The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 84

This is called by many authors Polyporus igniarius (L.), Fr. Murrill calls it Pyropolyporus igniarius. This plant is widely distributed over the United States, and is met frequently in every wood in Ohio.

_Fomes fraxinophilus. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 350.--Fomes fraxinophilus.]

Fraxinophilus means ash-loving; rather common in this country, but does not grow in Europe.

The pileus is between corky and woody, smooth, somewhat flattened, at first zoneless; white when young, then reddish-brown, white around the margin; at first even, then concentrically sulcate, pale within.

The tubes are short, pores minute, rusty-red but covered from the first with a white p.u.b.escence and continuous with the margin; the spores nearly round, 6-7.

The specimens in Figure 350 were found in Haynes' Hollow on a living ash, growing at intervals of five or six feet, one above another, to a height of thirty feet.

_Trametes. Fr._

In case of the genus Trametes the hymenophorum descends into the trama of the pores without any change, and is permanently concrete with the pileus. The pores are entire. There are, however, a few of the Polypori which are quite thin that have the trama of the same structure with the hymenophorum. These have been separated by Fries and have been called _Polystictus_. They are distinguished by the fact that the pores develop from the center out and are perpendicular to the fibrillose stratum above the hymenophorum while in the genus _Trametes_ the hymenophorum is not distant from the rest of the pileus.

_Trametes rubescens. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 351.--Trametes rubescens.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 352.--Trametes rubescens.]

This is one of the neatest plants of this structure in our woods. It grows on the small branches and many times covers them quite well. It is resupinate, the cap being beautifully zoned as you see in Figure 351.

Frequently they grow from the side of a small tree that has fallen to the ground and in this case they are shelving.

The pore surface is usually reddish or flesh-color, the pores being long and irregular and inclined to be labyrinthiform in older specimens as will be seen in Figure 352.

The whole plant is reddish or pale flesh-color. No one will fail to recognize it from these cuts.

_Trametes scutellata. Schw._

Scutellata means s.h.i.+eld-bearing. It is frequently quite small, an inch or less; coriaceous, dimidiate, orbiculate or ungulate, fixed by the apex; the pilei quite hard: white, then brownish and blackish, becoming rugged and uneven, with white margin; hymenium disk-shaped, concave, white-pulverulent becoming dark; pores minute, long, with thick obtuse dissepiments. This is found on fence posts.

_Trametes Ohiensis. Berk._

The pilei are pulvinate, narrow, zoned, often laterally confluent; ochraceous-white, tomentose, then smooth, laccate. This plant resembles T. scutellata in many points, both in habit and in form.

_Trametes suaveolens. (L.) Fr._

Soft at first, pulvinate, white, villous, zoneless; pores rotund, rather large, obtuse, white, then darker; anise-scented. Found on willows.

_Merulius. Fr._

Merulius means a blackbird; from the color of the fungus.

Hymenoph.o.r.e covered with the soft waxy hymenium, which is incompletely porus, or arranged in reticulate, sinuous, dentate folds. This genus grows on wood, at first resupinate, expanded; the hymenoph.o.r.e springing from a mucous mycelium.

_Merulius rubellus. Pk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 353.--Merulius rubellus. Natural size.]

Rubellus is the diminutive of _ruber_, reddish. The pileus grows in tufts, sessile, confluent and imbricated, repand, thin, convex, soft, dimidiate, quite tenacious; tomentose, evenly red, margin mostly undulately inflexed, growing pale in age. Hymenium whitish or reddish, folds much branched, forming anastomosing pores. The spores are elliptical, hyaline, minute, 4-52.5-3. The pileus is two to three inches long and an inch and a half broad.

It is found very frequently on decayed beech and sugar trees and I have found it growing on a live oak. The specimens in Figure 353 were collected near Columbus and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. It is probably the same as M. incarnati, Schw.

_Merulius tremellosus. Schrad._

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

Figure 354.--Merulius tremellosus]

Tremellosus, trembling. Resupinate; margin becoming free and more or less reflexed, usually radiately-toothed, fleshy, tremelloid, tomentose, white; hymenium variously wrinkled and porus, whitish and subtranslucent-looking, becoming tinged with brown in the center. The spores are cylindrical, curved, about 41. From one to three inches across, remaining pale when growing in dark places. The margin is sometimes tinged with a rose-color, radiating when it is well developed.

_Ma.s.see._

This plant grows in woods on wood and is quite common in our woods--both the rose-colored and the translucent-brown. Captain McIlvaine calls Merulius tremellosus and M. rubellus emergency species. He says they are rather tasteless, tough, slightly woody in flavor. They are found in October and November.

_Merulius corium. Fr._

Resupinate, effused, soft, papery, circ.u.mference at length free, reflexed, white, villous below. Hymenium netted, porus, pallid, tan-color.

Found on decaying-branches. Quite common.

_Merulius lacrymans. Fr._

Resupinate, fleshy, spongy, moist, tender, at first very light, cottony and white; when the veins appear they are of a fine yellow, orange or reddish-brown, forming irregular folds, so arranged to have the appearance of pores (but never anything like tubes), distilling when perfect drops of water which give rise to the specific name "weeping."

Dr. Charles W. Hoyt of Chillicothe, brought to my office two or three plants of this species that had grown on the under side of the floor in his wash-house. When he took up the floor the workmen discovered a number of pendant processes, some oval, some cone-shaped. Some were eight inches long, very white and beautiful but clearly ill.u.s.trating the weeping process. The doctor called them white rats suspended by their tails.

_Daedalea. Pers._

Daedalea is used with reference to the labyrinthiform pores; so named after Daedalos, the builder of the labyrinth of Crete.

The hymenoph.o.r.e descends into the trama without any change, pores firm, when fully grown sinuous and labyrinthiform, lacerated, and toothed. The habits of Daedalea are very much the same as Trametes, but they are inodorous. Care should be taken not to confound them with the species of Polyporus that have elongated curved pores.

_Daedalea ambigua. Berk._