44 Annual Report of the State Botanist. 



to the abortive form of Clitopilus abortivus. It grows in company 

 with the normal form. This fungus is regarded as destructive to the 

 wood in which its mycelium lives. 



Authors disagree as to its edible qualities. Badham says that it is 

 a nauseous disagreeable fungus, however cooked, and that it is so 

 repugnant to our notions of the savory that few would make a second 

 attempt or get dangerously far in a first dish. Letellier says that all 

 authors have indicated this mushroom as dangerous. 



Richon and Rose say that its taste is styptic and the acridity does 

 not entirely disappear in cooking. The species is edible, but its 

 quality is very indifferent. According to Vittadini it is preserved in 

 vinegar, salt and oil for use in winter and its acridity is lost in 

 cooking. 



Gillet says that it has for a long time passed as poisonous and 

 that modern botanists still disagree as to its properties, but in reality 

 it is harmless, though it has an acrid disagreeable taste which 

 disappears in cooking. 



Stevenson says it is edible but tough. 



Cordier says it is edible and loses its acridity in cooking, but the 

 stems are tough and not used. 



Dr. Curtis classes it with the edible species. 



I have myself eaten it at different times, both fried and stewed, and 

 always without harm. Though not unpleasant to my taste at the 

 time of eating, it afterwards leaves an unpleasant burning sensation 

 in the throat which lasts a short time. 



It is not improbable that such a variable plant may differ somewhat 

 in its properties in different localities and according to its different 

 habitats. Its toughness also may vary according to the age of the 

 specimens and the rapidity of their growth. These differences may 

 account in part for the different estimate which has been made of it. 

 Tastes also differ in different individuals. In my own case, only the 

 pilei of young or barely mature specimens were used. 



In the Adirondack region I have seen large tufts of this species 

 without pilei. Some animal of considerable size, probably deer, had 

 eaten the pilei, and recognizing the toughness and unfitness of the 

 stems had left them standing where they grew. 



Synopsis of the United States Species of Armillakia. 



Pileus white or whitish 1 



Pileus some other color 4 



1. Pileus viscid A. mucida. 



1. Pileus not viscid 2 



