3CA 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



MUSHROOMS AND TOADSTOOLS. 



Tlie rambler who has never liad liis attention attracted 

 by the lowly and nnassuming toadstool, must be blind 

 indeed. In summer and autumn, go where he will, in 

 field, woodland and thicket, the representatives of this 

 widespread family appear. Afany people are wont to 

 assume that out of all this Imst there is but one edible 

 species, distinguished as the Mushroom, while all the 

 others are poisonous toadstools. In fact, the idea that 

 the possession or lack of no.xious qualities divides these 

 plants into two natural groups is verv general. The 

 mycologist, however, selects and eats many which are 

 regarded as toadstools — one individual claims to have 

 tested five hundred species — while the unscientific who 

 feel confident that they can distinguish mushrooms at 

 sight, frequently select the wrong kind and the ne.xt dav 

 furnish employment for the undertaker and the obituarv 

 editor. The majority of our species are probablv harm- 

 less, but there are unquestionably many that are noxious, 

 harmful or even deadly posionous. 



There is really no difference between a toadstool and 

 a mushroom, unless we choose to regard the poisonous 

 species as toadstools ; but in this case we shall be scarcely 

 scientific. The harmless and noxious species do not be- 

 long to dift'erent genera but occur side by side in the 

 same group. Among the Aiiiaiiitas, some species are 

 regarded as especially toothsome, while others are 

 among the most deadly known to mycology. 



Many rules have been put forth for distinguishing the 

 harmful species, but all Init tw() of them are more or 

 less unreliable. The first is to learn to know them by 

 their specific characteristics, just as one learns to know 

 an elm or an oak, the second is to eat the suspected 

 species. In the latter case, if the investigator lives, he 

 will be safe in recording his plant as edible and harmless. 

 The novice should be cautioned against eating any species 

 of whose identity he is not absolutely sure. It may be 

 reiterated that the projiortion of poisonous to harmless 

 species is relatively small, although the former often make 

 up in numbers what they lack in species. It is a curinus 

 fact that while the unwholesome species produce their 

 effects within a short time, the really deadly ones do not 

 begin to operate until from eight to fifteen hours after 

 they are eaten — by which time they may have been nearly 

 forgotten, and the sufiferer may thus fail at first to con- 

 nect cause and effect. The development of the trouble 

 is then rapid and no time should be lost in sending for 

 a physician. Even at this stage there is an antidote for 

 the poison in atropine, itself a deadly poison. It is ad- 

 ministered in subcutaneous injections. 



There are not a few people who would scarcely regard 

 mushrooms as plants. Their lack of leaves, true roots, 

 green coloring matter, etc., seem to make out a good 

 case against them, but with all this evidence, one would 

 still be disinclined to call them animals, although they 

 possess the animal-like characteristic of requiring ready- 

 made or organic food, and are unable to obtain sustenance 

 from the earth, air and water, as ordinary green plants 

 do. They are therefore reduced to the position of 

 scavengers, living upon other plants, and animals, dead 

 or alive. Mushrooms belong to the flowerless division 

 of plants, of which the ferns are among the higher types. 

 Their place in the line of relationship is below the ferns, 

 below the mosses and liverworts, almost at the foot of 

 the ladder of plant evolution in fact. Their nearest 

 allies are the seaweeds and the green scums that are often 

 found in fresh water pools. By many they are supposed 

 to be degenerate offspring of the higher seaweeds. Like 

 all the flowerless plants, they have no seeds hut are prop- 



agated by spores which serve the same purpose. A 

 spore falling in a projier situation for growth, soon 

 gives rise to a tangle of threadlike structures which 

 forms the body of the plant. This substance made into 

 bricks and dried, is the nuishroom "spawn" sold by the 

 ilealers. .At intervals little rounded knobs form upon the 

 mushroom threads and later develop into the familiar 

 umbrella form. If the "spawn" is exposed to unfavorable 

 conditions, it is said to be able to wait for vears for a 

 chance ti) fruit. The mushroom, it nia\' be said, is only 

 the fruiting part of the plant, comparable in a general way 

 with the flowering spike of the century plant, although 

 not homologous with it. On the underside of the 

 umbrella-like cap are numerous radiating plates called 

 gills which support the structures on which the spores 

 are produced. By cutting off this cap and laying it, gills 

 down, on a clean piece of paper, there will be produced 

 in a few hours a "sporeprint" in exact duplication of 

 the arrangement of the gills, and due to the shedding of 

 the numerous spores. L'sually the spores are of the 

 same color as the gills, although in some species they are 

 not. 



The mushrooms are classed with the higher fungi. 

 .Among their poor relations are numliered the rusts, smuts, 

 blights, mildews, molds and bacteria. The ])uft'-balls and 

 morels are also nearly related. Although so low in the 

 scale of plant life these constitute a very respectable part 

 of the vegetable kingdom, since more than forty thousand 

 species have been described. 



There are about two thousand species of nuishrooms in 

 -America. Some of these are known from onlv a single 

 state, while others are distributed throughout. Formerly 

 all were classed in the genus Aj^ariciis. but owing to 

 the dift'erences which exist in such a multitude, they are 

 now placed in five groups according to whether their 

 spores are white, pink, yellowish, brown or black. Each 

 of these groups contains one or more genera. The 

 student who turns his attention to this assemblage of 

 plants will find a greater diversity of characteristics than 

 he might imagine from a cursory examination. In color 

 it includes species with scarlet, violet, yellow, green, 

 orange, white, brown and gray caps. In texture they 

 are leathery, tough, brittle, fleshy or watery. Some are 

 tasteless, others are bitter, peppery, mealy, or with a 

 nutty flavor. In odor some are repellant while others 

 have various pleasing odors "like ripe apricots," anise, 

 etc. The genus Lactariiis is peculiar for having a milky 

 juice that in dift'erent species is white, orange or even 

 blue. This juice is often acrid. In one species it is so 

 nuich so that it is said to sting a tender skin like nettles. 



In spite of the dangers that hedge round the pleasures 

 of the luycophagist — as the mushroom eater likes to be 

 called — these plants have been used more or less for two 

 thousand vears. The people of China, Italy and France 

 are among the chief consumers of mushrooms. It is 

 said that die city of Rome now uses alrout thirty tons 

 annually. When a person speaks of tlic mushroom, 

 Agariciis campester is the one usually meant. It is the 

 commonest species in cultivation and is also abundant in 

 the wild state being found in pastures and other grassy 

 places but seldom if ever in the w-oods. The cap is 

 usually white and the gills at first a beautiful pink, 

 changing later to brown. — American Botanist. 



siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiii mm iNiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiniiiiiiiiiiii iiiNiiiii!iiiii!iiiiiiiii{|iiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii| 



1 Send your subscription to begin with July number to | 



I THE CHRONICLE PRESS, inc., Publishers j 



i The Gardeners' Chronicle of America i 



1 286 Fifth Avenue, New York | 



^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 



