Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. Part 17

It is scaly on the under side, clinging to the margin of the pileus in triangular remnants, appearing like a crown. The color of the veil and of its remnants is the same as the color of the scales of the cap.

The spores in ma.s.s are light brown, and when fresh with a slight purple tinge. (The color of the spores on white paper is near walnut brown or hair brown of Ridgeway's colors.) Under the microscope they are yellowish, oval or short oblong, often inequilateral, 6--8 4--5 .

Figure 151 is from plants (No. 4016, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., September, 1899, on a fallen maple log. The plants sometimes occur singly. It has been collected at Ithaca, N. Y., and was first described from plants collected at Waynesville, Ohio.

=Flammula sapinea= Fr., is a common plant growing on dead coniferous wood. It is dull yellow, the pileus 1--4 cm. in diameter, and with numerous small scales.

HEBELOMA Fr.

In _Hebeloma_ the gills are either squarely set against the stem (adnate) or they are notched (sinuate), and the spores are clay-colored.

The edge of the gills is usually whitish, the surface clay-colored. The veil is only seen in the young stage, and then is very delicate and fibrillose. The stem is fleshy and fibrous, and somewhat mealy at the apex. The genus corresponds with _Tricholoma_ of the white-spored agarics. All the species are regarded as unwholesome, and some are considered poisonous. The species largely occur during the autumn. Few have been studied in America.

=Hebeloma crustuliniforme= Bull.--This plant is usually common in some of the lawns, during the autumn, at Ithaca, N. Y. It often forms rings as it grows on the ground. It is from 5--7 cm. high, the cap 4--8 cm. in diameter, and the stem is 4--6 mm. in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 152.--Hebeloma crustuliniforme, var. minor. Cap whitish or tan color, or reddish-brown at center; gills clay color (natural size). Copyright.]

The =pileus= is convex and expanded, somewhat umbonate, viscid when moist, whitish or tan color, darker over the center, where it is often reddish-brown. The =gills= are adnexed and rounded near the stem, crowded, whitish, then clay color and reddish-brown, the edge whitish and irregular. The =gills= are said to exude watery drops in wet weather. The =stem= is stuffed, later hollow, somewhat enlarged at the base, white, and mealy at the apex. Figure 152 is from plants (No. 2713, C. U. herbarium) collected in lawns on the Cornell University campus.

The plants in this figure seem to represent the variety _minor_.

INOCYBE Fr.

In the genus _Inocybe_ there is a universal veil which is fibrillose in character, and more or less closely joined with the cuticle of the pileus, and the surface of the pileus is therefore marked with fibrils or is more or less scaly. Sometimes the margin of the pileus possesses remnants of a veil which is quite prominent in a few species. The gills are adnate, or sinuate, rarely decurrent, and in one species they are free. It is thus seen that the species vary widely, and there may be, after a careful study of the species, grounds for the separation of the species into several genera. One of the most remarkable species is _Inocybe echinata_ Roth. This plant is covered with a universal veil of a sooty color and powdery in nature. The gills are reddish purple, and the stem is of the same color, the spores on white paper of a faint purplish red color. Some place in it _Psalliota_. Collected at Ithaca in August, 1900.

TUBARIA W. Smith.

In the genus _Tubaria_ the spores are rust-red, or rusty brown (ferruginous or fuscous-ferruginous), the stem is somewhat cartilaginous, hollow, and, what is more important, the gills are more or less decurrent, broad next to the stem, and thus more or less triangular in outline. It is related to _Naucoria_ and _Galera_, but differs in the decurrent gills. The pileus is convex, or with an umbilicus.

=Tubaria pellucida= Bull.--This species grows by roadsides in gra.s.sy places. The plants are from 3--4 cm. high, and the cap 1--2 cm. in diameter, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 153.--Tubaria pellucida. Dull reddish brown (natural size).]

The =pileus= is conic, then bell-shaped, often expanded and with a slight umbo; the color is dull, reddish brown, and it has a watery appearance. The plant is sometimes enveloped with a loose and delicate universal or outer veil, which remains on the margin of the cap in the form of silky squamules as shown in the figure. The margin of the pileus is faintly striate. The =gills= are only slightly decurrent. Figure 153 is from plants (No. 2360 C. U. herbarium) collected along a street in Ithaca.

The stem is at first solid, becoming hollow, tapering above, and the apex is mealy.

CREPIDOTUS Fr.

In _Crepidotus_ the pileus is lateral, or eccentric, and thus more or less shelving, or it is resupinate, that is, lying flat or nearly so on the wood. The species are usually of small size, thin, soft and fleshy.

The spores are reddish brown (ferruginous). The genus corresponds to _Pleurotus_ among the white-spored agarics, or to _Claudopus_ among the rosy-spored ones. Peck describes eleven species in the 39th Report, N.

Y. State Mus., p. 69 et seq., 1886.

=Crepidotus versutus= Pk.--This little _Crepidotus_ has a pure white pileus which is covered with a soft, whitish down. The plants grow usually on the underside of rotten wood or bark, and then the upper side of the cap lies against the wood, and is said to be resupinate.

Sometimes where they grow toward the side of the log the cap has a tendency to be shelving. In the resupinate forms the cap is attached usually near one side, and then is produced more at the opposite side, so that it is more or less lateral or eccentric. As the plant becomes mature the edge is free from the wood for some distance, only being attached over a small area. The cap is somewhat reniform, thin, and from 6--12 cm. in diameter. The =gills= radiate from the point where the cap is attached to the substratum, are not crowded, rounded behind, that is, at the lateral part of the cap where they converge. They are whitish, then ferruginous from the spores. The =spores= are sub-elliptical, sometimes inequilateral, and measure from 8--12 4--6 .

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 154.--Crepidotus versutus. Cap white, downy; gills whitish, then rusty (twice natural size) Copyright.]

=Crepidotus herbarum= Pk., is a closely related species, separated on account of the smaller spores. Both species grow either on herbs or decaying wood. As suggested by Peck they are both closely related to _C.

chimonophilus_ Berk., which has "oblong elliptical" spores. The shape of the spores does not seem to differ from the specimens which I have taken to be _C. versutus_.

=Crepidotus applanatus= Fr., is a larger species, shelving and often imbricated. =Crepidotus fulvotomentosus= Pk., is a pretty species with a tomentose cap and tawny scales, usually occurring singly. It is closely related to _C. calolepis_ Fr.

Figure 154 is from plants of _Crepidotus versutus_ Pk., (No. 2732 C. U.

herbarium) collected on rotting wood at Freeville, N. Y., eight miles from Ithaca. The plants are represented twice natural size.

CORTINARIUS Fr.

The genus _Cortinarius_ is chiefly distinguished from the other genera of the ochre-spored agarics by the presence of a spider-web-like (arachnoid) veil which is separate from the cuticle of the pileus, that is, superficial. The gills are powdered by the spores, that is, the spores fall away with difficulty and thus give the gills a pulverulent appearance. The plants are fleshy and decay easily. It is necessary to have plants in the young as well as the old state to properly get at the characters, and the character of the veil is only seen in young or half developed specimens. The species are to be distinguished from other ochre-spored agarics with a cobwebby veil by the fact that the veil in _Cortinarius_ is superficial and the gills powdery. The number of species is very large, and they are difficult to determine. They mostly occur in northern countries and in the autumn or late summer; some species, however, occur during early summer. Peck, 23d Report, N. Y.

State Mus., p. 105--112, describes 21 species.

=Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus= (L.) Fr. =Edible.=--This species is known by the violet or dark violet color which pervades all parts of the plant. The plants are 8--10 cm. high, the pileus 7--15 cm. broad, and the stem is bulbous, 6--8 mm. in thickness. The veil is single. It occurs in woods and open places during late summer and in the autumn.

The flesh of the plant is also violet, and this color is imparted to the liquid when the plant is cooked. The flavor is said to be something like that of _Agaricus campestris_.

=Cortinarius (Myxacium) collinitus= (Pers.) Fr. =Edible.=--This is known as the smeared cortinarius because of the abundant glutinous substance with which the plant is smeared during moist or wet weather. It grows in woods. The plants are 7--10 cm. high, the cap 5--8 cm. in diameter, and the stem is 8--12 mm. in thickness. It is usually known by the smooth, even, tawny cap, the great abundance of slimy substance covering the entire plant when moist, and when dry the cracking of the gluten on the stem into annular patches.

The =pileus= is convex to expanded, smooth, even, glutinous when wet, s.h.i.+ning when dry, tawny. The =gills= are adnate with a peculiar bluish gray tinge when young, and clay color to cinnamon when old. The =spores= are nearly elliptical, and 12--15 6--7 . The =stem= is cylindrical, even, and with patches of the cracked gluten when dry.

=Cortinarius (Dermocybe) cinnamomeus= (L.) Fr. =Edible.=--The cinnamon cortinarius is so called because of the cinnamon color of the entire plant, especially of the cap and stem. It grows in the woods during summer and autumn. It is a very pretty plant, and varies from 5--8 cm.

high, the cap from 2--10 cm. broad, and the stem 4--6 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is conic, or convex, and nearly expanded, sometimes nearly plane, and again with a prominent blunt or conic umbo. Sometimes the pileus is abruptly bent downward near the margin as shown in the plants in Fig. 155, giving the appearance of a "hip-roof." The surface is smooth, silky, with innate fibrils. Sometimes there are cinnabar stains on parts of the pileus, and often there are concentric rows of scales near the margin. The flesh is light yellowish and with stains of cinnabar. The =gills= are adnate, slightly sinuate, and decurrent by a tooth, easily separating from the stem, rather crowded, slightly ventricose. The color of the gills varies greatly; sometimes they are the same color as the pileus, sometimes reddish brown, sometimes blood red color, etc. This latter form is a very pretty plant, and is var.

_semi-sanguineus_ Fr.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 155.--Cortinarius cinnamomeus var.

semi-sanguineus. Cap and stem cinnamon, gills blood red color (natural size). Copyright.]

Figure 155 is from plants (No. 2883 C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca. The species is widely distributed in this country as well as in Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 50, FIGURE 156.--Cortinarius ochroleucus. Entire plant pale ochre color, gills later ochre yellow (natural size).

Copyright.]

=Cortinarius (Dermocybe) ochroleucus= (Schaeff.) Fr.--This is a very beautiful plant because of the soft, silky appearance of the surface of pileus and stem, and the delicate yellowish white color. It occurs in woods, on the ground among decaying leaves. The plants are 4--12 cm.

high, the cap 4--7 cm. broad, and the stem above is 6--10 mm. in thickness, and below from 2--3 cm. in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 51, FIGURE 157.--Cortinarius ochroleucus. Colors same as in Figure 156, this represents older plants.]

The =pileus= is convex to nearly expanded, and sometimes a little depressed, usually, however, remaining convex at the top. It is dry, on the center finely tomentose to minutely squamulose, sometimes the scales splitting up into concentric rows around the cap. The cap is fleshy at the center, and thin at the margin, the color is from cream buff to buff, darker on the center. The =gills= are sinuate or adnate, slightly broader in the middle (ventricose) in age, pale at first, then becoming ochre yellow, and darker when the plant dries. The =spores= are tawny in ma.s.s, oval, elliptical, minutely tuberculate when mature, 6--9 4--6 .

The =stem= is clavate, pale cream buff in color, solid, becoming irregularly fistulose in age, bulbous or somewhat ventricose below, the bulb often large and abrupt, 1.5--3 cm. in diameter. The =veil= is prominent and attached to the upper part of the stem, the abundant threads attached over an area 1 cm. in extent and forming a beautiful cortina of the same color as the pileus and stem, but becoming tawny when the spores fall on it. The stem varies considerably in length and shape, being rarely ventricose, and then only at the base; the bulbous forms predominate and the bulb is often very large.

Figures 156, 157 are from plants (No. 3674 C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

BOLBITIUS Fries.

The genus _Bolbitius_ contains a few species with yellowish or yellowish brown spores. The plants are very fragile, more or less mucilaginous when moist, usually with yellowish colors, and, what is the most characteristic feature beside the yellowish color of the spores, the gills are very soft, and at maturity tend to dissolve into a mucilaginous consistency, though they do not deliquesce, or only rarely dissolve so far as to form drops. The surface of the gills at maturity becomes covered with the spores so that they appear powdery, as in the genus _Cortinarius_, which they also resemble in the color of the spores. In the mucilaginous condition of the gills the genus approaches _Coprinus_. It is believed to occupy an intermediate position between _Coprinus_ and _Cortinarius_. The species usually grow on dung or in manured ground, and in this respect resemble many of the species of _Coprinus_. Some of the species are, however, not always confined to such a substratum, but grow on decaying leaves, etc.