Structural Characters of Mushrooms (H.
Hasselbring), 298
APPENDIX. Analytical Keys (The Author), 307
Glossary of Technical Terms (The Author), 313
Index to Genera and Illustrations, 315
Index to Species, 321
CORRECTIONS.
Page 33, 10th line, for [Greek: _kornos_] read [Greek: _kopros_].
Page 220, lines 6 and 9, for _Gyromytra_ read Gyromitra.
CHAPTER I.
FORM AND CHARACTERS OF THE MUSHROOM.
=Value of Form and Characters.=--The different kinds of mushrooms vary
in form. Some are quite strikingly different from others, so that no one
would have difficulty in recognizing the difference in shape. For
example, an umbrella-shaped mushroom like the one shown in Fig. 1 or 81
is easily distinguished from a shelving one like that in Fig. 9 or 188.
But in many cases different species vary only slightly in form, so that
it becomes a more or less difficult matter to distinguish them.
In those plants (for the mushroom is a plant) where the different kinds
are nearly alike in form, there are other characters than mere general
form which enable one to tell them apart. These, it is true, require
close observation on our part, as well as some experience in judging of
the value of such characters; the same habit of observation and
discrimination we apply to everyday affairs and to all departments of
knowledge. But so few people give their attention to the discrimination
of these plants that few know the value of their characters, or can even
recognize them.
It is by a study of these especial characters of form peculiar to the
mushrooms that one acquires the power of discrimination among the
different kinds. For this reason one should become familiar with the
parts of the mushroom, as well as those characters and markings peculiar
to them which have been found to stamp them specifically.
=Parts of the Mushroom.=--To serve as a means of comparison, the common
pasture mushroom, or cultivated form (_Agaricus campestris_), is first
described. Figure 1 illustrates well the principal parts of the plant;
the cap, the radiating plates or gills on the under side, the stem, and
the collar or ring around its upper end.
=The Cap.=--The cap (technically the _pileus_) is the expanded part of
the mushroom. It is quite thick, and fleshy in consistency, more or less
rounded or convex on the upper side, and usually white in color. It is
from 1--2 cm. thick at the center and 5--10 cm. in diameter. The surface
is generally smooth, but sometimes it is torn up more or less into
triangular scales. When these scales are prominent they are often of a
dark color. This gives quite a different aspect to the plant, and has
led to the enumeration of several varieties, or may be species, among
forms accredited by some to the one species.
=The Gills.=--On the under side of the pileus are radiating plates, the
gills, or _lamellæ_ (sing. _lamella_). These in shape resemble somewhat
a knife blade. They are very thin and delicate. When young they are pink
in color, but in age change to a dark purple brown, or nearly black
color, due to the immense number of spores that are borne on their
surfaces. The gills do not quite reach the stem, but are rounded at this
end and so curve up to the cap. The triangular spaces between the longer
ones are occupied by successively shorter gills, so that the combined
surface of all the gills is very great.
[Illustration: FIGURE. 1.--Agaricus campestris. View of under side
showing stem, annulus, gills, and margin of pileus. (Natural size.)]
=The Stem or Stipe.=--The stem in this plant, as in many other kinds, is
attached to the pileus in the center. The purpose of the stem seems
quite surely to be that of lifting the cap and the gills up above the
ground, so that the spores can float in the currents of air and be
readily scattered. The stem varies in length from 2--10 cm. and is about
1--1-1/2 cm. in diameter. It is cylindrical in form, and even, quite
firm and compact, though sometimes there is a central core where the
threads are looser. The stem is also white and fleshy, and is usually
smooth.
=The Ring.=--There is usually present in the mature plant of _Agaricus
campestris_ a thin collar (_annulus_) or ring around the upper end of
the stem. It is not a movable ring, but is joined to the stem. It is
very delicate, easily rubbed off, or may be even washed off during
rains.
=Parts Present in Other Mushrooms--The Volva.=--Some other mushrooms,
like the _deadly Amanita_ (_Amanita phalloides_) and other species of
the genus _Amanita_, have, in addition to the cap, gills, stem, and
ring, a more or less well formed cup-like structure attached to the
lower end of the stem, and from which the stem appears to spring. (Figs.
55, 72, etc.) This is the _volva_, sometimes popularly called the "death
cup," or "poison cup." This structure is a very important one to
observe, though its presence by no means indicates in all cases that the
plant is poisonous. It will be described more in detail in treating of
the genus _Amanita_, where the illustrations should also be consulted.
[Illustration: FIGURE 2.--Agaricus campestris. "Buttons" just appearing
through the sod. Some spawn at the left lower corner. Soil removed from
the front. (Natural size.)]
=Presence or Absence of Ring or Volva.=--Of the mushrooms which have
stems there are four types with respect to the presence or absence of
the ring and volva. In the first type both the ring and volva are
absent, as in the common fairy ring mushroom, _Marasmius oreades_; in
the genus _Lactarius_, _Russula_, _Tricholoma_, _Clitocybe_, and others.
In the second type the ring is present while the volva is absent, as in
the common mushroom, _Agaricus campestris_, and its close allies; in the
genus _Lepiota_, _Armillaria_, and others. In the third type the volva
is present, but the ring is absent, as in the genus _Volvaria_, or
_Amanitopsis_. In the fourth type both the ring and volva are present,
as in the genus _Amanita_.
=The Stem is Absent in Some Mushrooms.=--There are also quite a large
number of mushrooms which lack a stem. These usually grow on stumps,
logs, or tree trunks, etc., and one side of the cap is attached directly
to the wood on which the fungus is growing. The pileus in such cases is
lateral and shelving, that is, it stands out more or less like a shelf
from the trunk or log, or in other cases is spread out flat on the
surface of the wood. The shelving form is well shown in the beautiful
_Claudopus nidulans_, sometimes called _Pleurotus nidulans_, and in
other species of the genus _Pleurotus_, _Crepidotus_, etc. These plants
will be described later, and no further description of the peculiarities
in form of the mushrooms will be now attempted, since these will be best
dealt with when discussing species fully under their appropriate genus.
But the brief general description of form given above will be found
useful merely as an introduction to the more detailed treatment. Chapter
XXI should also be studied. For those who wish the use of a glossary,
one is appended at the close of the book, dealing only with the more
technical terms employed here.
[Illustration: FIGURE 3.--Agaricus campestris. Soil washed from the
"spawn" and "buttons," showing the young "buttons" attached to the
strands of mycelium. (1-1/4 natural size.)]
CHAPTER II.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSHROOM.
When the stems of the mushrooms are pulled or dug from the ground, white
strands are often clinging to the lower end. These strands are often
seen by removing some of the earth from the young plant, as shown in
Fig. 2. This is known among gardeners as "spawn." It is through the
growth and increase of this spawn that gardeners propagate the
cultivated mushroom. Fine specimens of the spawn of the cultivated
mushroom can be seen by digging up from a bed a group of very young
plants, such a group as is shown in Fig. 3. Here the white strands are
more numerous than can readily be found in the lawns and pastures where
the plant grows in the feral state.
[Illustration: FIGURE 4.--Agaricus campestris. Sections of "buttons" at
different stages, showing formation of gills and veil covering them.
(Natural size.)]
=Nature of Mushroom Spawn.=--This spawn, it should be clearly
understood, is not spawn in the sense in which that word is used in fish
culture; though it may be employed so readily in propagation of
mushrooms. The spawn is nothing more than the vegetative portion of the
plant. It is made up of countless numbers of delicate, tiny, white,
jointed threads, the _mycelium_.
=Mycelium of a Mold.=--A good example of mycelium which is familiar to
nearly every one occurs in the form of a white mold on bread or on
vegetables. One of the molds, so common on bread, forms at first a white
cottony mass of loosely interwoven threads. Later the mold becomes black
in color because of numerous small fruit cases containing dark spores.
This last stage is the fruiting stage of the mold. The earlier stage is
the growing, or vegetative, stage. The white mycelium threads grow in
the bread and absorb food substances for the mold.
[Illustration: FIGURE 5.--Agaricus campestris. Nearly mature plants,
showing veil stretched across gill cavity. (Natural size.)]
=Mushroom Spawn is in the Form of Strands of Mycelium.=--Now in the
mushrooms the threads of mycelium are usually interlaced into definite
strands or cords, especially when the mycelium is well developed. In
some species these strands become very long, and are dark brown in
color. Each thread of mycelium grows, or increases in length, at the
end. Each one of the threads grows independently, though all are
intertwined in the strand. In this way the strand of mycelium increases
in length. It even branches as it extends itself through the soil.
=The Button Stage of the Mushroom.=--The "spawn" stage, or strands of
mycelium, is the vegetative or growing stage of the mushroom. These
strands grow through the substance on which the fungus feeds. When the
fruiting stage, or the mushroom, begins there appear small knobs or
enlargements on these strands, and these are the beginnings of the
button stage, as it is properly called. These knobs or young buttons are
well shown in Fig. 3. They begin by the threads of mycelium growing in
great numbers out from the side of the cords. These enlarge and elongate
and make their way toward the surface of the ground. They are at first
very minute and grow from the size of a pinhead to that of a pea, and
larger. Now they begin to elongate somewhat and the end enlarges as
shown in the larger button in the figure. Here the two main parts of the
mushroom are outlined, the stem and the cap. At this stage also the
other parts of the mushroom begin to be outlined. The gills appear on
the under side of this enlargement at the end of the button, next the
stem. They form by the growth of fungus threads downward in radiating
lines which correspond in position to the position of the gills. At the
same time a veil is formed over the gills by threads which grow from the
stem upward to the side of the button, and from the side of the button
down toward the stem to meet them. This covers the gills up at an early
period.
[Illustration: FIGURE 6.--Agaricus campestris. Under view of two plants
just after rupture of the veil, fragments of the latter clinging both to
margin of the pileus and to stem. (Natural size.)]
=From the Button Stage to the Mushroom.=--If we split several of the
buttons of different sizes down through the middle, we shall be able to
see the position of the gills covered by the veil during their
formation. These stages are illustrated in Fig. 4.
As the cap grows in size the gills elongate, and the veil becomes
broader. But when the plant is nearly grown the veil ceases to grow, and
then the expanding cap pulls so strongly on it that it is torn. Figure 5
shows the veil in a stretched condition just before it is ruptured, and
in Fig. 6 the veil has just been torn apart. The veil of the common
mushroom is very delicate and fragile, as the illustration shows, and
when it is ruptured it often breaks irregularly, sometimes portions of
it clinging to the margin of the cap and portions clinging to the stem,
or all of it may cling to the cap at times; but usually most of it
remains clinging for a short while on the stem. Here it forms the
annulus or ring.
[Illustration: FIGURE 7.--Agaricus campestris. Plant in natural position
just after rupture of veil, showing tendency to double annulus on the
stem. Portions of the veil also dripping from margin of pileus. (Natural
size.)]
=The Color of the Gills.=--The color of the gills of the common mushroom
varies in different stages of development. When very young the gills are
white. But very soon the gills become pink in color, and during the
button stage if the veil is broken this pink color is usually present
unless the button is very small. The pink color soon changes to dark
brown after the veil becomes ruptured, and when the plants are quite old
they are nearly black. This dark color of the gills is due to the dark
color of the spores, which are formed in such great numbers on the
surface of the gills.
[Illustration: FIGURE 8.--Agaricus campestris. Section of gill showing
_tr_==trama; _sh_==sub-hymenium; _b_==basidium, the basidia make up the
hymenium; _st_==sterigma; _g_==spore. (Magnified.)]
=Structure of a Gill.=--In Fig. 8 is shown a portion of a section across
one of the gills, and it is easy to see in what manner the spores are
borne. The gill is made up, as the illustration shows, of mycelium
threads. The center of the gill is called the _trama_. The trama in the
case of this plant is made up of threads with rather long cells. Toward
the outside of the trama the cells branch into short cells, which make a
thin layer. This forms the _sub-hymenium_. The sub-hymenium in turn
gives rise to long club-shaped cells which stand parallel to each other
at right angles to the surface of the gill. The entire surface of the
gill is covered with these club-shaped cells called _basidia_ (sing.
_basidium_). Each of these club-shaped cells bears either two or four
spinous processes called _sterígmata_ (sing. _sterígma_), and these in
turn each bear a spore. All these points are well shown in Fig. 8. The
basidia together make up the _hymenium_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 9.--Polyporus borealis, showing wound at base of
hemlock spruce caused by falling tree. Bracket fruit form of Polyporus
borealis growing from wound. (1/15 natural size.)]
=Wood Destroying Fungi.=--Many of the mushrooms, and their kind, grow on
wood. A visit to the damp forest during the summer months, or during the
autumn, will reveal large numbers of these plants growing on logs,
stumps, from buried roots or rotten wood, on standing dead trunks, or
even on living trees. In the latter case the mushroom usually grows from
some knothole or wound in the tree (Fig. 9). Many of the forms which
appear on the trunks of dead or living trees are plants of tough or
woody consistency. They are known as shelving or bracket fungi, or
popularly as "fungoids" or "fungos." Both these latter words are very
unfortunate and inappropriate. Many of these shelving or bracket fungi
are perennial and live from year to year. They may therefore be found
during the winter as well as in the summer. The writer has found
specimens over eighty years old. The shelves or brackets are the fruit
bodies, and consist of the pileus with the fruiting surface below. The
fruiting surface is either in the form of gills like _Agaricus_, or it
is honey-combed, or spinous, or entirely smooth.
[Illustration: FIGURE 10.--Polyporus borealis. Strands of mycelium
extending radially in the wood of the same living hemlock spruce shown
in Fig. 9. (Natural size.)]
=Mycelium of the Wood Destroying Fungi.=--While the fruit bodies are on
the outside of the trunk, the mycelium, or vegetative part of the
fungus, is within the wood or bark. By stripping off the bark from
decaying logs where these fungi are growing, the mycelium is often found
in great abundance. By tearing open the rotting wood it can be traced
all through the decaying parts. In fact, the mycelium is largely if not
wholly responsible for the rapid disintegration of the wood. In living
trees the mycelium of certain bracket fungi enters through a wound and
grows into the heart wood. Now the heart wood is dead and cannot long
resist the entrance and destructive action of the mycelium. The mycelium
spreads through the heart of the tree, causing it to rot (Fig. 10). When
it has spread over a large feeding area it can then grow out through a
wound or old knothole and form the bracket fruit body, in case the
knothole or wound has not completely healed over so as to imprison the
fungus mycelium.
[Illustration: PLATE 2, FIGURE 11.--Mycelium of Agaricus melleus on
large door in passage coal mine, Wilkesbarre, Pa. (1/20 natural size.)]
=Fungi in Abandoned Coal Mines.=--Mushrooms and bracket fungi grow in
great profusion on the wood props or doors in abandoned coal mines,
cement mines, etc. There is here an abundance of moisture, and the
temperature conditions are more equable the year around. The conditions
of environment then are very favorable for the rapid growth of these
plants. They develop in midwinter as well as in summer.
=Mycelium of Coal Mine Fungi.=--The mycelium of the mushrooms and
bracket fungi grows in wonderful profusion in these abandoned coal
mines. So far down in the moist earth the air in the tunnels or passages
where the coal or rock has been removed is at all times nearly saturated
with moisture. This abundance of moisture, with the favorable
temperature, permits the mycelium to grow on the surface of the wood
structures as readily as within the wood.
In the forest, while the air is damp at times, it soon dries out to such
a degree that the mycelium can not exist to any great extent on the
outer surface of the trunks and stumps, for it needs a great percentage
of moisture for growth. The moisture, however, is abundant within the
stumps or tree trunks, and the mycelium develops abundantly there.
So one can understand how it is that deep down in these abandoned mines
the mycelium grows profusely on the surface of doors and wood props.
Figure 11 is from a flashlight photograph, taken by the writer, of a
beautiful growth on the surface of one of the doors in an abandoned coal
mine at Wilkesbarre, Pa., during September, 1896. The specimen covered
an area eight by ten feet on the surface of the door. The illustration
shows very well the habit of growth of the mycelium. At the right is the
advancing zone of growth, marked by several fan-shaped areas. At the
extreme edge of growth the mycelium presents a delicate fringe of the
growing ends where the threads are interlaced uniformly over the entire
area. But a little distance back from the edge, where the mycelium is
older, the threads are growing in a different way. They are now uniting
into definite strands. Still further back and covering the larger part
of the sheet of mycelium lying on the surface of the door, are numerous
long, delicate tassels hanging downward. These were formed by the
attempt on the part of the mycelium at numerous places to develop
strands at right angles to the surface of the door. There being nothing
to support them in their attempted aerial flight, they dangle downward
in exquisite fashion. The mycelium in this condition is very soft and
perishable. It disappears almost at touch.
On the posts or wood props used to support the rock roof above, the
mycelium grows in great profusion also, often covering them with a thick
white mantle, or draping them with a fabric of elegant texture. From the
upper ends of the props it spreads out over the rock roof above for
several feet in circumference, and beautiful white pendulous tassels
remind one of stalactites.
[Illustration: FIGURE 12.--Agaricus campestris. Spore print. (Natural
size.)]
=Direction in Growth of Mushrooms.=--The direction of growth which these
fungi take forms an interesting question for study. The common mushroom,
the _Agaricus_, the amanitas, and other central stemmed species grow
usually in an upright fashion; that is, the stem is erect. The cap then,
when it expands, stands so that it is parallel with the surface of the
earth. Where the cap does not fully expand, as in the campanulate forms,
the pileus is still oriented horizontally, that is, with the gills
downward. Even in such species, where the stems are ascending, the upper
end of the stem curves so that the cap occupies the usual position with
reference to the surface of the earth. This is beautifully shown in the
case of those plants which grow on the side of trunks or stumps, where
the stems could not well grow directly upward without hugging close to
the side of the trunk, and then there would not be room for the
expansion of the cap. This is well shown in a number of species of
_Mycena_.
In those species where the stem is sub-central, i. e., set toward one
side of the pileus, or where it is definitely lateral, the pileus is
also expanded in a horizontal direction. From these lateral stemmed
species there is an easy transition to the stemless forms which are
sessile, that is, the shelving forms where the pileus is itself attached
to the trunk, or other object of support on which it grows.
Where there is such uniformity in the position of a member or part of a
plant under a variety of conditions, it is an indication that there is
some underlying cause, and also, what is more important, that this
position serves some useful purpose in the life and well being of the
plant. We may cut the stem of a mushroom, say of the _Agaricus
campestris_, close to the cap, and place the latter, gills downward, on
a piece of white paper. It should now be covered securely with a small
bell jar, or other vessel, so that no currents of air can get
underneath. In the course of a few hours myriads of the brown spores
will have fallen from the surface of the gills, where they are borne.
They will pile up in long lines along on either side of all the gills
and so give us an impression, or spore print, of the arrangement of the
gills on the under side of the cap as shown in Fig. 12. A white spore
print from the smooth lepiota (_L. naucina_) is shown in Fig. 13. This
horizontal position of the cap then favors the falling of the spores, so
that currents of air can scatter them and aid in the distribution of the
fungus.
[Illustration: FIGURE 13.--Lepiota naucina. Spore print. (Natural
size.)]
But some may enquire how we know that there is any design in the
horizontal position of the cap, and that there is some cause which
brings about this uniformity of position with such entire harmony among
such dissimilar forms. When a mushroom with a comparatively long stem,
not quite fully matured or expanded, is pulled and laid on its side, or
held in a horizontal position for a time, the upper part of the stem
where growth is still taking place will curve upward so that the pileus
is again brought more or less in a horizontal position.
[Illustration: FIGURE 14.--Amanita phalloides. Plant turned to one side
by directive force of gravity, after having been placed in a horizontal
position. (Natural size.)]
In collecting these plants they are often placed on their side in the
collecting basket, or on a table when in the study. In a few hours the
younger, long stemmed ones have turned upward again. The plant shown in
Fig. 14 (_Amanita phalloides_) was placed on its side in a basket for
about an hour. At the end of the hour it had not turned. It was then
stood upright in a glass, and in the course of a few hours had turned
nearly at right angles. The stimulus it received while lying in a
horizontal position for only an hour was sufficient to produce the
change in direction of growth even after the upright position had been
restored. This is often the case. Some of the more sensitive of the
slender species are disturbed if they lie for only ten or fifteen
minutes on the side. It is necessary, therefore, when collecting, if one
wishes to keep the plants in the natural position for photographing, to
support them in an upright position when they are being carried home
from the woods.
The cause of this turning of the stem from the horizontal position, so
that the pileus will be brought parallel with the surface of the earth,
is the stimulus from the force of gravity, which has been well
demonstrated in the case of the higher plants. That is, the force which
causes the stems of the higher plants to grow upward also regulates the
position of the cap of the pileated fungi. The reason for this is to be
seen in the perfection with which the spores are shed from the surfaces
of the gills by falling downward and out from the crevices between. The
same is true with the shelving fungi on trees, etc., where the spores
readily fall out from the pores of the honey-combed surface or from
between the teeth of those sorts with a spiny under surface. If the caps
were so arranged that the fruiting surface came to be on the upper side,
the larger number of the spores would lodge in the crevices between the
extensions of the fruiting surface. Singularly, this position of the
fruiting surface does occur in the case of one genus with a few small
species.
Interesting examples of the operation of this law are sometimes met with
in abandoned coal mines, or more frequently in the woods. In abandoned
mines the mushrooms sometimes grow from the mycelium which spreads out
on the rock roof overhead. The rock roof prevents the plant from growing
upright, and in growing laterally the weight of the plant together with
the slight hold it can obtain on the solid rock causes it to hang
downward. The end of the stem then curves upward so that the pileus is
brought in a horizontal position. I have seen this in the case of
_Coprinus micaceus_ several times.
[Illustration: FIGURE 15.--Polyporus applanatus. From this view the
larger cap is in the normal position in which it grew on the standing
tree. Turn one fourth way round to the right for position of the plant
after the tree fell. (1/6 natural size.)]
In the woods, especially in the case of the perennial shelving fungi,
interesting cases are met with. Figure 15 illustrates one of these
peculiar forms of _Polyporus (Fomes) applanatus_. This is the species so
often collected as a "curio," and on account of its very white under
surface is much used for etching various figures. In the figure the
larger cap which is horizontal represents the position of the plant when
on the standing maple trunk. When the tree fell the shelf was brought
into a perpendicular position. The fungus continued to grow, but its
substance being hard and woody it cannot turn as the mushroom can.
Instead, it now grows in such a way as to form several new caps, all
horizontal, i. e., parallel with the surface of the earth, but
perpendicular to the old shelf. If the page is turned one-fourth way
round the figure will be brought in the position of the plant when it
was growing on the fallen log.
[Illustration: PLATE 3, FIGURE 16.--Dædalea ambigua. Upper right-hand
shows normal plant in normal position when on tree. Upper left-hand
shows abnormal plant with the large cap in normal position when growing
on standing tree. Lower plant shows same plant in position after the
tree fell, with new caps growing out in horizontal direction. (Lower
plant 1/2 natural size.)]
Another very interesting case is shown in the ambiguous trametes
(_Trametes ambigua_), a white shelving fungus which occurs in the
Southern States. It is shown in Fig. 16. At the upper right hand is
shown the normal plant in the normal position. At the upper left hand is
shown an abnormal one with the large and first formed cap also in the
normal position as it grew when the tree was standing. When the tree
fell the shelf was on the upper side of the log. Now numerous new caps
grew out from the edge as shown in the lower figure, forming a series of
steps, as it were, up one side and down the other.
CHAPTER III.
GILL BEARING FUNGI: AGARICACEAE.[A]
The gill bearing fungi are known under the family _Agaricaceæ_, or
popularly the agarics. They are distinguished by the fruiting area being
distributed over the surface of plate-like or knife-like extensions or
folds, usually from the under surface of the cap. These are known as the
gills, or lamellæ, and they usually radiate from a common point, as from
or near the stem, when the stem is present; or from the point of
attachment of the pileus when the stem is absent. The plants vary widely
in form and consistency, some being very soft and soon decaying, others
turning into an inky fluid, others being tough and leathery, and some
more or less woody or corky. The spores when seen in mass possess
certain colors, white, rosy, brown or purple brown, black or ochraceous.
While a more natural division of the agarics can be made on the basis of
structure and consistency, the treatment here followed is based on the
color of the spores, the method in vogue with the older botanists. While
this method is more artificial, it is believed to be better for the
beginner, especially for a popular treatment. The sections will be
treated in the following order:
1. The purple-brown-spored agarics.
2. The black-spored agarics.
3. The white-spored agarics.
4. The rosy-spored agarics.
5. The ochre-spored agarics.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] For analytical keys to the families and genera see Chapter XXIV.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PURPLE-BROWN-SPORED AGARICS.[B]
The members of this subdivision are recognized at maturity by the
purple-brown, dark brown or nearly black spores when seen in mass. As
they ripen on the surface of the gills the large number give the
characteristic color to the lamellæ. Even on the gills the purple tinge
of the brown spores can often be seen. The color is more satisfactorily
obtained when the spores are caught in mass by placing the cap, gills
downward, on white paper.
AGARICUS Linn. (PSALLIOTA Fr.)
In the genus _Agaricus_ the spores at maturity are either purple-brown
in mass or blackish with a purple tinge. The annulus is present on the
stem, though disappearing soon in some species, and the stem is easily
separated from the substance of the pileus. The gills are free from the
stem, or only slightly adnexed. The genus is closely related to
_Stropharia_ and the species of the two genera are by some united under
one genus (_Psalliota_, Hennings). Peck, 36th Report, N. Y. State Mus.,
p. 41--49, describes 7 species. Lloyd Mycol. Notes, No. 4, describes 8
species. C. O. Smith, Rhodora, I: 161--164, 1899, describes 8 species.
=Agaricus (Psalliota) campestris= Linn. =Edible.=--This plant has been
quite fully described in the treatment of the parts of the mushroom, and
a recapitulation will be sufficient here. It grows in lawns, pastures,
by roadsides, and even in gardens and cultivated fields. A few specimens
begin to appear in July, it is more plentiful in August, and abundantly
so in September and October. It is 5--8 cm. high (2--3 inches), the cap
is 5--12 cm. broad, and the stem 8--12 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is first rounded, then convex and more or less expanded.
The surface at first is nearly smooth, presenting a soft, silky
appearance from numerous loose fibrils. The surface is sometimes more or
less torn into triangular scales, especially as the plants become old.
The color is usually white, but varies more or less to light brown,
especially in the scaly forms, where the scales may be quite prominent
and dark brown in color. Sometimes the color is brownish before the
scales appear. The flesh is white. The =gills= in the young button stage
are white. They soon become pink in color and after the cap is expanded
they quickly become purple brown, dark brown, and nearly black from the
large number of spores on their surfaces. The gills are free from the
stem and rounded behind (near the stem). The =stem= is white, nearly
cylindrical, or it tapers a little toward the lower end. The flesh is
solid, though the central core is less firm. The =veil= is thin, white,
silky, and very frail. It is stretched as the cap expands and finally
torn so that it clings either as an annulus around the stem, or
fragments cling around the margin of the cap. Since the =annulus= is so
frail it shrivels as the plant ages and becomes quite inconspicuous or
disappears entirely (see Figs. 1--7).
[Illustration: FIGURE 17.--Agaricus rodmani. Entirely white, showing
double veil or ring. (Natural size.) Copyright.]
Variations in the surface characters of the cap and stem have led some
to recognize several varieties. This is known as the common mushroom and
is more widely known and collected for food than any other. It is also
cultivated in mushroom houses, cellars, caves, abandoned mines, etc.
=Agaricus (Psalliota) rodmani= Pk. =Edible.=--Rodman's mushroom,
_Agaricus rodmani_, grows in grassy places along streets of cities,
either between the curbing and the walk, or between the curbing and the
pavement. It is entirely white or whitish and sometimes tinged with
yellowish at the center of the pileus. The plants are 4--8 cm. high, the
cap 5--8 cm. broad and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 18.--Agaricus arvensis, fairy ring.]
The =pileus= is rounded, and then convex, very firm, compact and thick,
with white flesh. The =gills= are crowded, first white, then pink, and
in age blackish brown. The =stem= is very short, solid, nearly
cylindrical, not bulbous. The =annulus= is quite characteristic, being
very thick, with a short limb, and double, so that it often appears as
two distinct rings on the middle or lower part of the stem as shown in
Fig. 17. This form of the annulus is probably due to the fact that the
thick part of the margin of the pileus during the young stage rests
between the lower and upper part of the annulus, i. e., the thick veil
is attached both to the inner and outer surface of the margin of the
cap, and when it is freed by the expansion of the pileus it remains as a
double ring. It is eagerly sought and much relished by several persons
at Ithaca familiar with its edible qualities.
The plant closely resembles A. campestris var., edulis, Vittad. (See
Plate 54, Bresadola, I Funghi Mangerecci e Velenosi, 1899) and is
probably the same.
[Illustration: FIGURE 19.--Agaricus silvicola. White to cream color, or
yellow stains. (Natural size.) Copyright.]
=Agaricus (Psalliota) arvensis= Schaeff. =Edible.=--The field mushroom,
or horse mushroom, _Agaricus arvensis_, grows in fields or pastures,
sometimes under trees and in borders of woods. One form is often white,
or yellowish white, and often shows the yellow color when dried. The
plant sometimes occurs in the form of a fairy ring as shown in Fig. 18.
It is 5--12 cm. high, the cap from 5--15 cm. broad and the stem 8--15
mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is smooth, quite thick and firm, convex to expanded. The
=gills= are first white, then tinged with pink and finally blackish
brown. The =stem= is stout, nearly cylindrical, hollow, bulbous. The
veil is double like that of _Agaricus placomyces_, the upper or inner
layer remaining as a membrane, while the lower or outer layer is split
radially and remains in large patches on the lower surface of the upper
membrane.
[Illustration: FIGURE 20.--Agaricus silvicola, showing radiately torn
lower part of veil. (Natural size.) Copyright.]
=Agaricus (Psalliota) silvicola= Vittad. =Edible.=--The _Agaricus
silvicola_ grows in woods, groves, etc., on the ground, and has been
found also in a newly made garden in the vicinity of trees near the
woods. It is an attractive plant because of its graceful habit and the
delicate shades of yellow and white. It ranges from 10--20 cm. high, the
cap is 5--12 cm. broad and the stem 6--10 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= becomes convex, and expanded or nearly flat, and often with
an elevation or umbo in the center. It is thin, smooth, whitish and
often tinged more or less deeply with yellow (sulfur or ochraceous) and
is sometimes tinged with pink in the center. The flesh is whitish or
tinged with pink. The =gills= when very young are whitish, then pink,
and finally dark brown or blackish brown, much crowded, and distant from
the stem. The =stem= is long, nearly cylindrical, whitish, abruptly
enlarged below into a bulb. It is often yellowish below, and especially
in drying becomes stained with yellow. The =ring= is thin,
membranaceous, delicate, sometimes with broad, soft, floccose patches on
the under side. The ring usually appears single, but sometimes the
=veil= is seen to be double, and the outer or lower portion tends to
split radially as in _A. arvensis_ or _A. placomyces_. This is well
shown in large specimens, and especially as the veil is stretched over
the gills as shown in Fig. 20.
From the form of the plant as well as the peculiarities of the veil in
the larger specimens, it is related to _A. arvensis_ and _A.
placomyces_, more closely to the former. It occurs during mid-summer and
early autumn. Figure 10 is from plants (No. 1986 C. U. herbarium)
collected in open woods at Ithaca.
[Illustration: FIGURE 21. FIGURE 22.
PLATE 4.--Agaricus placomyces. Figure 21.--Upper view of cap, side view
of stem. Figure 22.--Under view of plant showing radiately torn under
side of the double veil. (3/4 natural size.) Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 5, FIGURE 23.--Agaricus placomyces. Three different
views, see text for explanations. Dark scales on cap. (Natural size.)
Copyright.]
=Agaricus (Psalliota) subrufescens= Pk. =Edible.=--The _Agaricus
subrufescens_ was described by Dr. Peck from specimens collected on a
compost heap composed chiefly of leaves, at Glen Cove, Long Island. It
occurs sometimes in greenhouses. In one case reported by Peck it
appeared in soil prepared for forcing cucumbers in a greenhouse in
Washington, D. C.
According to the description the =pileus= becomes convex or broadly
expanded, is covered with silky hairs and numerous minute scales. The
color is whitish, grayish or dull reddish brown, the center being
usually smooth and darker, while the flesh is white. The =gills= change
from white to pinkish and blackish brown in age. The =stem= is long,
nearly cylindrical or somewhat enlarged or bulbous at the base, first
stuffed, then hollow, white. The =annulus= is thick, and the under side
marked by loose threads or scales.
This plant is said to differ from the common mushroom (_A. campestris_)
in the more deeply hemispherical cap of the young plant, the hollow and
somewhat bulbous stem, and in the scales on the under side of the
annulus. In fresh plants the flesh has also a flavor of almonds. It is
closely related to =A. silvaticus= Schaeff., p. 62, T. 242, Icones Fung.
Bav. etc., 1770, if not identical with it. _A. silvaticus_ has light
ochraceous or subrufescent scales on the cap, a strong odor, and occurs
in gardens as well as in the woods.
=Agaricus (Psalliota) fabaceus= Berk., was described in Hooker's London
Journal of Botany, =6=: 314, 1847, from specimens collected in Ohio. The
plant is white and is said to have a strong but not unpleasant odor.
_Agaricus amygdalinus_ Curt., from North Carolina, and of which no
description was published, was so named on account of the almond-like
flavor of the plant. Dr. Farlow suggests (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.
=26=: 356--358, 1894) that _A. fabaceus_, _amygdalinus_, and
_subrufescens_ are identical.
=Agaricus (Psalliota) placomyces= Pk. =Edible.=--The flat-cap mushroom,
_Agaricus placomyces_ Pk., occurs in borders of woods or under trees
from June to September. According to Peck it occurs in borders of
hemlock woods, or under hemlock trees. At Ithaca it is not always
associated with hemlock trees. The largest specimens found here were in
the border of mixed woods where hemlock was a constituent. It has been
found near and under white pine trees in lawns, around the Norway spruce
and under the Norway spruce. The plants are from 5--15 cm. high, the cap
from 5--12 cm. in diameter, and the stem 6--8 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= when young is broadly ovate, then becomes convex or fully
expanded and flat in age, and is quite thin. The ground color is
whitish, often with a yellowish tinge, while the surface is ornamented
with numerous minute brownish scales which are scattered over a large
part of the cap, but crowded or conjoined at the center into a large
circular patch. This gives to the plant with its shapely form a
beautiful appearance. In the young stage the entire surface of the
pileus is quite evenly brown. As it expands the outer brown portion is
torn asunder into numerous scales because the surface threads composing
this brown layer cease to grow. These scales are farther apart toward
the margin of the cap, because this portion of the cap always expands
more than the center, in all mushrooms. The =gills= are at first white,
or very soon pink in color, and in age are blackish brown. Spores 5--8 ×
3--4 µ.
The =stem= is nearly cylindrical, hollow or stuffed, white or whitish,
smooth, bulbous, and the bulb is sometimes tinged with yellow. The
=veil= is very handsome, and the way in which the annulus is formed from
it is very interesting. The veil is quite broad, and it is double, that
is, it consists of two layers which are loosely joined by threads. In
the young stage the veil lies between the gills and the lower two-thirds
of the stem. As the pileus expands the lower (outer part) layer of the
veil is torn, often in quite regular radiating portions, as shown in
Fig. 22. An interesting condition of the veil is shown in the middle
plant in Fig. 23. Here the outer or lower layer of the veil did not
split radially, but remained as a tube surrounding the stem, while the
two layers were separated, the inner one being still stretched over the
gills. It is customary to speak of the lower part of the veil as the
outer part when the cap is expanded and the veil is still stretched
across over the gills, while the upper portion is spoken of as the inner
layer or part. It is closely related to _A. arvensis_, and may represent
a wood inhabiting variety of that species.
=Agaricus (Psalliota) comtulus= Fr.--This pretty little agaric seems to
be rather rare. It was found sparingly on several occasions in open
woods under pines at Ithaca, N. Y., during October, 1898. Lloyd reports
it from Ohio (Mycolog. Notes, No. 56, Nov. 1899), and Smith from Vermont
(Rhodora I, 1899). Fries' description (Epicrisis, No. 877) runs as
follows: "Pileus slightly fleshy, convex, plane, obtuse, nearly smooth,
with appressed silky hairs, stem hollow, sub-attenuate, smooth, white to
yellowish, annulus fugacious; gills free, crowded, broad in front, from
flesh to rose color. In damp grassy places. Stem 2 inches by 2 lines, at
first floccose stuffed. Pileus 1--1-1/2 inch diameter. Color from white
to yellowish."
[Illustration: FIGURE 24.--Agaricus comtulus (natural size, sometimes
larger). Cap creamy white with egg-yellow stains, smoky when older. Stem
same color; gills grayish, then rose, then purple brown. Copyright.]
The plants collected at Ithaca are illustrated in Fig. 24 from a
photograph of plants (No. 2879 C. U. herbarium). My notes on these
specimens run as follows: Plant 3--6 cm. high, pileus 1.5--3 cm. broad,
stem 3--4 mm. in thickness. =Pileus= convex to expanded, fleshy, thin on
the margin, margin at first incurved, creamy white with egg yellow
stains, darker on the center, in age somewhat darker to umber or
fuliginous, moist when fresh, surface soon dry, flesh tinged with
yellow. The =gills= are white when young, then grayish to pale rose, and
finally light purple brown, rounded in front, tapering behind (next the
stem) and rounded, free from the stem, 4--5 mm. broad. =Basidia=
clavate, 25--30 × 5--6 µ. =Spores= small, oval, 3--4 × 2--3 µ, in mass
light purple brown. The =stem= tapers above, is sub-bulbous below,
yellowish and stained with darker yellowish threads below the annulus,
hollow, fibrous, fleshy. The =veil= whitish stained with yellow,
delicate, rupturing irregularly, portions of it clinging to margin of
the pileus and portions forming a delicate ring. When parts of the plant
come in contact with white paper a blue stain is apt to be imparted to
the paper, resembling the reaction of iodine on starch. This peculiarity
has been observed also in the case of another species of _Agaricus_. The
species is regarded with suspicion by some. I collected the plant also
at Blowing Rock, N. C., in September, 1899. The caps of these specimens
measure 4 cm. in diameter.
=Agaricus diminutivus= Pk., is a closely related species. It is
distinguished chiefly by its somewhat larger size, and purplish to
reddish brown hairs on the surface of the pileus, and by the somewhat
larger spores, which, however, are small. I have found it at Ithaca, the
surface of the pileus hairy, with beautiful, triangular, soft,
appressed, purplish scales.
HYPHOLOMA Fr.
In the genus _Hypholoma_ the spores are purple brown, the gills attached
to the stem, and the veil when ruptured clings to the margin of the cap
instead of to the stem, so that a ring is not formed, or only rarely in
some specimens. The stem is said to be continuous with the substance of
the cap, that is, it is not easily separated from it. The genus is
closely related to _Agaricus (Psalliota)_ and _Stropharia_, from both of
which it differs in the veil not forming a ring, but clinging to the
margin of the cap. It further differs from _Agaricus_ in the stem being
continuous with the substance of the cap, while _Stropharia_ seems to
differ in this respect in different species. The plants grow both on the
ground and on wood. There are several species which are edible and are
very common. Peck gives a synopsis of six species in the 49th Report New
York State Mus., page 61, 1896, and Morgan describes 7 species in Jour.
Cinn. Soc. Nat. Hist. =6=: 113--115.
=Hypholoma sublateritium= Schaeff. =Edible=, _bitter sometimes_. The
name of this species is derived from the color of the cap, which is
nearly a brick red color, sometimes tawny. The margin is lighter in
color. The plants grow usually in large clusters on old stumps or
frequently appearing on the ground from buried portions of stumps or
from roots. There are from six to ten, or twenty or more plants in a
single cluster. A single plant is from 8--12 cm. high, the cap is 5--8
cm. broad, and the stem 6--8 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, smooth, or sometimes with loose
threads from the veil, especially when young, even, dry. The flesh is
firm, whitish, and in age becoming somewhat yellowish. The =gills= are
adnate, sometimes decurrent by a little tooth, rather crowded, narrow,
whitish, then dull yellow, and becoming dark from the spores, purplish
to olivaceous. The =stem= usually tapers downward, is firm, stuffed,
smooth, or with remnants of the veil giving it a floccose scaly
appearance, usually ascending because of the crowded growth. The =veil=
is thin and only manifested in the young stage of the plant as a loose
weft of threads. As the cap expands the veil is torn and adheres to the
margin, but soon disappears.
[Illustration: PLATE 6, FIGURE 25.--Hypholoma sublateritium. Cap
brick-red or tawny. (Natural size, often larger.) Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 7, FIGURE 26.--Hypholoma appendiculatum (natural
size, often larger). White floccose scales on cap (var. coroniferum) and
appendiculate veil; caps whitish or brown, tawny, or tinge of ochre.
Gills white, then purple-brown. Copyright.]
The flesh of this plant is said by European writers to be bitter to the
taste, and it is regarded there as poisonous. This character seems to be
the only distinguishing one between the _Hypholoma sublateritium_
Schaeff., of Europe, and the _Hypholoma perplexum_ Pk., of this country
which is edible, and probably is identical with _H. sublateritium_. If
the plant in hand agrees with this description in other respects, and is
not bitter, there should be no danger in its use. According to
Bresadola, the bitter taste is not pronounced in _H. sublateritium_. The
taste probably varies as it does in other plants. For example, in
_Pholiota præcox_, an edible species, I detected a decided bitter taste
in plants collected in June, 1900. Four other persons were requested to
taste the plants. Two of them pronounced them bitter, while two did not
detect the bitter taste.
There is a variety of _Hypholoma sublateritium_, with delicate floccose
scales in concentric rows near the margin of the cap, called _var.
squamosum_ Cooke. This is the plant illustrated in Fig. 25, from
specimens collected on rotting wood in the Cascadilla woods, Ithaca, N.
Y. It occurs from spring to autumn.
_Hypholoma epixanthum_ Fr., is near the former species, but has a yellow
pileus, and the light yellow gills become gray, not purple.
=Hypholoma appendiculatum= Bull. =Edible.=--This species is common
during late spring and in the summer. It grows on old stumps and logs,
and often on the ground, especially where there are dead roots. It is
scattered or clustered, but large tufts are not formed as in _H.
sublateritium_. The plants are 6--8 cm. high, the cap 5--7 cm. broad,
and the stem 4--6 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is ovate, convex to expanded, and often the margin
elevated, and then the cap appears depressed. It is fleshy, thin,
whitish or brown, tawny, or with a tinge of ochre, and becoming pale in
age and when dry. As the plant becomes old the pileus often cracks in
various ways, sometimes splitting radially into several lobes, and then
in other cases cracking into irregular areas, showing the white flesh
underneath. The surface of the pileus when young is sometimes sprinkled
with whitish particles giving it a mealy appearance. The =gills= are
attached to the stem, crowded, becoming more or less free by breaking
away from the stem, especially in old plants. They are white, then flesh
colored, brownish with a slight purple tinge. The =stem= is white,
smooth, or with numerous small white particles at the apex, becoming
hollow. The =veil= is very delicate, white, and only seen in quite young
plants when they are fresh. It clings to the margin of the cap for a
short period, and then soon disappears.
[Illustration: FIGURE 27.--Hypholoma appendiculatum (natural size),
showing appendiculate veil. Copyright.]
Sometimes the pileus is covered with numerous white, delicate floccose
scales, which give it a beautiful appearance, as in Fig. 26, from
specimens (No. 3185 C. U. herbarium), collected on the campus of Cornell
University among grass. The entire plant is very brittle, and easily
broken. It is tender and excellent for food. I often eat the caps raw.
=Hypholoma candolleanum= Fr., occurs in woods on the ground, or on very
rotten wood. It is not so fragile as _H. appendiculatum_ and the gills
are dark violaceous, not flesh color as they are in _H. appendiculatum_
when they begin to turn, and nearly free from the stem.
=Hypholoma lacrymabundum= Fr.--This plant was found during September and
October in wet grassy places in a shallow ditch by the roadside, and in
borders of woods, Ithaca, N. Y., 1898. The plants are scattered or
clustered, several often joined at the base of the stem. They are 4--8
cm. high, the cap 2--5 cm. broad, and the stem 4--8 mm. in thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 28.--Hypholoma lacrymabundum (natural size). Cap
and stem tawny or light yellowish, with intermediate shades or shades of
umber, surface with soft floccose scales. Copyright.]
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, sometimes broadly umbonate in age,
and usually with radiating wrinkles extending irregularly. On the
surface are silky or tomentose threads not much elevated from the
surface, and as the plant ages these are drawn into triangular scales
which are easily washed apart by the rains. The color is tawny or light
yellowish with intermediate shades, darker on the umbo and becoming
darker in age, sometimes umber colored, and stained with black,
especially after rains where the spores are washed on the pileus. The
flesh is tinged with light yellow, or tawny, or brown, soft, and easily
broken. The =gills= are sinuate, adnate, somewhat ventricose, very
rarely in abnormal specimens anastomosing near the margin of the pileus,
at first light yellowish, then shading to umber and spotted with black
and rusty brown as the spores mature, easily breaking away from the
stipe, whitish on the edge. Drops of moisture sometimes are formed on
the gills. =Basidia= abruptly clavate, 30--35 × 10--12 µ. =Cystidia=
hyaline, thin walled, projecting above the hymenium 40 µ, and 14--15 µ
broad. Spores black, purple tinged, broadly elliptical and somewhat
curved, 9--11 × 7--8 µ.
The =stem= is fleshy to fibrous, the same color as the pileus, floccose
scaly more or less up to the veil, smooth or white pruinose above the
veil, straight or curved, somewhat striate below.
The =veil= in young plants is hairy, of the same texture as the surface
of the pileus, torn and mostly clinging to the margin of the pileus, and
disappearing with age.
The general habit and different stages of development as well as some of
the characters of the plant are shown in Fig. 28 (No. 4620 Cornell
University herbarium). The edible qualities of this plant have not been
tested.
=Hypholoma rugocephalum= Atkinson.--This interesting species grows in
damp places in woods. The plants are tufted or occur singly. They are
8--12 cm. high, the cap 6--10 cm. broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in
thickness.
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, and the margin at last revolute
(upturned). The surface is marked by strong wrinkles (rugæ), which
radiate irregularly from the center toward the margin. The pileus is
broadly umbonate, fleshy at the center and thinner toward the margin,
the flesh tinged with yellow, the surface slightly viscid, but not
markedly so even when moist, smooth, not hairy or scaly, the thin margin
extending little beyond ends of the gills. The color is tawny (near
fulvus). The =gills= are adnate, slightly sinuate, 5--7 mm. broad, in
age easily breaking away from the stem and then rounded at this end,
spotted with the black spores, lighter on the edge. The =spores= are
black in mass (with a suggestion of a purple tinge), oval to broadly
elliptical, inequilateral, pointed at each end, echinulate, or minutely
tuberculate, 8--11 × 6--8 µ. The =basidia= are short, cylindrical;
=cystidia= cylindrical, somewhat enlarged at the free end, hyaline,
delicate, thin-walled, in groups of two to six or more (perhaps this is
partly responsible for the black spotted condition of the gills). The
=stem= is cylindrical, even, somewhat bulbous, of the same color as the
pileus, but lighter above the annulus, irregular, smooth, fleshy,
hollow, continuous with the substance of the pileus. The =annulus= is
formed of a few threads, remnants of the veil, which are stained black
by the spores. Figure 29 is from plants (No. 3202 C. U. herbarium)
collected near Ithaca, July 18, 1899.
[Illustration: PLATE 8, FIGURE 29.--Hypholoma rugocephalum (7/8 natural
size). Cap tawny, gills purple black, spotted. Copyright.]
STROPHARIA Fr.
The genus _Stropharia_ has purple-brown spores, the gills are attached
to the stem, and the veil forms a ring on the stem.
[Illustration: FIGURE 30.--Stropharia semiglobata (natural size). Cap
and stem light yellow, viscid, gills brownish purple. Copyright.]
=Stropharia semiglobata= Batsch.--This species is rather common and
widely distributed, occurring in grassy places recently manured, or on
dung. The plants are scattered or clustered, rarely two or three joined
at the base. They are 5--12 cm. high, the cap 1--3 cm. broad, and the
stems 2--4 mm. in thickness. The entire plant is light yellow, and
viscid when moist, the gills becoming purplish brown, or nearly black.
Stevenson says it is regarded as poisonous.
The =pileus= is rounded, then hemispherical (semi-globate), smooth,
fleshy at the center, thinner toward the margin, even, very viscid or
viscous when moist, light yellow. The =gills= are squarely set against
the stem (adnate), broad, smooth, in age purplish brown to blackish, the
color more or less clouded. The =spores= in mass, are brownish purple.
The =stem= is slender, cylindrical, becoming hollow, straight, even or
bulbous below, yellowish, but paler at the apex where there are often
parallel striæ, marks from the gills in the young stage. The stem is
often viscid and smeared with the glutinous substance which envelopes
the plant when young, and from the more or less glutinous veil. The
=ring= is glutinous when moist.
Figure 30 is from plants (No. 4613 C. U. herbarium) collected on one of
the streets of Ithaca.
=Stropharia stercoraria= Fr., is a closely related plant, about the same
size, but the pileus, first hemispherical, then becoming expanded and
sometimes striate on the margin, while the stem is stuffed. The gills
are said to be of one color and the ring floccose, viscose, and
evanescent in drying. It occurs on dung, or in grassy places recently
manured.
=Stropharia æruginosa= Curt., the greenish _Stropharia_, is from 6--8
cm. high, and the pileus 5--7 cm. broad. The ground color is yellowish,
but the plant is covered with a greenish slime which tends to disappear
with age. It is found in woods and open places during late summer and in
autumn. According to Stevenson it is poisonous.
FOOTNOTES:
[B] For analytical key to the genera see Chapter XXIV.
CHAPTER V.
THE BLACK-SPORED AGARICS.
The spores are black in mass, not purple tinged. For analytical keys to
the genera see Chapter XXIV.
COPRINUS Pers.
The species of _Coprinus_ are readily recognised from the black spores
in addition to the fact that the gills, at maturity, dissolve into a
black or inky fluid. The larger species especially form in this way an
abundance of the black fluid, so that it drops from the pileus and
blackens the grass, etc., underneath the plant. In some of the smaller
species the gills do not wholly deliquesce, but the cap splits on top
along the line of the longer gills, this split passing down through the
gill, dividing it into two thin laminæ, which, however, remain united at
the lower edge. This gives a fluted appearance to the margin of the
pileus, which is very thin and membranaceous.
[Illustration: FIGURE 31.--Coprinus comatus, "shaggy-mane," in lawn.]
The plants vary in size, from tiny ones to those which are several
inches high and more than an inch broad. Their habitat (that is, the
place where they grow) is peculiar. A number of the species grow on dung
or recently manured ground. From this peculiarity the genus received the
name _Coprinus_ from the Greek word [Greek: kopros], meaning dung. Some
of the species, however, grow on decaying logs, on the ground, on
leaves, etc.
=Coprinus comatus= Fr. =Edible.=--One of the finest species in this
genus is the shaggy-mane, or horse-tail mushroom, as it is popularly
called. It occurs in lawns and other grassy places, especially in richly
manured ground. The plants sometimes occur singly, or a few together,
but often quite large numbers of them appear in a small area. They occur
most abundantly during quite wet weather, or after heavy rains, in late
spring or during the autumn, and also in the summer. From the rapid
growth of many of the mushrooms we are apt to be taken by surprise to
see them all up some day, when the day before there were none. The
shaggy-mane often furnishes a surprise of this kind. In our lawns we are
accustomed to a pretty bit of greensward with clumps of shrubbery, and
here and there the overhanging branches of some shade tree. On some fine
morning when we find a whole flock of these shaggy-manes, which have
sprung up during the night, we can imagine that some such kind of a
surprise must have come to Browning when he wrote these words:
"By the rose flesh mushroom undivulged
Last evening. Nay, in to-day's first dew
Yon sudden coral nipple bulged,
Where a freaked, fawn colored, flaky crew
Of toadstools peep indulged."
[Illustration: FIGURE 32.--Coprinus comatus. "Buttons," some in section
showing gill slits and hollow stem; colors white and black. (Natural
size.)]
The plant is called shaggy-mane because of the very shaggy appearance of
the cap, due to the surface being torn up into long locks. The
illustrations of the shaggy mane shown here represent the different
stages of development, and the account here given is largely taken from
the account written by me in Bulletin 168 of the Cornell University Agr.
Exp. Station.
[Illustration: FIGURE 33.--Coprinus comatus (natural size).]
In Fig. 32 are shown two buttons of the size when they are just ready to
break through the soil. They appear mottled with dark and white, for the
outer layer of fungus threads, which are dark brown, is torn and
separated into patches or scales, showing between the delicate meshes of
white threads which lie beneath. The upper part of the button is already
forming the cap, and the slight constriction about midway shows the
lower boundary or margin of the pileus where it is still connected with
the undeveloped stem.
At the right of each of these buttons in the figure is shown a section
of a plant of the same age. Here the parts of the plant, though still
undeveloped, are quite well marked out. Just underneath the pileus layer
are the gills. In the section one gill is exposed to view on either
side. In the section of the larger button the free edge of the gill is
still closely applied to the stem, while in the small one the gills are
separated a short distance from the stems showing "gill slits." Here,
too, the connection of the margin of the pileus with the stem is still
shown, and forms the veil. This kind of a veil is a marginal veil.
[Illustration: FIGURE 34.--Coprinus comatus (natural size). This one
entirely white, none of the scales black tipped.]
The stem is hollow even at this young stage, and a slender cord of
mycelium extends down the center of the tube thus formed, as is shown in
the sections.
The plants are nearly all white when full grown. The brown scales, so
close together on the buttons, are widely separated except at the top or
center of the pileus, where they remain close together and form a broad
cap.
A study of the different stages, which appear from the button stage to
the mature plant, reveals the cause of this change in color and the wide
separation of the dark brown scales. The threads of the outer layer of
the pileus, and especially those in the brown patches seen on the
buttons, soon cease to grow, though they are firmly entangled with the
inner layers. Now the threads underneath and all through the plant, in
the gills and in the upper part of the stem, grow and elongate rapidly.
This pulls on the outer layer, tearing it in the first place into small
patches, and causing them later to be more widely separated on the
mature plant. Some of these scales remain quite large, while others are
torn up into quite small tufts.
[Illustration: FIGURE 35.--Coprinus comatus, sections of the plants in
Fig. 33 (natural size).]
As the plant ages, the next inner layers of the pileus grow less
rapidly, so that the white layer beneath the brown is torn up into an
intricate tangle of locks and tufts, or is frazzled into a delicate pile
which exists here and there between well formed tufts. While all present
the same general characters there is considerable individual variation,
as one can see by comparing a number of different plants. Figure 34
shows one of the interesting conditions. There is little of the brown
color, and the outer portion of the pileus is torn into long locks,
quite evenly distributed and curled up at the ends in an interesting
fashion which merits well the term "shaggy." In others the threads are
looped up quite regularly into triangular tresses which appear to be
knotted at the ends where the tangle of brown threads holds them
together.
[Illustration: FIGURE 36.--Coprinus comatus, early stages of
deliquescence; the ring is lying on the sod (natural size).]
There is one curious feature about the expansion of the pileus of the
shaggy-mane which could not escape our attention. The pileus has become
very long while comparatively little lateral expansion has taken place.
The pileus has remained cylindrical or barrel-shaped, while in the case
of the common mushroom the pileus expands into the form of an umbrella.
[Illustration: FIGURE 37.--Coprinus comatus, later stage of
deliquescence, pileus becoming more expanded (natural size).]
The cylindrical or barrel-shaped pileus is characteristic of the
shaggy-mane mushroom. As the pileus elongates the stem does also, but
more rapidly. This tears apart the connection of the margin of the
pileus with the base of the stem, as is plainly shown in Fig. 33. In
breaking away, the connecting portion or veil is freed both from the
stem and from the margin of the pileus, and is left as a free, or loose,
ring around the stem. In the shaggy-mane the veil does not form a thin,
expanded curtain. It is really an annular outer layer of the button
lying between the margin of the cap and the base of the stem. It becomes
free from the stem. As the stem elongates more rapidly than the cap, the
latter is lifted up away from the base of the stem. Sometimes the free
ring is left as a collar around the base of the stem, still loosely
adherent to the superficial layer of the same, or it remains for a time
more or less adherent to the margin of the pileus as shown in the plant
at the left hand in Fig. 33. It is often lifted higher up on the stem
before it becomes free from the cap, and is then left dangling somewhere
on the stem, or it may break and fall down on the sod. In other
instances it may remain quite firmly adherent to the margin of the
pileus so that it breaks apart as the pileus in age expands somewhat. In
such cases one often searches for some time to discover it clinging as a
sterile margin of the cap. It is interesting to observe a section of the
plants at this stage. These sections can be made by splitting the pileus
and stem lengthwise through the middle line with a sharp knife, as shown
in Fig. 35. Here, in the plant at the right hand, the "cord" of mycelium
is plainly seen running through the hollow stem. The gills form a large
portion of the plant, for they are very broad and lie closely packed
side by side. They are nowhere attached to the stem, but at the upper
end round off to the cap, leaving a well defined space between their
ends and the stem. The cap, while it is rather thick at the center, i.
e., where it joins the stem, becomes comparatively thin where it spreads
out over the gills. At this age of the plant the gills are of a rich
salmon color, i. e., before the spores are ripe, and the taste when raw
is a pleasant nutty flavor, reminding one of the meat of fresh green
hickory nuts. In a somewhat earlier stage the edges of all the gills are
closely applied to the stem which they surround. So closely are they
applied to the stem in most cases that threads of mycelium pass from the
stem to the edge of the gills. As the cap expands slightly in ageing,
these threads are torn asunder and the stem is covered with a very
delicate down or with flocculent particles which easily disappear on
handling or by the washing of the rains. The edges of the gills are also
left in a frazzled condition, as one can see by examining them with a
good hand lens.
The spores now begin to ripen and as they become black the color of the
gills changes. At the same time the gills and the cap begin to dissolve
into an inky fluid, first becoming dark and then melting into a black
liquid. As this accumulates it forms into drops which dangle from the
cap until they fall away. This change takes place on the margin of the
cap first, and advances toward the center, and the contrast of color, as
the blackening invades the rich salmon, is very striking. The cap now
begins to expand outward more, so that it becomes somewhat umbrella
shaped. The extreme outer surface does not dissolve so freely, and the
thin remnant curls upward and becomes enrolled on the upper side as the
cap with wasted gills becomes nearly flat.
=Coprinus atramentarius= (Bull.) Fr. =Edible.=--The ink-cap (_Coprinus
atramentarius_) occurs under much the same conditions as the
shaggy-mane, and is sometimes found accompanying it. It is usually more
common and more abundant. It springs up in old or newly made lawns which
have been richly manured, or it occurs in other grassy places. Sometimes
the plants are scattered, sometimes two or three in a cluster, but
usually large clusters are formed where ten to twenty or more are
crowded closely together (Fig. 39). The stems are shorter than those of
the shaggy-mane and the cap is different in shape and color. The cap is
egg-shaped or oval. It varies in color from a silvery grey, in some
forms, to a dark ashen grey, or smoky brown color in others. Sometimes
the cap is entirely smooth, as I have seen it in some of the silvery
grey forms, where the delicate fibres coursing down in lines on the
outer surface cast a beautiful silvery sheen in the light. Other forms
present numerous small scales on the top or center of the cap which are
formed by the cleavage of the outer surface here into large numbers of
pointed tufts. In others, the delicate tufts cover more or less the
entire surface, giving the plant a coarsely granular aspect. This is
perhaps the more common appearance, at least so far as my observation
goes. But not infrequently one finds forms which have the entire outer
surface of the cap torn into quite a large number of coarse scales, and
these are often more prominent over the upper portion. Fine lines or
striations mark also the entire surface of all the forms, especially
toward the margin, where the scales are not so prominent. The marginal
half of the cap is also frequently furrowed more or less irregularly,
and this forms a crenate or uneven edge.
[Illustration: PLATE 9, FIGURE 38. Coprinus comatus, drops of inky fluid
about to fall from wasted pileus (natural size).]
[Illustration: PLATE 10, FIGURE 39.--Coprinus atramentarius, nearly
smooth form, gray color (natural size).]
[Illustration: FIGURE 40.--Coprinus atramentarius, scaly form (natural
size).]
The annulus or ring on the stem of the ink-cap is very different from
that of the shaggy-mane. It forms an irregularly zigzag elevated line of
threads which extend around the stem near the base. It is well shown in
Fig. 41 as a border line between the lower scaly end of the stem and the
smooth white upper part. It is formed at the time of the separation of
the margin of the cap from the stem, the connecting fibres being pulled
outward and left to mark the line of junction, while others below give
the scaly appearance. It is easily effaced by rough handling or by the
washing of the rains. A section of a plant is illustrated by a
photograph in Fig. 42. On either side of the stem is shown the layer of
fibres which form the annulus, and this layer is of a different texture
from that of the stem. The stem is hollow as seen here also. In this
figure one can see the change in color of the gills just at the time
when they begin to deliquesce. This deliquescence proceeds much in the
same way as in the shaggy-mane, and sometimes the thin remnant of the
cap expands and the margin is enrolled over the top.
[Illustration: FIGURE 41.--Coprinus atramentarius, showing annulus as
border line between scaly and smooth part of the stem (natural size).]
=Coprinus micaceus= (Bull.) Fr. =Edible.=--The glistening coprinus
received its name because of the very delicate scales which often cover
the surface of the cap, and glisten in the light like particles of mica.
This plant is very common during the spring and early summer, though it
does appear during the autumn. It occurs about the bases of stumps or
trees or in grassy or denuded places, from dead roots, etc., buried in
the soil. It occurs in dense tufts of ten to thirty or more individuals;
sometimes as many as several hundred spring up from the roots of a dead
tree or stump along the streets or in lawns, forming large masses. More
rarely it occurs on logs in the woods, and sometimes the plants are
scattered in lawns. From the different habits of the plant it is
sometimes difficult to determine, especially where the individuals are
more or less scattered. However, the color, and the markings on the cap,
especially the presence of the small shining scales when not effaced,
characterize the plant so that little difficulty is experienced in
determining it when one has once carefully noted these peculiarities.
[Illustration: FIGURE 42.--Coprinus atramentarius, section of one of the
plants in Fig. 41 (natural size).]
Figure 43 is from a group of three young individuals photographed just
as the margin of the pileus is breaking away from the lower part of the
stem, showing the delicate fibrous ring which is formed in the same way
as in _Coprinus atramentarius_. The ring is much more delicate and is
rarely seen except in very young specimens which are carefully collected
and which have not been washed by rains. The mature plants are 8--10 cm.
high (3--4 inches), and the cap varies from 2--4 cm. in diameter. The
stem is quite slender and the cap and gills quite thin as compared with
the shaggy-mane and ink-cap. The gills are not nearly so crowded as they
are in the two other species. The cap is tan color, or light buff, or
yellowish brown. Except near the center it is marked with quite
prominent striations which radiate to the margin. These striations are
minute furrows or depressed lines, and form one of the characters of the
species, being much more prominent than on the cap of the ink-cap.
[Illustration: FIGURE 43.--Coprinus micaceus, young stage showing
annulus, on the cap the "mica" particles (natural size).]
[Illustration: FIGURE 44.--Coprinus micaceus, plants natural size, from
floor of coal mine at Wilkesbarre. Caps tan color. Copyright.]
In wet weather this coprinus melts down into an inky fluid also, but in
quite dry weather it remains more or less firm, and sometimes it does
not deliquesce at all, but dries with all parts well preserved, though
much shrunken of course, as is the case with all the very fleshy fungi.
[Illustration: PLATE 11, FIGURE 45.--Panæolus retirugis, group of plants
from lawn along street, showing veil in young plants at the left, which
breaks into V-shaped loops and clings to margin of the cap. Cap dark
smoky color at first, becoming grayish in age (natural size).
Copyright.]
PANAEOLUS Fr.
In _Panæolus_, the pileus is somewhat fleshy, or thin, the margin even,
that is, not striate. The margin extends beyond the gills, and the gills
are not uniform in color, being clouded or spotted with black and brown
colors, the edge of the gills often white in contrast. The spores are
black. The stem is usually smooth, sometimes floccose scaly, often long,
firm, generally hollow. The veil is of interwoven threads, sometimes
quite compact, especially when the plants are young. Peck, 23rd Report
N. Y. State Mus., p. 10 et seq., gives a synopsis of five species.
[Illustration: FIGURE 46.--Panæolus retirugis, section of caps showing
form and position of gills (natural size).]
=Panæolus retirugis= Fr.--The color of this plant is not attractive, but
it is one of the most beautiful species I have studied, if one regards
form and the general features in its development. It is said to occur on
dung. I have found it in lawns or grassy places, especially freshly made
lawns or greenswards which have been heavily manured. The illustrations
in Figs. 45--48 were made from photographs of plants which grew in a
newly made boulevard along Buffalo street, Ithaca, N. Y. (No. 2356 C. U.
herbarium). The plants are from 7--15 cm. high, the cap from 1--3 cm. in
diameter, and the stem is 3--4 mm. in thickness. The size of the plants
varies greatly according to the environment, being larger in moist soil
and wet weather and smaller in dry soil and dry weather. It occurs in
late spring and during the summer.
[Illustration: FIGURE 47.--Panæolus retirugis, showing rugose character
of cap in left-hand plant (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is oval to ovate and conic, and in some cases it becomes
more or less expanded, but never, so far as I have observed, does it
become depressed or even plane. In wet weather it is usually at first
dark smoky in color, viscid, becoming grayish in age, and as the pileus
dries it becomes shining. In lighter colored forms the pileus is at
first light leather color to cream color. Toward the center of the
pileus are irregular wrinkles or shallow pits, the wrinkles anastomosing
more or less, and it is because of this character of the surface of the
pileus that the plant receives its specific name. During dry weather
there is a tendency for the pileus to crack, separating the dark color
of the surface into patches showing the white flesh beneath. The pileus
is often umbonate or gibbous, and the center is often darker than the
margin. The pileus in rare cases is entirely white. The =gills= are
adnate, broad in the middle, and in the more expanded forms as the gills
separate more and more from the stem there is a tendency for them to
become somewhat triangular. The =spores= are black in mass, are
elliptical or short fusiform, and measure from 10--12 × 15--18 µ. The
=stem= is cylindrical, sometimes tortuous, smoky gray, light reddish
brown, or paler, sometimes entirely white, the lighter forms of the stem
accompanying the light forms of the pileus; cartilaginous in texture,
becoming hollow, always darker below and paler above, smooth, granulate
with minute darker points, bulbous. The =veil= is very prominent and
stout when the plant is young, and extends from the margin of the pileus
to the stem when the plant is very young and the stem has not elongated.
As the stipe elongates the veil separates from the stipe as a ring, and
then, as the pileus expands, it is broken quite regularly into short
segments which become arranged regularly around the margin of the pileus
in the form of the letter V, which gives a beautiful appearance to this
stage of the plant. It is only when the plants are fresh and moist that
this condition of the veil can be seen, for on drying the veil
collapses. Water is sometimes caught under the veil before the pileus
separates far from the stem, and the spores falling thus float against
the stem at this point and make a dark ring around the stem, which,
however, should not be mistaken for the annulus. In no case was the veil
observed to cling to the stem, and many plants have been observed to see
if this variation might present itself.
[Illustration: FIGURE 48.--Panæolus retirugis, showing cracked surface
of cap in the left-hand plant, also in same plant the ring mark of black
spores which lodged before veil ruptured, in other plants showing well
the V-shaped loops of veil on margin of cap (natural size). Copyright.]
This peculiarity of the veil in clinging to the margin of the pileus
has led Hennings to place the plant in Karsten's genus (Engler and
Prantl, Pflanzenfamilien) _Chalymotta_, as _Chalymotta retirugis_. The
plants have several times been eaten raw by me, and while they have a
nutty flavor and odor, the taste is not entirely agreeable in this
condition, because of the accompanying slimy sensation.
A number of smaller species, among them =P. fimicola= Fr., and =P.
papilionaceus= Fr., occur in similar places. =Panæolus solidipes= Pk.,
is a large species with a long, solid stem, growing on dung. =Psilocybe
foenisecii=, abundant in lawns and grassy places during late spring
and summer, resembles a Panæolus. The cap shows zones of light and dark
color, due to different amounts of water, which disappear as the plant
matures. It belongs to the purple-brown-spored agarics.
PSATHYRELLA Fr.
The pileus is thin, membranaceous, striate, the margin not extending
beyond the edge of the gills, and when young the margin of the pileus
lies straight against the stem. The gills are black to fuliginous, of a
uniform color, i. e., not spotted as in _Panæolus_ and _Anellaria_. The
spores are black. The plants are all fragile. Only one species is
mentioned here. In appearance the species are like _Psathyra_ of the
purple-brown-spored agarics, but much thinner. Peck describes three
species in the 23d Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 102 et seq. Only one
species is described here.
[Illustration: FIGURE 49.--Psathyrella disseminata (natural size), caps
whitish, grayish, or grayish-brown. Copyright.]
=Psathyrella disseminata= Pers.--This is a very common and widely
distributed species, appearing from late spring until late autumn. It
sometimes appears in greenhouses throughout the year. The plants are
2--3 cm. high, and the caps 6--10 mm. broad. The plants are crowded in
large tufts, often growing on decaying wood, but also on the ground,
especially about much decayed stumps, but also in lawns and similar
places, where buried roots, etc., are decaying. They resemble small
specimens of a _Coprinus_.
The =pileus= is whitish or gray, or grayish brown, very thin, oval, then
bell-shaped, minutely scaly, becoming smooth, prominently silicate or
plicate, plaited. The =gills= are adnate, broad, white, gray, then
black. The =spores= are black, oblong, 8 × 6 µ. The =stem= is very
slender, becoming hollow, often curved. The entire plant is very
fragile, and in age becomes so soft as to suggest a _Coprinus_ in
addition to the general appearance. Figure 49 is from plants collected
on decaying logs at Ithaca.
GOMPHIDIUS Fr.
The genus _Gomphidius_ has a slimy or glutinous universal veil
enveloping the entire plant when young, and for a time is stretched over
the gills as the pileus is expanding. The gills are somewhat
mucilaginous in consistency, are distant and decurrent on the stem. The
gills are easily removed from the under surface of the pileus in some
species by peeling off in strips, showing the imprint of the gills
beneath the projecting portions of the pileus, which extended part way
between the laminæ of the gills. The spores in some species are
blackish, and for this reason the genus has been placed by many with the
black-spored agarics, while its true relationship is probably with the
genus _Hygrophorus_ or _Paxillus_.
=Gomphidius nigricans= Pk.--The description given by Peck for this plant
in the 48th Report, p. 12, 1895, reads as follows:
"Pileus convex, or nearly plane, pale, brownish red, covered with a
tough gluten, which becomes black in drying, flesh firm, whitish;
lamellæ distant, decurrent, some of them forked, white, becoming smoky
brown, black in the dried plant; stem subequal, longer than the diameter
of the pileus, glutinous, solid, at first whitish, especially at the
top, soon blackish by the drying of the gluten, whitish within, slightly
tinged with red toward the base; spores oblong fusoid, 15--25 µ long,
6--7 µ broad. Pileus 1--2 inches broad; stem 1.5--2.5 inches long, 2--4
lines thick."
"This species is easily known by the blackening gluten which smears both
pileus and stem, and even forms a veil by which the lamellæ in the young
plant are concealed. In the dried state the whole plant is black."
"Under pine trees, Westport, September."
[Illustration: FIGURE 50.--Gomphidius nigricans. Side and under view
showing forked gills, and reticulate collapsed patches of dark slime on
stem. Cap flesh color, gills dark gray; entire plant black when dried
(natural size). Copyright.]
What appears to be the same plant was collected by me at Blowing Rock,
N. C., under a pine tree, in September, 1899 (No. 3979 C. U. herbarium).
The notes taken on the fresh plant are as follows:
Very viscid, with a thick, tough viscid cuticle, cortina or veil viscid,
and collapsing on the stem, forming coarse, walnut-brown or dark
vinaceous reticulations, terminating abruptly near the gills, or
reaching them.
The =stem= is white underneath the slimy veil covering, tough, fibrous,
continuous, and not separable from the hymenophore, tapering below.
The =pileus= is convex, the very thin margin somewhat incurved, disk
expanded, uneven, near the center cracked into numerous small viscid
brownish areoles; pileus flesh color, flesh same color except toward the
gills. Gills dark drab gray, arcuate, distant, decurrent, many of them
forked, separating easily from the hymenophore, peeling off in broad
sheets, and leaving behind corresponding elevations of the hymenophore
which extended between the laminæ of the lamellæ. Pileus 7 cm. in
diameter; stem 4--5 cm. long by 2 cm. diameter.
In drying, the entire plant as well as the gluten becomes black, on the
pileus a shining black.
The =spores= are rusty to dark brown, or nearly black, fusoid or oblong,
and measure 15--22 × 5--6 µ.
[Illustration: FIGURE 51.--Gomphidius nigricans. Under view with portion
of gills stripped off from hymenophore, showing forked character of
gills (natural size). Copyright.]
In Fig. 50 a side and under view of the plant are given, and in Fig. 51
a view after a portion of the lamellæ have been peeled off, showing how
nicely the separation takes place, as well as showing the forked
character of the lamellæ and the processes of the pileus, which extend
between the laminæ of the lamellæ.
This plant seems to be very near _Gomphidius glutinosus_ (Schaeff.),
Fr., if not identical with it, though the illustrations cited in
Schaeffer and in Krombholz seem to indicate a stouter plant. The
descriptions say nothing as to the appearance of the dried plant.
CHAPTER VI.
THE WHITE-SPORED AGARICS.
The spores are white in mass, or sometimes with a faint yellowish or
lilac tinge. For analytical keys to the genera see Chapter XXIV.
AMANITA Pers.
The genus _Amanita_ has both a volva and a veil; the spores are white,
and the stem is easily separable from the cap. In the young stage the
volva forms a universal veil, that is, a layer of fungus tissue which
entirely envelops the young plant. In the button stage, where this
envelope runs over the cap, it is more or less free from it, that is, it
is not "concrete" with the surface of the pileus. As the pileus expands
and the stem elongates, the volva is ruptured in different ways
according to the species. In some the volva splits at the apex and is
left as a "cup" at the base of the stem. In others it splits circularly,
that is, transversely across the middle, the lower half forming a
shallow cup with a very narrow rim, or in other cases it is closely
fitted against the stem, while the upper half remains on the cap and is
broken up into patches or warts. In still other cases the volva breaks
irregularly, and only remnants of it may be found on either the base of
the stem or on the pileus. For the various conditions one must consult
the descriptions of the species. The genus is closely related to
_Lepiota_, from which it is separated by the volva being separate from
the pileus. This genus contains some of the most deadly poisonous
mushrooms, and also some of the species are edible. Morgan, Jour. Mycol.
=3=: 25--33, describes 28 species. Peck, 33d Report N. Y. State Mus.,
pp. 38--49, describes 14 species. Lloyd, A Compilation of the Volvæ of
the U. S., Cincinnati, 1898, gives a brief synopsis of our species.
=Amanita muscaria= Linn. =Poisonous.=--This plant in some places is
popularly known as the fly agaric, since infusions of it are used as a
fly poison. It occurs during the summer and early autumn. It grows along
roadsides near trees, or in groves, and in woods, according to some
preferring a rather poor gravelly soil. It attains its typical form
usually under these conditions in groves or rather open woods where the
soil is poor. It is a handsome and striking plant because of the usually
brilliant coloring of the cap in contrast with the white stems and
gills, and the usually white scales on the surface. It usually ranges
from 10--15 cm. high, and the cap from 8--12 cm. broad, while the stem
is 1--1.5 cm. in thickness, or the plant may be considerably larger.
[Illustration: PLATE 12, FIGURE 52.--Amanita muscaria, "buttons,"
showing different stages of rupture of the volva or universal veil, and
formation of inner veil (natural size). Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 13, FIGURE 53.--Amanita muscaria. Further stages in
opening of plant, formation of veil and ring. Cap yellowish, or orange.
Scales on cap and at base of stem white; stem and gills white (natural
size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= passes from convex to expanded and nearly flat in age, the
margin when mature is marked by depressed lines forming parallel
striations, and on the surface are numbers of scattered floccose or
rather compact scales, formed from the fragments of the upper part of
the volva or outer veil. These scales are usually white in color and are
quite easily removed, so that old plants are sometimes quite free from
them. The scales are sometimes yellowish in color. The color of the
pileus varies from yellow to orange, or even red, the yellow color being
more common. Late in the season the color is paler, and in old plants
also the color fades out, so that white forms are sometimes found. The
flesh is white, sometimes yellowish underneath the cuticle. The =gills=
in typical forms are white, in some forms accredited to this species
they are yellowish. The =stem= is cylindrical, hollow, or stuffed when
young, and enlarged below into a prominent bulb. It is white, covered
with loose floccose scales, or more or less lacerate or torn, and the
lower part of the stem and upper part of the bulb are marked usually by
prominent concentric scales forming interrupted rings. These are formed
by the splitting of the outer veil or volva, and form the remnants of
the volva present on the base of the stem.
The main features in the development of the plant are shown in Figs.
52--54, where a series from the button stage to the mature plant is
represented. In the youngest specimens the outline of the bulb and the
young convex or nearly globose cap are only seen, and these are covered
with the more or less floccose outer veil or volva. The fungus threads
composing this layer cease to grow, and with the expansion of the cap
and the elongation of the stem, the volva is torn into patches. The
upper and lower surface of the inner veil is attached to the edge of the
gills and to the outer surface of the stem by loose threads, which are
torn asunder as the pileus expands. Floccose scales are thus left on the
surface of the stem below the annulus, as in the left hand plant of Fig.
53. The veil remains attached longer to the gills and is first separated
from the stem. Again, as in the right hand plant, it may first be
separated from the gills when it is later ripped up from the stem.
The fly agaric is one of the well known poisonous species and is very
widely distributed in this country, as well as in other parts of the
world. In well developed forms there should be no difficulty in
distinguishing it from the common mushroom by even a novice. Nor should
there be difficulty in distinguishing it from the royal agaric, or
Cæsar's agaric (_Amanita cæsarea_), by one who has become reasonably
familiar with the characters and appearance of the two. But small and
depauperate specimens of the two species run so nearly together in form,
color, and surface characters, that it becomes a matter of some
difficulty for even an expert to distinguish them.
[Illustration: FIGURE 54.--Amanita muscaria. View of upper side of cap
(natural size). Colors as in Fig. 53. Copyright.]
Figures 52--54 are from plants (No. 2065 C. U. herbarium) collected in
an open woods near Ithaca. For the poisonous property of the plant see
Chapter XX.
=Amanita frostiana= Pk. =Poisonous.=--According to Dr. Peck, who
published the first description of this plant, it grows in company with
_Amanita muscaria_, but seems to prefer more dense woods, especially
mixed or hemlock woods, and occurs from June to October. The plant is
5--8 cm. high, the caps 2--5 cm. broad, and the stems 3--6 mm. in
thickness.
The =pileus= is "convex to expanded, bright orange or yellow, warty,
sometimes nearly or quite smooth, striate on the margin; =lamellæ=
white or tinged with yellow; =stem= white or yellowish, stuffed, bearing
a slight, sometimes evanescent annulus, bulbous at the base, the bulb
_slightly margined_ by the volva; spores globose," 7.5--10 µ in
diameter. He notes that it appears like a small form of _A. muscaria_,
to which it was first referred as _var. minor_,--"The only characters
for distinguishing it are its small size and its globose spores." It is
near _A. muscaria var. puella_ Pers.
I have several times found this plant in the Adirondack mountains, N.
Y., and Ithaca, and also at Blowing Rock, N. C. The volva is often
yellowish, so that the warts on the pileus are also yellow, and
sometimes the only remnants of the volva on the base of the stem are
yellow or orange particles. The annulus is also frequently yellow. In
our plants, which seem to be typical, the spores are nearly globose,
varying to oval, and with the minute point where the spore was attached
to the sterigma at the smaller end, the spores usually being finely
granular, 6--9 µ in diameter, and rarely varying towards short
elliptical, showing a tendency to approach the shape of the spores of
_A. muscaria_. The species as I have seen it is a very variable one,
large forms being difficult to separate from _A. muscaria_, on the one
hand, and others difficult to separate from the depauperate forms of _A.
cæsarea_. In the latter, however, the striæ are coarser, though the
yellow color may be present only on portions of the pileus. The spores
of _A. cæsarea_ are from globose to oval, ovate or short elliptical, the
globose ones often agreeing in size with the spores of _A. frostiana_,
but they usually contain a prominent oil drop or "nucleus," often nearly
filling the spore. In some specimens of _A. frostiana_ the spores are
quite variable, being nearly globose, ovate to elliptical, approaching
the spores of _A. muscaria_. These intermediate forms should not in
themselves lead one to regard all these three species as representing
variations in a single variable species. With observations in the field
I should think it possible to separate them.
=Amanita phalloides= Fr. =Deadly Poisonous.=--The _Amanita phalloides_
and its various forms, or closely related species, are the most
dangerous of the poisonous mushrooms. For this reason the _A.
phalloides_ is known as the _deadly agaric_, or _deadly amanita_. The
plant is very variable in color, the forms being pure white, or
yellowish, green, or olive to umber. Variations also occur in the way in
which the volva ruptures, as well as in the surface characters of the
stem, and thus it is often a difficult matter to determine whether all
these forms represent a single variable species or whether there are
several species, and if so, what are the limits of these species.
Whether these are recognized as different forms of one species or as
different species, they are all very poisonous. The plant usually occurs
in woods or along the borders of woods. It does, however, sometimes
occur in lawns. It varies from 6--20 cm. high, the cap from 3--10 cm.
broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 55.--Amanita phalloides, white form, showing cap,
stem, ring, and cup-like volva with a free, prominent limb (natural
size).]
The =pileus= is fleshy, viscid or slimy when moist, smooth, that is, not
striate, orbicular to bell-shaped, convex and finally expanded, and in
old specimens more or less depressed by the elevation of the margin. The
cap is often free from any remnants of the volva, while in other cases
portions of the volva or outer veil appear on the surface of the cap in
rather broad patches, or it may be broken up into a number of smaller
ones quite evenly distributed over the surface of the cap. The presence
or absence of these scales on the cap depends entirely on the way in
which the volva ruptures. When there is a clean rupture at the apex the
pileus is free from scales, but if portions of the apex of the volva are
torn away they are apt to remain on the cap.
[Illustration: PLATE 14, FIGURE 56.--Amanita phalloides, brownish,
umber, or olive-brown form (natural size). Caps brownish or whitish, and
streaked with brown, scales white, gills and stem white, stem slowly
turning dull brown where bruised. Copyright.]
The white form is common in this country, and so is the olive or umber
form. The yellow form is rarer. Sometimes there is only a tinge of
yellow at the center of the white pileus, while in other cases a large
part of the pileus may be yellow, a deeper shade usually on the center.
The green form is probably more common in Europe than in this country.
The olive form varies considerably also in the depth of the color,
usually darker on the center and fading out to light olive or gray, or
whitish, on the margin. In other cases the entire pileus may be dark
olive or umber color. The =gills= in all the forms are white, and free
from the stem or only joined by a narrow line. The stem is stuffed when
young, but in age is nearly or quite hollow. It is cylindrical, 6--20
cm. long × 6--12 mm. in thickness. In the larger specimens the bulb is
quite prominent and abrupt, while in the smaller specimens it is not
always proportionally so large. The =stem= is usually smooth and the
color is white, except in the dark forms, when it is dingy or partakes
more or less of the color of the pileus, though much lighter in shade.
There is a tendency in these forms to a discoloration of the stem where
handled or bruised, and this should caution one in comparing such forms
with the edible _A. rubescens_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 57.--Amanita phalloides, volva circumscissile, cap
scaly, limb of volva not prominent, cap dark, scales white (natural
size). Copyright.]
Perhaps no part of the plant is more variable than the outer veil or
volva. Where the volva is quite thick and stout it usually splits at the
apex, and there is a prominent free limb, as shown in Fig. 55. Sometimes
thin portions of the volva are caught, and remain on the surface of the
pileus. But when the volva is thinner and of a looser texture, it splits
transversely about the middle, circumscissile, and all or a large part
of the upper half of the volva then clings to the cap, and is separated
into patches. Between this and the former condition there seem to be all
gradations. Some of these are shown in Fig. 56, which is from a
photograph of dark olive and umber forms, from plants collected in the
Blue Ridge mountains, at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899. In
the very young plant the volva split transversely (in a circumscissile
fashion) quite clearly, and the free limb is quite short and distant
from the stem on the margin of the saucer-like bulb. In the large and
fully expanded plant at the center, the volva ruptured irregularly at
the apex, and portions of the thin upper half remain as patches on the
cap while the larger part remains as the free limb, attached at the
margin of the broad saucer-shaped bulb, and collapsed up against the
base of the stem.
[Illustration: FIGURE 58.--Amanita phalloides, volva circumscissile,
concave bulb margined by definite short limb of volva; upper part of
volva has disappeared from cap; cap whitish, tinged with brown.]
Figure 58 and the small plant in Fig. 56, both from photographs of the
sooty form of _Amanita phalloides_, show in a striking manner the
typical condition of the circumscissile volva margining the broad
saucer-like bulb as described for _Amanita mappa_. The color of _A.
mappa_ is usually said to be straw color, but Fries even says that the
color is as in _A. phalloides_, "now white, now green, now yellow, now
dark brown" (Epicrisis, page 6). According to this, Fig. 58 would
represent _A. mappa_.
The variable condition in this one species _A. phalloides_, now
splitting at the apex, now tearing up irregularly, now splitting in a
definitely circumscissile manner, seems to bid defiance to any attempt
to separate the species of _Amanita_ into groups based on the manner in
which the volva ruptures. While it seems to be quite fixed and
characteristic in certain species, it is so extremely variable in others
as to lead to the suspicion that it is responsible in some cases for the
multiplication and confusion of species. At the same time, the
occurrence of some of these forms at certain seasons of the year
suggests the desirability of prolonged and careful study of fresh
material, and the search for additional evidence of the unity of these
forms, or of their definite segregation.
[Illustration: FIGURE 59.--Amanita verna, white (natural size).
Copyright.]
Since the _Amanita phalloides_ occurs usually in woods, or along borders
of woods, there is little danger of confounding it with edible mushrooms
collected in lawns distant from the woods, and in open fields. However,
it does occur in lawns bordering on woods, and in the summer of 1899 I
found several of the white forms of this species in a lawn distant from
the woods. This should cause beginners and those not thoroughly familiar
with the appearance of the plant to be extremely cautious against eating
mushrooms simply because they were not collected in or near the woods.
Furthermore, sometimes the white form of the deadly amanita possesses a
faint tinge of pink in the gills, which might lead the novice to mistake
it for the common mushroom. The bulb of the deadly amanita is usually
inserted quite deep in the soil or leaf mold, and specimens are often
picked leaving the very important character of the volva in the ground,
and then the plant might easily be taken for the common mushroom, or
more likely for the smooth lepiota, _Lepiota naucina_, which is entirely
white, the gills only in age showing a faint pink tinge. It is very
important, therefore, that, until one has such familiarity with these
plants that they are easily recognized in the absence of some of these
characters, the stem should be carefully dug from the soil. In the case
of the specimens of the deadly amanita growing in the lawn on the campus
of Cornell University, the stems were sunk to three to four inches in
the quite hard ground.
=Amanita verna= Bull. =Deadly Poisonous.=--The _Amanita verna_ is by
some considered as only a white form of the _Amanita phalloides_. It is
of a pure white color, and this in addition to its very poisonous
property has led to its designation as the "destroying angel."
[Illustration: FIGURE 60.--Amanita verna, "buttons," cap bursting
through the volva; left hand plant in section (natural size).
Copyright.]
The =pileus= is smooth and viscid when moist; the gills free; the =stem=
stuffed or hollow in age; the =annulus= forms a broad collar, and the
=volva= is split at the apex, and being quite stout, the free limb is
prominent, and it hugs more or less closely to the base of the stem.
Figure 59 represents the form of the plant which Gillet recognizes as
_A. verna_; the pileus convex, the annulus broad and entire, and the
stem scaly. These floccose scales are formed as a result of the
separation of the annulus from the outer layer of the stem.
The characters presented in the formation of the veil and annulus in
this species are very interesting, and sometimes present two of the
types in the formation of the veil and annulus found in the genus
_Amanita_. In the very young plant, in the button stage, as the young
gills lie with their edges close against the side of the stem, loose
threads extend from the edges of the gills to the outer layer of the
stem. This outer layer of the stem forms the veil, and is more or less
loosely connected with the firmer portion of the stem by loose threads.
As the pileus expands, the threads connecting the edges of the gills
with the veil are stronger than those which unite the veil with the
surface of the stem. The veil is separated from the stem then,
simultaneously, or nearly so, throughout its entire extent, and is not
ripped up from below as in _Amanita velatipes_.
As the pileus expands, then, the veil lies closely over the edges of the
gills until finally it is freed from them and from the margin of the
pileus. As the veil is split off from the surface of the stem, the
latter is torn into numerous floccose scales, as shown in Fig. 59.
In other cases, in addition to the primary veil which is separated from
the stem in the manner described above, there is a secondary veil formed
in exactly the same way as that described for _Amanita velatipes_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 61.--Amanita verna, small form, white (natural
size). Copyright.]
In such cases there are two veils, or a double veil, each attached to
the margin of the pileus, the upper one ascending over the edges of the
gills and attached above on the stem, while the lower one descends and
is attached below as it is being ripped up from a second layer of the
stem. Figures 59--61 are from plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C.,
in September, 1899.
=Amanita virosa= Fr. =Deadly Poisonous.=--This plant also by some is
regarded as only a form of _Amanita phalloides_. It is a pure white
plant and the pileus is viscid as in the _A. verna_ and _A. phalloides_.
The volva splits at the apex as in _A. verna_, but the veil is very
fragile and torn into shreds as the pileus expands, portions of it
clinging to the margin of the cap as well as to the stem, as shown in
Fig. 62. The stem is also adorned with soft floccose scales. Gillet
further states that the pileus is conic to campanulate, not becoming
convex as in _A. verna_ and _A. phalloides_.
The variability presented in the character of the veil and in the shape
of the pileus suggests, as some believe, that all these are but forms of
a single variable species. On the other hand, we need a more careful and
extended field study of these variations. Doubtless different
interpretations of the specific limits by different students will lead
some to recognize several species where others would recognize but one.
Since species are not distinct creations there may be tolerably good
grounds for both of these views.
[Illustration: FIGURE 62.--Amanita virosa, white (natural size).
Copyright.]
=Amanita floccocephala= Atkinson. =Probably Poisonous.=--This species
occurs in woods and groves at Ithaca during the autumn. The plants are
medium sized, 6--8 cm. high, the cap 3--6 cm. broad, and the stems 4--6
mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is hemispherical to convex, and expanded, smooth, whitish,
with a tinge of straw color, and covered with torn, thin floccose
patches of the upper half of the circumscissile volva. The =gills= are
white and adnexed. The =spores= are globose, 7--10 µ. The =stem= is
cylindrical or slightly tapering above, hollow or stuffed, floccose
scaly and abruptly bulbous below. The =annulus= is superior, that is,
near the upper end of the stem, membranaceous, thin, sometimes tearing,
as in _A. virosa_. The =volva= is circumscissile, the margin of the bulb
not being clear cut and prominent, because there is much refuse matter
and soil interwoven with the lower portion of the volva. The bulb
closely resembles those in Cooke's figure (Illustrations, 4) of _A.
mappa_. Figure 63 shows these characters well.
[Illustration: FIGURE 63.--Amanita floccocephala (natural size).
Copyright.]
=Amanita velatipes= Atkinson. =Properties Unknown.=--This plant is very
interesting since it shows in a striking manner the peculiar way in
which the veil is formed in some of the species of _Amanita_. Though not
possessing brilliant colors, it is handsome in its form and in the
peculiar setting of the volva fragments on the rich brown or faint
yellow of the pileus. It has been found on several occasions during the
month of July in a beech woods on one of the old flood plains of
Six-mile creek, one of the gorges in the vicinity of Ithaca, N. Y. The
mature plant is from 15--20 cm. high, the cap from 8--10 cm. broad, and
the stem 1--1.5 cm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is viscid when moist, rounded, then broadly oval and convex
to expanded, striate on the margin, sometimes in old plants the margin
is elevated. It is smooth throughout, and of a soft, rich hair brown, or
umber brown color, darker in the center. Sometimes there is a decided
but dull maize yellow tinge over the larger part of the pileus, but even
then the center is often brown in color, shading into the yellow color
toward the margin; the light yellow forms in age, often thinning out to
a cream color. The flesh of the pileus is rather thin, even in the
center, and becomes very thin toward the margin, as shown in Fig. 67.
The scales on the pileus are more or less flattened, rather thin,
clearly separated from the pileus, and easily removed. They are more or
less angular, and while elongated transversely at first, become nearly
isodiametric as the pileus becomes fully expanded, passing from an
elongated form to rectangular, or sinuous in outline, the margin more or
less upturned, especially in age, when they begin to loosen and "peel"
from the surface of the cap. They are lighter in color than the pileus
and I have never observed the yellow tint in them. The =gills= are
white, broad at the middle, about 1 cm., and taper gradually toward each
end. The =spores= are usually inequilaterally oval, 8--10 × 6--7 µ,
granular when young, when mature with a large oil drop.
[Illustration: PLATE 15, FIGURE 64.--Amanita velatipes (3/4 natural
size). Cap hair-brown, or umber-brown, sometimes with tinge of lemon
yellow, or entirely maize-yellow. Scales, gills, and stem white.
Copyright.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 65.--Amanita velatipes. Different stages of
"buttons," in the right-hand plant the upper part of the volva
separating to form the scales (natural size). Copyright.]
The =stem= is cylindrical, somewhat bulbous, the bulb often tapering
abruptly, as shown in Figs. 64, 66. The stem is white, smooth, or
floccose scaly where the veil has been ripped off from it. It is
hollow and stuffed with loose cottony threads, as shown in Fig. 67. The
=veil= is formed by the ripping up of the outer layer of the stem as the
latter elongates and as the pileus expands. When it is freed from the
margin of the cap it collapses and hangs downward as a broad collar
(Fig. 64). The =annulus= is inferior, its position on the stem being due
to the peculiar way in which it is formed.
[Illustration: FIGURE 66.--Amanita velatipes. Three plants natural size,
the left-hand one sectioned, showing stuffed center of stem. Others show
how veil is ripped up from the stem. For other details see text.
Copyright.]
Some of the stages of development are illustrated in Figs. 64--67. The
buttons are queer looking objects, the bulb being the most prominent
part. It tapers abruptly below, and on the upper side is the small
rounded young cap seated in the center. The volva is present as a rough
floccose layer, covering the upper part of the bulb and the young cap.
As the stem elongates and the pileus enlarges and expands, the volva is
torn into areolate patches. The lower patches, those adjoining the
margin of the cap and the upper part of the bulb, are separated in a
more or less concentric manner. One or more of them lie on the upper
part of the bulb, forming the "limb" of the "ocreate" volva. Others lie
around the margin of the pileus. Sometimes an annular one bordering the
pileus and bulb is left clinging part way up on the stem, as shown in
Fig. 66. The concentric arrangement on the pileus is sometimes shown for
a considerable time, as in Fig. 67, the elongated areas being present in
greater number at this age of the pileus. However, as the pileus expands
more, these are separated into smaller areas and their connection with
the surface of the pileus becomes less firm.
The formation of the veil and annulus can be easily followed in these
figures. The margin of the cap in the button stage is firmly connected
with the outer layer of the stem at its lower end. This probably occurs
by the intermingling growth of the threads from the lower end of the
stem and the margin of the cap, while the edges of the gills are quite
free from the stem. Now as the stem elongates and the cap expands the
veil is "ripped" up from the outer part of the stem. This is very
clearly shown in Fig. 66, especially where two strips on the stem have
become disconnected from the margin of the cap and are therefore left in
position on the outside of the stem.
This species is related to _A. excelsa_ Fr., which is said to have a
superior ring.
[Illustration: PLATE 16, FIGURE 67.--Amanita velatipes. The right-hand
plant shows how the veil is ripped up from the stem and also shows the
transversely elongate scales on the cap. For details see text (natural
size). Copyright.]
=Amanita cothurnata= Atkinson. =Probably Poisonous.=--The booted
amanita, _Amanita cothurnata_, I have found in two different years in
the Blue Ridge mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C., once in 1888, during
the first week of September, and again during the three first weeks in
September, 1899. It occurs sparingly during the first week or so of
September, and during the middle of the month is very abundant. The
species seems to be clearly distinct from other species of _Amanita_,
and there are certain characters so persistent as to make it easily
recognizable. It ranges in height from 7--12 cm. and the caps are 3--7
cm. or more broad, while the stems are 4--10 mm. in thickness. The
entire plant is usually white, but in some specimens the cap has a tinge
of citron yellow, or in others tawny olive, in the center.
[Illustration: PLATE 17, FIGURE 68.--Amanita cothurnata. Different
stages of development; for details see text. Entire plant white,
sometimes tinge of umber at center of cap, and rarely slight tinge of
lemon-yellow at center (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is fleshy, and passes, in its development, from nearly
globose to hemispherical, convex, expanded, and when specimens are very
old sometimes the margin is elevated. It is usually white, though
specimens are found with a tinge of citron yellow in the center, or
of tawny olive in the center of other specimens. The pileus is viscid,
strongly so when moist. It is finely striate on the margin, and covered
with numerous, white, floccose scales from the upper half of the volva,
forming more or less dense patches, which may wash off in heavy rains.
The =gills= are rounded next the stem, and quite remote from it. The
edge of the gills is often eroded or frazzly from the torn out threads
with which they were loosely connected to the upper side of the veil in
the young or button stage. The =spores= are globose or nearly so, with a
large "nucleus" nearly filling the spore.
[Illustration: FIGURE 69.--Amanita cothurnata. Different stages opening
up of plant, the two center ones showing veil being ripped from stem,
but veil narrow. The right-hand illustration has been scratched
transversely, these marks not being characteristic of the plant (natural
size). Copyright.]
The =stem= is cylindrical, even, and expanded below into quite a large
oval bulb, the stem just above the bulb being margined by a close
fitting roll of the volva, and the upper edge of this presenting the
appearance of having been sewed at the top like the rolled edge of a
garment or buskin. The surface of the stem is minutely floccose scaly or
strongly so, and decidedly hollow even from a very young stage, or
sometimes when young with loose threads in the cavity.
Figures 68--70, from plants (No. 3715, C. U. herbarium) collected at
Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899, illustrate certain of the
features in the form and development of this plant.
[Illustration: FIGURE 70.--Amanita cothurnata. Two plants in section
showing clearly hollow stem, veil attachment, etc. (natural size).
Copyright.]
In _Amanita frostiana_ the remains of the volva sometimes form a similar
collar, but not so stout, on the base of the stem. The variations in _A.
frostiana_ where the stem, annulus and gills are white might suggest
that there is a close relationship between _A. frostiana_ and _A.
cothurnata_, and that the latter is only a form of the former. From a
careful study of the two plants growing side by side the evidence is
convincing that the two are distinct. _Amanita frostiana_ occurs also at
Blowing Rock, appearing earlier in the season than _A. cothurnata_, and
also being contemporary with it. _A. frostiana_ is more variable, not
nearly so viscid, nor nearly so abundant, the stem is solid or stuffed,
the annulus is more frail and evolved from the stem in a different
manner. The volva does not leave such a constant and well defined roll
where it separated on the stem transversely, and the pileus is yellow or
orange. When _A. cothurnata_ is yellowish at all it is a different tint
of yellow and then only a tinge of yellow at the center. Albino or faded
forms of _A. frostiana_ might occur, but we would not expect them to
appear at a definite season of the year in great abundance while the
normal form, showing no intergrading specimens in the same locality,
continued to appear in the same abundance and with the same characters
as before. The dried plants of _A. cothurnata_ are apt to become tinged
with yellow on the gills, the upper part of the stem and upper part of
the annulus during the processes of drying, but the pileus does not
change in like manner, nor do these plants show traces of yellow on
these parts when fresh. The spores are also decidedly different, though
the shape and size do not differ to any great extent. In _A. frostiana_
and the pale forms of the species the spores are nearly globose or oval,
rarely with a tendency to become elliptical, but _the content is quite
constantly finely granular_, while the spores of _A. cothurnata_ are
perhaps more constantly globose or nearly so, but the spore is _nearly
filled with a highly refractive oil globule or "nucleus."_ The pileus
of _A. frostiana_ is also thinner than that of _A. cothurnata_. It is
nearer, in some respects, to specimens of _Amanita pantherina_ received
from Bresadola, of Austria-Hungary.
[Illustration: FIGURE 71.--Amanita spreta. The two outside plants show
the free limb of the volva lying close against the stem (natural size,
often larger). Copyright.]