MUSHROOMS 



MUSHROOMS 



479 



kno^n as Morchel, and in French as Morille). In 

 the United States this plant may pass under the 

 name of " sponge mushroom," this fittingly describ- 

 ing the general appearance of the plant, for the 

 morel is of a sponge-like color, and consists of a 



stem bearing a 

 cap or head, 

 which is thrown 

 into folds or 

 wrinkles, also 

 suggesting very 

 much the struc- 

 ture of a sponge. 

 The plant is two 

 to five inches in 

 height and of 

 very neat ap- 

 pearance. It is 

 found chiefly in 

 open woods, 

 though it may 

 also extend into 

 grassy places 

 and orchards. 

 Its season in the 

 United States is 

 from late April 

 to early June, 

 and in a particu- 

 lar locality it 

 may come and 

 disappear within 

 a single week. 

 It must therefore 

 be sought as the 

 earliest edible 

 mushroom. With 

 the exception of 

 the truffle, more- 

 over, it is con- 

 sidered by the 

 French the greatest delicacy among mushrooms, 

 and it commands on the markets of Paris a price 

 several times that of the cultivated mushroom. 



Truffles and other subterranean forms. 



Trufllles are the fruit bodies, or sporophores, of 

 subterranean fungi belonging to the family Tuber- 

 acece, of the class Ascomycetes. There are only six 

 or seven species which, because of size and quality, 

 may be considered of economic importance. These 

 are all classed in the genus Tuber, as are also 

 many small species. 



The black or winter truffle {Tuber melanosporum, 

 Fig. 711) is particularly abundant in France. It 

 is preeminently, the truffle of commerce, and con- 

 stitutes most of the best exported product. It is 

 sometimes known as the Perigord truffle, and has 

 made famous the markets of Perigord and Carpen- 

 tras. This species has a wonderful aroma and 

 flavor. Tuber cestivum, the summer triffle, occurs 

 also in southern France, but chiefly in parts of cen- 

 tral Prance. The next important species is T. 

 magnatum, a large species with alliaceous flavor, 

 highly prized and abundant in Italy. Any of these 



Fig. 710. Morckella eaculenta. Edible. 



species may vary in size from plants smaller than 

 hulled walnuts to those larger than an orange, in 

 extreme cases. The majority of truifles are dark 

 brown or black, with a peculiar warty surface, but 

 T. magnatum is smooth and light in color, some- 

 what resembling a spherical yam. 



In the United States no trufiles of economic 

 importance have thus far been found. One or two 

 small species have been found during a single 

 season in Minnesota, and small forms are also 

 known in California. It is thought that none of 

 the larger edible species are native in this country. 

 There seems to be no reason why truffle-growing 

 may not succeed in parts of some of the southern 

 states. The introduction experiments thus far 

 have been of no consequence. 



Truffles are found in lime-containing clay soils, 

 and are thought to be absent from all sandy soils. 

 They are seldom found at great distances from the 

 roots of certain trees, and it is thought that the 

 mycelium is, in part at least, parasitic on living 

 roots. T. melanosporum is more commonly found 

 under oaks, particularly Quercus Hex, the live-oak 

 {Chene vert) of southern Europe, Q. eoeeifera, a scrub 

 live-oak of the Mediterranean garigues, and Q. 

 sessiliflpra. 



Properly speaking, truffles are exploited rather 

 than cultivated ; nevertheless they are cultivated 

 in the sense that many areas in which truffles did 

 not grow are now yielding an abundance of this 



/' 



'V 



\ 



Fig. 711. The Mack truEQe above {Tuber melanosporum, var. 

 d.grosses varntes). Terfa {Terfezix leonis) below. (From 

 "La TrufEa," by Ad. Chadn, Paiis.) 



fungus. Truffle production has been made possible 

 in such areas by planting the necessary shelter 

 trees, providing for proper soil drainage and shut- 

 ing out predatory animals. Sometimes, moreover. 



