47 

 FUNGI AT WOODSTOCK, NKVV YORK 



W. A. MURRIIJ- 



Dr. John A. Kinujshury, formerly Commissioner of ("hurities 

 of New York, invited me to spend Labor Day with him and his 

 family at their summer home in Woodstock, where so many 

 artists live and where the woods are just now bej^inninj^ to show 

 their annual crop of mushrooms. 



Leaving the train at RhineclifT and crossinj^^ by ferry to 

 Kingston, I found Dr. Kingsbury waiting f(;r me with his car 

 shortly after ten o'clock Sunday night, and we drove to W(X)d- 

 stock in about forty minutes. Monday was a very full day for 

 mushroom enthusiasts and other nature-lovers. A number of us 

 explored the woods in a body and found over a hundred species, 

 most of them fleshy and harmless. The Kingsbury children are 

 exceedingly expert and it was delightful to hear their innocent 

 tongues twisting so sweetly and confidently about such jaw- 

 breaking names as " Polyporus sulphureus," " Hydnum repan- 

 dum,'' " Hypholoma perplexwn,'" ''Amanita phaUoides,'' " CHlo- 

 cybe illudens,'" " Fistulina hepatica,'" and many others with which 

 they were perfectly familiar. 



The display of these specimens on tables in a huge room, set 

 off with backgrounds of mosses and ferns was left to the artists, 

 who did their part remarkably well. Dinner was served to 

 about forty people in this same room, and was followed by an 

 address by me on edible and poisonous mushrooms, illustrated 

 with the freshly gathered specimens. A few general remarks 

 were first made on the subject of fungi and references made to 

 the chestnut canker, apple rust, black knot of plum, blister rust 

 of white pine, wheat rust, oat smut, etc. 



The principal edible and poisonous groups of fungi were then 

 discussed and suggestions made as to how to distinguish them. 

 Attention was called particularly to the two most deadh' species, 

 Amanita phalloides, or the "destroying angel," and Amanita 

 muscaria, the "fly agaric," which are accountable for most of 

 the fatalities connected with mushroom eating. The puffballs, 

 coral-fungi, and certain other groups were shown to be entirely 

 harmless, easily recognizable, and valuable additions to our menu. 



It happened that four giant pu§"balls were growing at the time 

 in Dr. Kingsburys' yard, a few feet from where we were gathered. 



