Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. Part 9

In the warty character of the spores this species differs from most of the species of the genus _c.l.i.tocybe_, and some writers place it in a different genus erected to accommodate the species of _c.l.i.tocybe_ which have warty or spiny spores. The species with spiny spores are few. The genus in which this plant is placed by some is _Laccaria_, and then the plant is called _Laccaria laccata_. There are several other species of _c.l.i.tocybe_ which are common and which one is apt to run across often, especially in the woods. These are of the funnel form type, the cap being more or less funnel-shaped. =c.l.i.tocybe infundibuliformis= Schaeffer is one of these. The cap, when mature, is pale red or tan color, fading out in age. It is 5--7 cm. high, and the cap 2--4 cm.

broad. It is considered delicious. =c.l.i.tocybe cyathiformis=, as its name indicates, is similar in form, and occurs in woods. The pileus is of a darker color, dark brown or smoky in color.

=c.l.i.tocybe illudens= Schw. =Not Edible.=--This species is distributed through the Eastern United States and sometimes is very abundant. It occurs from July to October about the bases of old stumps, dead trees, or from underground roots. It is one of the large species, the cap being 15--20 cm. broad, the stem 12--20 cm. long, and 8--12 mm. in thickness.

It occurs in large cl.u.s.ters, several or many joined at their bases. From the rich saffron yellow color of all parts of the plant, and especially by its strong phosph.o.r.escence, so evident in the dark, it is an easy plant to recognize. Because of its phosph.o.r.escence it is sometimes called "Jack-my-lantern."

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, and depressed, sometimes with a small umbo, smooth, often irregular or eccentric from its crowded habit, and in age the margin of the pileus is wavy. The flesh is thick at the center and thin toward the margin. In old plants the color becomes sordid or brownish. The =gills= are broad, not crowded, decurrent, some extending for a considerable distance down on the stem while others for a less distance. The =stem= is solid, firm, smooth, and tapers toward the base.

While the plant is not a dangerously poisonous one, it has occasioned serious cases of illness, acting as a violent emetic, and of course should be avoided. Its phosph.o.r.escence has often been observed. Another and much smaller plant, widely distributed in this country as well as Europe, and belonging to another genus, is also phosph.o.r.escent. It is _Pa.n.u.s stipticus_, a small white plant with a short lateral stem, growing on branches, stumps, trunks, etc. When freshly developed the phosph.o.r.escence is marked, but when the plants become old they often fail to show it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 92.--c.l.i.tocybe illudens. Entire plant rich saffron yellow, old plants become sordid brown sometimes; when fresh shows phosph.o.r.escence at night (2/3 natural size, often much larger).

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=c.l.i.tocybe multiceps= Peck. =Edible.=--This plant is not uncommon during late summer and autumn. It usually grows in large tufts of 10 to 30 or more individuals. The caps in such large cl.u.s.ters are often irregular from pressure. The plants are 6--12 cm. high, the caps 5--10 cm. broad, and the stems 8--15 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is white or gray, brownish gray or buff, smooth, dry, the flesh white. The =gills= are white, crowded, narrow at each end. The =spores= are smooth, globose, 5--7 in diameter. The stems are tough, fibrous, solid, tinged with the same color as cap. Fig. 93 is from plants (No. 5467, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, October 14, 1900.

COLLYBIA Fr.

In the genus _Collybia_ the annulus and volva are both wanting, the spores are white, the gills are free or notched, or sinuate. The stem is either entirely cartilaginous or has a cartilaginous rind, while the central portion of the stem is fibrous, or fleshy, stuffed or fistulose.

The pileus is fleshy and when the plants are young the margin of the pileus is incurved or inrolled, i. e., it does not lie straight against the stem as in _Mycena_.

Many of the species of _Collybia_ are quite firm and will revive somewhat after drying when moistened, but they are not coriaceous as in _Marasmius_, nor do they revive so thoroughly. It is difficult, however, to draw the line between the two genera. Twenty-five of the New York species of Collybia are described by Peck in the 49th Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 32 et seq. Morgan describes twelve species in Jour. Cinn. Soc.

Nat. Hist., 6: 70--73.

=Collybia radicata= Rehl. =Edible.=--This is one of the common and widely distributed species of the genus. It occurs on the ground in the woods or groves or borders of woods. It is quite easily recognized by the more or less flattened cap, the long striate stem somewhat enlarged below and then tapering off into a long, slender root-like process in the ground. It is from this "rooting" character that the plant gets its specific name. It is 10--20 cm. high, the cap 3--7 cm. broad, and the stem 4--8 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is fleshy, thin, convex to nearly plane, or even with the margin upturned in old plants, and the center sometimes umbonate. It is smooth, viscid when moist, and often with wrinkles on the surface which extend radially. The color varies from nearly white in some small specimens to grayish, grayish brown or umber. The flesh is white. The =gills= are white, broad, rather distant, adnexed, i. e., joined to the stem by the upper angle. The =spores= are elliptical and about 15 10 . The =stem= is the same color as the pileus though paler, and usually white above, tapers gradually above, is often striate or grooved, or sometimes only mealy. The long tapering "root" is often attached to some underground dead root. Fig. 94 is from plants (No. 5641, C. U.

herbarium) collected at Ithaca, August, 1900.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 30, FIGURE 93.--c.l.i.tocybe multiceps. Plants white or gray to buff or grayish brown. (Three-fourths natural size.) Copyright.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 31, FIG. 94.--Collybia radicata. Caps grayish-brown to grayish and white in some small forms. (Natural size.) Copyright.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 32, FIG. 95.--Collybia velutipes. Cap yellowish or reddish yellow, viscid, gills white, stem dark brown, velvety hairy (natural size). Copyright.]

=Collybia velutipes= Curt. =Edible.=--This is very common in woods or groves during the autumn, on dead limbs or trunks, or from dead places in living ones. The plants are very viscid, and the stem, except in young plants, is velvety hairy with dark hairs. Figure 95 is from plants (No. 5430, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, October, 1900.

=Collybia longipes= Bull., is a closely related plant. It is much larger, has a velvety, to hairy, stem, and a much longer root-like process to the stem. It has been sometimes considered to be merely a variety of _C. radicata_, and may be only a large form of that species.

I have found a few specimens in the Adirondack mountains, and one in the Blue Ridge mountains, which seem to belong to this species.

=Collybia platyphylla= Fr. =Edible.=--This is a much larger and stouter plant than _Collybia radicata_, though it is not so tall as the larger specimens of that species. It occurs on rotten logs or on the ground about rotten logs and stumps in the woods from June to September. It is 8--12 cm. high, the cap 10--15 cm. broad, and the stem about 2 cm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex becoming expanded, plane, and even the margin upturned in age. It is whitish, varying to grayish brown or dark brown, the center sometimes darker than the margin, as is usual in many plants.

The surface of the pileus is often marked in radiating streaks by fine dark hairs. The =gills= are white, very broad, adnexed, and usually deeply and broadly notched next the stem. In age they are more or less broken and cracked. The =spores= are white, elliptical, 7--10 6--7 .

The plant resembles somewhat certain species of _Tricholoma_ and care should be used in selecting it in order to avoid the suspected species of _Tricholoma_.

MYCENA Fr.

The genus _Mycena_ is closely related to _Collybia_. The plants are usually smaller, many of them being of small size, the cap is usually bell-shaped, rarely umbilicate, but what is a more important character the margin of the cap in the young stage is straight as it is applied against the stem, and not at first incurved as it is in _Collybia_, when the gills and margin of the pileus lie against the stem. The stem is cartilaginous as in _Collybia_, and is usually hollow or fistulose. The gills are not decurrent, or only slightly so by a tooth-like process.

Some of the species are apt to be confused with certain species of _Omphalia_ in which the gills are but slightly decurrent, but in _Omphalia_ the pileus is umbilicate in such species, while in _Mycena_ it is blunt or umbonate. The spores are white. A large number of the plants grow on leaves and wood, few on the ground. Some of those which grow on leaves might be mistaken for species of _Marasmius_, but in _Marasmius_ the plants are of a tough consistency, and when dried will revive again if moistened with water.

Some of the plants have distinct odors, as alkaline, or the odor of radishes, and in collecting them notes should be made on all these characters which usually disappear in drying. A few of the plants exude a colored or watery juice when bruised, and should not be confounded with species of _Lactarius_.

=Mycena galericulata= Scop. =Edible.=--_Mycena galericulata_ grows on dead logs, stumps, branches, etc., in woods. It is a very common and very widely distributed species. It occurs from late spring to autumn.

The plants are cl.u.s.tered, many growing in a compact group, the hairy bases closely joined and the stems usually ascending. The plants are from 5--12 cm. high, the caps from 1--3 cm. broad, and the slender stems 2--3 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is conic to bell-shaped, sometimes umbonate, striate to near the center, and in color some shade of brown or gray, but variable.

The =gills= are decurrent by a tooth, not crowded, connected by veins over the inters.p.a.ces, white or flesh colored. The slender =stems= are firm, hollow, and hairy at the base.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 96.--Mycena polygramma, long-stemmed form growing on ground (= M. praelonga Pk.). Cap dark brown with a leaden tint, striate on margin; stem finely and beautifully longitudinally striate (natural size). Copyright.]

=Mycena polygramma= Bull.--This plant is very closely related to _M.

galericulata_, and has the same habit. It might be easily mistaken for it. It is easily distinguished by its peculiar bright, s.h.i.+ning, longitudinally striate to sulcate stem. It usually grows on wood, but does occur on the ground, when it often has a very long stem. In this condition it was described by Peck in the 23rd Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 81, as _Mycena praelonga_, from plants collected in a sphagnum moor during the month of June. This form was also collected at Ithaca several times during late autumn in a woods near Ithaca, in 1898. The plants are from 12--20 cm. high, the cap 1--2 cm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is first nearly cylindrical, then conic, becoming bell-shaped and finally nearly expanded, when it is umbonate. It is smooth, striate on the margin, of a dark brown color with a leaden tint.

The =gills= are narrow, white, adnate and slightly decurrent on the stem by a tooth. The very long =stem= is smooth, but marked with parallel grooves too fine to show in the photograph, firm, hollow, somewhat paler than the pileus, usually tinged with red, and hairy at the base. Figure 96 is from plants (No. 3113 C. U. herbarium), collected in a woods near Ithaca in damp places among leaves. A number of the specimens collected were attacked by a parasitic mucor of the genus _Spinellus_. Two species, _S. fusiger_ (Link.) van Tiegh., and _S. macrocarpus_ (Corda) Karst., were found, sometimes both on the same plant. The long-stalked sporangia bristle in all directions from the cap.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 97.--Mycena pura. Entire plant rose, rose purple, violet, or lilac. Striate on margin of pileus (natural size, often much larger).]

=Mycena pura= Pers.--This plant is quite common and very widely distributed, and occurs in woods and gra.s.sy open places, during late summer and in the autumn. The entire plant is nearly of a uniform color, and the color varies from rose, to rose purple, violet, or lilac. Plants from the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina were chiefly rose purple, very young plants of a much deeper color (auricula purple of Ridgeway), while those collected at Ithaca were violet. The plants vary from 5--8 cm. high, the cap 2--3 cm. broad, and the stem 2--4 mm. stout.

The plants are scattered or somewhat cl.u.s.tered, sometimes occurring singly, and again many covering a small area of ground.

The =pileus= is thin, conic, bell-shaped to convex and nearly expanded, sometimes with a small umbo, smooth, and finely striate on the margin, in age the striae sometimes rugulose from the upturning of the margin.

Sometimes the pileus is rugose on the center. The =gills= vary from white to violet, rose, etc., they are adnate to sinuate, and in age sometimes become free by breaking away from the stem. They are broad in the middle, connected by vein-like elevations over the surface, and sometimes wavy and crenate on the edge, the edge of the gills sometimes white. The =spores= are white, oblong, 2.5--3.5 6--7 , smooth. The =basidia= are cylindrical, 20--25 3--4 , four-spored. There are a few =cystidia= in the hymenium, colorless, thin walled, clavate, the portion above the hymenium cylindrical, and 30--40 10--12 .

The =stem= is sometimes white when young, but later becomes of the same color as the pileus, often a lighter shade above. It is straight, or ascending, cylindrical, even, smooth, hollow, with a few white threads at the base.

Sometimes on drying the pileus becomes deeper in color than when fresh.

The gills also become deeper in color in drying, though the edge remains white if white when fresh. Figure 97 is from plants (No. 3946, C. U.

herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in August, 1899. The plants are often considerably larger than shown in the figure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 98.--Mycena epipterygia. Cap viscid, grayish, often tinged with yellowish or reddish in age, gills white, sometimes tinged with blue or red, stem yellowish, or same color as cap (natural size). Copyright.]

=Mycena epipterygia= Scop.--This pretty little species is quite readily distinguished by the gray, conic or bell-shaped cap, the long, hollow, slender stem, and the viscid pellicle or skin which is quite easily peeled off from the stem or cap when moist. It grows in woods or gra.s.sy places, or among moss, etc., on the ground or on very rotten wood. The plants are from 5--10 cm. high, the cap 1--2 cm. broad, and the stem about 2 mm. in thickness. It is widely distributed in Europe, America, and other North temperate countries.

The =pileus= is viscid when moist, ovate to conic or campanulate, and later more or less expanded, obtuse, the margin striate, and sometimes minutely toothed. The usual color is grayish, but in age it often becomes reddish. The =gills= are decurrent by a small tooth, and quite variable in color, whitish, then gray, or tinged with blue or red.

The =stem= is very slender, flexuous, or straight, fistulose, tough, with soft hairs at the base, usually yellowish, sometimes the same color as the cap, and viscid like the cap when moist. Figure 98 is from plants (No. 4547, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca in August, 1899.

=Mycena vulgaris= Pers.--This common and pretty species is easily recognized by its smoky or grayish color, the umbilicate pileus and very slimy stem. It grows on decaying leaves, sticks, etc., in woods. It occurs in cl.u.s.ters. The plants are small, 3--5 cm. high, the cap 4--7 mm. broad, and the stem about 1.5 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is thin, bell-shaped, then convex, and depressed at the center, with a papilla usually in the center, finely striate on the margin, and slightly viscid. The =gills= are white, thin, and finally decurrent, so that from the form of the cap and the decurrent gills the plant has much the appearance of an _Omphalia_. The =stem= is very viscid, grayish in color, often rooting at the base, and with white fibrils at the base, becoming hollow.

Figure 99 is from plants collected in woods near Ithaca, during August, 1899.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 99.--Mycena vulgaris. Entirely white, center of cap grayish, entire plant very slimy when moist (natural size).

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