APPENDIX XI 737 



summer to late autumn. When fresh it is without scent, but a peculiarly sickening 

 odor is present in drying plants. 



Armu-laria 



The genus Armillaria is another white-spored agaric having a ring and no volva. 

 The gills are attached to the stem and are sinuate or more or less decurrent. The 

 substance of the stem and cap is continuous and firm. This genus ma}' be distin- 

 guished from Amanita and Lepiota by the continuity of the substance of the stem 

 and cap, and it is further differentiated from Amanita by the absence of a volva. 

 It contains several edible species. 



Armillaria mellea. Honey-colored Mushroom (Edible) 



Cap oval to convex and expanded, sometimes with a slight elevation, smooth, or 

 adorned with pointed dark-brown or blackish scales, especially in the center, honey 

 color to dull reddish-brown, margin even or somewhat striate when old; gills adnate 

 or decurrent, white or whitish, sometimes with reddish-brown spots; stem elastic, 

 spongy, sometimes hollow, smooth or scaly, generally whitish, sometimes gray or 

 yellow above the ring, below reddish-brown. 



Cap I J^ to 6 inches broad; stem 2 to 6 inches long, J-^ to ^ inch thick. 



This spwcies is extremely common and variable. It generally occurs in clusters 

 about the base of rotten stumps and is often a serious parasite of fruit trees and 

 destructive to props in coal mines. The fruit bodies are attached to the strands of 

 hyphae known as Kkizomorpha subterranea, which form a netw*k under the bark 

 of the tree and out into the soil. Both ring and stem are subject to marked varia- 

 tions. The former may be thick, or thin, or entirely absent, and the latter uniform 

 in diameter or bulbous. The species is edible, though not especially tender or 

 highly flavored (Fig. 15). 



On account of the great variation in color, surface of the cap, and shape of the 

 stem, several forms of Armillaria mellea have been given varietal distinction. The 

 following varieties as distinguished by Prof. Peck may be of assistance to the amateur: 



Armillaria mellea var. flava, with yellow or reddish-yellow cap. 

 Armillaria mellea var. radicata, with a tapering root. 

 Armillaria mellea var. albida, with white or whitish cap. 



Pleurotus 



The genus Pleurotus is chiefly distinguished among the white-spored agarics by 

 the excentric stem or resupinate cap. The stem is fleshy and continuous with the 

 substance of the cap, but it is subject to great variation in the different species and 

 may be excentric, lateral, or entirely absent. The gills are decurrent or sometimes 

 adnate, edge acute. Most of the species grow on wood, buried roots, or decayed 

 stumps. This genus corresponds to Claudopus of the pink-spored and Crepidolus 

 of the brown-spored forms. 

 47 



