Among the Mushrooms Part 4

The name of this genus is derived from Daedalus, who constructed the labyrinth at Crete, in which the monster Minotaur was kept. It was one of the seven wonders of the world.

These fungi grow on wood, and become hard. The pores are firm when fully grown; they are sinuous and labyrinthine.

ORDER 3. HYDNEI, OR SPINE-BEARING FUNGI.

The name is derived from a word meaning a spine. This order contains many genera, two of which we will mention, Hydnum and Tremellodon.

+HYDNUM.+

Hydnum is derived from a Greek word, the name of an edible fungus. The plants in this genus are furnished with spines or teeth, instead of gills or tubes, and these contain the spores. The species are divided according to the stem. In some it is central and grows on the ground, in others it is lateral, and the cap is semicircular (dimidiate), and others again have no stem. There are some species that have no cap, and the spines are either straight or oblique. There are a few that are edible, but generally they have a bitter taste. However, some writers say that Hydnum repandum, or the spreading Hedgehog, is "delicious."

This mushroom and the one named "Medusa's head," H. caput Medusae, are perhaps the most conspicuous of the order. The latter is very large.

Its color is at first white, then becoming ashy gray. The spines on the upper surface are twisted, while the lower ones are long and straight.

It grows on trunks of trees. In the spreading Hydnum the margin of the cap is arched and irregular. It grows on the ground.

+TREMELLODON = jelly and a tooth.+

The fungi in this genus are gelatinous. The cap is nearly semicircular in shape, sometimes fan-shaped and rounded in front. The spines or teeth are soft, white and delicate. We found one specimen in the month of September in the mountains of the State of New York.

ORDER 4. THELEPh.o.r.eI, OR EVEN SURFACE FUNGI.

In this order the lower surface of the cap is smooth and even, or slightly wrinkled. It is divided into several genera, only two of which we will enumerate, Craterellus and Stereum.

+CRATERELLUS = a bowl.+

The species called the "horn of plenty," Craterellus cornucopioides, belongs to this genus, and is often found. Stevenson says it is common.

It is trumpet-shaped (tubiform). The cap is of a dingy black color, and the stem is hollow, smooth, and black. We found quite a small specimen, the pileus not more than 1 inch broad, but it may measure 3 inches.

The spore-bearing surface was of an ash color. The margin of the cap was wavy, and it was hollow right through to the base. It was only 2 inches high, and there was scarcely any stem.

+STEREUM = hard.+

The genus Stereum is woody and leathery in nature, somewhat zoned, and looks like some Polyporci. It grows on wood, on stumps, and on dead wood.

ORDER 5. CLAVARIEI, OR CLUB FUNGI.

This order contains several genera, but one only will be mentioned, that of Clavaria.

+CLAVARIA = club.+

The common name often given to this genus is "Fairy Clubs." We have described several species in our list of fungi, and will only say that these are fleshy fungi, either simple or branched. The expression fleshy, so often met with in these pages, is used in speaking of plants when they are succulent and composed of juicy, cellular tissue. They do not become leathery. In the genus Clavaria the fungi have no caps, but they have stems. There are a few edible species. One can scarcely walk any distance without seeing some species of Clavaria. They are conspicuous, sometimes attractive looking, and interesting in their variety.

The genus Cortinarius, one of the order of Agarics, has been already described, but it contains so many species that it deserves especial mention.

They are difficult to define. The genus has been subdivided by botanists into tribes which it may be well to enumerate. We have followed Stevenson's arrangement.

He divides Cortinarius into six tribes.

1. Phlegacium = clammy moisture. In this tribe the cap is fleshy and sticky (viscous), while the stem is firm and dry. In all Cortinarii the gills become cinnamon-colored. There are many large-sized mushrooms in this tribe, the cap sometimes measuring 6 inches across.

2. Myxacium = mucous. This tribe has the stem sticky (viscous), and the universal veil is glutinous. The cap is fleshy but thin. Gills attached to stem and decurrent.

3. Inoloma = fibre and fringe. It contains distinguished species. The cap is at first silky, with innate scales or fibrils, is equally fleshy and dry. The stem is fleshy and rather bulbous.

4. Dermocybe = skin and head. The cap and stem are both thinner in this tribe than in Inoloma. The pileus becomes thin when old, and is dry, not moist. It is at first silky. The color of the gills is changeable, which makes it hard to distinguish the species.

5. Telamonia = lint. Pileus moist; at first smooth or sprinkled with superficial whitish fibres of the veil. Flesh thin, or becoming so abruptly at the margin; the veil is somewhat double, which is a distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristic of this tribe.

6. Hygrocybe = moist and head. Cap in this tribe is smooth or only covered with white superficial fibrils, not gluey, but moist when fresh, and changing color when dry. Flesh thin.

CLa.s.s I. GASTEROMYCETES, OR STOMACH FUNGI.

The Basidia-bearing fungi, or Basidiomycetes, are divided into three cla.s.ses, as has been already stated. The third cla.s.s, Hymenomycetes, or Membrane fungi, has been described, but there remain two other groups of which we will now speak more fully. They may be considered too difficult for beginners, and we would not venture to enter further into the subject were it not that some of the most familiar fungi belong to these cla.s.ses--such as Puff-b.a.l.l.s, Morels, and Helvellas.

The first cla.s.s, called the Gasteromycetes, or Stomach fungi, matures its spores on the inside of the plant. The distinction between this cla.s.s and that of the Membrane fungi, which ripens its spores on the outside, may be more readily understood by one familiar with the structure of the fig, whose flowers are situated on the interior of its pear-shaped, hollow axis, which is the fruit.

We will divide the Stomach fungi into four orders--1, the thick-skinned fungi (Sclerodermae); 2, the Bird's-nest fungi (Nidulariae); 3, the Puff-b.a.l.l.s (Lycoperdons); 4, the Stink horns (Phalloidae.)

ORDER 1. SCLERODERMae, THE THICK-SKINNED FUNGI.

Our attention will be confined to only one genus, and, indeed, one species of this family. We often see in our walks what at a first glance look like potatoes lying along the road, and the suggestion arises that some careless boy has been losing potatoes from his basket on his way home from the country store. We stoop to pick them up, and find them rooted to the ground and covered with warts and scales. We cut them open and find them a purplish-black color inside. It is a ma.s.s of closely packed unripe spores. In a few days the upper part of the outside covering decays, bursts open, and the ripe spores escape. This is called the common hard-rind fungus, or Scleroderma vulgare.

ORDER 2. NIDULARIae, THE BIRD'S-NEST FUNGI.

This is again divided into three genera. The Crucible (crucibulum), the Cup (Cyathus), the Bird's-nest proper (Nidularia.)

We often find on a wood-pile or a fallen tree some of the members of the Bird's-nest family. It is fascinating to examine them in their various stages of development. First we see a tiny buff knot, cottony in texture and closely covered; next, another rather larger, with its upper covering thrown aside, displaying the tiny eggs, which prompts one to look around for the miniature mother bird; then we find a nest empty with the fledglings flown. The characteristic that distinguishes the Bird's-nest fungi from others consists in the fact that the spores are produced in small envelopes that do not split open, and which are enclosed in a common covering, called the peridium. One species is known by the fluted inside of the covering, which is quite beautiful. They are all small and grow in groups.

ORDER 3. LYCOPERDONS, THE PUFF-b.a.l.l.s.

The Lycoperdons contain several genera, among which we select the Puff-b.a.l.l.s proper and the Earth stars.

What child is there who lives in the country and does not know the Puff-ball? With what gusto he presses it and watches what he calls the smoke pouring from the chimney. Indeed, the outpouring of myriads of spores in its ripe stage does suggest smoke from a chimney. The puff-ball, when young, is of a firm texture, nearly round, grayish, or brownish outside, but of a pure white within. There are several genera, but we have selected two--1, Lycoperdon; and 2, Earth Star, or Geaster.

+LYCOPERDON = the puff-ball.+

The puff-b.a.l.l.s vary greatly in size, the smallest measure inch up to the largest, about 15 inches. Professor Peck describes them thus: "Specimens of medium size are 8 to 12 inches in diameter. The largest in the State Museum is about 15 inches in the dry state. When fresh it was probably 20 inches or more. The color is whitish, afterward yellowish or brownish. The largest size was called the Giant Puff-ball (Calvatia bovista)."

+GEASTER = the earth star.+

These vary greatly in size. The small ones grow on pine needles on the ground or among leaves. Some are mounted on pedicels, some are sessile or seated directly on the earth, but the family likeness is so p.r.o.nounced that even the novice need not be doubtful as to the name of the fungus when found. There are two species that have slender, elongated stems. The name is well chosen. In moist weather the points expand and roll back or lie flat on the earth. Then the round puff-ball in the centre is plainly seen.

In dry weather the star-like divisions are rigidly turned in and cover closely the round portion. "When dry it is sometimes rolled about by the wind; when it is wet by the rain or abundant dew it absorbs the moisture and spreads itself out, and rests from its journey, again to take up its endless wandering as sun and rain appear to reduce it once more to a ball and set it rolling." (Underwood.)