_ is not poisonous to flies. This fact may
aid in identifying the species.
Subgenus _Amanitopsis_ Roze. The species of this subgenus were formerly
included in Amanita. The characteristic which separates it from Amanita
is the _absence of a ring on the stem_. The gills are free from the
stem, the spores are white, and the whole plant in youth is encased in
an egg-shaped volva.[A]
[A] Although this subgenus is not included in M. C. Cooke's analytical
key to the order of Agaricini, published with his kind permission in No.
3 of this series, he now includes it as one of the subgenera which
should have a place in that list.
Amanitopsis _vaginata_ Roze. Edible.
This species is very common in pine and oak forests. The plant, as a
whole, has a graceful aspect and grows singly or scattered through open
places in the woods. It is somewhat fragile and easily broken. The cap
in this species is usually a mouse-gray, sometimes slaty gray or
brownish, generally umbonate in the center and distinctly striated on
the margin.
The stem is white, equal, and slender in proportion to the width of the
cap, and sheathed quite far up with a loose white membranous wrapper.
This sheath is so slightly attached to the base of the stem that it is
often left in the ground if the plant is carelessly pulled. The gills
are white, or whitish, free from the stem and rounded at the outer
extremity.
There is a white variety, (variety _alba_) A. _nivalis_, in which the
whole plant is white, and a tawny variety (A. _fulva_ Schaeff.) in which
the cap is a pale ochraceous yellow, with the gills and stem white or
whitish. In the variety A. _livida_ or A. _spadicea_ Grev. the cap is
brown, while the stem and gills are tinged a smoky brown.
These are all edible and of fairly good flavor. Except in the absence of
the ring upon the stem, the light varieties might be mistaken for small
forms of the poisonous species Amanita _verna_ or of _phalloides_. Great
caution should therefore be observed, in gathering for the table, to be
sure of the species.
[Illustration: Plate XV.
Figs. 1 to 7. Ag. (Amanita) muscarius, Linn. (Amanita muscaria)
"Fly Mushroom."
Fig. 8. Ag. (Amanita) phalloides, Fries.
Fig. 9. Ag. (Amanita) mappa Batsch.
POISONOUS.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XV.
Figs. 1 to 7.--=Ag. (Amanita) muscarius= Linn. (=Amanita muscaria=).
"_Fly Mushroom_," "_False Orange_."
POISONOUS.
Cap warty, margin striate; gills white, reaching the stem, and often
forming decurrent lines upon it; stem white, stuffed, annulate, bulbous
at the base, concentrically ridged or scaly at the base, and sometimes
part way up, with fragments of the ruptured wrapper. Spores widely
elliptical, white, .0003 to .0004 of an inch in length.
The plants of this species vary very much in size and in the color of
the cap. The latter is sometimes a bright scarlet and again it is orange
color, more frequently ochraceous yellow, fading to a very pale yellow
tint. In the variety _albus_ it is white. The stem is stuffed with webby
fibrils and varies very much in thickness: sometimes in young specimens
it is very stout, with a thick ovate bulb reaching well up towards the
cap, and again it is comparatively slender and nearly equal from the cap
down to a very slight bulb at the base. The very young plant is
completely enveloped in a white or yellowish egg-shaped wrapper or
volva, which, being friable, generally breaks up into scales, forming
warts upon the upper surface of the cap. When the plant is young and
moist the cap is slightly sticky. A thickish white veil extends from the
stem to the inner margin of the cap. This breaks away with the growth
and expansion of the plant and falls in lax folds, forming a deflexed
ring round the upper portion of the stem.
This mushroom is very common in woods and forests in summer and autumn,
and has a wide geographical range. It is recorded by all mycologists as
poisonous. One author states that when eaten in very small quantities it
acts as a cathartic, but that it causes death when eaten freely. Flies
find in it a deadly poison, and the poisonous alkaloids are not
destroyed by drying.
Although cases are cited where this mushroom has been eaten without
injury, its fatally poisonous effects have been too well and too often
tested to allow of any doubt as to the danger of eating it, even in
small quantities.
Amanita Frostiana, Frost's Amanita, is a much smaller species than A.
muscaria. It bears a very close resemblance to the Fly Amanita, and
might easily be taken for a small form of the same. The cap is yellowish
and warted, and specimens occur in which the stem and gills are slightly
tinged with yellow. It is poisonous.
PLATE XV.
FIG. 8.--=Ag. (Amanita) phalloides= Fries (=Amanita phalloides=)
=A. vernalis= Bolt., =A. verrucosus= Curtis. "_Poisonous Amanita_,"
"_Death Cup_."
POISONOUS.
Cap bell-shaped or ovate at first, then expanded, smooth, obtuse,
viscid, margin even, creamy-white, brown, or greenish, without warts;
flesh white; stem white, hollow or stuffed, bulbous at the base,
annulate; gills rounded and ventricose, coarse, and persistently white,
free from the stem; volva conspicuous, large, loose, adhering to the
base, but free from the stem at the top, with the margin irregularly
notched. In the white forms there is frequently a greenish or yellow
tinge at the disk or centre of the cap. The white form is most common,
but the brownish is often found in this country. I have not yet found
the green-capped variety sometimes figured in European works. In the
brown variety the stem and ring are often tinged with brown, as also the
volva. The cap is usually from 2 to 3 inches broad, and the stem from 3
to 5 inches long. The whole plant is symmetrical in shape and clean
looking, though somewhat clammy to the touch when moist. It is very
common in mixed woods, in some localities, and is universally considered
as fatally poisonous.
The white form of A. _phalloides_, although in reality bearing very
little resemblance to the common field mushroom, has been mistaken for
it as also for the _Smooth white lepiota_, and in some instances has
been eaten with fatal results by those who gathered it.
The distinction between this most poisonous Amanita and the common field
mushroom is well marked. In the common mushroom the _gills_ are _pink,
becoming dark brown_, the _spores purplish brown_, and the whole
mushroom is stout and short stemmed, the stem being shorter than the
diameter of the cap, and having no volva, or wrapper at its base. In the
species A. _phalloides_ the _gills_ are _persistently white_ and the
bulb is distinct and broad at the base, the white cup-shaped wrapper
sheathing the base of the stem like the calyx of a flower. The _Smooth
white lepiota_ shows neither volva nor trace of one, and has other
distinct characteristics which distinguish it from A. _phalloides_. See
page 14, No. 4 of this series.
The specimen figured in Plate XV grew in Maryland, where it is quite
common.
PLATE XV.
FIG. 9.--=Ag. (Amanita) mappa (Amanita mappa)= Linn., =Amanita
citrina=, =A. virosa.=
POISONOUS.
Cap at first convex, then expanded, dry, without a separable cuticle,
not warty but showing white, yellowish, or brownish scales or patches on
its upper surface; gills white, adnexed; flesh white, sometimes slightly
yellowish under the skin; stem stuffed, then hollow, cylindrical,
yellowish white, nearly smooth, with a distinctly bulbous base; volva
white or brownish. Odor pleasant. Spores spheroidal. The cap in this
species is somewhat variable in color, but those having a white cap are
most common. The plant is not so tall as those of the species
_phalloides_. It is solitary in habit, and is found usually in open
woods.
Curtis and Lowerby figure _mappa_ and _phalloides_ under the same name.
[Illustration: Plate XVI.
Fig. 1. Ag. (Amanita) vernus, Bull. (Amanita verna.) "Spring
Mushroom."
Fig. 2. Represents section of mature plant.
Fig. 3. Spores; Fig. 4. Young plant.
POISONOUS.
T. Taylor, del.]
PLATE XVI.
FIGS. 1 to 4.--=Ag. (Amanita) vernus= Bull. =(Amanita verna)= Linn.,
=Amanita bulbosa=, =Ag. solitarius.= "_Vernal Mushroom_," "_Spring
Mushroom_," etc.
POISONOUS.
Cap at first ovate, then expanded, becoming at length slightly
depressed, viscid, white; margin smooth; flesh white; gills white, free;
stem white, equal, stuffed or hollow, easily splitting, floccose, with
bulbous base; volva white, closely embracing the stem, but free from it
at the margin; ring reflexed; spores globose, .0003 in. broad. The plant
is creamy white throughout and does not seem to be easily
distinguishable from the white forms of A. _phalloides_. Fries and some
others consider this species merely a variety of Amanita _phalloides_,
and it is regarded as equally poisonous, the poisonous principle being
the same as that of A. _phalloides_. It is very common in mixed woods
from early spring to frosty weather.
ALKALOIDS OF THE POISONOUS MUSHROOMS.
Schrader, after some experiments made in 1811, stated that the poisonous
principle of the "Fly mushroom," Amanita muscaria, seemed to be combined
with its red coloring matter and might be extracted by water or aqueous
alcohol, but that it was not soluble in ether.
Vaquelin, as the result of more extended investigations made in 1813,
expressed the opinion that this poison was not confined to the coloring
matter of the mushroom, but that it was an integral part of the fatty
constituents not only of _muscaria_ but of several species of mushrooms.
In 1826 and 1830, and again in 1867, important investigations were made
and published by Letellier relating to the medical and poisonous
properties of mushrooms growing around Paris. Letellier's early
investigations led him to the conclusion that there were two poisons
contained in certain fungi--(1) an acrid principle easily destroyed by
drying or boiling or by maceration in alcohol or in alkaline solution,
and (2) a peculiar poisonous alkaloid found only in certain of the
Amanita group. Letellier in 1866 named this latter alkaloid _amanitin_.
He then considered it to be the active poison of Amanita _muscaria_,
Amanita _phalloides_, and Amanita _verna_, but a subsequent analysis by
the German chemists Schmiedeberg and Koppe showed the _amanitin_ of
Letellier to be identical with _cholin_, a substance found in bile.
Kobert says that _amanitin_ is non-poisonous in itself, but states that
it may be changed on decay of the mushroom to the muscarin-like acting
_neurin_, which is highly poisonous. He thinks it highly probable that
nearly all of the edible and non-edible mushrooms contain pure
_amanitin_ (cholin) partly in primitive condition and partly in a more
intricate organic connection, as _lecithin_. It has been demonstrated
that amanitin separates very readily from lecithin during the _decay or
careless drying_ of mushrooms and changes into the _poisonous neurin_;
hence the necessity of using mushrooms only when _perfectly fresh_ or
when _quickly dried_.
MUSCARIN.[A]
[A] The earliest account of the separation of the poisonous principles
of the mushrooms of the genus Amanita dates back to the experiments of
Apoiger in 1851. Harnack's researches were published in 1876 and those
of Huseman in 1882.
To the eminent German chemists Schmiedeberg and Koppe is due the credit
of isolating the active poisonous principle of the Fly mushroom
(_muscarin_). These authors published in 1869 a series of interesting
experiments made with _muscarin_, having relation to its effect upon the
heart, respiration, secretions and digestive organs, etc., and this was
supplemented by other experiments made by their pupils, Prof. R. Boehm
and E. Harnack. Schmiedeberg and Koppe's work relates to the effect of
this poison on man as well as upon the lower animals. Dr. J. L. Prevost
in 1874 reviewed the investigations made by Schmiedeberg and Koppe in a
paper read before the Biological Society of Geneva, adding some
confirmatory observations of his own relative to experiments made with
muscarin upon the lower animals. The experiments made by these authors
demonstrated "that muscarin arrests the action of a frog's heart, that a
muscarined frog's heart began to beat immediately under the influence of
atropin, and further that it was impossible to muscarine a frog's heart
while under the influence of atropin."
Schmiedeberg subjected cats and dogs to doses of muscarin, large enough
to produce death, and when the animals were about to succumb, injected
hypodermically from one to two milligrams of sulphate of _atropin_,
after which the toxic symptoms disappeared and the animals completely
revived. Prof. Boehm found that _digitalin_ likewise re-established
heart action when suspended by the action of muscarin.
In man the fatal termination, in cases of mushroom poisoning, where the
antidote is not used, may take place in from 5 to 12 hours or not for
two or three days.
According to Prof. E. Kobert's recent chemical analysis, the "Fly
mushroom," Amanita muscaria, contains not only the very poisonous
alkaloid _muscarin_ and the _amanitin_ of Letellier (_cholin_), but also
a third alkaloid, _pilz atropin_. The pilz-atropin (mushroom atropin)
was discovered by Schmiedeberg in a _commercial_ preparation of
_muscarin_, and later Prof. Kobert discovered it in varying proportions
in fresh mushrooms of different species. The effect of this third
alkaloid, it is claimed, is to neutralize to a greater or less extent
the effect of the poisonous one. Under its influence, when present in
quantity, the poison is almost entirely neutralized. Contraction of the
pupils changes to dilation, and slowing of the pulse may disappear. Only
through the presence of this natural antidote in the Fly mushroom, says
Kobert, is it possible, as in some parts of France and Russia, to eat
without danger this mushroom, which contains 10% of sugar (trehalose or
mycose) in a fermented and unfermented condition. He states also that
delirium, intoxication, and other symptoms which, according to Prof.
Dittmer of Kamschatka and various scientific travellers, are reported
effects of the Fly mushroom in the extreme north, are not experienced in
the same degree in southern Russia. This difference in action, he
thinks, may be very properly attributed to the varying proportion of the
above-mentioned atropin in the mushroom or to the presence of substances
which develop only in the extreme north.
The symptoms of _muscarin_ poisoning, apart from vomiting and purging,
are slowing of the pulse, cerebral disturbance, contraction of the
pupils, salivation and sweating. In case of death, which is caused by
suffocation or a suspension of heart action, the lungs are found to be
filled with air, and there is a transfusion of blood in the alimentary
canal.
Prof. R. Kobert, in a lecture delivered before the University of Dorpat
in 1891, states that _muscarin_ is found equally in the Fly mushroom (A.
muscaria), the Panther mushroom (A. pantherinus), Boletus luridus, and
in varying quantities in Russula emetica. He states also that though
highly poisonous to vertebrates, _muscarin_ is not so to flies, and that
the noxious principle in A. muscaria which kills the flies is not as yet
determined.
It has been shown that the lower animals, such as sheep and geese, as
well as man, have been severely poisoned by feeding on the "Fly
mushroom," and that in the case of the horse, experiments have
demonstrated that even 0.04 of a gramme, 0.62 of a grain, have caused
marked symptoms of poisoning.
For _muscarin_ as for _neurin_ poisoning the antidote is atropin
administered internally or by subcutaneous injection.
PHALLIN.
The toxic alkaloid of Amanita _phalloides_ Fries (Amanita _bulbosa_) was
examined by Boudier, who named it "_bulbosin_," and by Ore, who named it
"_phalloidin_," but their examinations, it is claimed, proved little
beyond the fact that it seemed to be in the nature of an alkaloid,
identical neither with _muscarin_ nor _helvellic_ acid.
Ore affirmed that the _phalloidin_ of the Amanita phalloides was very
nearly related to, and perhaps identical with, strychnine. From this
view Kobert and others dissent.
The poisonous principle of Amanita _phalloides_ has recently been
subjected to very careful analysis by Prof. Kobert. As a result of a
large number of experiments and post-mortem examinations held on persons
poisoned by A. _phalloides_, Kobert states that the symptoms can be
explained uniformly by the action of a poison, to which he gives the
provisional name of "_phallin_." This is an albuminous substance which
dissolves the corpuscles of the blood, resembling in this and other
respects in a remarkable degree the action of _helvellic_ acid.
According to Kobert _phallin_ has so far only been found in Amanita
_phalloides_ and in its varieties _verna_, _mappa_, etc. He finds also
in this mushroom muscarin and an atropin-like alkaloid.
The symptoms of the phalloides poisoning are complex. Vomiting is
accompanied by diarrhoea, cold sweats, fainting at times, convulsions,
ending in coma. There is also fever and a quickening of the pulse. All
these symptoms, which follow in succession, according to one author, are
dependent on two different poisonous substances. The first may be an
acrid and fixed poison, for it is found after repeated dryings, as well
in the aqueous as in the alcoholic extract. The second acts by
absorption, and is purely narcotic.
Phallin has some of the properties of the toxalbumin of poisonous
spiders, and is a vegetable toxalbumin.
It has been remarked that in cases of poisoning by A. _phalloides_, the
mushroom has tasted very good, and those poisoned felt well for several
hours after eating.
Phalloides poisoning is said to bear a marked resemblance to phosphorus
poisoning and to acute jaundice. There is no known antidote to the
poisonous alkaloid _phallin_.
According to Prof. Kobert's analyses, the proportion of phallin in the
dried mushroom amounts to less than 1%, but its effect on account of its
concentration is the more intensive.
Extensive experiments made by Kobert with ox blood in regard to the
comparative action of different substances in their power of dissolving
the red blood corpuscles demonstrate that _phallin_ in this respect
exceeds all known substances. Kobert states that "If _phallin_ be added
to a mixture of blood with a 1% solution of common salt, using the blood
of man, cattle, dogs, or pigeons, the blood corpuscles will be entirely
dissolved by the poison diluted to 1-125,000."
Prof. Kobert states that he has examined the species Boletus edulis,
Agaricus campester, and Amanita Caesarea a number of times, but could
never detect the action of phallin in them. Neither has he found it in
A. muscaria.
THE POISONOUS ALKALOID OF GYROMITRA ESCULENTA FRIES (HELVELLA ESCULENTA
PERS.)
HELVELLIC ACID.
Prof. Kobert writes of a number of cases of poisoning in the Baltic
provinces of Russia by the mushroom Helvella _esculenta_ Persoon,
sometimes called the Lorchel. It should be here stated that the
_Helvella esculenta_ of Persoon is the _Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries.
This mushroom is described as edible and placed in the edible lists by
Dr. M. C. Cooke, Prof. Peck, and other distinguished mycologists, who
have tested it and found it edible when perfectly fresh.
The poisonous principle of this mushroom was isolated and analyzed by
Prof. R. Boehm, of Russia, in 1885. It was by him designated as
"_helvellic acid_," and found to be soluble in hot water. Profs. Eugene
Bostroem and E. Ponfick, after giving some study to the effects of this
mushroom poison, agreed in their report concerning it, which is to the
effect that the _quickly dried_ H. _esculenta_ (Gyromitra _esculenta_)
is not poisonous, and that the poisonous acid of the fresh ones may be
extracted by means of hot water, so that while the decoction is
poisonous the mushroom is not at all so, after the liquid is pressed
out. Experiments with this mushroom were made by both authors on dogs,
which ate them greedily, but without exception the dogs were very sick
afterwards. The symptoms were nausea, vomiting, jaundice, stoppage of
the kidneys, and haemaglobinuria. The symptoms observed in man correspond
to those manifested by the lower animals. Dissection showed the
dissolution of innumerable blood corpuscles.
Prof. Kobert, commenting on the experiments made by Bostroem and
Ponfick, states that he himself had been furnished yearly with fresh
specimens of "H. _esculenta_" (G. _esculenta_) specially gathered for
him at Dorpat, and after making various experiments with the freshly
expressed juice he became convinced that the poisonous principle greatly
varies, the juice sometimes operating as very poisonous, and sometimes
as only slightly so. He states also that the proportion of poison in the
mushroom varies with the weather, location, and age of the mushroom. The
inhabitants of Russia do not eat this mushroom, but in Germany it is
eaten dried or when perfectly fresh, after cooking, and after the first
water in which it is boiled is removed.
Helvellic acid is not found in Morchella _esculenta_ (the true Morel),
nor is it known to exist in any other species except G. _esculenta_. It
has been stated that there is no antidote for helvellic poisoning after
the symptoms have appeared.
A specimen of Gyromitra esculenta was forwarded to me from Portland,
Maine, by a member of a mycological club of that city, who stated that
this mushroom was quite abundant in the early spring in the woods near
Portland and that the plants were eaten by the members of the club,
_care being taken to use them only when perfectly fresh_. Indigestion
and nausea followed the eating of old specimens, but the general opinion
was "favorable to the Gyromitra as an addition to the table." (See page
6, part 2, of this series.)
Prof. Chas. H. Peck, of Albany, while placing this mushroom in his
edible list as one which he had repeatedly tested, advises that it
should be eaten only when perfectly fresh, as nausea and sickness had
been known to result from the eating of specimens which had been kept
twenty-four hours before cooking.
I forwarded a number of drawings of the American species of G.
_esculenta_, together with a dried specimen of the same received from
Maine, to Prof. Kobert, who identified both drawings and specimen as the
_Gyromitra esculenta_ of Fries, synonymous with the _Helvella esculenta_
of Persoon. Prof. Kobert also informs me that he finds the fresh G.
_esculenta_ perfectly harmless when freed of the water of the first
boiling. He says: "My wife and I eat it very often, when in fresh
condition, and after the first water in which it is boiled is poured
off." The active poisonous principle of this mushroom is the _helvellic
acid_, which is soluble in hot water. When the mushroom is gathered
fresh and _quickly dried_ it is then also innoxious. In this respect it
differs from the species _A. muscaria_, in which the poisonous alkaloid
_muscarin_ is not destroyed in the drying, but remains unchanged for
years in the dried mushroom.
The fact that there have been seemingly well-authenticated cases of
fatal poisoning in the eating of this mushroom shows that if used at
all it should be eaten _only when the conditions essential to safety are
most carefully observed_, and as these mushrooms show varying qualities,
according to local conditions of soil and climate, etc., amateurs
finding it in localities where it has not been heretofore used should
proceed tentatively and with much care before venturing to eat it
freely.
POISONOUS AND DELETERIOUS MUSHROOMS OF THE LACTAR, RUSSULA, AND BOLETUS
GROUPS.
Lactarius _torminosus_ Fries contains in its milky juice an acrid resin
which causes inflammation of the stomach and of the alimentary canal.
When parboiled and the first water removed, it has been eaten without
injurious effects. Lactarius _plumbeus_ Bull., Lactarius _uvidus_ Fries,
Lactarius _turpis_ Weinn., and Lactarius _pyrogalus_ Bull., all acrid
mushrooms, according to Kobert, are similarly poisonous.
Of the "Erdschieber" (Lactarius _vellereus_) and the "Pfefferling"
(Lactarius piperatus Scop.) Kobert says they are eaten in parts of
Russia and in some places in Germany, but that neither is very safe.
There is a species of _Russula_ (R. _emetica_) very common in woods,
easily recognized by its smooth scarlet top, white gills, and white stem
and by its biting acridity, which, though recorded as poisonous by some
authors, is considered edible by others. This mushroom, R. _emetica_,
has been subjected to chemical analysis by Kobert, who finds in it
_muscarin_, _cholin_, and _pilz-atropin_ in varying proportions. Kobert
states that in Germany it is "_rightly_" considered poisonous, though
eaten in Russia, and ascribes the fact that it is not deemed poisonous
in the latter country to the manner in which it is there prepared, the
poisonous alkaloid being in greater part eliminated by parboiling the
mushrooms, and not merely pouring off the water, but carefully squeezing
it out of the parboiled fungi.
To the presence in this mushroom of the neutralizing alkaloid
"pilz-atropin" in varying proportions may also be attributed in some
measure the safety with which it has been eaten under certain
conditions. R. foetens and other acrid Russulas, as well as Lactars,
have been known to produce severe gastro-enteritis.
Considering the foregoing, it would seem the part of prudence at least
to avoid such of the Lactars and Russulas as have an acrid or peppery
taste.
I think it would be a wise precaution to pour off the water of the first
boiling in the case of all mushrooms about which there is a particle of
doubt, whether _recorded_ as poisonous or not.
Lactarius _torminosus_ Fries. Cap fleshy, at first convex, then
expanded, at length depressed in the center, slightly zoned, margin
turned inwards, pale ochraceous yellow, with flesh-colored mottlings;
_downy_ or _hairy_; gills whitish, changing to pinkish yellow, narrow
and close together; stem equal, stuffed or hollow, pallid or whitish;
milk persistently _white and acrid_. In woods and fields. Specimens have
been collected in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia. Cap 3
to 5 inches, stem 2-1/2 to 4 inches.
Lactarius _pyrogalus_. Cap fleshy, slightly zoned, _smooth_, even, and
moist, depressed in the center, grayish, or cinereous; gills white or
yellowish, thin, not crowded; stem short, stout, stuffed, or hollow,
sometimes slightly attenuated towards the root, pallid; flesh white or
whitish; milk _white_ and _extremely acrid_, copious. Borders of woods
and meadows. This mushroom is sometimes called the "Fiery Milk
Mushroom."
Lactarius _uvidus_ Fries. Cap thin, convex, then plane, and slightly
depressed in the center, sometimes showing slight umbo, viscid,
_zoneless_, smooth, dingy gray or pallid brown, margin turned inwards;
gills narrow and close together, white or yellowish, when cut or bruised
turning a purplish hue; stem stuffed or hollow, viscid, smooth, equal or
slightly tapering towards the cap, white; milk white, changing to lilac,
acrid. Height 2 to 4 inches. Cap 2 to 4 inches broad. In woods.
Lactarius _turpis_ Fries. Cap viscid, compact, _zoneless_, greenish
umber, margin clothed with yellowish down; gills thin, paler than the
cap; stem hollow or stuffed, stoutish, short, viscid, olive color,
slightly attenuated towards the base; milk _white_, _acrid_. Fir woods.
Lactarius _plumbeus_ Fries. Cap fleshy, firm, dry, somewhat hairy,
varying in color, usually some shade of brown; gills yellowish, thin,
and close together; stem solid, equal, lighter in color than the cap;
flesh white; milk _white_ and _acrid_.
Lactarius _vellereus_ Fries. _Fleecy Lactarius_. Cap compact, convex or
umbilicate, zoneless, _minutely downy_; margin reflexed, gills white,
_distant_, arcuate; stem short, solid, pubescent; milk _white_, _acrid_,
somewhat scanty. In woods. Whole plant white.
Lactarius _piperatus_ Scop. _Peppery Lactarius_. Cap fleshy, compact,
convex and slightly umbilicate, at last deeply depressed, becoming
funnel-formed, smooth and even; gills decurrent, very narrow, thin, even
and close together, dichotonous, white; flesh white; milk _white_,
_extremely acrid_, copious; stem very short, stout, solid. Whole plant
white.
Lactarius _blennius_ Fries. Cap depressed, slimy or glutinous,
greenish-gray; margin incurved and somewhat downy. Gills narrow, white
or whitish; stem stuffed or hollow, viscid, and of same color as the cap
or paler; milk white and very acrid.
M. C. Cooke divides the genus Lactarius into 4 "Tribes": (1) Piperites,
in which the stem is central, gills _unchangeable_, naked, neither
discolored nor _pruinose_, milk at first _white_ and _commonly acrid_;
(2) Dapetes, in which the stem is central, gills naked, _milk from the
first deeply colored_; (3) Russulares, in which the stem is central,
gills pallid, _then discolored_, becoming darker, changing when turned
to the light, at length _pruinose_, with milk at _first white_ and
_mild_ and _sometimes becoming acrid_; (4) Pleuropos, in which the stem
is concentric or lateral.
To the first of these subdivisions, _Piperites_, belong all of the
Lactars enumerated above. The Russians eat the Piperites only after the
water of the first boiling has been taken off.
Lactarius _rufus_ Scop., a very acrid species of large size, having
reddish ochraceous gills and zoneless cap of reddish yellow with white
milk, belongs to the subdivision Russulares. Common in fir woods.
Dangerous.
Lactarius _volemus_ Fries, a tawny yellow-capped mushroom with white
gills changing to a yellowish hue, and copious _sweet_ white milk,
belongs also to the latter subdivision. Edible.
Russula (Fragiles) _emetica_ Fries. Cap fleshy, at first convex, then
expanded or depressed, smooth, polished, red, margin sulcate; gills
free, equal and broad, white; stem solid but somewhat spongy in the
center, smooth, short, stoutish, white or stained reddish; flesh white,
sometimes slightly tinted red, under the thin red cuticle. The cap of
this mushroom varies from a deep rich crimson to a pale pinkish red,
being very subject to atmospheric changes. Specimens are often found
with the cap washed almost white after heavy rains, or with but a slight
red spot in the center. The gills and spores are pure white, and the
flesh peppery to the taste. If tasted when raw the juice should not be
swallowed.
The variety _Clusii_ has a blood-red cap, pallid yellowish gills,
adnexed, becoming adnate. Spores white. In woods. Acrid. The variety
_fallax_ is fragile, with dingy reddish pileus and adnexed, distant,
whitish gills.
Besides the above mentioned, there are other acrid Russulas and Lactars
which are regarded with suspicion, though not as yet satisfactorily
tested.
POISONOUS BOLETI.
Several of the Boleti have the reputation of being poisonous or
deleterious, among them Boletus _luridus_, Boletus _Satanas_, and
Boletus _felleus._ Kobert's analysis of B. _luridus_ shows the presence
of the poisonous alkaloid muscarin in this mushroom, while the
bitterness of B. _felleus_ should make one chary of eating it in
quantity, if at all. Schmiedeberg and Koppe describe experiments made
with Boletus Satanas, in which the symptoms experienced closely resemble
those of muscarin poisoning.
A correspondent living in Georgia, who is quite familiar with the
species, writes that he has frequently eaten the yellow form of the
_muscaria_, when cooked, without serious inconvenience. Another
correspondent writes that he has eaten the species Boletus luridus and
Boletus Satanas, as well as several other mushrooms of poisonous repute,
with perfect impunity.
Without calling in question the testimony of persons who state that they
have with impunity eaten mushrooms generally found to be poisonous, it
must be said that even if, through local conditions of soil or climate,
the poisonous constituents of such mushrooms sometimes exist in
comparatively minute proportions, or are _neutralized_ by an unusual
proportion of _mushroom atropin_ in the plant, or eliminated by some
process used in its preparation for the table, or, finally, if
constitutional idiosyncrasies should enable some persons safely to eat
what is poisonous to others, the rule that such are to be avoided should
never be disregarded by the ordinary collector, nor should it be
departed from even by experts, except upon the clearest evidence that in
the given case the departure is safe. It is certainly the part of
discretion, when in doubt, to take no risks.
RECENT INSTANCES OF MUSHROOM POISONING.
About a year ago a physician in Vineland, New Jersey, furnished the
following in regard to his personal experience of the effects of
mushroom poisoning: "My wife, daughter, and self selected, according to
an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, what we thought were a nice
lot of mushrooms, cooked them in milk, and ate them for dinner with
relish. In a few hours we were vomiting, laughing, and staggering about
the house. We could not control ourselves from the elbows to the finger
tips, nor our legs from the knee to the ends of our toes. In other
words, we were drunk on mushrooms. The mushrooms grew within the shade
of Norway spruce and other ornamental trees on the lawn in front of our
house. They were pure white inside and out; smooth shiny tops that
easily peeled off. The caps were about two or three inches in diameter,
and had a stem of the same length. On the day before, my wife and a
friend ate some of these mushrooms raw and experienced no bad effects.
The next day at noon we ate them cooked in milk with a little butter,
and they were very good. About two o'clock our food did not seem to
digest well, and soon my daughter, sixteen years of age, vomited all her
dinner. Then my wife began to feel the effects, and took hot water
freely, sweet oil, currant wine, and at last an overdose of
tartar-emetic. Of course, she was the sickest of all. I was cool and
happy and amused at the situation, and drunk from my head down. I did
not vomit, and my mushrooms remained with me for at least 48 hours. I
took nothing but hot water and sweet oil. A friend of my daughter's of
her own age partook of the mess and had not a single bad symptom."
A physician from West Grove, Pennsylvania, writes: "I determined to risk
a test of the Amanita muscaria. Accordingly, two good-sized specimens
were steamed in butter. I ate one, and another member of my family ate
the other, feeling that the consequences could not be serious from so
small an amount. About an hour after eating, a sensation of nausea and
faintness was experienced in both cases, followed by nervous tingling,
some cold perspiration and accelerated and weakened action of the heart.
Considerable prostration ensued within two hours. Knowing that sulphate
of atropin has proved the most successful remedy for the active
principle of the Fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, a small dose,
one-sixtieth of a grain, was taken by each. Considerable relief was
experienced within 30 minutes, and all unpleasant symptoms had
disappeared within 6 hours, without repeating the medicine."
Another case, wherein the antagonism of atropin for muscarin was
demonstrated, was brought to our notice during the month of September of
the past year. An entire party of people were badly poisoned by eating
mushrooms, and, although a doctor was called in very late, most of them
were saved by the use of sulphate of atropin.
It would seem from the foregoing cases that the intensity and action of
the mushroom poison must depend in some degree on the constitution of
the individual, as well as on the quality and quantity of the mushrooms
eaten. The first treatment should be to get rid of the poison
immediately and by every possible means, so as to prevent or at least
arrest the progress of inflammation of the alimentary canal, and at the
same time to prevent the absorption of the poison. In a majority of
cases the recovery of the victim depends solely upon the promptness with
which vomiting is excited. Vertigo, convulsions, spasms, and other grave
nervous symptoms, which ordinarily follow the cessation of the most
important functions, yield, ordinarily, to the action of an emetic
without the necessity of ulterior remedies, if taken in time, while the
substance is yet in the stomach; when it has entered the lower bowels
purgation is necessary. Sweet oil should always be taken in combination
with castor oil, or such other purgatives as are used. Enemas of cassia,
senna, and sulphate of magnesia have also been used with good effect.
The fatal poisoning of Count Achilles de Vecchj, in November, 1897, by
eating the Amanita muscaria, is so fresh in the public recollection, and
the details in regard to it were so widely published through the
newspaper press, that it is unnecessary to take up space in
recapitulating the circumstances.
The death of Chung Yu Ting, in 1894, was occasioned by eating mushrooms
which he had collected in a patch of woods near Washington, D. C., and
which I identified at the time as Amanita phalloides, sometimes called
the "Death Cup." He had eaten very freely of this mushroom and died
after great suffering, although ten hours had elapsed before the toxic
effects began to show themselves.
Since it has been shown that vinegar and the solution of common salt
have the power to dissolve the alkaloids of the poisonous mushrooms, it
follows that the liquor thus formed must be extremely injurious. It
should, therefore, be obvious that vinegar and salt should not be
introduced into the stomach after poisonous mushrooms have been eaten.
The result would only be to hasten death. Ether and volatile alkali are
also attended with danger. A physician should in all cases be promptly
called, and, if muscarin poisoning is suspected, hypodermic injections
of the sulphate of atropin, the only chemical antidote known to be
efficacious, should be administered, the dose being from 1/180 up to
1/35 of a grain. Small doses of atropin can also be taken internally, to
accelerate heart action. To relieve the pains and irritation in the
abdomen sweet oil and mucilaginous drinks should be given.
BIBLIOGRAPHY--FUNGI.
NORTH AMERICA.
Berkeley, M. J. "Fungi of Arctic Expedition, 1875-'76." Linn. Journ.,
xvii. 1880.
---- "Decades of Fungi," viii-x, in Hook. Journ., vol. iv. London. 1845.
---- "Decades of Fungi," xii-xiv. "Ohio Fungi," Hook. Journ., vol. vi.
London. 1847.
---- "Decades of Fungi," xxi-xxii. "North and South Carolina." Hook.
Journ., vol. i. 1849.
Berkeley, M. J., and Curtis, M. A. "North American Fungi" in
_Grevillea_, vols. i-iv. London. 1871-'75.
Bessey, C. E. The Erysiphei. (Monograph.) Michigan.
Curtis, M. A. "Contributions to the Mycology of North America," Silliman
Journal. 8vo. 1848.
---- "Catalogue of the Plants of North Carolina." 8vo. Raleigh. 1867.
Cooke, M. C. "Fungi of Texas." Linn. Journ., vol. xvii.
---- and Ellis, J. B. "New Jersey Fungi," in _Grevillea_. 1878-'80.
Ellis, J. B. "Canadian Fungi." Journ. Mycol., vol. 1. Manhattan. 1885.
Farlow, W. G. List of Fungi found in the vicinity of Boston. _Bulletin
of the Bussey Inst_., vol. 1.
Gibson, Hamilton Wm. Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms. Harper Bros.,
New York.
Harkness, H. W. Pacific Coast Fungi, i, iv. San Francisco. 1885-'87.
Peck, C. H. Reports of the New York Museum of Natural History. Albany.
1872-'97. Albany, N. Y.
Ravenel. "Fungi Carolinia," Fasc.: v. 90.
Schweinitz, L. de _Synopsis fungorum_ in _Amer. boreali media
degentium_. 4to. Philadelphia. 1831.
Taylor, Thomas. _Mildew of the Native Grape Vine_. _Peronospora
viticola_.
---- _Erysiphei of the European Grape Vine_.
---- _Fungoid Diseases of the Peach Tree_.
---- _Mildew of the Lilac_. Illustrated. An. Report of the U. S. Dept.
of Agriculture, 1871, pages 110 to 122, inclusive.
---- _Black-knot on Plum and Cherry Trees_. Illustrated.
---- _Blight and Rot of the Potato_, "_Peronospora infestans_."
Illustrated.
---- _Blight and Smut in Onions_. Illustrated. An. Report of the U. S.
Dept. of Agriculture, 1872, pages 175 to 198, inclusive.
---- _Potato Blight and Rot_. Pages 118 to 123 and 251-253.
---- _New Fungus of the Hawthorn_. _Roestelia aurantiaca_. Pages
431-433. Illustrated.
---- _Rust of the Orange_. Pages 588-594. An. Report of Dept. of
Agriculture, 1873.
Taylor, Thomas. _Fungoid Disease of the Cherry._ Page 173.
---- _Grape-vine Disease._ Page 175.
---- Cranberry Scald and Rot. Page 171. Illustrated. An. Report of Dept.
of Agriculture, 1874.
---- _Fungoid Diseases of the Cranberry._ Page 206.
---- _Fungoid Diseases of the Plum and Cherry Trees._ Pages 119 and 413.
An. Report Dept. of Agriculture, 1877.
---- Food Product Reports, Mushrooms, Edible and Poisonous. Annual
Reports of U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1885-1895.
---- Student's Handbook of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous.
Watt, D. A. P. Provisional Catalogue of Canadian Cryptogams.
Bulletins of the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia Mycological
Societies. Published in Boston, Mass., New York, N. Y., and
Philadelphia, Penn., respectively.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
TOXICOLOGY OF MUSHROOMS.
Boudier, Emile. _Gazette des hop._ Paris. 1846.
---- Mushrooms Toxicologically Considered. Paris. 1869.
T. Husemann und A. Husemann. "Handb. der Toxicologie." Berlin. 1862.
Letellier and Speneux. "Experiences nouvelles sur les Champignons
veneneux etc. Paris. 1866.
McIlvaine, Chas. Article on Amanita poisonings, Therapeutic Mag.
Philadelphia, 1893.
Schmiedeberg and Koppe. "Das Muscarin Das Giftige Alkaloid des
Fliegenpilzes." Leipzig. Verlag von F. C. W. Vogel. 1869.
Kobert, Rudolph. "Sitzungsberichte der Naturforscher-Gesellschafft."
Dorpat, Russia. 1891-'92.
---- Lehrbuch der Intoxication. Stuttgard, Germany.
INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. 1.
Plate A. Agaricus (Psalliota) campester. Edible.
Plate B. Types of the Six Orders of Hymenomycetes.
Plate I. Russula virescens Fries. Edible.
Plate II. Coprinus comatus Fries. Edible.
Plate III. Marasmius oreades Fries. Edible.
No. 2.
Plate C. Types of four of the leading genera of Discomycetes, in
which occur edible species.
Plate D. Four types of the genus Morchella. Edible.
Plate IV. Outline sketches showing structure of the Agaricini.
Plate V. Lactarius deliciosus Fries. Edible.
Plate VI. Agaricus (Armillaria) melleus Vahl. Edible.
Plate VII. Cantharellus cibarius Fries. Edible.
No. 3.
Plate E. Outline sketches of various mushrooms.
Plate F. Outline sketches showing characteristics of the lamellae or
gills of mushrooms.
Plate VIII. Ag. (Hypholoma) sublateritius Fries. Edible.
Plate IX. Ag. (Hypholoma) incertus (Hypholoma incertum) Peck. Edible.
Plate X. Fistulina hepatica Bull. Edible.
No. 4.
Plate G. Six types of the Puff-Ball Group. Edible.
Plate H. Two types of the subdivision Phalloideae. Unwholesome.
Plate XI. Ag. (Lepiota) procerus Fries. (Lepiota procera.) Edible.
Plate XI. Ag. (Lepiota) naucinoides Peck. Edible.
Plate XI-1/2. Ag. (Lepiota) cepaestipes--var. cretaceus Peck (Lepiota
cretacea). Edible.
Plate XII. Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus. Linn.
Plate XII. Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) caerulescens Fries.
Plate XIII. Figs. 1 to 3, Ag. (Collybia fusipes) Bull. Edible.
Plate XIII. Figs. 4 to 6, Ag. (Collybia maculatus) A. & S. (Collybia
maculata). (After Cooke.) Edible.
Plate XIII. Figs. 7 to 9, Ag. (Collybia) velutipes Curt. (After Cooke.)
No. 5.
Plate J. Ag. (Pleurotus) ostreatus Jacq. Edible.
Plate XIV. Figs. 1 to 4, Ag. (Amanita) Caesareus Scop. (Amanita
Caesarea). Edible.
Plate XIV. Figs. 5 to 9, Ag. (Amanita) rubescens Pers. Edible.
Plate XIV-1/2. Ag. (Amanita) strobiliformis Vitt. Edible.
Plate XV. Figs. 1 to 7, Ag. (Amanita) muscarius Linn. (Amanita
muscaria). Poisonous.
Plate XV. Fig. 8, Ag. (Amanita) phalloides Fries. Poisonous.
Plate XV. Fig. 9, Ag. (Amanita) mappa Batsch. Poisonous.
CORRECTION OF PLATES.
PART 1.
Plate B. Fig. 4 should read Fig. 5, Fig. 5 should read Fig. 4.