species grows in open or bushy places. The specimens illustrated in Fig.
71 grew in sandy ground by the roadside near trees in the edge of an
open field at Blowing Rock, N. C., and others were found in a grove. The
plants are 10--15 cm. high, the caps 6--12 cm. broad, and the stems
8--12 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is convex to expanded, gray or
light drab, and darker on the center, or according to Dr. Peck it may be
white. It is smooth, or with only a few remnants of the volva, striate
on the margin, and 1--.5 cm. thick at the center. The =gills= are white,
adnexed, that is they reach the stem by their upper angle. The =stem= is
of the same color as the pileus, but somewhat lighter, white to light
gray or light drab, cylindrical, not bulbous, hollow or stuffed. The
=annulus= is thin and attached above the middle of the stem. The =volva=
is sordid white, and sheathes the stem with a long free limb of 3--5
lobes. It splits at the apex, but portions sometimes cling to the
surface of the pileus.
Figure 71 is from plants (No. 3707, C. U.) collected at Blowing Rock, N.
C., September, 1899.
=Amanita cæsarea= Scop. =Edible=, _but use great caution_.--This plant
is known as the orange amanita, royal agaric, Cæsar's agaric, etc. It is
one of the most beautiful of all the agarics, and is well distributed
over the earth. With us it is more common in the Southern States. It
occurs in the summer and early autumn in the woods. It is easily
recognized by its usually large size, yellow or orange color of the cap,
gills, stem and ring, and the prominent, white, sac-like volva at the
base of the stem. It is usually 12--20 cm. high, the cap 5--10 cm.
broad, and the stems 6--10 mm. in thickness, though it may exceed this
size, and depauperate forms are met with which are much smaller.
The =pileus= is ovate to bell-shaped, convex, and finally more or less
expanded, when the surface may be nearly flat or the center may be
somewhat elevated or umbonate and the margin curved downward. The
surface is smooth except at the margin, where it is prominently striate.
The color varies from orange to reddish or yellow, usually the well
developed and larger specimens have the deeper and richer colors, while
the smaller specimens have the lighter colors, and the color is usually
deeper on the center of the pileus. The =gills= are yellow, and free
from the stem. The =stem= is hollow, even in young plants, when it may
be stuffed with loose threads. It is often very floccose scaly below the
annulus. It is cylindrical, only slightly enlarged below, where it is
covered by the large, fleshy, sac-like white volva. The =annulus= is
membranaceous, large, and hangs like a broad collar from the upper part
of the stem. The stem and ring are orange or yellow, the depth of the
color varying more with the size of the plant than is the case with the
color of the cap. In small specimens the stem is often white, especially
in depauperate specimens are the stem and annulus white, and even the
gills are white when the volva may be so reduced as to make it difficult
to distinguish the specimens from similar specimens of the poisonous fly
agaric.
[Illustration: PLATE 18, FIGURE 72.--Amanita cæsarea. Different stages
of development (2/3 natural size). Cap, stem, gills, veil orange or
yellow. Volva white. Copyright.]
In the button stage the plant is ovate and the white color of the volva,
which at this time entirely surrounds the plants, presents an appearance
not unlike that of an egg. The volva splits open at the apex as the stem
elongates. The veil is often connected by loose threads with the outer
portion of the stem and as the pileus expands this is torn away, leaving
coarse floccose scales on the stem. Some of the different stages in the
opening of the plant are shown in Fig. 72. This illustration is taken
from a photograph of plants (No. 3726, C. U. herbarium) collected at
Blowing Rock, N. C., September, 1899. The plant is said to be one of the
best esculents, and has been prized as an article of food from ancient
times. Great caution should be used in distinguishing it from the fly
agaric and from other amanitas.
[Illustration: PLATE 19.
FIG. 1.--Amanita rubescens
FIG. 2.--A. cæsarea.
Copyright 1900.]
=Amanita rubescens= Fr. =Edible=, _but use great caution_.--The reddish
amanita, _Amanita rubescens_, is so called because of the sordid reddish
color diffused over the entire plant, and especially because bruised
portions quickly change to a reddish color. The plant is often quite
large, from 12--20 cm. high, the cap 8--12 cm. broad and the stem 8--12
mm. in thickness, but it is sometimes much smaller. It occurs during the
latter part of the summer and in early autumn, in woods and open places.
[Illustration: FIGURE 73.--Amanita rubescens. Plant partly expanded.
Dull reddish brown, stains reddish when bruised; for other details see
text (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is oval to convex, and becoming expanded when old. It is
smooth or faintly striate on the margin, and covered with numerous
scattered, thin, floccose, grayish scales, forming remnants of the
larger part of the volva or outer veil. The color of the cap varies
correspondingly, but is always tinged more or less distinctly with pink,
red, or brownish red hues. The =gills= are white or whitish and free
from the stem. The =stem= is nearly cylindrical, tapering some above,
and with a prominent bulb which often tapers abruptly below. In addition
to the suffused dull reddish color the stem is often stained with red,
especially where handled or touched by some object. There are very few
evidences of the volva on the stem since the volva is so floccose and
torn into loose fragments, most of which remain on the surface of the
cap. Sometimes a few of these loose fragments are seen on the upper
portion of the bulb, but they are easily removed by handling or by
rains. The =annulus= is membranous, broad, and fragile.
Since the plant has become well known it is regarded as excellent and
wholesome for food and pleasant to the taste. In case of the larger
specimens there should be no difficulty in distinguishing it from others
by those who care to compare the descriptions closely with the fresh
specimens. But as in all cases beginners should use extreme caution in
eating plants they have not become thoroughly familiar with. Small
specimens of this species sometimes show but little of the reddish
color, and are therefore difficult to determine.
Figures 73 and 74 are from plants (No. 3727 C. U. herbarium) collected
at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
=Amanita solitaria= Bull. =Edible=, _but use caution_.--The solitary
amanita, like many other plants, is not always true to its name. While
it often occurs solitary, it does occur sometimes in groups. It is one
of the largest of the amanitas. Its large size, together with its chalky
white or grayish white color, and ragged or shaggy appearance, makes it
a striking object in the woods, or along roadsides in woods where it
grows. Frequently parts of the cap, the entire stem and the gills are
covered with a white, crumbly, floccose substance of a mealy consistency
which often sticks to the hands or other objects. The plant ranges from
15--20 cm. or more high, the cap from 8--15 cm. broad, and the stems are
1--2 cm. or more in thickness.
In form the =pileus= ranges from nearly globose in the button stage, to
hemispherical, convex and expanded, when quite old the margin becoming
more or less elevated. It is covered either with flaky or floccose
portions of the volva, or with more or less distinct conic white scales,
especially toward the center. The conic scales are easily rubbed off in
handling or are easily washed off by rains. Many of them are loosened
and fall because of the tension produced by the expanding pileus on the
surface of which they rest. These scales vary in size from quite small
ones, appearing like granules, to those fewer in number and larger, 3
mm. high and nearly as broad at the base. In other cases the scales are
harder and stouter and dark colored. These forms will be discussed after
the description of the other parts of the plant.
[Illustration: PLATE 20, FIGURE 74.--Amanita rubescens. Under and side
view. Dull reddish brown, stains reddish where bruised (3/4 natural
size). Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 21, FIGURE 75.--Amanita solitaria. Entirely white,
or cap and scales sordid buff, dull brown, or grayish in some plants.
For details see text (1/2 natural size). Copyright.]
The =gills= are free, or are only attached by the upper inner angle; the
edges are often floccose where they are torn from the slight union with
the upper surface of the veil. The =stem= is cylindrical, solid or
stuffed when old, enlarged usually below into a prominent bulb which
then tapers into a more or less elongated root-like process, sometimes
extending 5--10 cm. in the ground below the bulb. In rare cases the bulb
is not present, but the cylindrical stem extends for a considerable
distance into the ground. The =veil= is a very interesting part of the
plant and the manner in which it forms and disappears as the cap expands
is worth a careful study. This is well shown in Figs. 75, 76, from
photographs of plants (No. 3731 C. U. herbarium) made at Blowing Rock,
N. C., during September, 1899.
During the latter part of August and the first three weeks of September
the plants were quite common in the mountain woods at Blowing Rock. In
certain features there was close agreement in the case of all the
specimens examined, especially in the long rooting character of the base
of the stem. The veil and annulus were also quite constant in their
characters, though sometimes a tendency was manifested to split up more
irregularly than at other times. In the character of the warts of the
pileus there was great variation, showing typical forms of _Amanita
solitaria_ and grading into forms which might be taken for typical
_Amanita strobiliformis_. Especially is this so in the case of some of
my specimens (No. 3733), where the scales are pyramidal, dark brown,
surrounded by a sordid buff or grayish area, and these latter areas
separated by narrow chinks whitish in color. The scales in this specimen
are fixed quite firmly to the surface of the pileus. In other specimens
(No. 3732) these hard scales remove quite easily, while in still another
the pileus is almost smooth, even the floccose scales having been
obliterated, while a very few of the hard angular warts are still
present. In another half expanded plant (of No. 3732) the warts are
pyramidal, 4--6 mm. long at the center of the pileus and rather closely
imbricated, hard, and firmly joined to the surface of the cap. In Nos.
3733 and 3731 the spores measure 7--9 × 4--6 µ. In 3732 they are longer,
varying from 7--11 µ.
The specimens with the long hard scales suggest _Amanita strobiliformis_
Vittad., but the long rooting base of the stem does not agree with the
description of that plant, but does clearly agree with _Amanita
solitaria_ Bull. A study of the variations in these plants suggests that
_Amanita solitaria_ and _strobiliformis_ Vittad., represent only
variations in a single species as Bulliard interpreted the species more
than a century ago. Forms of the plant are also found which suggest
that _A. polypyramis_ B. & C., collected in North Carolina, is but one
of the variations of _A. solitaria_.
Figures 75, 76 show well certain stages in the development of this
plant. The conical or pyramidal warts are formed in a very young stage
of the plant by the primary separation of the outer part of the volva,
and as the pileus expands more, and the cessation of growth of the outer
veil proceeds inward, the scales become more widely separated at the
apex and broader at the base. In some cases the volva is probably
thinner than in others, and with the rapid expansion of the pileus in
wet weather the scales would be smaller, or more floccose. But with
different conditions, when it is not so wet, the plant expands less
rapidly, the surface of the pileus becomes drier, the volva layer does
not separate so readily and the fissures between the scales proceed
deeper, and sometimes probably enter the surface of the pileus, so that
the size of the warts is augmented. A similar state of things sometimes
takes place on the base of the stem at the upper margin of the bulb,
where the concentric fissures may extend to some distance in the stem,
making the scales here more prominent in some specimens than in others.
A similar variation in the character of the scales on the bulb of
_Amanita muscaria_ is sometimes presented.
The veil is often loosely attached to the edges of the gills, and so is
stripped off from the stem quite early. Sometimes it is more strongly
adherent to the stem, or portions of it may be, when it is very
irregularly ruptured as it is peeled off from the stem, as shown in the
plant near the left side in Fig. 75. The veil is very fragile and often
tears a little distance from the margin of the cap, while the portion
attached to the stem forms the annulus. This condition is shown in the
case of three plants in Fig. 75. The plant is said to be edible.
AMANITOPSIS Roze.
This genus has white spores, and a volva, but the annulus and inner veil
are wanting. In other respects it agrees with _Amanita_. It is
considered as a sub-genus of _Amanita_ by some.
[Illustration: PLATE 22, FIGURE 76.--Amanita solitaria. Three plants,
3/4 natural size. Copyright.]
=Amanitopsis vaginata= (Bull.) Roz. =Edible.=--The sheathed amanitopsis,
_A. vaginata_, is a quite common and widely distributed plant in woods.
It is well named since the prominent volva forms a large sheath to the
cylindrical base of the stem. The plant occurs in several forms, a gray
or mouse colored form, and a brownish or fulvous form, and sometimes
nearly white. These forms are recognized by some as varieties, and by
others as species. The plants are 8--15 cm. high, the caps 3--7 cm.
broad, and the stems 5--8 mm. in thickness.
[Illustration: PLATE 23, FIGURE 77.--Amanitopsis vaginata. Tawny form
(natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is from ovate to bell-shaped, then convex and expanded,
smooth, rarely with fragments of the volva on the surface. The margin is
thin and marked by deep furrows and ridges, so that it is deeply
striate, or the terms sulcate or pectinate sulcate are used to express
the character of the margin. The term pectinate sulcate is employed on
account of a series of small elevations on the ridges, giving them a
pectinate, or comb-like, appearance. The color varies from gray to mouse
color, brown, or ochraceous brown. The flesh is white. The =gills= are
white or nearly so, and free. The =spores= are globose, 7--10 µ in
diameter. The =stem= is cylindrical, even, or slightly tapering upward,
hollow or stuffed, not bulbous, smooth, or with mealy particles or
prominent floccose scales. These scales are formed by the separation of
the edges of the gills from the surface of the stem, to which they are
closely applied before the pileus begins to expand. Threads of mycelium
growing from the edge of the lamellæ and from the stem intermingle. When
the pileus expands these are torn asunder, or by their pull tear up the
outer surface of the stem. The =volva= forms a prominent sheath which is
usually quite soft and easily collapses (Fig. 77).
The entire plant is very brittle and fragile. It is considered an
excellent one for food. I often eat it raw when collecting.
Authors differ as to the number of species recognized in the plant as
described above. Secretan recognized as many as ten species. The two
prominent color forms are quite often recognized as two species, or by
others as varieties; the gray or mouse colored form as _A. livida_
Pers., and the tawny form as _A. spadicea_ Pers. According to Fries and
others the _livida_ appears earlier in the season than _spadicea_, and
this fact is recognized by some as entitling the two to specific rank.
Plowright (Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc., p. 40, 1897--98) points out that in
European forms of _spadicea_ there is a second volva inside the outer,
and in _livida_ there are "folds or wrinkles of considerable size on the
inner surface of the volva." He thinks the two entitled to specific
rank. At Ithaca and in the mountains of North Carolina I have found both
forms appearing at the same season, and thus far have been unable to
detect the differences noted by Plowright in the volva. But I have never
found intergrading color forms, and have not yet satisfied myself as to
whether or not the two should be entitled to specific rank.
Some of the other species of _Amanitopsis_ found in this country are
=A. nivalis= Grev., an entirely white plant regarded by some as only a
white form of =A. vaginata=. Another white plant is =A. volvata= Pk.,
which has elliptical spores, and is striate on the margin instead of
sulcate.
[Illustration: FIGURE 78.--Amanitopsis farinosa. Cap grayish (natural
size). Copyright.]
=Amanitopsis farinosa= Schw.--The mealy agaric, or powdery amanita, is a
pretty little species. It was first collected and described from North
Carolina by de Schweinitz (Synop. fung. Car. No. 552, 1822), and the
specimens illustrated in Fig. 78 were collected by me at Blowing Rock,
N. C., during September, 1899. Peck has given in the 33rd Report N. Y.
State Mus., p. 49, an excellent description of the plant, though it
often exceeds somewhat the height given by him. It ranges from 5--8 or
10 cm. high, the cap from 2--3 cm. broad, and the stem 3--6 mm. in
thickness.
The =pileus= is from subglobose to convex and expanded, becoming nearly
plane or even depressed by the elevation of the margin in old specimens.
The color is gray or grayish brown, or mouse colored. The pileus is
thin, and deeply striate on the margin, covered with a grayish floccose,
powdery or mealy substance, the remnant of the evanescent volva. This
substance is denser at the center and is easily rubbed off. The =gills=
are white and free from the stem. The =spores= are subglobose and
ovate to elliptical, 6--7 µ long. The =stem= is cylindrical, even,
hollow or stuffed, whitish or gray and very slightly enlarged at the
base into a small rounded bulb which is quite constant and
characteristic, and at first is covered on its upper margin by the
floccose matter from the volva.
[Illustration: PLATE 24, FIGURE 79.--Lepiota naucina. Entirely white
(natural size).]
At Blowing Rock the plants occurred in sandy soil by roadsides or in
open woods. In habit it resembles strikingly forms of _Amanitopsis
vaginata_, but the volva is entirely different (Fig. 78). Although _A.
vaginata_ was common in the same locality, I searched in vain for
intermediate forms which I thought might be found. Sometimes the
floccose matter would cling together more or less, and portions of it
remained as patches on the lower part of the stem, while depauperate
forms of _A. vaginata_ would have a somewhat reduced volva, but in no
case did I find intermediate stages between the two kinds of volva.
LEPIOTA Fr.
The genus _Lepiota_ lacks a volva, but the veil is present forming a
ring on the stem. The genus is closely related to _Amanita_, from which
it differs in the absence of the volva, or perhaps more properly
speaking in the fact that the universal veil is firmly connected
(concrete with) with the pileus, and with the base of the stem, so that
a volva is not formed. The gills are usually free from the stem, some
being simply adnexed, but in some species connected with a collar near
the stem. The stem is fleshy and is easily separable from the cap. A
number of the species are edible. Peck, 35th Report N. Y. State Mus., p.
150--164, describes 18 species. Lloyd, Mycol. Notes, November, 1898,
describes 9 species.
=Lepiota naucina= Fr. (_Lepiota naucinoides_ Pk., _Annularia lævis_
Krombh.) =Edible.=--The smooth lepiota, _L. naucina_, grows in lawns, in
pastures and by roadsides, etc. It occurs during the latter part of
summer and during autumn, being more abundant in September and early
October. It is entirely white, or the cap is sometimes buff, and in age
the gills become dirty pink in color. It is from 8--12 cm. high, the cap
5--10 cm. broad, and the stem 8--15 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is very fleshy, nearly globose, then convex to nearly
expanded, smooth, or rarely the surface is broken into minute scales.
The =gills= are first white, free from the stem, and in age assume a
dull pink tinge. The =spores= are usually white in mass, but rarely when
caught on white paper they show a faint pink tinge. The spores are
elliptical to oval. The =stem= is nearly cylindrical, gradually
enlarging below so that it is clavate, nearly hollow or stuffed with
loose threads.
[Illustration: FIGURE 80.--Lepiota naucina.--Section of three plants,
different ages.]
Since the plant occurs in the same situations as the _Agaricus
campestris_ it might be mistaken for it, especially for white forms. But
of course no harm could come by eating it by mistake for the common
mushroom, for it is valued just as highly for food by some who have
eaten it. If one should look at the gills, however, they would not
likely mistake it for the common mushroom because the gills become pink
only when the plant is well expanded and quite old. There is much more
danger in mistaking it for the white amanitas, _A. phalloides_, _A.
verna_, or _A. virosa_, since the gills of these deadly plants are
white, and they do sometimes grow in lawns and other grassy places where
the smooth lepiota and the common mushroom grow. For this reason one
should study the descriptions and illustrations of these amanitas given
on preceding pages, and especially should the suggestions given there
about care in collecting plants be followed, until one is so certainly
familiar with the characters that the plants would be known "on sight."
[Illustration: PLATE 25, FIGURE 81.--Lepiota procera. Grayish brown to
reddish brown, gills and flesh white (3/4 natural size). Copyright.]
The pink color of the gills of this lepiota has led certain students of
the fungi into mistakes of another kind. This pink color of the gills
has led some to place the plant among the rosy spored agarics in the
genus _Annularia_, where it was named _Annularia lævis_ by Krombholtz
(vide Bresadola Funghi Mangerecci e velenosi, p. 29, 1899). It fits
the description of that plant exactly. The pink color of the gills, as
well as the fact that the gills turn brownish when dry, has led to a
confusion in some cases of the _Lepiota naucina_ with the chalky agaric,
_Agaricus cretaceus_. The external resemblance of the plants, as shown
in various illustrations, is very striking, and in the chalky agaric the
gills remain pink very late, only becoming brown when very old.
=Lepiota procera= Scop. =Edible.=--The parasol mushroom, _Lepiota
procera_, grows in pastures, lawns, gardens, along roadsides, or in thin
woods, or in gardens. It is a large and handsome plant and when expanded
seems not inappropriately named. It is from 12--20 cm. or more high, the
cap expands from 5--12 cm., while the stem is 4--7 mm. in thickness. It
occurs during summer and in early autumn.
The =pileus= is oval, then bell-shaped, convex and nearly expanded, with
usually a more or less prominent elevation (umbo) at the center.
Sometimes it is depressed at the center. It is grayish brown or reddish
brown in color on the surface and the flesh is whitish. As the cap
expands the surface layer ceases to grow and is therefore cracked, first
narrow chinks appearing, showing white or grayish threads underneath. As
the cap becomes more expanded the brown surface is torn into scales,
which give the cap a more or less shaggy appearance except on the umbo,
where the color is more uniform. The torn surface of the pileus shows
numerous radiating fibres, and it is soft and yielding to the touch. The
=gills= are remote from the stem, broad and crowded. The =spores= are
long, elliptical, 12--17 µ long. The =stem= is cylindrical, hollow, or
stuffed, even, enlarged below into a prominent bulb, of the same color
as the pileus, though paler, especially above the annulus. The surface
is usually cracked into numerous small scales, the chinks between
showing the white inner portion of the stem. The =ring= is stout,
narrow, usually quite free from the stem, so that it can be moved up and
down on the stem, and is called a movable ring.
Figure 81 is from plants (No. 3842, C. U. herbarium) collected in a
garden at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
A closely related plant, _Lepiota rachodes_ Vitt., has smaller spores,
9--12 × 7--9 µ. It is also edible, and by some considered only a variety
of _L. procera_. It is rare in this country, but appears about Boston in
considerable quantities "in or near greenhouses or in enriched soil out
of doors," where it has the appearance of an introduced plant (Webster,
Rhodora, 1: 226, 1899). It is a much stouter plant than _L. procera_,
the pileus usually depressed, much more coarsely scaly, and usually
grows in dense clusters, while _L. procera_ usually occurs singly or
scattered, is more slender, often umbonate. _L. rachodes_ has a veil
with a double edge, the edges more or less fringed. The veil is fixed to
the stem until the plant is quite mature, when it becomes movable. The
flesh of the plant on exposure to the air becomes a brownish orange
tint.
[Illustration: FIGURE 82.--Lepiota americana. Scales and center of cap
reddish or reddish brown. Entire plant turns reddish on drying (natural
size). Copyright.]
=Lepiota morgani= Pk.--This plant occurs from Ohio, southward and west.
It grows in grassy places, especially in wet pastures. It is one of the
largest of the lepiotas, ranging from 20--40 cm. high, the cap 20--30
cm. broad, and the stem about 2 cm. in thickness. The =pileus=, when
fully expanded, is whitish, with large dark scales, especially toward
the center. The =ring= is large, sometimes movable, and the =gills= and
=spores= are greenish. Some report the plant as edible, while others say
illness results from eating it.
=Lepiota americana= Pk. =Edible.=--This plant is widely distributed in
the United States. The plants occur singly or are clustered, 6--12 cm.
high, the cap 4--10 cm. broad, and the stem 4--10 mm. in thickness. The
cap is adorned with reddish or reddish brown scales except on the
center, where the color is uniform because the surface is not broken up
into scales. The flesh is white, but changes to reddish when cut or
bruised, and the whole plant becomes reddish on drying.
Figure 82 is from plants (No. 2718, C. U. herbarium) collected at
Ithaca.
The European plant, _L. badhami_, also reported in this country, changes
to a brownish red. It is believed by some to be identical with _L.
americana_.
[Illustration: FIGURE 83.--Lepiota cristata. Entirely white, but scales
grayish or pinkish brown, stem often flesh color (natural size).
Copyright.]
=Lepiota acutesquamosa= Weinm.--This is a medium or small sized plant
with a floccose pileus adorned with small, acute, erect scales, and has
a loose, hairy or wooly veil which is often torn irregularly. The erect
scales fall away from the pileus and leave little scars where they were
attached.
=Lepiota cristata= A. & S. =Edible.=--The crested lepiota, _Lepiota
cristata_, occurs in grassy places and borders of woods, in groves,
etc., from May to September, and is widely distributed. The plant is
small, 3--5 cm. high, the cap 1--4 cm. broad, and the stem 2--5 mm. in
thickness. It grows in clusters or is scattered.
The =pileus= is ovate, bell-shaped, then convex and expanded, and thin.
The surface is at first entirely dull reddish or reddish brown, but soon
cracks into numerous scales of the same color arranged in a crested
manner, more numerous between the margin and the center, and often
arranged in a concentric manner. The center of the cap often preserves
the uniform reddish brown color because the pileus at this point does
not expand so much and therefore the surface does not crack, while the
margin often becomes white because of the disappearance of the brown
covering here. The =gills= are free from the stem, narrow, crowded, and
close to the stem. The =spores= are more or less angular, elongated,
more narrowed at one end, and measure 5--8 × 3--4 µ. The =stem= is
slender, cylindrical, hollow, whitish, smooth. The =ring= is small,
white, and easily breaks up and disappears.
The characters of the plant are well shown in Fig. 83 from plants
collected at Ithaca. _Lepiota angustana_ Britz. is identical, and
according to Morgan _L. miamensis_ Morgan is a white form of _L.
angustana_.
=Lepiota asperula= Atkinson.--This lepiota resembles _A. asper_ in some
respects, but it is smaller and the spores are much smaller, being very
minute. The plant is 5--8 cm. high, the pileus 2--4 cm. broad, and the
stem 4--6 mm. in thickness. It grows in leaf mould in the woods and has
been found at Ithaca, N. Y., twice during July and September, 1897.
The =pileus= is convex and bell-shaped, becoming nearly or quite
expanded. It is hair brown to olive brown in color. The surface is dry,
made up of interwoven threads, and is adorned with numerous small,
erect, pointed scales resembling in this respect _A. asper_ Fr. The
=gills= are white or yellowish, free, but rather close to the stem,
narrow, often eroded on the edge, sometimes forked near the stem, and
some of them arranged in pairs. The spores are oblong, smooth, and very
minute, measuring 5 × 2 µ. The =stem= is the same color as the pileus,
cylindrical, hollow, with loose threads in the cavity, enlarged into a
rounded bulb below, minutely downy to pubescent. The outer portion of
the bulb is formed of intricately interwoven threads, among which are
entangled soil and humus particles. The =veil= is white, silky, hairy,
separating from the stem like a dense cortina, the threads stretched
both above and below as shown in Fig. 84 from plants (No. 3157 C. U.
herbarium), collected at Ithaca.
In some specimens, as the pileus expands, the spaces between the pointed
scales are torn, thus forming quite coarse scales which are often
arranged in more or less concentric rows, showing the yellow-tinged
flesh in the cracks, and the coarse scales bearing the fine point at the
center. A layer connecting the margin of the pileus with the base of the
stem and covered with fine brown points, sometimes separates from the
edge of the cap and the base of the stem, and clings partly to the
cortina and partly to the stem in much the same way that portions of the
volva cling to the stem of certain species of _Amanita_, as seen in _A.
velatipes_ (Fig. 66). Sometimes this is left on the base of the stem
and then resembles a short, free limb of a volva, and suggests a species
of _Amanita_. The scales, however, are concrete with the pileus, and the
species appears to show a closer relationship with _Lepiota_.
[Illustration: PLATE 26, FIGURE 84.--Lepiota asperula. Cap hair-brown to
olive-brown, scales minute, pointed, gills and stem white (natural
size). Copyright.]
ARMILLARIA Fr.
In the genus _Armillaria_ the inner veil which forms a ring on the stem
is present. The stem is fibrous, or the outer portion cartilaginous in
some species, and not easily separable from the substance of the pileus
(continuous with the hymenophore), and the gills are attached to the
stem, sinuate, or decurrent, spores white. Peck, 43rd Report N. Y. State
Mus., p. 40--45, describes 6 species.
Some of the species resemble very closely certain species of _Amanita_
or _Lepiota_, but can be distinguished by the firm continuity of the
substance of the stem and cap.
=Armillaria mellea= Vahl. =Edible.=--This is one of the most common of
the late summer and autumn fungi, and is widely distributed over the
world. It grows about the bases of old stumps or dead trees, or from
buried roots. Sometimes it is found attached to the living roots of
trees. The plant occurs in tufts or clusters, several to many
individuals growing together, the bases of their stems connected with a
black rope-like strand from which they arise. The entire plant is often
more or less honey colored, from which the plant gets its specific name.
Its clustered habit, the usually prominent ring on the stems, and the
sharp, blackish, erect scales which usually adorn the center of the cap,
mark it as an easy plant to determine in most cases. The colors and
markings, however, vary greatly, so that some of the forms are very
puzzling. The plant varies in height from 10--15 cm., the cap from 5--10
cm. broad, and the stem 4--10 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is oval to convex and expanded, sometimes with a slight
umbo or elevation at the center. The color varies from honey color to
nearly white, or yellowish brown to dull reddish brown, usually darker
on the center. In typical forms the pileus is adorned with pointed dark
brown, or blackish, erect, scales especially abundant over the center,
while the margin is often free from them, but may be marked with looser
floccose, brownish, or yellowish scales. Sometimes there are no blackish
pointed scales anywhere on the cap, only loose floccose colored scales,
or in some forms the cap is entirely smooth. The margin in old specimens
is often striate. The pileus is usually dry, but Webster cites an
instance in which it was viscid in wet weather.
The =gills= are attached to the stem squarely (adnate) or they are
decurrent (extend downward on the stem), are white, or whitish, becoming
in age more or less dingy or stained. The spores are rounded or
elliptical, 6--9 µ. The =stem= is elastic, spongy within and sometimes
hollow. It is smooth or often floccose scaly below the ring, sometimes
with prominent transverse bands of a hairy substance. It is usually
whitish near the upper end, but dull brown or reddish brown below the
annulus, sometimes distinctly yellowish. The =veil= varies greatly also.
It may be membranaceous and thin, or quite thick, or in other cases may
be absent entirely. The =ring= of course varies in a corresponding
manner. As shown in Fig. 85 it is quite thick, so that it appears double
on the edge, where it broke away from the inner and outer surfaces of
the margin of the cap. It is frequently fixed to the stem, that is, not
movable, but when very thin and frail it often disappears.
The honey colored agaric is said by nearly all writers to be edible,
though some condemn it. It is not one of the best since it is of rather
tough consistency. It is a species of considerable economic importance
and interest, since it is a parasite on certain coniferous trees, and
perhaps also on certain of the broad-leaved trees. It attacks the roots
of these trees, the mycelium making its way through the outer layer, and
then it grows beneath the bark. Here it forms fan-like sheets of
mycelium which advance along both away from the tree and towards the
trunk. It disorganizes and breaks down the tissues of the root here,
providing a space for a thicker growth of the mycelium as it becomes
older. In places the mycelium forms rope-like strands, at first white in
color, but later becoming dark brown and shining. These cords or
strands, known as _rhizomorphs_, extend for long distances underneath
the bark of the root. They are also found growing in the hollow trunks
of trees sometimes. In time enough of the roots are injured to kill the
tree, or the roots are so weakened that heavy winds will blow the trees
over.
The fruiting plants always arise from these rhizomorphs, and by digging
carefully around the bases of the stems one can find these cords with
the stems attached, though the attachment is frail and the stems are
easily separated from the cords. Often these cords grow for years
without forming any fruit bodies. In this condition they are often found
by stripping off the bark from dead and rotting logs in the woods. These
cords were once supposed to be separate fungi, and they were known under
the name _Rhizomorpha subcorticalis_.
[Illustration: PLATE 27, FIGURE 85.--Armillaria mellea. Showing double
ring present in some large specimens; cap honey colored, scales minute,
more numerous at center, blackish, often floccose, and sometimes wanting
(3/4 natural size, often smaller). Copyright.]
=Armillaria aurantia= Schaeff. (_Tricholoma peckii_ Howe)
=Suspected.=--This is a very pretty species and rare in the United
States. The plants are 6--8 cm. high, the cap 4--7 cm. broad, and the
stem 6--8 mm. in thickness. It occurs in woods. It is known by its
viscid pileus, the orange brown or ochraceous rufus color of the pileus
and stem, and the color of the stem being confined to the superficial
layer, which becomes torn into concentric floccose scales, forming
numerous minute floccose irregular rings of color around the stem.
[Illustration: FIGURE 86.--Armillaria aurantia Schaeff. (=Tricholoma
peckii Howe). Cap orange-brown or ochraceous rufus, viscid; floccose
scales on stem same color (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, with an umbo, and the edge inrolled,
fleshy, thin, viscid, ochraceous rufus (in specimens collected by
myself), darker on the umbo, and minutely scaly from tufts of hairs, and
the viscid cuticle easily peeling off. The =gills= are narrow, crowded,
slightly adnexed, or many free, white, becoming brown discolored where
bruised, and in drying brownish or rufus. The =spores= are minute,
globose to ovoid, or rarely sub-elliptical when a little longer, with a
prominent oil globule usually, 3--3.5 × 3--5 µ, sometimes a little
longer when the elliptical forms are presented. The =stem= is straight
or ascending, even, very floccose scaly as the pileus is unrolled from
it, scales same color as the pileus, the scales running transversely,
being separated perhaps by the elongation of the stem so that numerous
floccose rings are formed, showing the white flesh of the stem between.
The upper part of the stem, that above the annulus, is white, but the
upper part floccose.
[Illustration: FIGURE 87.--Tricholoma personatum. Entire plant grayish
brown, tinged with lilac or purple, spores light ochraceous (natural
size, often larger).]
This plant has been long known in Europe. There is a rather poor figure
of it in Schaeffer Table 37, and a better one in Gillet Champignons de
France, Hymenomycetes, =1=, opposite page 76, but a very good one in
Bresadola Funghi Mangerecci e Velenosi, Tavel 18, 1899. A good figure is
also given by Barla, Les Champignons des Alpes--Maritimes, Pl. 19, Figs.
1--6. The plant was first reported from America in the 41st Report,
State Museum, N. Y., p. 82, 1888, under the name _Tricholoma peckii_
Howe, from the Catskill Mountains, N. Y. Figure 86 is from plants (No.
3991, C. U. herbarium) collected in the Blue Ridge mountains, at Blowing
Rock, N. C., during September, 1899. The European and American
description both ascribe a bitter taste to the flesh of the pileus, and
it is regarded as suspicious.
There does not seem to be a well formed annulus, the veil only being
present in a rather young stage, as the inrolled margin of the pileus is
unrolling from the surface of the stem. It seems to be more in the form
of a universal veil resembling the veil of some of the lepiotas. It
shows a relationship with _Tricholoma_ which possesses in typical forms
a delicate veil present only in the young stage. Perhaps for this reason
it was referred by Howe to _Tricholoma_ as an undescribed species when
it was named _T. peckii_. If its affinities should prove to be with
_Tricholoma_ rather than with _Armillaria_, it would then be known as
_Tricholoma aurantium_.
TRICHOLOMA Fr.
In the genus _Tricholoma_ the volva and annulus are both wanting, the
spores are white, and the gills are attached to the stem, but are more
or less strongly notched or sinuate at the stem. Sometimes the notch is
very slight. The stem is fleshy-fibrous, attached to the center of the
pileus, and is usually short and stout. In some specimens when young
there is a slight cobwebby veil which very soon disappears. The genus is
a very large one. Some species are said to be poisonous and a few are
known to be edible. Peck, 44th Report, N. Y. State Mus., pp. 38--64,
describes 46 species.
[Illustration: FIGURE 88.--Tricholoma personatum. Section (natural
size).]
=Tricholoma personatum= Fr. =Edible.=--This plant occurs during the
autumn and persists up to the winter months. It grows on the ground in
open places and in woods. The stem is short, usually 3--7 cm. long ×
1--2 cm. in thickness, and the cap is from 5--10 cm. or more broad. The
entire plant often has a lilac or purple tint.
The =pileus= is convex, expanded, moist, smooth, grayish to brownish
tinged with lilac or purple, especially when young, fading out in age.
When young the pileus is sometimes adorned with white mealy particles,
and when old the margin may be more or less upturned and wavy. The
=gills= are crowded, rounded next the stem, and nearly free but close to
the stem, violet or lilac when young, changing to dull reddish brown
when old. The =spores= when caught in mass are dull pink or salmon
color. They measure 7--9 µ long. The =stem= is solid, fibrous, smooth,
deep lilac when young and retaining the lilac color longer than the
pileus. Sometimes the base is bulbous as in Fig. 87.
This plant is regarded by all writers as one of the best of the edible
fungi. Sometimes the pileus is water soaked and then the flavor is not
so fine. The position of the plant is regarded as doubtful by some
because of the more or less russety pink color of the spores when seen
in mass, and the ease with which the gills separate from the pileus,
characters which show its relationship to the genus _Paxillus_.
=Tricholoma sejunctum= Sowerb. =Edible.=--This plant occurs on the
ground in rather open woods during late summer and in the autumn. It is
8--12 cm. high, the cap 5--8 cm. broad, and the stem 10--15 mm. in
thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 89.--Tricholoma sejunctum. Cap light yellow,
streaked with dark threads on the surface, viscid. Stem and gills white
(natural size, often larger). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, umbonate, viscid when moist, light
yellow in color and streaked with dark threads in the surface. The flesh
is white, and very fragile, differing in this respect from _T.
equestre_, which it resembles in general form. The =gills= are broad,
rather distant, broadly notched near the stem, and easily separating
from the stem. The =stem= is solid, smooth and shining white. Figure 89
is from plants collected at Ithaca. It is said to be edible.
[Illustration: PLATE 28, FIGURE 90.--Clitocybe candida. Entirely white
(natural size). Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 29, FIGURE 91.--Clitocybe candida. Under view of
nearly lateral stemmed individual (natural size). Copyright.]
CLITOCYBE Fr.
The volva and annulus are wanting in this genus, and the spores are
white. The stem is elastic, spongy within, the outside being elastic or
fibrous, so that the fibres hold together well when the stem is twisted
or broken, as in _Tricholoma_. The stem does not separate readily from
the pileus, but the rather strong fibres are continuous with the
substance of the pileus. The gills are narrowed toward the stem, joined
squarely or decurrent (running down on the stem), very rarely some of
them notched at the stem while others of the same plant are decurrent.
In one species at least (_C. laccata_, by some placed in the genus
_Laccaria_) the gills are often strongly notched or sinuate. The cap is
usually plane, depressed, or funnel-shaped, many of the species having
the latter form. The plants grow chiefly on the ground, though a number
of species occur on dead wood. The genus contains a very large number of
species. Peck describes ten species in the 23rd Report, N. Y. State
Mus., p. 76, et. seq., also 48th Report, p. 172, several species.
Morgan, Jour. Cinn. Soc. Nat. Hist. =6=: 70--73, describes 12 species.
=Clitocybe candida= Bres. =Edible.=--This is one of the large species of
the genus. It occurs in late autumn in Europe. It has been found on
several occasions during late autumn at Ithaca, N. Y., on the ground in
open woods, during wet weather. It occurs in clusters, though the
specimens are usually not crowded. The stem is usually very short, 2--4
cm. long, and 2--3 cm. in thickness, while the cap is up to 10--18 cm.
broad.
The =pileus= is sometimes regular, but often very irregular, and
produced much more strongly on one side than on the other. It is convex,
then expanded, the margin first incurved and finally wavy and often
somewhat lobed. The color is white or light buff in age. The flesh is
thick and white. The =gills= are white, stout, broad, somewhat
decurrent, some adnate.
The taste is not unpleasant when raw, and when cooked it is agreeable. I
have eaten it on several occasions. Figures 90, 91 are from plants (No.
4612 C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca.
=Clitocybe laccata= Scop. =Edible.=--This plant is a very common and
widely distributed one, growing in woods, fields, roadsides and other
waste places. It is usually quite easily recognized from the whitish
scurfy cap, the pink or purplish gills, though the spores are white,
from the gills being either decurrent, adnate, or more or less strongly
notched, and the stem fibrous and whitish or of a pale pink color. When
the plants are mature the pale red or pink gills appear mealy from
being covered with the numerous white spores.
The =pileus= is thin, convex or later expanded, of a watery appearance,
nearly smooth or scurfy or slightly squamulose. The =spores= are
rounded, and possess spine-like processes, or are prominently roughened.
In the warty character of the spores this species differs from most of
the species of the genus _Clitocybe_, and some writers place it in a
different genus erected to accommodate the species of _Clitocybe_ which
have warty or spiny spores. The species with spiny spores are few. The
genus in which this plant is placed by some is _Laccaria_, and then the
plant is called _Laccaria laccata_. There are several other species of
_Clitocybe_ which are common and which one is apt to run across often,
especially in the woods. These are of the funnel form type, the cap
being more or less funnel-shaped. =Clitocybe infundibuliformis=
Schaeffer is one of these. The cap, when mature, is pale red or tan
color, fading out in age. It is 5--7 cm. high, and the cap 2--4 cm.
broad. It is considered delicious. =Clitocybe cyathiformis=, as its name
indicates, is similar in form, and occurs in woods. The pileus is of a
darker color, dark brown or smoky in color.
=Clitocybe illudens= Schw. =Not Edible.=--This species is distributed
through the Eastern United States and sometimes is very abundant. It
occurs from July to October about the bases of old stumps, dead trees,
or from underground roots. It is one of the large species, the cap being
15--20 cm. broad, the stem 12--20 cm. long, and 8--12 mm. in thickness.
It occurs in large clusters, several or many joined at their bases. From
the rich saffron yellow color of all parts of the plant, and especially
by its strong phosphorescence, so evident in the dark, it is an easy
plant to recognize. Because of its phosphorescence it is sometimes
called "Jack-my-lantern."
The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, and depressed, sometimes with a
small umbo, smooth, often irregular or eccentric from its crowded habit,
and in age the margin of the pileus is wavy. The flesh is thick at the
center and thin toward the margin. In old plants the color becomes
sordid or brownish. The =gills= are broad, not crowded, decurrent, some
extending for a considerable distance down on the stem while others for
a less distance. The =stem= is solid, firm, smooth, and tapers toward
the base.
While the plant is not a dangerously poisonous one, it has occasioned
serious cases of illness, acting as a violent emetic, and of course
should be avoided. Its phosphorescence has often been observed. Another
and much smaller plant, widely distributed in this country as well as
Europe, and belonging to another genus, is also phosphorescent. It is
_Panus stipticus_, a small white plant with a short lateral stem,
growing on branches, stumps, trunks, etc. When freshly developed the
phosphorescence is marked, but when the plants become old they often
fail to show it.
[Illustration: FIGURE 92.--Clitocybe illudens. Entire plant rich saffron
yellow, old plants become sordid brown sometimes; when fresh shows
phosphorescence at night (2/3 natural size, often much larger).
Copyright.]
=Clitocybe multiceps= Peck. =Edible.=--This plant is not uncommon during
late summer and autumn. It usually grows in large tufts of 10 to 30 or
more individuals. The caps in such large clusters are often irregular
from pressure. The plants are 6--12 cm. high, the caps 5--10 cm. broad,
and the stems 8--15 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is white or gray,
brownish gray or buff, smooth, dry, the flesh white. The =gills= are
white, crowded, narrow at each end. The =spores= are smooth, globose,
5--7 µ in diameter. The stems are tough, fibrous, solid, tinged with the
same color as cap. Fig. 93 is from plants (No. 5467, C. U. herbarium)
collected at Ithaca, October 14, 1900.
COLLYBIA Fr.
In the genus _Collybia_ the annulus and volva are both wanting, the
spores are white, the gills are free or notched, or sinuate. The stem is
either entirely cartilaginous or has a cartilaginous rind, while the
central portion of the stem is fibrous, or fleshy, stuffed or fistulose.
The pileus is fleshy and when the plants are young the margin of the
pileus is incurved or inrolled, i. e., it does not lie straight against
the stem as in _Mycena_.
Many of the species of _Collybia_ are quite firm and will revive
somewhat after drying when moistened, but they are not coriaceous as in
_Marasmius_, nor do they revive so thoroughly. It is difficult, however,
to draw the line between the two genera. Twenty-five of the New York
species of Collybia are described by Peck in the 49th Report N. Y. State
Mus., p. 32 et seq. Morgan describes twelve species in Jour. Cinn. Soc.
Nat. Hist., 6: 70--73.
=Collybia radicata= Rehl. =Edible.=--This is one of the common and
widely distributed species of the genus. It occurs on the ground in the
woods or groves or borders of woods. It is quite easily recognized by
the more or less flattened cap, the long striate stem somewhat enlarged
below and then tapering off into a long, slender root-like process in
the ground. It is from this "rooting" character that the plant gets its
specific name. It is 10--20 cm. high, the cap 3--7 cm. broad, and the
stem 4--8 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is fleshy, thin, convex to nearly plane, or even with the
margin upturned in old plants, and the center sometimes umbonate. It is
smooth, viscid when moist, and often with wrinkles on the surface which
extend radially. The color varies from nearly white in some small
specimens to grayish, grayish brown or umber. The flesh is white. The
=gills= are white, broad, rather distant, adnexed, i. e., joined to the
stem by the upper angle. The =spores= are elliptical and about 15 × 10
µ. The =stem= is the same color as the pileus though paler, and usually
white above, tapers gradually above, is often striate or grooved, or
sometimes only mealy. The long tapering "root" is often attached to some
underground dead root. Fig. 94 is from plants (No. 5641, C. U.
herbarium) collected at Ithaca, August, 1900.
[Illustration: PLATE 30, FIGURE 93.--Clitocybe multiceps. Plants white
or gray to buff or grayish brown. (Three-fourths natural size.)
Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 31, FIG. 94.--Collybia radicata. Caps grayish-brown
to grayish and white in some small forms. (Natural size.) Copyright.]
[Illustration: PLATE 32, FIG. 95.--Collybia velutipes. Cap yellowish or
reddish yellow, viscid, gills white, stem dark brown, velvety hairy
(natural size). Copyright.]
=Collybia velutipes= Curt. =Edible.=--This is very common in woods
or groves during the autumn, on dead limbs or trunks, or from dead
places in living ones. The plants are very viscid, and the stem, except
in young plants, is velvety hairy with dark hairs. Figure 95 is from
plants (No. 5430, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, October, 1900.
=Collybia longipes= Bull., is a closely related plant. It is much
larger, has a velvety, to hairy, stem, and a much longer root-like
process to the stem. It has been sometimes considered to be merely a
variety of _C. radicata_, and may be only a large form of that species.
I have found a few specimens in the Adirondack mountains, and one in the
Blue Ridge mountains, which seem to belong to this species.
=Collybia platyphylla= Fr. =Edible.=--This is a much larger and stouter
plant than _Collybia radicata_, though it is not so tall as the larger
specimens of that species. It occurs on rotten logs or on the ground
about rotten logs and stumps in the woods from June to September. It is
8--12 cm. high, the cap 10--15 cm. broad, and the stem about 2 cm. in
thickness.
The =pileus= is convex becoming expanded, plane, and even the margin
upturned in age. It is whitish, varying to grayish brown or dark brown,
the center sometimes darker than the margin, as is usual in many plants.
The surface of the pileus is often marked in radiating streaks by fine
dark hairs. The =gills= are white, very broad, adnexed, and usually
deeply and broadly notched next the stem. In age they are more or less
broken and cracked. The =spores= are white, elliptical, 7--10 × 6--7 µ.
The plant resembles somewhat certain species of _Tricholoma_ and care
should be used in selecting it in order to avoid the suspected species
of _Tricholoma_.
MYCENA Fr.
The genus _Mycena_ is closely related to _Collybia_. The plants are
usually smaller, many of them being of small size, the cap is usually
bell-shaped, rarely umbilicate, but what is a more important character
the margin of the cap in the young stage is straight as it is applied
against the stem, and not at first incurved as it is in _Collybia_, when
the gills and margin of the pileus lie against the stem. The stem is
cartilaginous as in _Collybia_, and is usually hollow or fistulose. The
gills are not decurrent, or only slightly so by a tooth-like process.
Some of the species are apt to be confused with certain species of
_Omphalia_ in which the gills are but slightly decurrent, but in
_Omphalia_ the pileus is umbilicate in such species, while in _Mycena_
it is blunt or umbonate. The spores are white. A large number of the
plants grow on leaves and wood, few on the ground. Some of those which
grow on leaves might be mistaken for species of _Marasmius_, but in
_Marasmius_ the plants are of a tough consistency, and when dried will
revive again if moistened with water.
Some of the plants have distinct odors, as alkaline, or the odor of
radishes, and in collecting them notes should be made on all these
characters which usually disappear in drying. A few of the plants exude
a colored or watery juice when bruised, and should not be confounded
with species of _Lactarius_.
=Mycena galericulata= Scop. =Edible.=--_Mycena galericulata_ grows on
dead logs, stumps, branches, etc., in woods. It is a very common and
very widely distributed species. It occurs from late spring to autumn.
The plants are clustered, many growing in a compact group, the hairy
bases closely joined and the stems usually ascending. The plants are
from 5--12 cm. high, the caps from 1--3 cm. broad, and the slender stems
2--3 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is conic to bell-shaped, sometimes umbonate, striate to
near the center, and in color some shade of brown or gray, but variable.
The =gills= are decurrent by a tooth, not crowded, connected by veins
over the interspaces, white or flesh colored. The slender =stems= are
firm, hollow, and hairy at the base.
[Illustration: FIGURE 96.--Mycena polygramma, long-stemmed form growing
on ground (= M. prælonga Pk.). Cap dark brown with a leaden tint,
striate on margin; stem finely and beautifully longitudinally striate
(natural size). Copyright.]
=Mycena polygramma= Bull.--This plant is very closely related to _M.
galericulata_, and has the same habit. It might be easily mistaken for
it. It is easily distinguished by its peculiar bright, shining,
longitudinally striate to sulcate stem. It usually grows on wood, but
does occur on the ground, when it often has a very long stem. In this
condition it was described by Peck in the 23rd Report, N. Y. State Mus.,
p. 81, as _Mycena prælonga_, from plants collected in a sphagnum moor
during the month of June. This form was also collected at Ithaca several
times during late autumn in a woods near Ithaca, in 1898. The plants are
from 12--20 cm. high, the cap 1--2 cm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in
thickness.
The =pileus= is first nearly cylindrical, then conic, becoming
bell-shaped and finally nearly expanded, when it is umbonate. It is
smooth, striate on the margin, of a dark brown color with a leaden tint.
The =gills= are narrow, white, adnate and slightly decurrent on the stem
by a tooth. The very long =stem= is smooth, but marked with parallel
grooves too fine to show in the photograph, firm, hollow, somewhat paler
than the pileus, usually tinged with red, and hairy at the base. Figure
96 is from plants (No. 3113 C. U. herbarium), collected in a woods near
Ithaca in damp places among leaves. A number of the specimens collected
were attacked by a parasitic mucor of the genus _Spinellus_. Two
species, _S. fusiger_ (Link.) van Tiegh., and _S. macrocarpus_ (Corda)
Karst., were found, sometimes both on the same plant. The long-stalked
sporangia bristle in all directions from the cap.
[Illustration: FIGURE 97.--Mycena pura. Entire plant rose, rose purple,
violet, or lilac. Striate on margin of pileus (natural size, often much
larger).]
=Mycena pura= Pers.--This plant is quite common and very widely
distributed, and occurs in woods and grassy open places, during late
summer and in the autumn. The entire plant is nearly of a uniform color,
and the color varies from rose, to rose purple, violet, or lilac. Plants
from the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina were chiefly rose
purple, very young plants of a much deeper color (auricula purple of
Ridgeway), while those collected at Ithaca were violet. The plants vary
from 5--8 cm. high, the cap 2--3 cm. broad, and the stem 2--4 mm. stout.
The plants are scattered or somewhat clustered, sometimes occurring
singly, and again many covering a small area of ground.
The =pileus= is thin, conic, bell-shaped to convex and nearly expanded,
sometimes with a small umbo, smooth, and finely striate on the margin,
in age the striæ sometimes rugulose from the upturning of the margin.
Sometimes the pileus is rugose on the center. The =gills= vary from
white to violet, rose, etc., they are adnate to sinuate, and in age
sometimes become free by breaking away from the stem. They are broad in
the middle, connected by vein-like elevations over the surface, and
sometimes wavy and crenate on the edge, the edge of the gills sometimes
white. The =spores= are white, oblong, 2.5--3.5 × 6--7 µ, smooth. The
=basidia= are cylindrical, 20--25 × 3--4 µ, four-spored. There are a few
=cystidia= in the hymenium, colorless, thin walled, clavate, the portion
above the hymenium cylindrical, and 30--40 × 10--12 µ.
The =stem= is sometimes white when young, but later becomes of the same
color as the pileus, often a lighter shade above. It is straight, or
ascending, cylindrical, even, smooth, hollow, with a few white threads
at the base.
Sometimes on drying the pileus becomes deeper in color than when fresh.
The gills also become deeper in color in drying, though the edge remains
white if white when fresh. Figure 97 is from plants (No. 3946, C. U.
herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in August, 1899. The plants
are often considerably larger than shown in the figure.
[Illustration: FIGURE 98.--Mycena epipterygia. Cap viscid, grayish,
often tinged with yellowish or reddish in age, gills white, sometimes
tinged with blue or red, stem yellowish, or same color as cap (natural
size). Copyright.]
=Mycena epipterygia= Scop.--This pretty little species is quite readily
distinguished by the gray, conic or bell-shaped cap, the long, hollow,
slender stem, and the viscid pellicle or skin which is quite easily
peeled off from the stem or cap when moist. It grows in woods or grassy
places, or among moss, etc., on the ground or on very rotten wood. The
plants are from 5--10 cm. high, the cap 1--2 cm. broad, and the stem
about 2 mm. in thickness. It is widely distributed in Europe, America,
and other North temperate countries.
The =pileus= is viscid when moist, ovate to conic or campanulate, and
later more or less expanded, obtuse, the margin striate, and sometimes
minutely toothed. The usual color is grayish, but in age it often
becomes reddish. The =gills= are decurrent by a small tooth, and quite
variable in color, whitish, then gray, or tinged with blue or red.
The =stem= is very slender, flexuous, or straight, fistulose, tough,
with soft hairs at the base, usually yellowish, sometimes the same color
as the cap, and viscid like the cap when moist. Figure 98 is from plants
(No. 4547, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca in August, 1899.
=Mycena vulgaris= Pers.--This common and pretty species is easily
recognized by its smoky or grayish color, the umbilicate pileus and very
slimy stem. It grows on decaying leaves, sticks, etc., in woods. It
occurs in clusters. The plants are small, 3--5 cm. high, the cap 4--7
mm. broad, and the stem about 1.5 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is thin, bell-shaped, then convex, and depressed at the
center, with a papilla usually in the center, finely striate on the
margin, and slightly viscid. The =gills= are white, thin, and finally
decurrent, so that from the form of the cap and the decurrent gills the
plant has much the appearance of an _Omphalia_. The =stem= is very
viscid, grayish in color, often rooting at the base, and with white
fibrils at the base, becoming hollow.
Figure 99 is from plants collected in woods near Ithaca, during August,
1899.
[Illustration: FIGURE 99.--Mycena vulgaris. Entirely white, center of
cap grayish, entire plant very slimy when moist (natural size).
Copyright.]
=Mycena acicula= Schaeff.--This is one of the very small mycenas, and
with the brilliant red pileus and yellow gills and stem it makes a very
pretty object growing on leaves, twigs, or rotten wood in the forest. It
occurs during summer and autumn. It is 2--5 cm. high, the cap 2--4 mm.
broad, and the stem is thread-like.
[Illustration: FIGURE 100.--Mycena acicula. Cap brilliant red, gills and
stem yellowish (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is very thin, membranaceous, bell-shaped, then convex, when
the pointed apex appears as a small umbo. It is smooth, striate on the
margin, and of a rich vermilion or orange color. The =gills= are rounded
at the stem and adnexed, rather broad in the middle, distant, yellow,
the edge white, or sometimes the gills are entirely white. The =stem= is
very slender, with a root-like process entering the rotten wood, smooth
except the hairs on the root-like process, yellow.
Figure 100 is from plants (No. 2780, C. U. herbarium) collected in a
woods near Ithaca. It has been found here several times.
=Mycena cyanothrix= Atkinson.--This is a very pretty plant growing on
rotting wood in clusters, often two or three joined at the base, the
base of the stem inserted in the rotten wood for 1--2 cm., and the base
is clothed with blue, hair-like threads. The plants are 6--9 cm. high,
the cap 1--2 cm. broad, and the stem not quite 2 mm. in diameter.
The =pileus= is ovate to convex, viscid when young. The color is bright
blue when young, becoming pale and whitish in age, with a tendency to
fuscous on the center. The cap is smooth and the margin finely striate.
After the plants have dried the color is nearly uniform ochraceous or
tawny. The =gills= are close, free, narrow, white, then grayish white,
the edge finely toothed or fimbriate. The =spores= are globose, smooth,
6--9 µ. The =stem= is slender, hollow, faintly purple when young,
becoming whitish or flesh color, flexuous, or nearly straight, even,
often two united at the base into a root-like extension which enters the
rotten wood. The base of the stem is covered with deep blue mycelium
which retains its color in age, but disappears on drying after a time.
Figure 101 is from plants (No. 2382, C. U. herbarium) collected at
Ithaca, in woods, June 16, 1898.
=Mycena hæmatopa= Pers.--This is one of the species of _Mycena_ with a
red juice which exudes in drops where wounds occur on the plant. It is
easily recognized by its dense cespitose habit, the deep blood red
juice, the hollow stem, and the crenate or denticulate sterile margin of
the cap. Numbers of the plant occur usually in a single cluster, and
their bases are closely joined and hairy. The stems are more or less
ascending according to the position of the plant on the wood. The plants
are 5--10 cm. high, the cap is 1--2.5 cm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm.
in thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 101.--Mycena cyanothrix. Cap viscid when young,
blue, becoming pale and whitish in age, and fuscous in center; gills
white; stem faintly purple when young, then flesh color or white, blue,
clothed with blue hairs at base (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is conic, then bell-shaped, and as the margin of the cap
expands more appears umbonate, obtuse, smooth, even or somewhat striate
on the margin. The color varies from whitish to flesh color, or dull
red, and appears more or less saturated with a red juice. The thin
margin extends a short distance beyond the ends of the gills, and the
margin is then beautifully crenate. The =gills= are adnate, and often
extend down on the stem a short distance by a little tooth. The =stem=
is firm, sometimes smooth, sometimes with minute hairs, at the base
with long hairs, hollow, in color the same as that of the pileus.
[Illustration: FIGURE 102.--Mycena hæmatopa. Dull red or flesh color, or
whitish, a dull red juice exudes where broken or cut, margin of cap
serrate with thin sterile flaps (natural size). Copyright.]
The color varies somewhat, being darker in some plants than in others.
In some plants the juice is more abundant and they bleed profusely when
wounded, while in other cases there is but little of the juice,
sometimes wounds only showing a change in color to a deep red without
any free drops exuding. Figure 102 is from plants collected at Ithaca,
in August, 1899. It is widely distributed in Europe and North America.
=Mycena succosa= Pk., another species of _Mycena_ with a juice, occurs
on very rotten wood in the woods. It is a small plant, dull white at
first, but soon spotted with black, and turning black in handling or
where bruised, and when dried. Wounds exude a "serum-like juice," and
the wounds soon become black. It was described by Peck under _Collybia_
in the 25th Report, p. 74.
OMPHALIA Fr.
The genus _Omphalia_ is closely related to _Mycena_ and _Collybia_. It
differs from these mainly in the decurrent gills. In the small species
of _Mycena_ where the gills are slightly decurrent, the pileus is not
umbilicate as it is in corresponding species of _Omphalia_. In some of
the species of _Omphalia_ the pileus is not umbilicate, but here the
gills are plainly decurrent. The stem is cartilaginous.
[Illustration: PLATE 33, FIGURE 103.--Omphalia campanella. Watkin's
Glen, N. Y., August, 1898. Caps dull reddish-yellow. Gills yellow. Stem
brownish, hairy at base. (Natural size.) Copyright.]
=Omphalia campanella= Batsch.--One of the most common and widely
distributed species of the genus is the little bell-omphalia, _Omphalia
campanella_. It occurs throughout the summer and autumn on dead or
rotten logs, stumps, branches, etc., in woods. It is often clustered,
large numbers covering a considerable surface of the decaying log. It is
1--3 cm. high, the cap 8--20 mm. broad, and the stem very slender.
The =pileus= is convex, umbilicate, faintly striate, dull reddish
yellow, in damp weather with a watery appearance. The =gills= are
narrow, yellow, connected by veins, strongly curved because of the form
of the pileus, and then being decurrent on the stem. The =stem= is
slender, often ascending, brownish hairy toward the base, and paler
above.
[Illustration: FIGURE 104.--Omphalia epichysium. Entire plant smoky or
dull gray in color (natural size). Copyright.]
=Omphalia epichysium= Pers.--This plant occurs during the autumn in
woods, growing usually on much decayed wood, or sometimes apparently on
the ground. The smoky, or dull gray color of the entire plant, the
depressed or funnel-shaped pileus, and short, slender stem serve to
distinguish it. The cap is 2--4 cm. broad, the plant is 3--5 cm. high,
and the stem 2--4 mm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is convex, becoming expanded, umbilicate or depressed at
the center or nearly funnel-shaped, smooth, smoky or gray with a
saturated watery appearance, light gray or nearly white when dry. The
=gills= are narrow, crowded, or a little decurrent. The slender =stem=
is smooth, hollow, equal. Figure 104 is from plants (No. 3373, C. U.
herbarium) collected in woods near Ithaca, N. Y., in the autumn of 1899.
PLEUROTUS Fr.
[Illustration: FIGURE 105.--Pleurotus ulmarius. Cap white, or with
shades of yellow or brown near the center (natural size). Copyright.]
The genus _Pleurotus_ is usually recognized without difficulty among the
fleshy, white-spored agarics, because of the eccentric (not quite in the
center of the pileus) or lateral stem, or by the pileus being attached
at one side in a more or less shelving position, or in some species
where the upper side of the pileus lies directly against the wood on
which the plant is growing, and is then said to be _resupinate_. The
gills are either decurrent (extending downward) on the stem, or in some
species they are rounded or notched at the junction with the stem. There
is no annulus, though sometimes a veil, and the genus resembles both
_Tricholoma_ and _Clitocybe_, except for the position of the stem on the
pileus. In _Tricholoma_ and _Clitocybe_ the stem is usually attached at
the center, and the majority of the species grow on the ground, while
the species of _Pleurotus_ are especially characterized by growing on
wood. Some species, at least, appear to grow from the ground, as in
Pleurotus petaloides, which is sometimes found growing on buried roots
or portions of decayed stumps which no longer show above ground. On the
other hand species of _Clitocybe_, as in C. candida (Fig. 91), often
have an eccentric stem. This presents to us one of the many difficulties
which students, especially beginners, of this group of fungi meet, and
also suggests how unsatisfactory any arrangement of genera as yet
proposed is.
=Pleurotus ulmarius= Bull. =Edible.=--The elm pleurotus is so called
because it is often found growing on dead elm branches or trunks, or
from wounds in living trees, but it is not confined to the elm. It is a
large species, easily distinguished from the oyster agaric and the other
related species by its long stem attached usually near the center of the
cap, and by the gills being rounded or notched at their inner extremity.
The cap is 5--12 cm. broad, the stem 5--10 cm. long, and 1--2 cm. in
thickness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 106.--Pleurotus ulmarius. Under view and section
(natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is convex, the margin incurved, then nearly expanded,
smooth, firm, white or whitish, or with shades of yellow or brown on the
center, and the flesh is white. The =gills= are broad, rather distant,
sinuate, white or nearly so. The =spores= are globose, 5--8 µ in
diameter. The =stem= is firm, eccentric, usually curved because of its
lateral attachment on the side of the tree, and the horizontal position
of the pileus.
The elm pleurotus has been long known as an edible fungus, and is
regarded as an excellent one for food on account of its flavor and
because of its large size. It occurs abundantly during the late autumn,
and at this season of the year is usually well protected from the
attacks of insects. It occurs in the woods, or fields, more frequently
on dead trees. On shade trees which have been severely pruned, and are
nearly or quite dead, it sometimes appears at the wounds, where limbs
have been removed, in great abundance. In the plants shown in Fig. 105
the stems are strongly curved because the weight of the cap bore the
plant downward. Sometimes when the plant is growing directly on the
upper side of a branch or log, the stem may be central.
=Pleurotus ostreatus= Jacq. =Edible.=--This plant is known as the oyster
agaric, because the form of the plant sometimes suggests the outline of
an oyster shell, as is seen in Fig. 107. It grows on dead trunks and
branches, usually in crowded clusters, the caps often overlapping or
imbricated. It is large, measuring 8--20 cm. or more broad.
The =pileus= is elongated and attached at one side by being sessile, or
it is narrowed into a very short stem. It is broadest at the outer
extremity, where it becomes quite thin toward the margin. It is more or
less curved in outline as seen from the side, being depressed usually on
the upper side near the point of attachment, and toward the margin
convex and the margin incurved. The color is white, light gray, buff or
dark gray, often becoming yellowish on drying. The =gills= are white,
broad, not much crowded, and run down on the stem in long elevated lines
resembling veins, which anastomose often in a reticulate fashion. The
=spores= are white, oblong, 7--10 µ long. The =stem= when present is
very short, and often hairy at the base.
The oyster agaric has long been known as an edible mushroom, but it is
not ranked among the best, because, like most _Pleuroti_, it is rather
tough, especially in age. It is well to select young plants. Figure 107
is from plants (No. 2097, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, N. Y.
[Illustration: PLATE 34, FIGURE 107.--Pleurotus ostreatus. Under view
showing decurrent and anastomosing gills on the stem. Cap white, light
gray, buff, or dark gray in color. Spores white (natural size, often
larger). Copyright.]
=Pleurotus sapidus= Kalchb. =Edible.=--This plant usually grows in large
clusters from dead trunks or branches or from dead portions of living
trees. It grows on a number of different kinds of trees. The stems are
often joined at the base, but sometimes the plants are scattered over
a portion of the branch or trunk. The cap is from 5--10 cm. broad.
The plants occur from June to November.
[Illustration: PLATE 35, FIGURE 108.--Pleurotus sapidus. Color of cap
white, yellowish, gray, or brownish, with lilac tints sometimes. Spores
lilac tinted in mass (1/2 natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is convex, the margin incurved when young, and more or less
depressed in age, smooth, broadened toward the margin and tapering into
the short stem, which is very short in some cases and elongated in
others. Often the caps are quite irregular and the margin wavy,
especially when old. It is quite firm, but the margin splits quite
readily on being handled. The color varies greatly, white, yellowish,
gray, or brownish and lilac tints. The flesh is white. The =stems= are
usually attached to the pileus, at or near one edge. The =gills= are
white, broad, not at all crowded, and extend down on the stem as in the
oyster agaric. They are white or whitish, and as in the other related
species are sometimes cracked, due probably to the tension brought to
bear because of the expanding pileus. The =spores= are tinged with lilac
when seen in mass, as when caught on paper. The color seems to be
intensified after the spores have lain on the paper for a day or two.
It is very difficult to distinguish this species from the oyster agaric.
The color of the spores seems to be the only distinguishing character,
and this may not be constant. Peck suggests that it may only be a
variety of the oyster agaric. I have found the plant growing from a dead
spot on the base of a living oak tree. There was for several years a
drive near this tree, and the wheels of vehicles cut into the roots of
the tree on this side, and probably so injured it as to kill a portion
and give this fungus and another one (_Polystictus pergamenus_) a start,
and later they have slowly encroached on the side of the tree.
Figure 108 represents the plant (No. 3307, C. U. herbarium) from a dead
maple trunk in a woods near Ithaca, collected during the autumn of 1899.
This plant compares favorably with the oyster agaric as an edible one.
Neither of these plants preserve as well as the elm pleurotus.
=Pleurotus dryinus= Pers. =Edible.=--_Pleurotus dryinus_ represents a
section of the genus in which the species are provided with a veil when
young, but which disappears as the pileus expands. This species has been
long known in Europe on trunks of oak, ash, willow, etc., and occurs
there from September to October. It was collected near Ithaca, N. Y., in
a beech woods along Six-mile creek, on October 24th, 1898, growing from
a decayed knothole in the trunk of a living hickory tree, and again in a
few days from a decayed stump. The pileus varies from 5--10 cm. broad,
and the lateral or eccentric stem is 2--12 cm. long by 1--2 cm. in
thickness, the length of the stem depending on the depth of the
insertion of the stem in a hollow portion of the trunk. The plant is
white or whitish, and the substance is quite firm, drying quite hard.
The =pileus= is convex to expanded, more or less depressed in the
center, the margin involute, and the surface at first floccose, becoming
in age floccose scaly, since the surface breaks up into triangular
scales more prominent in and near the center, smaller and inconspicuous
toward the margin. The prevailing color is white, but in age the scales
become cream color or buff (in European plants said to become fuscous).
The pileus is either definitely lateral (Fig. 109) or eccentric when the
stem is attached near the center as in Fig. 110. The =gills= are white,
becoming tinged with yellow in age, decurrent (running down on the stem)
in striæ for short distances, 4--5 mm. broad, not crowded. The =stem= is
nearly central (Fig. 110), or definitely lateral (Fig. 109), the length
varying according to conditions as stated above. It is firm, tough,
fibrous. The =veil= is prominent in young and medium plants, floccose,
tearing irregularly as the pileus expands.
Figure 110 is from plants (No. 2478a C. U. herbarium) growing from
knothole in living hickory tree, and Fig. 109 from plants (No. 2478b)
growing on a dead stump, near Ithaca.
According to the descriptions of _P. dryinus_ as given by Persoon, and
as followed by Fries and most later writers, the pileus is definitely
lateral, and more or less dimidiate, while in _P. corticatus_ Fr., the
pileus is entire and the stem rather long and eccentric. Stevenson
suggests (p. 166) that corticatus is perhaps too closely allied to
dryinus. The plants in our Fig. 110 agree in all respects with _P.
corticatus_, except that possibly the lamellæ do not anastomose on the
stem as they are said to in _corticatus_. According to the usual
descriptions _corticatus_ is given as the larger species, while Fig. 109
of our plant, possessing the typical characters of _dryinus_, is the
larger. The form of the pileus, the length and position of the stem,
depends, as we know, to a large extent on the position of the plant on
the tree. When growing from the upper side, so that there is room above
for the expansion of the cap, the pileus is apt to be more regular, just
as is the case in _Pleurotus ulmarius_, and the stem more nearly
central. When the plant grows from a hollow place in the trunk as those
shown in Fig. 110 did, then there is an opportunity for them to grow
more or less erect, at least until they emerge from the hollow, and then
the pileus is more nearly equal in its expansion and the stem is longer.
Berkeley describes specimens of P. dryinus with long stems growing
from a hollow in an ash, and Stevenson (p. 167) reports the same
condition.
[Illustration: PLATE 36, FIGURE 109.--Pleurotus dryinus. Side and upper
view. Plant entirely white, scales sometimes buff or cream colored in
age (natural size). Copyright.]
=Pleurotus sulfureoides= Pk.--This rare species, first collected in the
Catskill Mountains 1869, and described by Peck in the 23rd Report, N. Y.
State Mus., p. 86, 1870, was found by me on two different occasions at
Ithaca, N. Y., during the autumn of 1898, on rotting logs, Ithaca Flats,
and again in Enfield Gorge, six miles from Ithaca. The plants are from
5--8 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 5--7 mm. in
thickness, and the entire plant is of a dull, or pale, yellow.
[Illustration: PLATE 37, FIGURE 110.--Pleurotus dryinus, form
corticatus. Entire plant white, scales cream or buff in age sometimes.
The ruptured veil shows in the small plant below (natural size).
Copyright.]
The =pileus= is nearly regular, fleshy, thin toward the margin, convex,
umbonate, smooth or with a few small scales. The =gills= are rather
crowded, broad, rounded or notched at the stem, pale yellow. The
=spores= are elliptical, 7--9 × 5--6 µ. The =stem= is ascending and
curved, nearly or quite central in some specimens in its attachment to
the pileus, whitish or yellowish, mealy or slightly tomentose at the
apex.
Figure 111 is from plants (No. 2953, C. U. herbarium) on rotting log,
Ithaca Flats, October, 1898.
[Illustration: FIGURE 111.--Pleurotus sulfureoides. Entire plant dull or
pale yellow (natural size). Copyright.]
=Pleurotus petaloides= Bull. =Edible.=--The petal-like agaric is so
called from the fancied resemblance of the plant to the petal of a
flower. The plant usually grows in a nearly upright or more or less
ascending position, or when it grows from the side of a trunk it is
somewhat shelving. It is somewhat spathulate in form, i. e., broad at
the free end and tapering downward into the short stem in a
wedge-shaped manner, and varies from 2--10 cm. long and 1--5 cm. in
breadth. It grows on fallen branches or trunks, on stumps, and often
apparently from the ground, but in reality from underground roots or
buried portions of decayed stumps, etc.
[Illustration: FIGURE 112.--Pleurotus petaloides. Color pale reddish
brown or brown, sometimes entirely white; gills white (natural size).
Copyright.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 113.--Pleurotus petaloides. More irregular form
than that shown in figure 112; color same as there described (natural
size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= varies from a regular wedge-shape to spathulate, or more or
less irregularly petaloid, or conchoid forms, the extremes of size and
form being shown in Figs. 112, 113. The margin is at first involute,
finally fully expanded, and the upper surface is nearly plane or
somewhat depressed. The color is often a pale reddish brown, or brown,
and sometimes pure white. The margin is sometimes marked with fine
striations when moist. The upper portion near the union with the stem is
sometimes tomentose, sometimes smooth. The =gills= are narrow, white, or
yellowish, crowded and strongly decurrent. While the plant varies
greatly in form and size, it is easily recognized by the presence of
numerous short whitish =cystidia= in the hymenium, which bristle over
the surface of the hymenium and under a pocket lens present a "fuzzy"
appearance to the lamellæ. They are 70--80 × 10--12 µ. The spores are
white.
Figures 112, 113 are from plants collected at Ithaca.
=Pleurotus serotinus= Schrad. This is an interesting plant and occurs
during the autumn on dead trunks, branches, etc., in the woods. The stem
is wanting, and the cap is shelving, dimidiate, reniform or
suborbicular. The plants occur singly or are clustered and overlapping,
about the same size and position as _Claudopus nidulans_, from which it
is readily told by its white gills and spores. The color varies from
dull yellow to brownish, often with shades of olive or green.
=Pleurotus applicatus= Batsch.--This is a pretty little species and
usually occurs on much decayed wood, lying close to the ground so that
it is usually directly on the under side of the log or branch. It does
occur, however, on the side of the log when it is more or less shelving,
because of the tendency of the pileus always to be more or less
horizontal.
[Illustration: FIGURE 114.--Pleurotus applicatus. Color gray to dark
bluish gray, or black with a bluish tinge (natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is 4--6 mm. broad, its upper surface closely applied to the
wood or bark on which it is growing when it appears directly on the
under side. The margin is sometimes free and involute. Sometimes it is
attached only by the center of the pileus. There is then often a short
process. When it grows on the side of the log it is attached laterally,
or on the upper side of one margin, while the greater portion of the
pileus is free and shelving. The surface is smooth or somewhat hairy.
The color varies from gray to dark bluish gray, or black with a bluish
tinge. The =gills= are thick, broad in proportion to the size of the
cap, distant, and are said by some to be paler than the pileus. In
plants collected at Ithaca, the gills are often as dark as the pileus.
The entire plant is rather tough, and revives after being dried if
placed in water, resembling in this respect _Marasmius_, _Panus_, or
_Trogia_, and it may be more nearly related to one of these. Figure 114
is from plants (No. 4599, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca.
HYGROPHORUS Fries.
[Illustration: FIGURE 115.--Hygrophorus chrysodon. Entirely white with
golden yellow granules on cap and stem (natural size). Copyright.]
The genus _Hygrophorus_ is one which presents some difficulties in the
case of some of the species, especially to beginners, and plants need to
be studied in the fresh condition to understand the most important
character which separates it from certain of the other white-spored
agarics. The substance of the pileus is continuous with that of the
stem, that is, the stem is not easily separated from the cap at the
point of junction, but is more or less tenacious. The gills may be
adnexed, adnate, sinuate, or decurrent, but what is important they are
usually rather distant, the edge is acute or sharp, and gradually
thickened toward the junction with the cap, so that a section of the
gill is more or less triangular. This is brought about by the fact that
the substance of the cap extends downward into the gill between the
laminæ or surfaces of the gill. But the most important character for
determining the genus is the fact that the surfaces of the gills become
rather of a waxy consistency at maturity, so that they appear to be full
of a watery substance though they do not bleed, and the surface of the
gill can be rather easily removed, leaving the projecting line of the
_trama_. This is more marked in some species than in others. The waxy
consistency of the gills then, with the gills acute at the edge, broad
at the point of attachment to the pileus, and the gills being rather
widely separated are the important characters in determining the species
which belong to this genus. The nearest related genus is Cantharellus,
which, however, has blunt and forked gills. A number of the plants are
brilliantly colored.
[Illustration: PLATE 38, FIGURE 116.--Hygrophorus eburneus. Entirely
white, slimy (natural size). Copyright.]
=Hygrophorus chrysodon= (Batsch.) Fries. =Edible.=--This plant has about
the same range as _Hygrophorus eburneus_, though it is said to be rare.
It is a very pretty plant and one quite easily recognised because of the
uniform white ground color of the entire plant when fresh, and the
numerous golden floccules or squamules scattered over the cap and the
stem. The name _chrysodon_ means golden tooth, and refers to these
numerous golden flecks on the plant. A form of the plant, variety
_leucodon_, is said to occur in which these granules are white. The
plant is 4--7 cm. high, the cap 4--7 cm. broad, and the stem 6--10 mm.
in thickness. The plants grow on the ground in the woods, or rather open
places, during late summer and autumn.
The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, the margin strongly involute when
young, and unrolling as the cap expands, very viscid, so that particles
of dirt and portions of leaves, etc., cling to it in drying. The golden
or light yellow granules on the surface are rather numerous near the
margin of the pileus, but are scattered over the entire surface. On the
margin they sometimes stand in concentric rows close together. The
=gills= are white, distant, decurrent, 3--6 mm. broad, white, somewhat
yellowish in age and in drying, and connected by veins. The =spores=
white, oval to ovate, the longer ones approaching elliptical, 6--10 ×
5--6 µ.
The =stem= is soft, spongy within, nearly equal, white, the yellowish
granules scattered over the surface, but more numerous toward the apex,
where they are often arranged in the form of a ring. When the plant is
young these yellow granules or squamules on the stem and the upper
surface of the inrolled margin of the pileus meet, forming a continuous
layer in the form of a veil, which becomes spread out in the form of
separated granules as the pileus expands, and no free collar is left on
the stem.
Figure 115 is from plants (No. 3108, C. U. herbarium) collected in
October, 1898, in woods, and by roadsides, Ithaca, N. Y.
=Hygrophorus eburneus= (Bulliard) Fries. =Edible.=--This plant is widely
distributed in Europe and America. It is entirely white, of medium size,
very viscid or glutinous, being entirely covered with a coating of
gluten, which makes it very slippery in handling. The odor is mild and
not unpleasant like that of a closely related species, _H. cossus_. The
plants are 6--15 cm. high, the cap is from 3--8 cm. broad, and the stem
3--8 mm. in thickness. It grows on the ground in woods, or in open
grassy places.
The =pileus= is fleshy, moderately thick, sometimes thin, convex to
expanded, the margin uneven or sometimes wavy, smooth, and shining. When
young the margin of the cap is incurved. The =gills= are strongly
decurrent, distant, with vein-like elevations near the stem. =Spores=
rather long, oval, 6--10 × 5--6 µ, granular. The =stem= varies in
length, it is spongy to stuffed within, sometimes hollow and tapers
below. The slime which envelops the plant is sometimes so abundant as to
form a veil covering the entire plant and extending across from the
margin of the cap to the stem, covering the gills. As the plant dries
this disappears, and does not leave an annulus on the stem.
[Illustration: FIGURE 117.--Hygrophorus fuligineus. Cap and stem dull
reddish brown or smoky brown, very viscid when moist; gills white
(natural size). Copyright.]
Figure 116 is from a photograph of plants (No. 2534, C. U. herbarium)
collected in Enfield Gorge near Ithaca, N. Y., Nov. 5th, 1898.
=Hygrophorus fuligineus= Frost. =Edible.=--The smoky hygrophorus was
described in the 35th Report of the N. Y. State Museum, p. 134. It is an
American plant, and was first collected at West Albany, during the month
of November. It is one of the largest species of the genus, and grows on
the ground in woods, in late autumn. The plants are 5--10 cm. high, the
cap from 3--10 cm. broad, and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness. The large
size of the plant together with the smoky, brown, viscid cap aid in the
recognition of the plant.
The =pileus= is convex, becoming expanded, smooth, very viscid, dull
reddish brown or smoky brown, darker on the center; the margin of the
pileus is even in young specimens, becoming irregular in others; and in
age often elevated more or less. The =gills= are broad, distant, usually
decurrent, often connected by veins, white, with yellowish tinge in
drying. The =spores= oval to elliptical, 8--12 × 5--7 µ. The =stem= is
stout, sometimes ascending, equal, or enlarged in the middle, or
tapering toward the base, solid, viscid like the pileus, usually white,
sometimes tinged with the same color as pileus, somewhat yellowish
tinged in drying.
Figure 117 is from plants (No. 2546, C. U. herbarium) collected in
Enfield Gorge near Ithaca, Nov. 5, 1898.
=Hygrophorus pratensis= (Pers.) Fr. =Edible.=--This hygrophorus grows on
the ground in pastures, old fields, or in waste places, or in thin and
open woods, from mid-summer to late autumn. The plants are 3--5 cm.
high, the cap 2--5 cm. or more broad, and the stem 6--12 mm. in
thickness. The cap being thick at the center, and the stem being usually
stouter at the apex, often gives to the plant a shape like that of a
top.
The =pileus= is hemispherical, then convex, then nearly or quite
expanded, white, or with various shades of yellow or tawny, or buff, not
viscid, often cracking in dry weather. Flesh very thick at the center,
thinner at the margin. The flesh is firm and white. The =gills= are
stout, distant, long decurrent, white or yellowish, and arcuate when the
margin of the pileus is incurved in the young state, then ascending as
the pileus takes the shape of an inverted cone. The =gills= are
connected across the interspaces by vein-like folds, or elevations. The
=spores= are nearly globose to ovate or nearly elliptical, white, 6--8 ×
5--6 µ. The =stem= is smooth, firm outside and spongy within, tapering
downward.
=Hygrophorus miniatus= Fr. The vermilion hygrophorus is a very common
plant in the woods during the summer. The cap and stem are bright red,
sometimes vermilion. The gills are yellow and often tinged with red. The
gills are adnate or sinuate. The plant is a small one but often
abundant, and measures from 3--5 cm. high, and the cap 2--4 cm. broad.
=Hygrophorus coccineus= (Schaeff.) Fr., is a somewhat larger plant and
with a scarlet cap, which becomes yellowish in age, and the gills are
adnate. =Hygrophorus conicus= (Scop.) Fr., is another bright red plant
with a remarkable conical pileus, and the gills are annexed to free.
=Hygrophorus psittacinus= Fr., is a remarkably pretty plant, the cap
being from bell-shaped to expanded, umbilicate, striate, and covered
with a greenish slime. It occurs in woods and open places. The
prevailing color is yellow, tinged with green, but it varies greatly,
sometimes yellow, red, white, etc., but nearly always is marked by the
presence of the greenish slime, the color of this disappearing as the
plant dries. It occurs in pastures, open woods, etc., from mid-summer to
autumn.
=Hygrophorus hypothejus= Fr., is another very variable plant in color as
well as in size, varying from yellow, orange, reddish, sometimes paler,
usually first grayish when covered with the olive colored slime. The
gills are decurrent, white, then yellow. It occurs in autumn.
LACTARIUS Fr.
The genus _Lactarius_ is easily distinguished from nearly all the other
agarics by the presence of a milky or colored juice which exudes from
wounded, cut, or broken places on the fresh plant. There are a few of
the species of the genus _Mycena_ which exude a watery or colored juice
where wounded, but these are easily told from _Lactarius_ because of
their small size, more slender habit, and bell-shaped cap. By careful
observation of these characters it is quite an easy matter to tell
whether or not the plant at hand is a _Lactarius_. In addition to the
presence of this juice or milk as it is commonly termed, the entire
plant while firm is quite brittle, especially the gills. There are
groups of rounded or vesiculose cells intermingled with thread-like
cells in the substance of the cap. This latter character can only be
seen on examination with the microscope. The brittleness of the plant as
well as the presence of these groups of vesiculose cells is shared by
the genus _Russula_, which is at once separated from _Lactarius_ by the
absence of a juice which exudes in drops.
In determining the species it is a very important thing to know the
taste of the juice or of the fresh plant, whether it is peppery, or
bitter, or mild, that is, tasteless. If one is careful not to swallow
any of the juice or flesh of the plant no harm results from tasting any
of the plants, provided they are not tasted too often during a short
time, beyond the unpleasant sensation resulting from tasting some of
the very "hot" kinds. It is important also to know the color of the milk
when it first exudes from wounds and if it changes color on exposure to
the air. These tests of the plant should be made of course while it is
fresh. The spores are white, globose or nearly so in all species, and
usually covered with minute spiny processes. There are a large number of
species. Peck, 38th Report, N. Y. State Mus., pp. 111--133, describes 40
American species.
[Illustration: FIGURE 118.--Lactarius corrugis. Showing corrugated cap,
and white milk exuding. Dark tawny brown, gills orange brown (natural
size, often larger). Copyright.]
=Lactarius volemus= Fr. =Edible.=--This species is by some termed the
orange brown lactarius because of its usual color. It was probably
termed _Lactarius volemus_ because of the voluminous quantity of milk
which exudes where the plant is broken or bruised, though it is not the
only species having this character. In fresh, young plants, a mere crack
or bruise will set loose quantities of the milky juice which drops
rapidly from the plant. The plant is about the size of _Lactarius
deliciosus_ and occurs in damp woods, where it grows in considerable
abundance from July to September, several usually growing near each
other. The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, often with a small
elevation (umbo) at the center, or sometimes plane, and when old a
little depressed in the center, smooth or somewhat wrinkled. The cap is
dull orange or tawny, the shade of color being lighter in some plants
and darker in others. The flesh is white and quite firm. The =gills= are
white, often tinged with the same color as the pileus, but much lighter;
they are adnate or slightly decurrent. The =stem= is usually short, but
varies from 3--10 × 1--2 cm. It is colored like the pileus, but a
lighter shade.
The milk is white, abundant, mild, not unpleasant to the taste, but
sticky as it dries. This plant has also long been known as one of the
excellent mushrooms for food both in Europe and America. Peck states
that there are several plants which resemble _Lactarius volemus_ in
color and in the milk, but that no harm could come from eating them.
There is one with a more reddish brown pileus, _Lactarius rufus_, found
sparingly in the woods, but which has a very peppery taste. It is said
by some to be poisonous.
=Lactarius corrugis= Pk. =Edible.=--This species occurs with _Lactarius
volemus_ and very closely resembles it, but it is of a darker color, and
the pileus is more often marked by prominent wrinkles, from which
character the plant has derived its specific name. It is perhaps a
little stouter plant than _L. volemus_, and with a thicker cap. The
surface of the =pileus= seems to be covered with a very fine velvety
tomentum which glistens as the cap is turned in the light. The =gills=
are much darker than in _L. volemus_. The plants are usually clearly
separated on account of these characters, yet there are occasionally
light colored forms of _L. corrugis_ which are difficult to distinguish
from dark forms of _L. volemus_, and this fact has aroused the suspicion
that _corrugis_ is only a form of _volemus_.
The milk is very abundant and in every respect agrees with that of _L.
volemus_. I do not know that any one has tested _L. corrugis_ for food.
But since it is so closely related to _L. volemus_ I tested it during
the summer of 1899 in the North Carolina mountains. I consider it
excellent. The methods of cooking there were rather primitive. It was
sliced and fried with butter and salt. It should be well cooked, for
when not well done the partially raw taste is not pleasant. The plant
was very abundant in the woods, and for three weeks an abundance was
served twice a day for a table of twelve persons. The only disagreeable
feature about it is the sticky character of the milk, which adheres in
quantity to the hands and becomes black. This makes the preparation of
the plant for the broiler a rather unpleasant task.
Figure 118 is from plants (No. 3910, C. U. herbarium) collected in the
woods at Blowing Rock, during September, 1899. Just before the exposure
was made to get the photograph several of the plants were wounded with a
pin to cause the drops of milk to exude, as is well shown in the
illustration.
The dark color of the lamellæ in _L. corrugis_ is due to the number of
brown cystidia or setæ, in the hymenium, which project above the surface
of the gills, and they are especially abundant on the edge of the gills.
These setæ are long fusoid, 80--120 × 10--12 µ. The variations in the
color of the gills, in some plants the gills being much darker than in
others, is due to the variations either in the number of these setæ or
to the variation in their color. Where the cystidia are fewer in number
or are lighter in color the lamellæ are lighter colored. Typical forms
of _Lactarius volemus_ have similar setæ, but they are very pale in
color and not so abundant over the surface of the gills. In the darker
forms of _L. volemus_ the setæ are more abundant and darker in color,
approaching those found in _L. corrugis_. These facts, supported by the
variation in the color of the pileus in the two species and the
variations in the rugosities of the pileus, seem to indicate that the
two species are very closely related.
[Illustration: FIGURE 119.--Lactarius lignyotus. Cap and stem sooty, cap
wrinkled, gills white, then tinged with ochre (natural size, sometimes
larger). Copyright.]
=Lactarius lignyotus= Fr.--This is known as the sooty lactarius and
occurs in woods along with the smoky lactarius. It is distinguished from
the latter by the dark brown color of the pileus and by the presence
usually of rugose wrinkles over the center of the cap. In size it agrees
with the smoky lactarius.
The =pileus= is convex, then plane, or somewhat depressed in the center,
dry, sometimes with a small umbo, dark brown or sooty (chocolate to seal
brown as given in Ridgeway's nomenclature of colors), covered with a
very fine tomentum which has the appearance of a bloom. The margin of
the cap, especially in old plants, is somewhat wavy or plicate as in
_Lactarius fuliginosus_. The =gills= are moderately crowded when young,
becoming distant in older plants, white, then cream color or yellow,
changing to reddish or salmon color where bruised. The =spores= are
yellowish in mass, faintly so under the microscope, globose, strongly
echinulate, 6--10 µ. The taste is mild, or sometimes slowly and slightly
acrid. The plants from North Carolina showed distinctly the change to
reddish or salmon color when the gills were bruised, and the taste was
noted as mild.
Figure 119 is from plants (No. 3864, C. U. herbarium) collected in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, at Blowing Rock, N. C., September, 1899.
=Lactarius fuliginosus= Fr.--The smoky or dingy lactarius occurs in
woods and open grassy places. It is widely distributed. The plants are
4--7 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in
thickness. The light smoky color of the cap and stem, the dull yellowish
white color of the gills, and in old plants the wavy margin of the cap
make it comparatively easy to recognize the species.
[Illustration: FIGURE 120.--Lactarius fuliginosus. Cap and stem smoky,
cap usually not wrinkled; gills white, then light ochre, distant
(natural size). Copyright.]
The =pileus= is thin, at first firm, becoming soft, convex, then plane
and often somewhat depressed in the center, usually even, dry, the
margin in old plants crenately wavy, dull gray or smoky gray in color,
with a fine down or tomentum. The =gills= are adnate, distant, more so
in old plants, white, then yellowish, sometimes changing to salmon color
or reddish where bruised. The =spores= are yellowish in mass, faintly
yellow under the microscope, strongly echinulate or tuberculate,
globose, 6--10 µ. The =stem= is usually paler than the pileus, firm,
stuffed. The milk is white, slowly acrid to the taste.
Figure 120 is from plants (No. 3867, C. U. herbarium) collected at
Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
=Lactarius gerardii= Pk.--This plant was described by Dr. Peck in the
26th Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 65, and in the 28th Rept. p. 129.
According to the descriptions it differs from _Lactarius fuliginosus_
only in the spores being white, the gills more distant, and the taste
being constantly mild. Since the taste in _L. fuliginosus_ is sometimes
mild, or slowly acrid, and the lamellæ in the older plants are more
distant, the spores sometimes only tinged with yellow, there does not
seem to be a very marked difference between the two species. In fact all
three of these species, _fuliginosus_, _lignyotus_ and _gerardii_, seem
to be very closely related. Forms of _fuliginosus_ approach _lignyotus_
in color, and the =pileus= sometimes is rugose wrinkled, while in
_lignyotus_ pale forms occur, and the pileus is not always rugose
wrinkled. The color of the bruised lamellæ is the same in the two last
species and sometimes the change in color is not marked.
[Illustration: FIGURE 121.--Lactarius torminosus. Cap ochraceous and
pink hues, with zones of darker color, margin of cap wooly (natural
size, often much larger). Copyright.]
=Lactarius torminosus= (Schaeff.) Fr.--This plant is widely distributed
in Europe, Asia, as well as in America. It is easily recognised by the
uneven mixture of pink and ochraceous colors, and the very hairy or
tomentose margin of the cap. The plants are 5--10 cm. high, the cap
about the same breadth, and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness. It occurs in
woods on the ground during late summer and autumn.
The =pileus= is convex, depressed in the center, and the margin strongly
incurved when young, the abundant hairs on the margin forming an
apparent veil at this time which covers up the gills. The upper surface
of the pileus is smooth, or sometimes more or less covered with a
tomentum similar to that on the margin. The color is an admixture of
ochraceous and pink hues, sometimes with concentric zones of darker
shades. The =gills= are crowded, narrow, whitish, with a tinge of
yellowish flesh color. The =stem= is cylindrical, even, hollow, whitish.
The milk is white, unchangeable, acrid to the taste. Figure 121, left
hand plants, is from plants (No. 3911, C. U. herbarium) collected in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, N. C., in September, 1899, and the right hand
plant (No. 2960, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, N. Y.
[Illustration: FIGURE 122.--Lactarius piperatus. Entirely white, milk
very peppery (natural size, often larger). Copyright.]
=Lactarius piperatus= (Scop.) Fr.--This species is very hot and peppery
to the taste, is of medium size, entirely white, depressed at the
center, or funnel-shaped, with a short stem, and very narrow and crowded
gills, and abundant white milk. The plants are 3--7 cm. high, the cap
8--12 cm. broad, and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness. It grows in woods
on the ground and is quite common, sometimes very common in late summer
and autumn.
The =pileus= is fleshy, thick, firm, convex, umbilicate, and then
depressed in the center, becoming finally more or less funnel-shaped by
the elevation of the margin. It is white, smooth when young, in age
sometimes becoming sordid and somewhat roughened. The =gills= are
white, very narrow, very much crowded, and some of them forked, arcuate
and then ascending because of the funnel-shaped pileus. The =spores= are
_smooth_, oval, with a small point, 5--7 × 4--5 µ. The =stem= is equal
or tapering below, short, solid.
The milk is white, unchangeable, very acrid to the taste and abundant.
The plant is reported as edible. A closely related species is _L.
pergamenus_ (Swartz) Fr., which resembles it very closely, but has a
longer, stuffed stem, and thinner, more pliant pileus, which is more
frequently irregular and eccentric, and not at first umbilicate. Figure
122 is from plants (No. 3887, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing
Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
[Illustration: FIGURE 123.--Lactarius resimus. Entire plant white, in
age scales on cap dull ochraceous (natural size). Copyright.]
=Lactarius resimus= Fr.?--This plant is very common in the woods
bordering a sphagnum moor at Malloryville, N. Y., ten miles from Ithaca,
during July to September. I have found it at this place every summer for
the past three years. It occurs also in the woods of the damp ravines in
the vicinity of Ithaca. It was also abundant in the Blue Ridge
Mountains of North Carolina, during September, 1899. The plants are
large, the caps 10--15 cm. broad, the stem 5--8 cm. long, and 2--3 cm.
in thickness.
The =pileus= is convex, umbilicate, then depressed and more or less
funnel-shaped in age, white, in the center roughened with fibrous scales
as the plant ages, the scales becoming quite stout in old plants. The
scales are tinged with dull ochraceous or are light brownish in the
older plants. The ochre colored scales are sometimes evident over the
entire cap, even in young plants. In young plants the margin is strongly
involute or inrolled, and a loose but thick veil of interwoven threads
extends from the surface of the roll to the stem. This disappears as the
margin of the cap unrolls with the expanding pileus. The margin of the
pileus is often sterile, that is, it extends beyond the ends of the
gills. The =gills= are white, stout, and broad, decurrent, some of them
forked near the stem. When bruised, the gills after several hours become
ochraceous brown. The spores are subglobose, minutely spiny, 8--12 µ.
The =stem= is solid, cylindrical, minutely tomentose, spongy within when
old.
[Illustration: FIGURE 124.--Lactarius resimus. Section of young plant
showing inrolled margin of cap, and the veil (natural size). Copyright.]
The taste is very acrid, and the white milk not changing to yellow.
While the milk does not change to yellow, broken portions of the plant
slowly change to flesh color, then ochraceous brown. Figures 123, 124
are from plants collected in one of the damp gorges near Ithaca, during
September, 1896. The forked gills, the strongly inrolled margin of the
cap and veil of the young plants are well shown in the illustration.
=Lactarius chrysorrheus= Fr.--This is a common and widely distributed
species, from small to medium size. The plants are 5--8 cm. high, the
cap 5--10 cm. broad, and the stem 1--1.5 cm. in thickness. It grows in
woods and groves during late summer and autumn.
The =pileus= is fleshy, of medium thickness, convex and depressed in the
center from the young condition, and as the pileus expands the margin
becomes more and more upturned and the depression deeper, so that
eventually it is more or less broadly funnel-form. The color varies from
white to flesh color, tinged with yellow sometimes in spots, and marked
usually with faint zones of brighter yellow. The zones are sometimes
very indistinct or entirely wanting. The =gills= are crowded, white then
yellow, where bruised becoming yellowish, then dull reddish. The =stem=
is equal or tapering below, hollow or stuffed, paler than the pileus,
smooth (sometimes pitted as shown in the Fig. 125).
[Illustration: FIGURE 125.--Lactarius chrysorrheus. Cap white or flesh
color, often tinged with yellowish, and with darker zones (natural
size). Copyright.]
The plant is acrid to the taste, the milk white changing to citron
yellow on exposure. Figure 125 is from plants (No. 3875, C. U.
herbarium) collected in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C.,
September, 1899. The species was quite abundant in this locality during
August and September, in chestnut groves, mixed woods, and borders of
woods.
=Lactarius deliciosus= (L.) Fr. =Edible.=--_Lactarius deliciosus_ grows
in damp woods, is widely distributed and sometimes is quite common. It
occurs from July to October. It is one of the medium or large sized
species, being 3--10 cm. high, the cap 5--12 cm. broad, and the stem
1--2 cm. in thickness. It is easily recognized by its orange color and
the concentric zones of light and dark orange around on the pileus, and
by the orange milk which is exuded where wounded.
The =pileus= is first convex, then slightly depressed in the center,
becoming more expanded, and finally more or less funnel-shaped by the
elevation of the margin. It is usually more or less orange in color or
mottled with varying shades, and with concentric bands of a deeper
color. The =gills= are yellowish orange often with darker spots. The
=stem= is of the same color as the pileus but paler, sometimes with
darker spots. The flesh of the plant is white, shaded with orange. In
old plants the color fades out somewhat and becomes unevenly tinged with
green, and bruised places become green. Peck states that when fresh the
plant often has a slight acrid taste.
Being a widely distributed and not uncommon plant, and one so readily
recognized, it has long been known in the old world as well as here. All
writers on these subjects concur in recommending it for food, some
pronouncing it excellent, some the most delicious known. Its name
suggests the estimation in which it was held when christened.
=Lactarius chelidonium= Pk. =Edible.=--This pretty little _Lactarius_
was described by Peck in the 24th Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 74. It is
closely allied to _Lactarius deliciosus_, from which it is said to
differ in its "more narrow lamellæ, differently colored milk, smaller
spores." The plant is about 5 cm. high, the cap about 5 cm. broad, and
the stem 1--1.5 cm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is fleshy, firm, convex and depressed in the center,
smooth, slightly viscid when moist, "of a grayish green color with blue
and yellow tints, and a few narrow zones on the margin." The =gills= are
crowded, narrow, some of them forked at the base, and sometimes joining
to form reticulations. The =spores= are yellowish. The short =stem= is
nearly equal, smooth, hollow, and the same color as the pileus.
The taste is mild, the milk not abundant, and of a yellowish color,
"resembling the juice of Celandine or the liquid secreted from the mouth
of grasshoppers." Wounds on the plant are first of the color of the
milk, changing on exposure to blue, and finally to green. The plant
occurs during late summer and in the autumn in woods. Peck reported it
first from Saratoga, N. Y. It has been found elsewhere in the State, and
it has probably quite a wide distribution. I found it during September,
1899, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of N. C. Figure 1, plate 39, is from
some of the water color drawings made by Mr. Franklin R. Rathbun.
[Illustration: PLATE 39.
FIG. 1.--Lactarius deliciosus.
FIG. 2.--L. chelidonium.
FIG. 3.--L. indigo.
Copyright 1900.]
=Lactarius indigo= (Schw.) Fr.--The indigo blue lactarius is a very
striking and easily recognized plant because of the rich indigo blue
color so predominant in the entire plant. It is not very abundant, but
is widely distributed in North America. The plant is 5--7 cm. high, the
cap 5--12 cm. broad, and the stem is 1--2 cm. in thickness. The plants
occur during late summer and in the autumn.
The =pileus= when young is umbilicate, the margin involute, and in age
the margin becomes elevated and then the pileus is more or less
funnel-shaped. The indigo blue color is deeply seated, and the surface
of the pileus has a silvery gray appearance through which the indigo
blue color is seen. The surface is marked by concentric zones of a
darker shade. In age the color is apt to be less uniformly distributed,
it is paler, and the zones are fainter. The _gills_ are crowded, and
when bruised, or in age, the indigo blue color changes somewhat to
greenish. The milk is dark blue.
RUSSULA Pers.
The species of _Russula_ are very characteristic, and the genus is
easily recognized in most cases after a little experience. In the very
brittle texture of the plants the genus resembles _Lactarius_, and many
of them are more brittle than the species of this genus. A section of
the pileus shows under the microscope a similar vesicular condition,
that is the grouping of large rounded cells together, with threads
between. But the species of _Russula_ are at once separated from those
of _Lactarius_ by the absence of a juice which exudes in drops from
bruised parts of _Lactarius_. While some of the species are white and
others have dull or sombre colors, many of the species of _Russula_ have
bright, or even brilliant colors, as red, purple, violet, pink, blue,
yellow, green. In determining many of the species, however, it is
necessary to know the taste, whether mild, bitter, acrid, etc., and in
this respect the genus again resembles _Lactarius_. The color of the
gills as well as the color of the spores in mass should also be
determined. The genus is quite a large one, and the American species are
not well known, the genus being a difficult one. In Jour. Mycolog., =5=:
58--64, 1889, the characters of the tribes of Russula with descriptions
of 25 species are quoted from Stevenson, with notes on their
distribution in N. A. by MacAdam.
=Russula alutacea= Fr. =Edible.=--This handsome _Russula_ differs from
the others described here in the color of the gills and spores. The
plant is common and occurs in mixed woods during the summer and early
autumn. It is 5--10 cm. high, the cap 5--12 cm. broad, and the stem
1.5--2.5 cm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is fleshy, oval to bell-shaped, becoming plane, and
sometimes umbilicate. It is red or blood red in color, sometimes purple,
and becoming pale in age, especially at the center. It is viscid when
moist, the margin thin and striate-tuberculate. The =gills= are free
from the stem, stout, broad, first white, becoming yellow, and in age
ochraceous. The gills are all of the same length, not crowded, and they
are connected by vein-like elevations over the surface. The =stem= is
stout, solid, even, white, portions of the stem are red, sometimes
purple.
The taste is mild, and the plant is regarded as one of the very good
ones for food.
=Russula lepida= Fr. =Edible.=--This elegant _Russula_ occurs in birch
woods or in mixed woods during late summer and autumn. It is 5--8 cm.
high, the cap 6--8 cm. broad, and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness.
The =pileus= is fleshy, convex, then expanded, obtuse, not shining, deep
red, becoming pale in age, often whitish at the center, silky, in age
the surface cracking, the margin blunt and not striate. The =gills= are
rounded next the stem, thick, rather crowded, and sometimes forked,
white, sometimes red on the edge near the margin of the pileus. The
gills are often connected by vein-like elevations over the surface. The
=stem= is equal, white or rose color. The taste is mild.
=Russula virescens= (Schaeff.) Fr. =Edible.=--This plant grows on the
ground in woods or in grassy places in groves from July to September.
The stem is short, 2--7 cm. long × 1--2 cm. thick, and the cap is 5--10
cm. broad. The plant is well known by the green color of the pileus and
by the surface of the pileus being separated into numerous, quite
regular, somewhat angular areas or patches, where the green color is
more pronounced.
The =pileus= is first rounded, then convex and expanded, and when old
somewhat depressed in the center. It is quite firm, dry, greenish, and
the surface with numerous angular floccose areas or patches of usually a
deeper green. Sometimes the pileus is said to be tinged with yellow. The
=gills= are adnate, nearly free from the stem, and crowded. The =stem=
is white and firm.