The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 59

The stem is three to five inches long, hollow, smooth, pallid, reddish within. The spores are elliptical, 105.

Found on the ground in the woods from July to October.

_Flammula squalida. Pk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 231.--Flammula squalida.]

The pileus is one to one and a half inches broad, fleshy, convex, or plane, firm, viscose, glabrous, dingy-yellowish or rufescent, flesh whitish but in color similar to the pileus under the separate cuticle.

The gills are rather broad, adnate, pallid, becoming dark ferruginous.

The stem is one and a half to three inches long, one to two lines thick, slender, generally flexuose, hollow fibrillose, pallid or brownish, pale-yellow at the top when young; spores are brownish-ferruginous, .0003 inch long, .00016 broad. _Peck._

It is found in bushy and swampy places. Dr. Peck says it is closely related to F. spumosa. Its dingy appearance, slender habit, more uniform and darker color of the pileus, and darker color of the lamellae. It grows in groups. The plant in Figure 231 was found in Purgatory Swamp, by Mrs. Blackford. Found in August and September.

_Paxillus. Fr._

Paxillus means a small stake or peg. The spores as well as the entire plant are ferruginous. The pileus, with an involute margin, gradually unfolds. It may be symmetrical or eccentric. The stem is continuous with the hymenoph.o.r.e. The gills are tough, soft, persistent, decurrent, branching, membranaceous, usually easily separating from the hymenoph.o.r.e.

The distinctive features of this genus are the involute margin and the soft, tough, and decurrent gills which are easily separable from the hymenoph.o.r.e. Some grow on the ground, others grow on stumps and sawdust.

_Paxillus involutus. Fr._

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

Figure 232.--Paxillus involutus.]

Involutus means rolled inward. The pileus is two to four inches broad, fleshy, compact, convex, plane, then depressed; viscid when moist, the cap being covered with a fine downy substance, so that when the margin of the cap unrolls the marks of the gills are quite prominent; yellowish or tawny-ochraceous, spotting when bruised.

The gills are decurrent, branched; anastomosing behind, near the stem; easily separating from the hymenoph.o.r.e.

The stem is paler than the pileus, fleshy, solid, firm, thickened upward, brown spotted.

The flesh is yellowish, changing to reddish or brownish when bruised.

The spores are rust-colored and elliptical, 8-10. It is found on the ground and decayed stumps. When found on the side of a decayed stump or a moss-covered log the stem is usually eccentric, but in other cases it is generally central.

It will be found around swampy places in an open woods. I found quite large specimens around a swamp in Mr. Shriver's woods near Chillicothe, but they were too far gone to photograph. It is edible but coa.r.s.e. It appears from August to November. Some authors call it the Brown Chantarelle.

_Paxillus atrotomentosus. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 233.--Paxillus atrotomentosus.]

Atrotomentosus is from _ater_, black, and _tomentum_, woolly or downy.

The pileus is three to six inches broad, rust-color or reddish-brown, compactly fleshy, eccentric, convex then plane or depressed, margin thin, frequently minutely rivulose, sometimes tomentose in the center, flesh white, tinged with brown under the cuticle.

The gills are attached to the stem, slightly decurrent, crowded, branched at the base, yellowish-tawny, inters.p.a.ces venose.

The stem is two to three inches long, stout, solid, elastic, eccentric or lateral, rooting, covered except at the apex with a dark-brown velvety down. The spores are elliptical, 5-63-4.

I found the specimen in Figure 233 at the foot of an old pine tree on hillside at Sugar Grove, Ohio. I found the plant frequently at Salem, Ohio. It grows where the pine tree is a native. It is not poisonous. I do not regard it as very good. Found during August and September.

_Paxillus rhodoxanthus. Schw._

THE YELLOW PAXILLUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 234.--Paxillus rhodoxanthus. Two-thirds natural size. Cap reddish-yellow or chestnut-brown. Gills yellow.]

Rhodoxanthus means a yellow rose. The pileus is one to two inches broad, convex, then expanded, cus.h.i.+on-shaped, the epidermis of the cap often cracked showing the yellow flesh, resembling very much Boletus subtomentosus; reddish-yellow or chestnut-brown. The flesh is yellow and the cap dry.

The gills are decurrent, somewhat distant, stout, chrome yellow, occasionally forked at the base; anastomosing veins quite prominent, the cystidia being very noticeable.

The stem is firm, stout, of the same color as the cap, perhaps paler and more yellow at the base. The spores are oblong, yellow, 8-123-5.

This is one of the most troublesome plants whose genus we have to settle. One of my mycological friends advised me to omit it from the genus altogether. It has been placed in various genera, but I have followed Prof. Atkinson and cla.s.sed it under Paxillus. The plant is widely distributed. I find it frequently about Chillicothe. It is edible. Found in August, September and October. A full discussion of the plant will be found in Prof. Atkinson's book.

_Cortinarius. Fr._

Cortinarius is from _cortina_, a curtain, alluding to a cobwebby veil seen only in the comparatively young plants. Sometimes, parts of it will seem more substantial, remaining for a time on the margin of the cap or on the stem. The color of the pileus varies and its flesh and that of the stem are continuous. The hymenoph.o.r.e and the gills are continuous.

The gills are attached to the stem, frequently notched, membranaceous, persistent, changing color, dry, powdery, with rusty-yellow spores which drop slowly. The veil and gills are the chief marks of distinction. The former is gossamer-like and separate from the cuticle, and the latter are always powdered. It is always essential to note the color of the gills in the young plant, since color is variable and sometimes shows only the slightest trace on the stem, colored from the falling spores.

Most authorities divide the genus into six tribes, from the appearance of the pileus. They are as follows:

I. Phlegmacium, meaning a s.h.i.+ny or clammy moisture. The pileus has a continuous pellicle, viscid when moist, stem dry, veil spider-webby.

II. Myxacium, meaning mucus, slime; so called from the glutinous veil.

The pileus is fleshy, glutinous, rather thin; the gills are attached to the stem, slightly decurrent; the stem is viscid, polished when dry, slightly bulbous.

III. Inoloma, meaning a fibrous fringe; from _is_, genitive _inos_, a fibre; and _loma_, a fringe.

The pileus is fleshy, dry, not hygrophanous or viscid, silky with innate scales; the gills may be violaceous, pinkish-brown, yellow at first, then in all cases cinnamon-color from the spores; the stem is fleshy and somewhat bulbous; veil simple.

IV. Dermocybe, meaning a skinhead; from _derma_, skin, and _cybe_, a head.

The pileus thin and fleshy, entirely dry, at first clothed with silky down, becoming smooth in mature plants. The gills are changeable in color. The stem is equal or tapering downward, stuffed, sometimes hollow, smooth.

V. Telamonia, meaning a bandage or lint. The pileus is moist, watery, smooth or sprinkled with whitish superficial fibres, the remnants of the web-like veil. The flesh is thin, somewhat thicker at the center. The stem is ringed and frequently scaly from the universal veil, slightly veiled at the apex, hence almost with a double veil. The plants are usually quite large.

VI. Hydrocybe, meaning water-head or moist head. The pileus is moist, not viscid, smooth or sprinkled with a whitish superficial fibril, flesh changing color when dry, and rather thin. The stem is somewhat rigid and bare. Veil thin, fibrillose, rarely forming a ring. Gills also thin.

TRIBE I. PHLEGMACIUM.