The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 34

Caps light tan with a pinkish hue. Very acrid.]

Trivialis means common.

The pileus is three to four inches broad, usually damp or watery, sometimes quite viscid, s.h.i.+ning when dry, convex, then expanded, depressed in the center, margin at first incurved, even, smooth; warm, soft tan, rather light, and sometimes a very slight pinkish hue prevails. The flesh is solid and persistent.

The gills are rather crowded, slightly decurrent, at first whitish, then a light yellow, many not reaching to the stem, none forked. The stem is from three to four inches long, of same color as the pileus, often a much lighter shade; tapering from the cap to the base, smooth, stuffed, and finally hollow. The plant is quite full of milk, white at first, then turning yellowish.

The plant is very acrid and peppery. It is quite plentiful along the streams of Ross county, Ohio. It is not poisonous, but it seems too hot to eat. It is found after rains from July to October, in mixed woods where it is damp.

_Lactarius insulsus. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 135.--Lactarius insulsus. One-third natural size.

Caps yellowish or straw color. Very acrid.]

Insulsus, insipid or tasteless. This is a very attractive plant. Quite solid and maintains its form for several days; The pileus is two to four inches broad, convex, depressed in the center, then funnel-shaped, smooth, viscid when moist, more or less zoned, the zones much narrower than L. scrobiculatus, yellowish or straw-color, margin slightly incurved and naked.

The gills are thin, rather crowded, adnate and sometimes decurrent, some of them forked at the base, whitish or pallid. Spores subglobose, rough, 108.

The stem is one to two inches long, equal or slightly tapering downward, stuffed, whitish, generally spotted. Milk, white.

Most authorities cla.s.s this as an edible plant, but it is so hot and the flesh so solid that I have never tried it. I found two plants which fully answered the description of the European plants. The zones were orange-yellow and brick-red. I have visited the place many times since, but have never been able to find another. It is not an abundant plant with us. Found from July to October, in open woods.

_Lactarius lignyotus. Fr._

THE SOOTY LACTARIUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._

Plate XXI. Figure, 136.--Lactarius lignyotus.

Natural size. Caps a sooty umber. Flesh mild to the taste.]

Lignyotus is from _lignum_, wood. The pileus is one to four inches in diameter, fleshy, convex, then expanded, sometimes slightly umbonate, often in age slightly depressed, smooth or often wrinkled, pruinosely velvety, sooty umber, the margin in the old plants wavy and distinctly plaited; the flesh white and mild to the taste.

The gills are attached to the stem; unequal; snow-white or yellowish-white, slowly changing to a pinkish-red or salmon color when bruised; distant in old plants.

The stem is one to three inches long, equal, abruptly constricted at the apex, smooth, stuffed, of the same color as the pileus. Milk white, taste mild or tardily acrid. The spores are globose, yellowish, 9-11.3.

This is called the Sooty Lactarius and is very easily identified. It will be frequently found a.s.sociated with the Smoky Lactarius which it greatly resembles. It seems to delight in wet swampy woods. It is said to be one of the best of the Lactarii. The specimens in Figure 136 were collected at Sandusky, Ohio, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

_Lactarius cinereus. Pk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 137.--Lactarius cinereus.]

Cinereus is from _cineres_, ashes; so called from the color of the plant.

The pileus is one to two and a half inches broad, zoneless, somewhat viscid, floccose-scaly, depressed in the center, margin thin, even, flesh thin and white, mild to the taste, ashy-gray.

The gills are adnate, rather close, sometimes forked (usually near the stem), uneven, white or creamy-white, milk white, not plentiful.

The stem is two to three inches long, tapering upward, loosely stuffed, finally hollow, often floccose at the base.

This plant is quite common from September to November, growing in damp weather on leaves in mixed woods. It has a mild taste. While I have not eaten it I have no doubt of its edibility. The color of the pileus is sometimes quite dark.

_Lactarius griseus. Pk._

GRAY LACTARIUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 138.--Lactarius griseus.]

Griseus means gray.

The pileus is thin, nearly plane, broadly umbilicate or centrally depressed, sometimes infundibuliform, generally with a small umbo or papilla, minutely squamulose tomentose, gray or brownish-gray, becoming paler with age.

The gills are thin, close, adnate, or slightly decurrent, whitish or yellowish.

The stem is slender, equal or slightly tapering upward, rather fragile; stuffed or hollow; generally villose or tomentose at the base; paler than, or colored like, the pileus.

The spores are .0003 to .00035 inch; milk white, taste subacrid. Pileus is 6 to 18 lines broad, stem 1 to 2 inches long, 1 to 3 lines thick.

_Peck._

It resembles L. mammosus and L. cinereus. It differs from the former in not having ferruginous gills and p.u.b.escent stems, and from the latter by its smaller size, its densely p.u.b.escent pileus, and its habitat. It grows on mossy logs or in mossy swamps. The base of one of the plants in Figure 138 is covered with the moss in which they grew. These plants were found in Purgatory Swamp, near Boston, by Mrs. Blackford. They grow from July to September.

_Lactarius distans. Pk._

THE DISTANT-GILLED LACTARIUS. EDIBLE.

Distans means distant, so called because the gills are very wide apart.

The pileus is firm, broadly convex or nearly plane, umbilicate or slightly depressed in the center; with a minute, velvety pruinosity; yellowish-tawny or brownish-orange.

The gills are rather broad, distant, adnate or slightly decurrent, white or creamy yellow, inters.p.a.ces veined; milk white, mild.

The stem is short, equal or tapering downward, solid, pruinose, colored like the pileus.

The spores are subglobose, 9-11 broad. _Peck_, N. Y. Report, 52.

I frequently mistake this plant for L. volemus when seen growing in the ground, but the widely separated gills distinguish the plant as soon as it is gathered. The stem is short and round, tapering downward, solid, colored like the pileus. The milk is both white and mild. I find it on nearly every wooded hillside about Chillicothe. It is found from July to September.

_Lactarius atroviridus. Pk._

THE DARK-GREEN LACTARIUS.