The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 62

_Cortinarius Morrisii. Pk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 242.--Cortinarius Morrisii.]

Morrisii is named in honor of George E. Morris, Ellis, Ma.s.s.

Pileus fleshy, except the thin and at length reflexed margin; convex, irregular, hygrophanous, ochraceous or tawny-ochraceous; flesh thin, colored like the pileus; odor weak, like that of radishes.

The gills are broad, subdistant, eroded or uneven on the edge; rounded behind, adnexed, pale-yellow when young, becoming darker with age.

The stem is nearly equal, fibrillose, solid, whitish or pale-yellow and silky at the top, colored like the pileus below and fibrillose; irregularly striate and subreticulate, the double veil whitish or yellowish-white and sometimes forming an imperfect annulus.

The spores are tawny-ochraceous, subglobose or broadly elliptic, nucleate, 8-10 long, 6-7 broad. _Peck._

Pileus 3-10 cm. broad; stem 7-10 cm. long, 1-2 cm. thick.

They require moist and shady places and the presence of hemlock trees.

They are found from August to October. The plants in Figure 242 were found near Boston by Mrs. E. B. Blackford.

_Cortinarius armillatus. Fr._

THE RED-ZONED CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 243.--Cortinarius armillatus. Two-thirds natural size, showing the rings on the stem.]

Armillatus means ringed; so called because the stem is banded with one or more rings, or red bands. The pileus is two to four inches broad, fleshy, not compact, bell-shaped, then expanded, soon innately fibrillose and torn into scales, smooth when young, reddish-brick-color, margin thin, flesh dingy-pallid.

The gills are very broad, distant, adnate, slightly rounded, pallid, then dark-cinnamon.

The stem is fairly long, solid, bulbous, whitish, with two or three red zones, somewhat fibrillose. The spores 106.

This is a very large and beautiful Cortinarius and it has such a number of striking ear marks that it can be easily recognized. The thin and generally uneven margin of the pileus and the one to four red bands around the stem, the upper one being the brightest, will distinguish this species from all others. It is found in the woods in September and October. In quite young specimens the collector will notice two well defined arachnoid veils, the lower one being much more dense. Prof.

Fries speaks of them as follows: "Exterior veil woven, red, arranged in 2-4 distant cinnabar zones encircling the stem; partial veil continuous with the upper zone, arachnoid, reddish-white." The specimens in Figure 243 were collected in Michigan and photographed by Dr. Fischer of Detroit. A number of this species form a prize for the table.

_Cortinarius Atkinsonia.n.u.s. Kauff._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 244.--Cortinarius Atkinsonia.n.u.s. Caps waxy-yellow, bulbous stem, spider-like veil.]

Atkinsonia.n.u.s is named in honor of Prof. Geo. F. Atkinson.

The pileus is 8 cm. broad, expanded, _wax-yellow_ or _gallstone-yellow_ to _clay-colored and tawny_ (Ridg.), colors very striking and sometimes several present at once; viscid, smooth, even, somewhat s.h.i.+ning when dry. Flesh thick, except at margin, bluish-white like the stem, or paler, scarcely or not at all changing when bruised.

The gills are comparatively narrow, 6-8 mm., width uniform except near outer end, adnate, becoming slightly sinuate, _purplish_ to yellow, then cinnamon.

The stem is _violaceus-blue_, 8 cm. long, 12-15 mm. thick, equal or slightly tapering upward, bulbous by a rather thick, marginate bulb 3 cm. thick, hung with fibrillose threads of the universal veil, which is a beautiful pale-yellow and clothes the bulb even at maturity; violaceous-blue within, solid. Spores 13-157-8.5, _very tubercular_. _Kauff._

The specimens in Figure 244 were found in Poke Hollow near Chillicothe.

I have found them on several occasions. They are edible and of very good flavor. Found from September to frost. The specimens ill.u.s.trate the spider-like veil that gives rise to the genus.

_Cortinarius umidicola. Kauff._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 245.--Cortinarius umidicola. One-half natural size. Caps pinkish-buff.]

Umidicola means dwelling in moist places. Pileus as much as 16 cm. broad (generally 6-7 cm. when expanded), hemispherical, then convex and expanded, with the margin for a long time markedly incurved; young cap heliotrope-purplish with umber on disk, or somewhat fawn-colored, fading very quickly to pinkish-buff, in which condition it is usually found; margin when young with narrow strips of silky fibrils from the universal veil; pileus when old covered with innate, whitish, silky fibrils, hygrophanous; surface punctuate, even when young. Flesh of stem and pileus lavender when young but soon fading to a sordid white, thick on disk, abruptly thin towards margin, soon cavernous from grubs. The gills are very broad, as much as 2 cm.; at first lavender, soon very pale-tan to cinnamon; rather distant, thick, emarginate with a tooth; at first plane, then ventricose; edge slightly serratulate, concolorous.

Stem as much as 13 cm. long (usually 8 to 10 cm.), 1-2 cm. thick, usually thickened below and tapering slightly upwards, mostly thicker also at apex, rarely attenuate at the base, sometimes curved, always stout, solid, lavender above the woven, sordid white, universal veil, which at first covers the lower part as a sheath, but soon breaks up so as to leave a band-like annulus half way or lower down on the stem. The annulus is soon rubbed off, leaving a bare stem. Cortina violaceous-white. Spores 7-95-6, almost smooth. _Kauffman._

The specimens in Figure 245 were gathered at Detroit, Michigan, and photographed by Dr. Fischer. They grow in groups in damp places, preferring hemlock trees.

_Cortinarius croceocolor. Kauff. sp. nov._

SAFFRON-COLORED CORTINARIUS. (TELAMONIA.)

Croceocolor means saffron-colored.

Pileus 3-7 cm. broad, convex then expanded, saffron-yellow, with dense, dark-brown, erect squamules on disk; whole surface has a velvety appearance and feel, scarcely hygrophanous, even; flesh of pileus yellowish-white, rather thin except on disk, slightly hygrophanous, scissile.

Gills cadmium-yellow (Ridg.), moderately distant, rather thick, emarginate, rather broad, 8-9 mm., width uniform except in front where they taper quickly to a point.

Stem 4-8 cm. long, tapering upwards from a thickened base, _i.e._, clavate-bulbous, 9-15 mm. thick below, peronate three-fourths of its length by the crome-yellow to saffron veil, paler above the veil, solid, saffron-colored within, hygrophanous, soon dingy; attached to strands of yellowish mycelium. Spores subspheroid to short elliptical, 6.5-85.5-6.5, echinulate when mature.

Found under beech trees in Poke Hollow near Chillicothe. Found in October.

_Cortinarius evernius. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 246.--Cortinarius evernius.]

Evernius comes from a Greek word meaning sprouting well, flouris.h.i.+ng.

The pileus is one to three inches broad, rather thin, between membranaceous and fleshy, at first conical, becoming bell-shaped, and finally expanded, very slightly umbonate, everywhere covered with silky, adpressed veil, usually purplish-bay when smooth, brick-red when dry, then pale ochraceous when old, at length cracked and torn into fibrils, very fragile, flesh thin and colored like the pileus.

The gills are attached to the stem, quite broad, ventricose, somewhat distant, purplish-violet, becoming pale, finally cinnamon.

The stem is three to five inches long, equal or attenuated downwards, often slightly striate, soft, violaceous, scaly from the remains of the white veil. The spores are elliptical, granular, 107.

They grow in damp pine woods. The specimens in the photograph were gathered in Purgatory Swamp near Boston, and sent to me by Mrs.

Blackford. They are found in August and September.

TRIBE VI. HYDROCYBE.

_Cortinarius castaneus. Bull._

THE CHESTNUT-COLORED CORTINARIUS. EDIBLE.