The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 83

_Polyporus gilvus. Schw._

Gilvus means pale-yellow or deep-reddish flesh-color.

The pileus is corky, woody, hard, effuso-reflexed, imbricate, concrescent, subtomentose, then scabrous, uneven, reddish-yellow, then subferruginous, the margin acute.

The pores are minute, round, entire, brownish-ferruginous. _Morgan._

It is very abundant throughout the state, being found on all kinds of logs and stumps.

_Polystictus cinnamoneus. Jacq._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 344.--Polystictus cinnamoneus.]

The pileus is an inch and a half, or less, broad, coriaceous, slightly depressed in the center; rather rough on the surface, but with a beautiful satiny l.u.s.tre, and more or less zoned; caps often growing together, but with separate stems; s.h.i.+ning, a light cinnamon-brown.

The spores are rather large, angular, torn with age; cinnamon-brown, growing darker in older plants.

The stem is one to two inches long, equal, or slightly tapering upward, cinnamon-brown, hollow or stuffed, tough, frequently sending forth branches from the side and base of the stem.

This is quite a beautiful plant, growing usually in patches of moss. The caps have quite a glossy cinnamon-brown surface, which will attract the attention of any one. They are very small and easily overlooked. Found in August and September.

This plant is called P. subsericeus by Dr. Peck.

_Polystictus perennis. Fr._

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

Plate XLVII. Figure 346.--Polystictus perennis.]

The pileus is thin, pliant when fresh but somewhat brittle when dry. It is minutely velvety on the upper surface, reddish-brown or cinnamon in color; expanded or umbilicate to nearly funnel-shaped. The surface is beautifully marked by radiations and fine concentric zones.

The stem is also velvety. The spore-tubes are minute, the walls thin and acute, and the mouths angular, and at last more or less torn. The margin of the cap is finely fimbriate, but in old specimens those hairs are apt to become rubbed off. _Atkinson._

I found specimens by the roadside near Lone Tree Hill, near Chillicothe.

It is the only place in which I have found this plant. I have found Polystictus subsericeus, or, as Prof. Atkinson calls it, P. cinnamomeus, in a number of localities.

_Polystictus pergamenus. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 345.--Polystictus pergamenus.]

Pergamenus means parchment.

The pileus is coriaceous, thin, effused, reflexed, villous, zoned, cinereous-white, with colored zone; pliant when fresh.

The pores are unequal, torn, violaceous, then pallid. It is very common here on beech, maple, and wild cherry. The pores become torn so that they resemble the teeth of the Hydnum. This is one of the most common fungi in our woods.

The photograph is by Prof. J. D. Smith, of Akron, O.

_Fomes leucophaeus. Mont._

This has been called by many authors in America Fomes applanatus or Polyporus applanatus. It is very common in this country but very rare in Europe, while Fomes applanatus, which is common in Europe, is very scarce in the United States. In general appearance they are much alike, the applanatus having a softer tissue and echinulate spores, but our common species, leucophaeus, has smooth spores.

The pileus is expanded, tuberculose, obsoletely zoned, pulverulent, or smooth; cinnamon, becoming whitish; cuticle crustaceous, rigid, at length fragile, very soft within; loosely floccose, margin tumid; white, then cinnamon. The pores are very small, slightly ferruginous, orifice whitish, brownish when bruised. The spore surface when fresh is soft and white.

This attractive plant is very common in our woods and furnishes an excellent stencil surface for drawing. Found all the year round.

_Fomes fomentarius. Fr._

THE BRACKET FOMES.

This species is very common in our woods. The brackets resemble a horse's hoof in shape. They are smoky, gray, and of various shades of brown. The upper surface of the bracket is quite strongly zoned and furrowed, so as to show each year's growth. The margin is thick and blunt, and the tube surface is concave; the openings of the tubes quite large, so that they can be readily seen by the naked eye. The tube surface is reddish-brown when mature. The inside was formerly used in making tinder-sticks, which were made by rolling the fungus wood until it was perfectly flexible and then dipping it into saltpetre.

_Fomes rimosus. Berkeley._

CRACKED FOMES.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 347.--Fomes rimosus.]

Rimosus means cracked. The fine checks in the pileus are clearly seen in the halftone.

The pileus is pulvinate-ungulate, much dilated, deeply sulcate; cinnamon, then brown or blackish; very much cracked or rimose. It is very hard, fibrous, tawny-ferruginous; the margin broad, pruinate-velvety, rather acute.

The pores are minute, indistinctly stratified, tawny-ferruginous, the mouths rhubarb-color. _Morgan._

This plant is very common on the locust trees about Chillicothe. I have never found it on other wood.

_Fomes pinicola. (Swartz.) Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 348.--Fomes pinicola.]

Pinicola means dwelling on pine. It is found on dead pine, spruce, balsam, and other conifers. It resembles Fomes leucophaeus but is somewhat stouter and does not have as hard and firm a crust. The young growth is at the margin, and is whitish or tinged with yellow, while the old zones are reddish. The tube surface is whitish-yellow or yellowish.

This is frequently called Polyporus pinicolus. (Swartz.) Fr.

_Fomes igniarius. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 349.--Fomes igniarius.]

This is rather a common species in our state; black or brownish-black in color, somewhat triangular in shape, and frequently hoof-shaped. The zones indicating the yearly growth are plainly marked, and the tubes are quite long and of a dark brown color. Their growth is rather slow, and it requires years to produce some of the moderate sized specimens. Prof.

Atkinson of Cornell University found a specimen which he believed to be over 80 years old.