Chapter VI · (continued 2)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Figure 112.—Pleurotus petaloides. Color pale reddish brown or brown, sometimes entirely white; gills white (natural size). Copyright.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

The greenish Russula, Russula virescens, like a number of other plants, has long been recommended for food, both in Europe and in this country. There are several species of Russula in which the pileus is green, but this species is readily distinguished from them by the greenish floccose patches on the surface of the pileus. Russula furcata is a common species in similar situations, with forked gills, and the cap very variable in color, sometimes reddish, purple, purple brown, or in one form green. I know of the Russula furcata having been eaten in rather small quantities, and while in this case no harm resulted the taste was not agreeable.

PLATE 40.

Fig. 1.—Russula virescens.

Fig. 2.—R. alutacea.

Fig. 3.—R. lepida.

Fig. 4.—R. emetica.

Fig. 5.—Yellow Russula.

Fig. 6.—R. adusta.

Copyright 1900.

Russula fragilis (Pers.) Fr.—This plant is very common in damp woods, or during wet weather from July to September. It is a small plant and very fragile, as its name suggests, much more so than most other species. It is 2–4 cm. high, the cap 2–5 cm. broad, and the stem about 1 cm. in thickness.

The pileus is convex, sometimes slightly umbonate, then plane, and in age somewhat depressed. The cuticle peels off very easily. The color is often a bright red, or pink, sometimes purple or violet, and becomes paler in age. It is somewhat viscid when moist, and the margin is very thin and strongly striate and tuberculate, i. e., the ridges between the marginal furrows are tuberculate. The gills are lightly adnexed, thin, crowded, broad, all of the same length, white. The stem is usually white, sometimes more or less pink colored, spongy within, becoming hollow. The taste is very acrid.

Russula emetica Fr. Poisonous.—This Russula has a very wide distribution and occurs on the ground in woods or open places during summer and autumn. It is a beautiful species and very fragile. The plants are 5–10 cm. high, the cap 5–10 cm. broad, and the stem 1–2 cm. in thickness. The pileus is oval to bell-shaped when young, becoming plane, and in age depressed. It is smooth, shining, the margin furrowed and tuberculate. The color is from pink or rosy when young to dark red when older, and fading to tawny or sometimes yellowish in age. The cuticle is easily separable as in R. fragilis, the flesh white, but reddish just beneath the cuticle. The gills are nearly free, broad, not crowded, white. The stem is stout, spongy within, white or reddish, fragile when old.

The plant is very acrid to the taste and is said to be poisonous, and to act as an emetic.

Russula adusta (Pers.) Fr.—This plant occurs on the ground in woods during late summer and in autumn. It is 3–6 cm. high, the cap 5–15 cm. broad, and the stem is 1–1.5 cm. in thickness.

The pileus is fleshy, firm, convex, depressed at the center, and when old more or less funnel-shaped from the upturning of the margin, which is at first incurved and smooth. It varies from white to gray and smoky color. The gills are adnate, or decurrent, thin, crowded, of unequal lengths, white, then becoming dark. The stem is colored like the pileus. The entire plant becomes darker in drying, sometimes almost black. It is near Russula nigricans, but is smaller, and does not have a red juice as R. nigricans has.

CANTHARELLUS Adanson.

From the other white-spored agarics of a fleshy consistency Cantharellus is distinguished by the form of the gills. The gills are generally forked, once or several times, in a dichotomous manner, though sometimes irregularly. They are blunt on the edge, not acute as in most of the other genera. The gills are usually narrow and in many species look like veins, folds, or wrinkles, but in some species, as in Cantharellus aurantiacus, they are rather thin and broad.

Figure 126.—Cantharellus cibarius. Under view showing forked gills with veins connecting them. Entire plant rich chrome yellow (natural size).

Cantharellus cibarius Fr. Edible.—This plant is known as the chanterelle. It has a very wide distribution and has long been regarded as one of the best of the edible mushrooms. Many of the writers on fungi speak of it in terms of high praise. The entire plant is a uniform rich chrome yellow. Sometimes it is symmetrical in form, but usually it is more or less irregular and unsymmetrical in form. The plants are 5–10 cm. high, the cap 4–8 cm. broad, and the stem short and rather thick.

Plate 41, Figure 127.—Cantharellus aurantiacus. Color orange yellow, and cap varies ochre, raw sienna, tawny, in different specimens (natural size). Copyright.

The pileus is fleshy, rather thick, the margin thick and blunt and at first inrolled. It is convex, becoming expanded or sometimes depressed by the margin of the cap becoming elevated. The margin is often wavy or repand, and in irregular forms it is only produced at one side, or more at one side than at the other, or the cap is irregularly lobed. The gills are very narrow, stout, distant, more or less sinuous, forked or anastomosing irregularly, and because of the pileus being something like an inverted cone the gills appear to run down on the stem. The spores are faintly yellowish, elliptical, 7–10 µ. Figure 126 represents but a single specimen, and this one with a nearly lateral pileus.

Figure 128.—Cantharellus aurantiacus, under view, enlarged nearly twice, showing regularly forked gills.

Cantharellus aurantiacus Fr.—This orange cantharellus is very common, and occurs on the ground or on very rotten wood, logs, branches, etc., from summer to very late autumn. It is widely distributed in Europe and America. It is easily known by its dull orange or brownish pileus, yellow gills, which are thin and regularly forked, and by the pileus being more or less depressed or funnel-shaped. The plants are from 5–8 cm. high, the cap from 2–7 cm. broad, and the stem about 4–8 mm. in thickness.

The pileus is fleshy, soft, flexible, convex, to expanded, or obconic, plane or depressed, or funnel-shaped, the margin strongly inrolled when young, in age simply incurved, the margin plane or repand and undulate. The color varies from ochre yellow to dull orange, or orange ochraceous, raw sienna, and tawny, in different specimens. It is often brownish at the center. The surface of the pileus is minutely tomentose with silky hairs, especially toward the center, and sometimes smooth toward the margin. The flesh is 3–5 mm. at the center, and thin toward the margin. The gills are arcuate, decurrent, thin, the edge blunt, but not so much so as in a number of other species, crowded, regularly forked several times, at length ascending when the pileus is elevated at the margin. The color of the gills is orange to cadmium orange, or sometimes paler, cadmium yellow or deep chrome. The stem is clay color to ochre yellow, enlarged below, spongy, stuffed, fistulose, soft, fibrous, more or less ascending at the base.

The taste is somewhat nutty, sometimes bitterish. The plants in Fig. 127 (No. 3272, C. U. herbarium) were collected near Ithaca, October 7, 1899.

MARASMIUS Fr.

In this genus the plants are tough and fleshy or membranaceous, leathery and dry. They do not easily decay, but shrivel up in dry weather, and revive in wet weather, or when placed in water. This is an important character in distinguishing the genus. It is closely related to Collybia, from which it is difficult to separate certain species. On the other hand, it is closely related to Lentinus and Panus, both of which are tough and pliant. In Marasmius, however, the substance of the pileus is separate from that of the stem, while in Lentinus and Panus it is continuous, a character rather difficult for the beginner to understand. The species of Marasmius, however, are generally much smaller than those of Lentinus and Panus, especially those which grow on wood. The stem in Marasmius is in nearly all species central, while in Lentinus and Panus it is generally more or less eccentric. Many of the species of the genus Marasmius have an odor of garlic when fresh. Besides the fairy ring (M. oreades) which grows on the ground, M. rotula is a very common species on wood and leaves. It has a slender, black, shining stem, and a brownish pileus usually with a black spot in the depression in the center. The species are very numerous. Peck, 23rd Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 124–126, describes 8 species. Morgan Jour. Cinn. Soc. Nat. Hist. 6: 189–194, describes 17 species.

Marasmius oreades Fr. Edible.—This is the well known "fairy ring" mushroom. It grows during the summer and autumn in grassy places, as in lawns, by roadsides, in pastures, etc. It appears most abundantly during wet weather or following heavy rains. It is found usually in circles, or in the arc of a circle, though few scattered plants not arranged in this way often occur. The plants are 7–10 cm. high, the cap 2–4 cm. broad, and the stem 3–4 mm. in thickness.

Figure 129.—Marasmius oreades. Caps buff, tawny, or reddish.

The pileus is convex to expanded, sometimes the center elevated, fleshy, rather thin, tough, smooth, buff color, or tawny or reddish, in age, or in drying, paler. When moist the pileus may be striate on the margin. The gills are broad, free or adnexed, rounded near the stem, white or dull yellowish. The spores are elliptical, 7–8 µ long. The stem is tough, solid, whitish.

This widely distributed fungus is much prized everywhere by those who know it. It is not the only fungus which appears in rings, so that this habit is not peculiar to this plant. Several different kinds are known to appear in rings at times. The appearance of the fungus in rings is due to the mode of growth of the mycelium or spawn in the soil.

Having started at a given spot the mycelium consumes the food material in the soil suitable for it, and the plants for the first year appear in a group. In the center of this spot the mycelium, having consumed all the available food, probably dies after producing the crop of mushrooms. But around the edge of the spot the mycelium or spawn still exists, and at the beginning of the next season it starts into growth and feeds on the available food in a zone surrounding the spot where it grew the previous year. This second year, then, the plants appear in a small ring. So in succeeding years it advances outward, the ring each year becoming larger. Where the plants appear only in the arc of a circle, something has happened to check or destroy the mycelium in the remaining arc of the circle.

It has been noted by several observers that the grass in the ring occupied by the mushrooms is often greener than that adjoining. This is perhaps due to some stimulus exerted by the mycelium of the fungus on the grass, or possibly the mycelium may in some way make certain foods available for the grass which gives an additional supply to it at this point.

Fig. 129 is from plants (No. 5503, C. U. herbarium) collected in a lawn, October 25, 1900, Ithaca.

Illustrations of some fine large rings formed by this fungus appeared in circular No. 13 by Mr. Coville, of the Division of Botany in the U. S. Dept. Agr.

Marasmius cohærens (Fr.) Bres. (Mycena cohærens Fr. Collybia lachnophylla Berk. Collybia spinulifera Pk.)—This plant grows in dense clusters, ten to twenty individuals with their stems closely joined below and fastened together by the abundant growth of threads from the lower ends. From this character the name cohærens was derived. The plants grow on the ground or on very rotten wood in woods during late spring and in the summer. The plant is not very common in this country, but appears to be widely distributed both in Europe and here, having been collected in Carolina, Ohio, Vermont, New York, etc. The plants are 12–20 cm. high, the cap 2–2.5 cm. broad, and the stem 4–7 mm. in thickness.

The pileus is fleshy, tough, convex or bell-shaped, then expanded, sometimes umbonate, or in age sometimes the margin upturned and more or less wavy, not viscid, but finely striate when damp, thin. The color varies from vinaceous cinnamon to chestnut or light leather color, or tawny, paler in age, and sometimes darker on the center. The gills are sometimes more or less crowded, narrow, 5–6 mm. broad, adnate, but notched, and sometimes becoming free from the stem. The color is light leather color, brick red or bay, the color and color variations being due to numbers of colored cystidia or spicules scattered over the surface of the gills and on the edge. The cystidia are fulvous, fusoid, 75–90 µ long. The spores are oval, white, small, 6 × 3 µ. The stem is long and slender, nearly cylindrical, tapering somewhat above, slightly enlarged below, and rooting. The color is the same as that of the pileus or dark bay brown, and shining, and seems to be due to large numbers of spicules similar to those on the gills. The color is paler below in some cases, or gradually darker below in others. The stems are bound together below by numerous threads.

Figure 130 is from plants (No. 2373, C. U. herbarium) collected in woods near Freeville, N. Y. The plants have been collected near Ithaca on three different occasions, twice near Freeville about nine miles from Ithaca, and once in the woods at Ithaca. It is easily distinguished by its color and the presence of the peculiar setæ or cystidia.

Figure 130.—Marasmius cohaerens (Fr.) Bres. (= Mycena cohaerens Fr. = Collybia lachnophylla Berk. = C. spinulifera Pk.) Color chestnut, light leather color, tawny or vinaceous cinnamon, darker in center, stems dark, shining, gills leather color, or fulvous, or wine color, brick red or bay, varying in different specimens (natural size). Copyright.

Although the plant has been collected on several different occasions in America, it does not seem to have been recognized under this name until recently, save the record of it from Carolina by de Schweinitz (Synop. fung. Car. No. 606. p. 81).

LENTINUS Fr.

The plants of this genus are tough and pliant, becoming hard when old, unless very watery, and when dry. The genus differs from the other tough and pliant ones by the peculiarity of the gills, the gills being notched or serrate on the edges. Sometimes this appearance is intensified by the cracking of the gills in age or in drying. The nearest ally of the genus is Panus, which is only separated from Lentinus by the edge of the gills being plane. This does not seem a very good character on which to separate the species of the two genera, since it is often difficult to tell whether the gills are naturally serrate or whether they have become so by certain tensions which exist on the lamellæ during the expansion and drying of the pileus. Schrœter unites Panus with Lentinus (Cohn's Krypt. Flora, Schlesien, 3, 1; 554, 1889). The plants are usually very irregular and many of them shelving, only a few grow upright and have regular caps.

Lentinus vulpinus Fr.—This is a large and handsome species, having a wide distribution in Europe and in this country, but it does not seem to be common. It grows on trunks, logs, stumps, etc., in the woods. It was quite abundant during late summer and in the autumn on fallen logs, in a woods near Ithaca. The caps are shelving, closely overlapping in shingled fashion (imbricated), and joined at the narrowed base. The surface is convex, and the margin is strongly incurved, so that each of the individual caps is shell-shaped (conchate). The surface of the pileus is coarsely hairy or hispid, the surface becoming more rough with age. Many coarse hairs unite to form coarse tufts which are stouter and nearly erect toward the base of the cap, and give the surface a tuberculate appearance. Toward the margin of the cap these coarse hairs are arranged in nearly parallel lines, making rows or ridges, which are very rough. The hairs and tubercles are dark in color, being nearly black toward the base, especially in old plants, and sometimes pale or of a smoky hue, especially in young plants. The pileus is flesh color when young, becoming darker when old, and the flesh is quite thin, whitish toward the gills and darker toward the surface. The gills are broad, nearly white, flesh color near the base, coarsely serrate, becoming cracked in age and in drying, narrowed toward the base of the pileus, not forked, crowded, 4–6 mm. broad. The cap and gills are tough even when fresh. The plant has an intensely pungent taste.

Figures 131, 132 represent an upper, front, and under view of the pilei (No. 3315, C. U. herbarium).

Plate 42, Figure 131.—Lentinus vulpinus. The coarse, hairy scales are black in old plants, paler, of a smoky hue, in younger ones (natural size). Copyright.

Lentinus lecomtei Fr., is a very common and widely distributed species growing on wood. When it grows on the upper side of logs the pileus is sometimes regular and funnel-shaped (cyathiform), but it is often irregular and produced on one side, especially if it grows on the side of the substratum. In most cases, however, there is a funnel-shaped depression above the attachment of the stem. The pileus is tough, reddish or reddish brown or leather color, hairy or sometimes strigose, the margin incurved. The stem is usually short, hairy, or in age it may become more or less smooth. The gills are narrow, crowded, the spores small, ovate to elliptical 5–6 × 2–3 µ. According to Bresadola this is the same as Panus rudis Fr. It resembles very closely also Panus cyathiformis (Schaeff.) Fr., and P. strigosus B. & C.

Lentinus lepideus Fr., [L. squamosus (Schaeff.) Schroet.] is another common and widely distributed species. It is much larger than L. lecomtei, whitish with coarse brown scales on the cap. It is 12–20 cm. high, and the cap is often as broad. The stem is 2–8 cm. long and 1–2 cm. in thickness. It grows on wood.

Figure 132.—Lentinus vulpinus, front and under view (natural size). Copyright.

Lentinus stipticus (Bull.) Schroet. (Panus stipticus Bull.) is a very small species compared with the three named above. It is, however, a very common and widely distributed one, growing on wood, and may be found the year around. The pileus is 1–3 cm. in diameter, whitish or grayish, very tough, expanded in wet weather, and curled up in dry weather. The stem is very short, and attached to one side of the cap. When freshly developed the plant is phosphorescent.

SCHIZOPHYLLUM Fr.

This is a very interesting genus, but the species are very few. The plants are tough, pliant when fresh, and dry. The gills are very characteristic, being split along the edge and generally strongly revolute, that is, the split edges curve around against the side of the gill. This character can be seen sometimes with the aid of a hand lens, but is very evident when a section of the cap and gills is made and then examined with a microscope. The spores are white.

Figure 133.—Schizophyllum alneum (==S. commune). View of under side (natural size). Copyright.

Schizophyllum alneum (L.) Schroet.—This species usually goes by the name of Schizophyllum commune, but the earlier name is S. alneum. It is a very common plant and is world wide in its distribution, growing on wood, as on branches, trunks, etc. It is white, and the pileus is very hairy or tomentose, with coarse white hairs. It is 1–3 cm. in diameter, and the cap is sessile, either attached at one side when the cap is more produced on one side than on the other, or it may be attached at or near the center of the top, when the cap is more evenly developed on all sides. It is often crenate or lobed on the margin, the larger plants showing this character more prominently. The margin is incurved. The gills are white, wooly, branched and extend out toward the margin of the cap like the radiations of a fan. The gills are deeply split along the edge, and strongly revolute. It is a very pretty plant, but one becomes rather tired of collecting it because it is so common. It may be found at all seasons of the year on dead sticks and branches, either in the woods or elsewhere, if the branches are present. It is very coriaceous, and tough. During dry weather it is much shrunken and curled up, but during rains it expands quickly and then it is seen in its beauty.

Plate 43, Figure 134.—Trogia crispa. Large cluster of caps, view of underside (natural size). Copyright.

Figure 133 shows the plant in the expanded condition, from the under side. The plants were growing on a hickory branch, and were dry and shrunken when brought in the laboratory. The branch and the fungus were placed in water for a few hours, when the fungus expanded, and was then photographed in this condition.

TROGIA Fr.

This genus is characterized, according to Fries, by the gills being channeled along the edge, but singularly the only species attributed to the genus in Europe and in our country has not channeled gills, but only somewhat crisped along the edges. It is usually, therefore, a difficult matter for a beginner to determine the plant simply from this description. The gills are furthermore narrow, irregular, and the plants are somewhat soft and flabby when wet, but brittle and persistent when dry, so that when moistened they revive and appear as if fresh.

Trogia crispa Fr.—This species is the principal if not only one in Europe and America. It is widely distributed, and sometimes not very uncommon. It occurs on trunks, branches, etc., often on the birch. The plants are from 0.5–1 cm. broad, usually sessile. The upper surface is whitish or reddish yellow toward the attachment, sometimes tan color, and when young it is sometimes covered with whitish hairs. The gills are very narrow, vein-like, irregular, interrupted or continuous, and often more or less branched. The gills are very much crisped, hence the name, blunt at the edge and white or bluish gray. The caps are usually much crowded and overlapped in an imbricated fashion as shown in Fig. 134; a photograph of a fine specimen after being moistened.