422 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



LAWN MUSHROOMS (including Nau- 

 coria semiorbicularis, edibility doubtful, 

 and Pholiota praecox, edible) 



(See Color Plate VIII) 



Some one has said that he who wishes to 

 explore the world should begin at his own 

 doorstep. Addressed to the incipient mush- 

 room collector, this maxim imparts wholesome 

 advice, for without stirring far from home — 

 yes, within eyeshot of his front door — he can 

 collect enough species to make a respectable 

 list, and not a few that will give him some- 

 thing more substantial in the way of a de- 

 licious snack of mushrooms; also, he is likely 

 to encounter some that are poisonous. 



Among the species to be looked for on lawns 

 and other grassy places are : 



Naucoria semiorbicularis (see Color Plate 

 VIII, the small cluster and single figure in 

 upper right), is very common on lawns. The 

 caps are somewhat sticky in wet weather and 

 the stems have a characteristic, easily removed, 

 pale pith within. Edibility doubtful. 



Pholiota prcecox, the early Pholiota (see 

 Color Plate VIII, showing two plants, young 

 and old, lower right). This is another com- 

 mon, edible, mushroom of our lawns. Appears 

 early in the spring. The young plant shows 

 the ring before it becomes detached from the 

 edge of the cap ; the older one shows this 

 tissue hanging down and covered with a dense 

 deposit of the rusty-brown spores. The cap 

 of the early Pholiota varies in color from 

 darkish ocher and brownish to a creamy white 

 more or less pale. Occasionally the surface is 

 finely cracked into little areas. The variety 

 shown here grows in thin woods. In young 

 plants the gills are colored a beautiful warm 

 gray. 



THE GLISTENING COPRINUS 

 (Coprinus micaceus) 



(Sec Color Plate VIII) 



The Glistening Coprinus (Coprinus mica- 

 ceus), illustrated on page 404, is familiar 

 to every one. It is one of the first mushrooms 

 to respond to the showers of early spring. Al- 

 most any stump will yield hundreds of speci- 

 mens. To save trouble, the abundant crop 

 should be "harvested" with a pair of shears. 

 When simmered down they make an excellent 

 ketchup. 



The minute glistening particles on the cap 

 and the fine, long grooves on the margin of 

 the same at once mark the species. 



THE IMPERIAL AGARIC, OR CE- 

 SAR'S MUSHROOM (Amanita 

 caesarea). Edible 



(See Color Plate IX) 



This brilliantly colored, stately agaric is the 

 famed "boletus" served at the feasts of the 

 emperors of ancient Rome, and lauded in prose 

 and verse by the writers of that period. So 

 highly was it esteemed by epicures that they 



prepared and cooked the plants themselves, per- 

 forming these operations with utensils of am- 

 ber and gold. Special vessels, "boletaria," were 

 used in cooking the bpleti, though in some 

 households they doubtless got mixed occasion- 

 ally with other pots and pans. Martial, in his 

 "Epigrams," lets one that was so treated bewail 

 its fate : 



"Although boleti have given me 

 so noble a name, I am now 

 used, I am ashamed to say, for 

 Brussels sprouts." 



From Juvenal we learn that the preparing of 

 boleti by the young patricians themselves was 

 regarded as a sign of the mollycoddle, for he 

 writes : 



"Nor will that youth allow any 

 relative to hope better of him 

 who has learnt to peel truffles 

 and to pickle boleti." 



Caesar's mushroom grows with us today, its 

 distribution being limited, however, to the 

 States east of Ohio. It is especially abundant 

 in the South, and occurs sparingly as far north 

 as Nova Scotia. If there is much showery 

 weather, it may be looked for in open conif- 

 erous and deciduous woods from July to Octo- 

 ber. Occasionally it forms huge "fairy-rings." 



Except for the very real danger of confound- 

 ing it with the deadly Amaniia mu.scaria 

 (Color Plates II and XV, and chart, page 

 389), there is no reason why it should not 

 again become a favorite with those who, like 

 the old Romans, are fond of rare delicacies. 

 But those who wish to try it should postpone 

 the pleasure until they are thoroughly familiar 

 with a considerable number of Amanitas, as 

 an error in observation may mean death, pre- 

 ceded by horrible agonies (see the symptoms 

 of poisoning by Amanita muscaria, on page 

 403). 



No difficulty will be experienced in avoiding 

 the citron-colored variety of the deadly Amanita 

 phalloides (see figure at extreme right of Plate 

 V). The cap in that variety is never orange, 

 the gills and stem are never clear yellow, and 

 the volva is composed of short, thick segments 

 surrounding the upper part of the large, globu- 

 lar base of the stem. 



[For Color Plate X, see the Deadly Ama- 

 nita, page 409). 



THE SOOTY LACTAR (Lactarius lig- 



niotus). Edibility doubtful 



(See Color Plate XI) 



To the city dweller, who through force of 

 circumstances is allowed a limited number of 

 cubic feet of air in which he must "live, move, 

 and have his being," it must be tantalizing to 

 read that this attractive lactar leads its life in 

 the cool, mossy depths of the vast fir forests. 

 In the hot months of July and August, the time 

 of its occurrence, it is well to have ready this 

 excuse for an outing: "I am going in quest 

 of the sooty lactar." 



