The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 61

_Cortinarius alboviolaceus. Pers._

THE LIGHT VIOLET CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 237.--Cortinarius alboviolaceus. The caps are violet.]

Alboviolaceus means whitish-violet.

The pileus is two to three inches broad, fleshy, rather thin, convex, then expanded, sometimes broadly sub.u.mbonate; smooth, silky, whitish, tinged with lilac or pale violet.

The gills are generally serrulate, whitish-violet, then cinnamon-color.

The stem is three to four inches long, equal or tapering upward, solid, silky, white, stained with violet, especially at the top, slightly bulbous, the bulb gradually tapering into the stem. Spores, 125-6.

_Peck's_ Report.

Sometimes the stem has a median ring-like zone, being violet above the zone and white below. The spider-like veil shows very plainly in the specimen on the left in Figure 237. In the plant on the right is shown the tapering stem from the base to the apex. These plants were found in Poke Hollow, September 21st. They are quite abundant there and elsewhere about Chillicothe. They are very good but not equal in flavor to C.

violaceus. They are found in mixed woods. September to frost.

_Cortinarius lilacinus. Pk._

THE LILAC-COLORED CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.

The pileus is two to three inches broad, firm, hemispherical, then convex, minutely silky, lilac-color.

The gills are close, lilac, then cinnamon.

The stem is four to five inches long, stout, bulbous, silky-fibrillose, solid, whitish, tinged with lilac. Spores nucleate, 106. _Peck._

I have found this plant in but one place near Chillicothe. In Poke Hollow on a north hillside I have found a number of rare specimens. All were identified by Dr. Kauffman of Michigan University. All were found under beech trees within a very small radius. September and October.

_Cortinarius bolaris. Fr._

THE COLLARED CORTINARIUS.

The pileus is fleshy, obsoletely umbonate, growing pale, variegated with saffron-red, adpressed, innate, pilose scales.

The gills are subdecurrent, crowded, watery cinnamon.

The stem is two to three inches long, at first stuffed, then hollow, nearly equal, squamose.

Found under beech trees. Only occasionally found here.

_Cortinarius violaceus. Fr._

THE VIOLET CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 238.--Cortinarius violaceus. Two-thirds natural size. Caps dark violet. Stems bulbous. Gills violet.]

Violaceus, violet color. The pileus is convex, becoming nearly plane, dry, adorned with numerous persistent hairy tufts or scales; dark violet.

The gills are rather thick, distant, rounded, or deeply notched at the inner extremity; colored like the pileus in the young plant, brownish-cinnamon in the mature plant.

The stem is solid, clothed with small fibres; bulbous, colored like the pileus. The spores are slightly elliptical.

The Violet Cortinarius is a very beautiful mushroom and one easy of recognition. At first the whole plant is uniformly colored, but with age the gills a.s.sume a dingy ochraceous or brownish-cinnamon hue. The cap is generally well formed and regular, and is beautifully adorned with little hairy scales or tufts. These are rarely shown in figures of the European plant, but they are quite noticeable in the American plant, and should not be overlooked. The flesh is more or less tinged with violet. _Peck._ 50th Rep. N. Y. State Bot.

No one can fail to recognize this plant. The web-like veil in the young plant, the bulbous stem, and the violet tinge throughout will readily distinguish it. It grows in rich hilly country. It grows solitary, and in open woods.

TRIBE IV. DERMOCYBE.

_Cortinarius cinnamoneus. Fr._

THE CINNAMON CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 239.--Cortinarius cinnamoneus. Two-thirds natural size. Caps cinnamon-brown. Stems yellow.]

The pileus is thin, convex, nearly expanded, sometimes nearly plane, sometimes slightly umbonate, sometimes the pileus is abruptly bent downward; dry, fibrillose at least when young, often with concentric rows of scales on the margin, cinnamon-brown, flesh yellowish.

The gills are thin, close, firmly attached to the stem, slightly notched, decurrent with a tooth, becoming easily separated from the stem, s.h.i.+ning, yellowish, then tawny-yellow.

The stem is slender, equal, stuffed or hollow, thin, clothed with small fibres, yellow, as is also the flesh. The spores are elliptical. This plant is so called because of its color, the entire plant being of a cinnamon-color. Sometimes there are cinnabar stains on the pileus. It seems to grow best under pine trees, but I have found it in mixed woods.

My attention was called to it by the little Bohemian boys picking it when they had been in this country but a few days and could not speak a word of English. It is evidently like the European species. There is also a Cortinarius that has blood-red gills. It is var. semi-sanguineus, Fr. July to October.

The plants in Figure 239 were found on Cemetery Hill, Chillicothe, O.

_Cortinarius ochroleucus. Fr._

THE PALLID CORTINARIA.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 240.--Cortinarius ochroleucus. Two-thirds natural size, showing veil and bulbous form of stem.]

Ochroleucus, meaning yellowish and white, because of the color of the cap. The pileus is an inch to two and a half inches broad, fleshy; convex, sometimes somewhat depressed in the center, often remaining convex; dry; on the center finely tomentose to minutely scaly, sometimes the scales are arranged in concentric rows around the cap; quite fleshy at the center, thinning out toward the margin; the color is a creamy to a deep-buff, considerably darker at the center.

The gills are attached to the stem, clearly notched, somewhat ventricose; in mature plants, somewhat crowded, not entire, many short ones, pale first, then clay-colored ochre.

The stem is three inches long, solid, firm, often bulbous, tapering upward, often becoming hollow, a creamy-buff.

The veil, quite beautiful and strongly persistent, forms a cortina of the same color as the cap but becoming discolored by the falling of the spores. In Figure 240 the cortina and the bulbous form of the stem will be seen.

Found along Ralston's Run. In beech woods from September to November.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 241.--Cortinarius ochroleucus. Two-thirds natural size, showing the developed plant.]

TRIBE V. TELAMONIA.