The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 8

_Amanitopsis v.a.g.i.n.ata. Bull._

THE SHEATHED AMANITOPSIS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 30.--Amanita v.a.g.i.n.ata. One-third natural size.

Notice a portion of the volva adhering to the cap.]

v.a.g.i.n.ata--from _v.a.g.i.n.a_, a sheath. The plant is edible but should be used with very great caution. It is quite variable in color, ranging from white to mouse color, brownish or yellowish.

The pileus is ovate at first, bell-shaped, then convex and expanded, thin, quite fragile, smooth, when young with a few fragments of the volva adhering to its surface, deeply and distinctly striate.

The gills are free, white, then pallid, ventricose, broadest in front, irregular. The flesh is white, but in the darker forms stained under the easily separating skin. The spores are white and nearly round, 7-10.

The stem is cylindrical, even or slightly tapering upward, hollow or stuffed, smooth or sprinkled with downy scales, not bulbous at the base.

The volva is long, thin, fragile, forming a permanent sheath which is quite soft and readily adheres to the base of the stem.

The striations on the margin are deep and distinct, as in the Orange Amanita. The cup is quite regular but it is fragile, easily broken and usually deep in the ground. In some plants a slight umbo is developed at the center.

The mushroom-eater wants to distinguish very carefully between this species and Amanita spreta, which is very poisonous.

It is found in woods, in open places where there is much vegetable mould, sometimes found in stubble and pastures, especially in meadows under trees. Found from June to November.

The plant varies considerably in color, and there are several varieties, separable by means of their color:

A. v.a.g.i.n.ata, var. alba. The whole plant is white.

A. v.a.g.i.n.ata var. fulva. The cap tawny yellow or pale ochraceous.

A. v.a.g.i.n.ata var. livida. The cap leaden brown; gills and stem tinged with smoky brown.

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

Plate V. Figure 31.--Amanita v.a.g.i.n.ata]

_Amanitopsis strangulata. Fr._

THE GRAY AMANITOPSIS. EDIBLE.

Strangulata means choked, from the stuffed stem. The pileus is two to four inches broad, soon plane, livid-bay or gray, with patches of the volva, margin striate or grooved.

The gills are free, white, close.

The stem is stuffed, silky above, scaly below, slightly tapering upwards. The volva soon breaking up, forming several ring-like ridges on the stem. The spores are globose, 10-13.

This is a synonym for A. ceciliae. B. and Br. and perhaps nothing more than a vigorous growth of Amanitopsis v.a.g.i.n.ata. It has almost no odor and a sweet taste and cooks deliciously.

Found in the woods and in open places from August to October.

_Lepiota. Fr._

Lepiota means a scale. In the Lepiota the gills are typically free from the stem, as in Amanita and Amanitopsis, but they differ in having no superficial or removable warts on the cap, and no sheathing or scaly remains of a volva at the base of the stem. In some species the epidermis of the cap breaks into scales which persistently adhere to the cap, and this feature, indeed, suggests the name of the genus, which is derived from the Latin word _lepis_, a scale.

The stem is hollow or stuffed, its flesh being distinct from the pileus and easily separable from it. There are a number of edible species.

_Lepiota procera. Scop._

THE PARASOL MUSHROOM. EDIBLE.

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

Plate VI. Figure 32.--Lepiota procera.]

Procera means tall.

The pileus is thin, strongly umbonate, adorned with brown spot-like scales.

The gills are white, sometimes yellowish-white, free, remote from the stem, broad and crowded, ventricose, edge sometimes brownish.

The stem is very long, cylindrical, hollow or stuffed, even, very long in proportion to its thickness and is, therefore, suggestive of the specific name, procera. The ring is rather thick and firm, though in mature plants it becomes loosened and movable on the stem. This and the form of the plant suggest the name, parasol. The cap is from three to five inches broad and the stem from five to nine inches high. I found one specimen among fallen timber that was eleven inches tall and whose cap was six inches broad.

It has a wide distribution. It is found in all parts of Ohio but is not abundant anywhere. It is a favorite with those who have eaten it, and, indeed, it is a delicious morsel when quickly broiled over coals, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, b.u.t.ter melted in the gills and served on toast. This mushroom is especially free from grubs and it can be dried for winter use.

There is no poisonous species with which one is likely to confound it.

The very tall, slender stem with a bulbous base, the very peculiar spotted cap with the prominent dark colored umbo and the movable ring on the stem, are ear-marks sufficient to identify this species.

Spores white and elliptical, 1410. Lloyd. It is found in pastures, stubble, and among fallen timber. July to October.

I am indebted to C. G. Lloyd for the photograph given here.

_Lepiota naucina. Fr._

SMOOTH LEPIOTA. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 33.--Lepiota naucina. The entire plant white.]

Pileus soft, smooth, white or smoky-white; gills free, white, slowly changing with age to a dirty pinkish-brown color; stem annulate, slightly thickened at the base, attenuated upward, clothed with fibres pure white. The Smooth Lepiota is generally very regular in shape and of a pure white color. The central part of the cap is sometimes tinged with yellow or a smoky white hue. Its surface is nearly always very smooth and even. The gills are somewhat narrower toward the stem than they are in the middle. They are rounded and not attached to the stem.

Cap two to four inches broad; stem two to three inches long. It grows in clean gra.s.sy places in lawn, pastures, and along roadsides. I have seen the roadside white with this species around Sidney, Ohio. The specimens represented in figure were found in Chillicothe, August to November.

This is one of the best mushrooms, not inferior to the meadow mushroom.

It has this advantage over the former that the gills retain their white color and do not pa.s.s from a pink to a repulsive black. The halftone and the description ought to make the plant known to the most casual reader.

_Lepiota americana. Pk._