Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous Part 19

From the foregoing it will be seen that H. _incertum_ agrees more nearly with H. _Candollianum_ in the color of the cap, but more nearly with H.

_appendiculatum_ in the color of the gills. Saccardo recognizes the three as "distinct species of the _genus Hypholoma_." As all are edible, the slight differences observed are interesting chiefly to the mycologist. The mycophagist will find them equally valuable from a gastronomic point of view. In taste they resemble the common mushroom.

They are more fragile, however, and require less cooking than the cultivated mushroom. Broiled on toast or cooked for ten minutes in a chafing dish, they make a very acceptable addition to the lunch menu.

The specimens figured in Plate IX were selected from a crop of thirty or more growing in the author's garden, in very rich soil at the base of a plum-tree stump. For several seasons past small crops have been gathered from the same spot, as well as around the base of a flouris.h.i.+ng peach tree. Quant.i.ties of all three species have been gathered in the short gra.s.s of the Capitol grounds for a number of seasons, and in the various parks of the District of Columbia. Specimens have been received from western New York and Ma.s.sachusetts. Those growing upon soil very heavily fertilized are apt to be somewhat stouter and shorter stemmed than those coming up through the short gra.s.s in the parks.

a.n.a.lYTICAL TABLE.

The following compendious a.n.a.lytical table showing prominent characteristics of the leading genera and subgenera of the order Agaricini, according to Fries, Worthington Smith, and other botanists, which appears in Cooke's Hand Book, revised edition, will be found helpful to the collector in determining the genus to which a specimen may belong.

ORDER AGARICINI

I. Spores white or very slightly tinted--Leucospori 1. Plant fleshy, more or less firm, putrescent (neither deliquescent nor coriaceous) 2. Hymenoph.o.r.e free 3. Pileus bearing warts or patches free from the cuticle (volvate) _Amanita_ 3. Pileus scaly, scales concrete with the cuticle (not volvate) _Lepiota_ 2. Hymenoph.o.r.e confluent 4. Without cartilaginous bark 5. Stem central 6. With a ring _Armillaria_ 6. Ringless 7. Gills sinuate _Tricholoma_ 7. Gills decurrent 8. Edge acute _c.l.i.tocybe_ 8. Edge swollen obtuse CANTHARELLUS 7. Gills adnate 9. Parasitic on other Agarics NYCTALIS 9. Not parasitic 10. Milky LACTARIUS 10. Not milky 11. Rigid and brittle RUSSULA 11. Waxy HYGROPHORUS 5. Stem lateral or absent _Pleurotus_ 4. With cartilaginous bark 12. Gills adnate _Collybia_ 12. Gills sinuate _Mycena_ 12. Gills decurrent _Omphalia_ 1. Plant tough, coriaceous or woody 13. Stem central.

14. Gills simple MARASMIUS 14. Gills branched XEROTUS 13. Stem lateral or wanting 15. Gills toothed LENTINUS 15. Gills not toothed Pa.n.u.s 15. Gills channelled longitudinally or crisped TROGIA 15. Gills splitting longitudinally SCHIZOPHYLLUM 15. Gills anastomosing LENZITES

II. Spores rosy or salmon color--Hyporhodii 16. Without cartilaginous bark 17. Hymenoph.o.r.e free 18. With a volva _Volvaria_ 18. Without a volva 19. With a ring _Annularia_ 19. Ringless _Pluteus_ 17. Hymenoph.o.r.e confluent, not free 20. Stem central 21. Gills adnate or sinuate _Entoloma_ 21. Gills decurrent _c.l.i.topilus_ 20. Stem lateral or absent _Claudopus_ 16. With cartilaginous bark 22. Gills decurrent _Eccilia_ 22. Gills not decurrent 23. Pileus torn into scales _Leptonia_ 23. Pileus papillose, sub-campanulate.

24. Gills membranaceous, persistent _Nolanea_ 24. Gills sub-deliquescent BOLBITIUS

III. Spores brownish, sometimes rusty, reddish or yellowish brown.--Dermini.

25. Without cartilaginous bark.

26. Stem central.

27. With a ring.

28. Ring continuous _Pholiota_ 28. Ring arachnoid, like a spider's web filamentous or evanescent.

29. Gills adnate terrestrial CORTINARIUS 29. Gills decurrent, or acutely adnate, mostly epiphytal, _Flammula_ 27. Without a ring.

30. With rudimentary volva _Acetabularia_ 30. Without a volva.

31. Gills adhering to the hymenoph.o.r.e, and sinuate.

32. Cuticle fibrillose or silky _Inocybe_ 32. Cuticle smooth viscid _Hebeloma_ 31. Gills separating from the hymenoph.o.r.e, and decurrent, PAXILLUS 26. Stem lateral or absent _Crepidotus_ 25. With cartilaginous bark.

33. Gills decurrent _Tubaria_ 33. Gills not decurrent.

34. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Naucoria_ 34. Margin of pileus always straight.

35. Hymenoph.o.r.e free _Pluteolus_ 35. Hymenoph.o.r.e confluent _Galera_

IV. Spores purple, sometimes brownish purple, dark purple, or dark brown.--Pratellae.

36. Without cartilaginous bark.

37. Hymenoph.o.r.e free.

38. With a volva _Chitonia_ 38. Without a volva _Psalliota_ 37. Hymenoph.o.r.e confluent.

39. Veil normally ring shaped on the stem _Stropharia_ 39. Veil normally adhering to the margin of the pileus _Hypholoma_ 36. With cartilaginous bark.

40. Gills decurrent _Deconica_ 40. Gills not decurrent.

41. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Psilocybe_ 41. Margin of pileus at first straight _Psathyra_

V. Spores black or nearly so.--Coprinarii.

42. Gills deliquescent COPRINUS 42. Gills not deliquescent.

43. Gills decurrent GOMPHIDIUS 43. Gills not decurrent.

44. Pileus striate _Psathyrella_ 44. Pileus not striate _Panaeolus_

In the Friesian cla.s.sification which, with modifications, has prevailed for many years among mycologists, the _genus Agaricus_ included in its _subgenera_ the greater part of the species of the order _Agaricini_.

The subgenera, printed in the above table in italics, were included in this genus. The genera are printed in capitals. In the Saccardian system, all the _subgenera_ of _Agaricus_ having been elevated to _generic_ rank, the term Agaricus is limited to a very small group which includes the _subgenus Psalliota_ of Fries, the species being characterized by fleshy caps, free gills, ringed stem, and dark brown or purplish brown spores. As restricted, it naturally falls into the spore series _Melanosporeae._

In the white-spored section, Leucospori, the recorded edible species occur in the following genera: Marasmius, Cantharellus, Lactarius, Russula, Hygrophorus, Collybia, Pleurotus, c.l.i.tocybe, Tricholoma, Armillaria, Lepiota, and Amanita. The plants of Marasmius are usually thin and dry, reviving with moisture. Cantharellus is characterized by the obtuseness of the edges of the lamellae, Lactarius by the copious milky or sticky fluid which exudes from the plants when cut or bruised.

Russula is closely allied to Lactarius, and the plants bear some resemblance in external appearance to those of that genus, but they are never milky, and the gills are usually rigid and brittle. In Hygrophorus the plants are moist, not very large, often bright colored, and the gills have a waxy appearance. The Collybias are usually caespitose, the stems exteriorly cartilaginous, in some species swelling and splitting open in the centre.

In Pleurotus the stem is lateral or absent. The plants are epiphytal, usually springing from the decaying bark of trees and old stumps.

In c.l.i.tocybe the plants are characterized by a deeply depressed, often narrow cap, with the gills acutely adnate, or running far down the stem, which is elastic, with a fibrous outer coat covered with minute fibers.

Many of the species have a fragrant odor. The Tricholomas are stout and fleshy, somewhat resembling the Russulas, but distinguished from them by the sinuate character of the gills, which show a slight notched or toothed depression just before reaching the stem (represented in Fig. 4, Plate IV). Typical species of Armillaria show a well-defined ring and scales upon the stem, the remains of the partial veil, and the plants are usually large, and caespitose. The Lepiotas are recognized by the soft, thready character of the fleshy portion of the cap, and the fringed scales formed by the breaking of the cuticle. The ease with which the ringed stem is removed from its socket in the cap is another characteristic which distinguishes the plants from those of other genera.

The Amanitas are distinguished by the volva, which sheathes the somewhat bulbous stem at its base and the ring and veil which in the young plant are very distinct features, the whole plant in embryo being enveloped in the volva.

The Amanita group, besides containing some very good edible species, is also credited with containing the most dangerous species of all the mushroom family, and some which are undoubtedly fatal in their effects.[A]

[A] A more detailed description of this group will appear in No. 5 of this series.

The Nyctali are minute mushrooms parasitic on other mushrooms.

In Omphalia, the plants are quite small, with membranaceous caps, gills truly decurrent, and cartilaginous stems.

The Myceneae are generally very small, slender, and fragile, usually caespitose, with bell-shaped caps, sinuate gills, not decurrent, and cartilaginous stems. In some species the plants exude a milky juice.

In the genera Pa.n.u.s, Lentinus, Lenzites, Schizophyllum, Xerotus, and Trogia, the plants are leathery or coriaceous, dry and tough, and though none are recorded as poisonous, they are too tough to be edible.

The mushrooms having pink or salmon colored spores, section Rhodosporii, form the smallest of the four primary groups of Agaricini, the number of known species not exceeding 400, and most of these are tasteless, or of disagreeable odor, while some are recorded as unwholesome.

The species are pink-gilled when mature, though often white or whitish when very young.

The recorded edible species are found in Volvaria, c.l.i.topilus, and Pluteus. The Volvariae are characterized by the very large and perfect volva which wraps the base of the stem in loose folds, the ringless stem, and the pink, soft, liquescent gills, which are free and rounded behind. The cap is not warted; in some species it is viscid, and in _bombycinus_, recorded by several authors as edible, and by some as doubtful, it is covered with a silky down.

In c.l.i.topilus the odor of the edible species is more or less mealy. The cap is fleshy, and the margin at first involute. Two edible species which closely resemble each other--viz., c.l.i.topilus _prunulus_, "Plum mushroom," and c.l.i.topilus _orcella_, "Sweetbread mushroom,"--are highly recommended for their delicacy of flavor.

In Leptonia most of the species are small, thin, and brittle, corresponding with Mycena in the white-spored series, and with Psathyra and Psathyrella in the dark-spored series.

Eccilia corresponds with Omphalia. Claudopus corresponds with Pleurotus in its habit of growth and lateral stem, differing in the color of the spores.

Annularia includes only a few small species having a ringed stem, no volva, and free pink gills. Cooke says of this subgenus that no British species are known.

The recorded species of Pluteus have their habitat on tree stumps, sawdust, or upon fallen timber. One species, Pluteus _cervinus_, is recorded as edible, but not specially commended. Of Entoloma, Worthington Smith says, "It is allied to Tricholoma, though most of the species are thinner and often brittle. It agrees also in structure with Hebeloma and Hypholoma." None of the species are recorded as having value as esculents.

The genus Bolbitius is described by Cooke as a small genus intermediate between Agaricus and Coprinus on the one side, and Coprinus and Cortinarius on the other. The species are small and ephemeral. Saccardo places Bolbitius in his division Melanosporae, although the spores are ochraceous.

In the section Pratelli Psalliota and Hypholoma contain mushrooms which are of exceptionally fine flavor. In the first of these is found the common field mushroom Agaricus campester and its allies.

The black-spored section Coprinarii contains two genera which include a few recorded edible species, viz., Coprinus and Gomphidius. The Psathyrellas correspond in size to the Mycenas in the white-spored series and to the Psathyras in the purple-spored section; the gills are free or adnate and turn black when mature. None of the species are edible.

In Paneolus the plants are somewhat viscid when moist, the gills are described as "clouded, never becoming purple or brown." They are usually found on manure heaps near cities. None are edible.

Saccardo in his Sylloge combines the Pratellae and Coprinarii, making of them one section which he calls _Melanosporeae_.