FUNGI 23 



fuliginosus, a poisonous species. These two species, L. fumosus and 

 L. fuliginosus, are sometimes considered identical. 



Lactarius Torminosus. Cap convex, then depressed, surface 

 viscid when young or moist, yellowish red or ochraceous with pink 

 shades, margin involute when young, persistently tomentose hairy; 

 gills crowded, narrow, often tinged with yellow or a flesh color; stem 

 cylindrical or slightly tapering at the base, hollow, whitish. 



Cap 5 to 9 cm. broad; stem 3.75 to 7.5 cm. long, 8 to 16 mm. 

 thick. 



According to some authors this species is injurious only when 

 raw. It is cooked and eaten in Sweden. In Russia it is enjoyed 

 dressed with oil and vinegar or it is preserved by drying. 



Russula Emetica. Cap oval to bell-shaped, becoming flattened 

 or depressed, smooth, shining, rosy to dark red when old, fading to 

 tawny, sometimes becoming yellow, margin finally furrowed and 

 tuberculate; flesh white, but reddish under the separable pellicle; 

 gills nearly free, somewhat distant, shining white; taste very acrid; 

 stem stout, spongy-stuffed, fragile when old, white or reddish. 



Cap 7.5 to 10 cm. broad; stem 6 to 10 cm. long. 



Russula emetica is a handsome plant of wide distribution found 

 during summer and autumn on the ground in woods or open places. 

 Although some enthusiastic mycophagists testify to its edibility, it is 

 best to consider the species poisonous. 



PANUS STIPTICUS. Bitter Panus. Cap pale cinnamon to grayish, 

 kidney shaped, scurfy, tough; gills not decurrent, thin, narrow, 

 crowded, connected by veins; stem short, lateral, solid, ascending 

 pruinose. 



Cap 12 to 25 mm. broad. 



This little species is common on stumps, shriveling in dry and 

 expanding in wet weather. It is characterized by a pronounced 

 astringent taste, which is very unpleasant in its effect on the mouth 

 and throat, and is considered poisonous. 



Constituents. The toxic principles of a number of the poisonous 

 fungi have been studied. They belong to several distinct classes, 

 (a) In some cases the toxic principle is an alkaloid as muscarine, being 

 the active principle of Amanita muscaria. It is an alcohol-soluble 

 crystalline substance and usually classed with the ammonia bases. 

 It has been prepared synthetically by the oxidation of choline, but 

 the artificial body does not produce quite the same symptoms and 

 it is easily decomposed. Muscarine is physiologically neutralized 

 by atropine and this alkaloid is therefore used as an antidote in cases 

 of poisoning by Amanita muscaria- 



