MUSHROOM 



MUSHROOM 



2087 



2415. Cantharelltis cibarius 



therefore, it is well to learn the characters of the 

 genvis in order to avoid any inclination toward using 

 them for food. The genus contains, it is true, several 

 edible species, and when one knows them there is no 

 danger. Amanita pos,sesses all of the general charac- 

 ters of Liepiota, likewise certain additional ones which 

 serve clearly to distinguish 

 it. The white spores (and 

 usually white gills), the an- 

 nulus, and gills free from the 

 stem are just as in Lepiota; 

 but there is in .\raanita also 

 a volva, or universal veil, 

 which in the mature mush- 

 room appears usually as a 

 cup at the base of the stem, 

 and sometimes remnants of it 

 are carried up by the pileus as 

 frosty scales. In the button 

 stage this universal veil is an 

 outer skin or envelope, and 

 as the plant expands it bursts 

 through the envelope leav- 

 ichantereUe;. Edible. (x,4) '°S more or less of a cup, or 

 at least a basal ring, at the 

 base; and if the upper part of the envelope adheres to 

 the cup, it is broken into mere scales, or frosty patches, 

 as the pileus grows. Now if one pulls up an Amanita 

 carelessly, the volva might not be detected. On the 

 other hand the ring, or veil, might be broken, and then 

 with a volva and no ring the plant might be mistaken 

 for an Amaiiitopsis — a genus with many edible species. 

 Young stages in meadows have been mistaken, indeed, 

 for buttons of Agaricus campestris. The Amanita phal- 

 Imdes, deadly amanita (Fig. 2414), is widely distributed 

 in the United States, occurring especially in woods and 

 meadows. The plants may attain a height of 6 inches 

 and a pileus diameter of 4 inches. In general appear- 

 ance it might be mistaken for a Lepiota, especially 

 L. nauciiioides, as some forms of the species may be 

 entirely white. As a rule, however, the upper surface 

 of the cap is grayish, brownish, or greeni.sh. Usually, 

 there are no scales, at any rate no small scales, on the 

 cap, and the volva is cup-hke. A . verna, the destroy- 

 ing angel, is a pure white plant, regarded by some as 

 one of the white forms of A. phalloides. A. muscaria, 

 the fly agaric, is only somewhat less poisonous than 

 those above mentioned. It is one of the handsomest 

 mushrooms of the forest. The plant may be larger than 

 A. phalloides, and the cap varies from yellow to orange- 

 red in color, with frosty or creamy white scales or 

 patches. In this species the volva is not so prominent, 

 since the universal veil breaks transversely into a num- 

 ber of small incomplete rings, which remain at the 

 base of the somewhat bulbous stem in the form of inter- 

 rupted rings of scales. The gills and stem are white. 

 A. Cxsarea, the roj'al agaric, has also an orange-red 

 cap, but in this species there is a very definite cap-like 

 volva, and the gills of the plant are yellow to orange. 

 This species has been much prized since the earliest his- 

 torical times, but no one should attempt to use it who 

 is not able clearly to distinguish the different species of 

 Amanita. _. 



Tricholoma personatum, the masked tricholoma, is a 

 representative of a genus differing from Lepiota in 

 possessing no ring, and further in having the gills 

 attached to the stem, yet notched near the point of 

 attachment. This species is usually i^ale violaceous or 

 lilac when young, and the pileus is plane or distinctly 

 wavy. The flavor is esteemed. It has been cultivated 

 in experimental beds. 



Clilocybe. — In this genus thi; spores are white and 

 the gills are not only attached but decurrent upon the 

 stem. Clitocybe velutipr^ grows in clusters about stumps 

 anil trees, and is readily n'cognized by the bright red- 

 brown viscid pileus, the pale yellowish gills, and the 



dark stems clothed at the base with a growth of hairs 

 velour-like in texture. This fungus is a late fall and 

 winter mushroom, jirized by many, in spite of an 

 ajjparent toughness in the raw state. 



Pleurotus. — The members of this genus which are of 

 special interest horticulturally grow on decayed places 

 in the trunks of trees, or on logs, and they are readily 

 distinguished from all other white-spored agarics by 

 the excentric stem. It is typically a clustered mush- 

 room — the clusters being sometimes of enormous size. 

 The plants are white or lightly tinted, and the gills 

 are generally decurrent. Plcurolus nslrcalus, P. aapidus, 

 and P. tdmariuis are the commoner large species, all of 

 which are edible, but not keenly sought. 



Lactarius, the mushrooms which yield a milky juice 

 when the gills are cut or injured, is represented in our 

 woods by several species, of which the commoner 

 edible ones are Lactarius deliciosus and L. volemus. In 

 form these plants are much like a Clitocybe, but the 

 gills are not strictly decurrent. Lactarius deliciosus is 

 yellow-buff or light orange, mottled with darker spots 

 or zones, and the juice is orange-colored. The plant 

 is often about 4 inches high and the pileus about 3 

 inches in diameter. L. volemus, a somewhat smaller 

 plant, is of uniform color, brown-orange, or tawny, 

 with white juice. The peppery lactarius, a large white 

 species, is very acrid. Closely related to Lactarius is 

 the genus Russula, — lacking the milky juice, — of which 

 many species with pilei white, greenish, violaceous, 

 or red are found in our woods in summer and early 

 autumn. 



Cantharellus cibarius (Fig. 2415), the chanterelle, is 

 one of a group the members of which are barely agarics, 

 for the gills are often almost vein-like, rounded on the 

 margin and often reticulate. The chanterelle is uni- 

 formly yellow to orange in color, small, more or less 

 unsymmetrical in form. It is also an inhabitant of the 

 woods, and it is much used as a vegetable food in 

 Europe. 



Other Basidiomycetes. 



It has been indicated that the larger part of the fleshy 

 fungi are included among the Basidiomycetes, and while 

 the Agaricaceae furnish the greater number of forms of 

 paramount interest to the average layman, nearly all 

 families of these fungi contribute showy or edible spe- 

 cies — and some families numerous species. In the Poly- 

 poracese and Boletaceae the spore-bearing surfaces are 



2416. Boletus subto- 

 mentosus. 



2417. Clavaria aurea. — 

 Coral fungus. Edible. (XM) 



in the form of pores. In the genus Polyporus the plants 

 are tougher in texture than those usually edible, and the 

 larger number grow on wood and trees — some causing 

 the more destructive diseases of wood and timber. One 

 of the edible forms frequently observed and most con- 

 spicuous is Polyporus sulphurcus, which forms immense 

 clusters of sulfur-yellow and orange, bracket-like sporo- 

 phores on a variety of trees and stumps. Many species 

 of Boletus are edible, but some are to be avoided, and 



