Part 8

This, which is our button mushroom, lies at first concealed in the earth, at which period it presents the appearance of a puff-ball; at a second stage of its growth, it exhibits a white, smooth, and continuous epidermis; gills rounded off at their posterior end; a large, somewhat funnel-shaped, _double_ ring, free, and somewhat moveable on the stem, which is short and thick. This, according to Vittadini, is the most sapid variety of any.

_Var._ B. _pratensis_.

This differs from the last in the duskier hue of its pileus, which is moreover scaly, and has ragged margins; the gills are ventricose; and the ring, which is subfugacious, is cortinarious, _i. e._ of a cobweb texture, and reflexed; the stalk is longer than in the last species, and tapers towards the base; the colour of the flesh in this variety is vinous or even sanguine.

_Var._ C. _silvicola_.

This differs from the two former in the following particulars; the gills are _pallid_, taper _equally_ at both ends, and come off at a considerable distance from the stalk, which is surrounded above by a very delicate ring, and is _bulbous_ at the base, the bulb showing traces of the volva.[159]

_Var._ D. _anceps_.

Such _uncultivated_ mushrooms as when eaten even in small quantity, produce violent derangement of the stomach and intestinal canal, belong to a variety which, since it grows under hedges, is sometimes called “the hedge mushroom;” this, to which, for distinction’s sake, I have given the name of _anceps_, is by no means of rare occurrence. In order to discriminate it properly from the wholesome varieties, the first point to notice is its extreme lightness as compared with its bulk, that the gills are of a deeper and of a more lurid red than those of _var. edulis_, and in age less purple; they are also less deliquescent. The flesh is more tough and not so juicy. The stem, as in the _var. silvicola_, is curved and bulbous, but also fistulose throughout. The ring complete, firm, broad, reflexed, and _persistent_; the odour disagreeable, and the taste insipid. The form of the pileus that of an obtuse cone in young specimens; extremely flat in the middle state; and more or less concave in age. It seldom grows solitary. The mushroom proper, like other funguses, should be eaten fresh; a few hours making all the difference between its wholesomeness or unwholesomeness: nor need this surprise us when we consider how many principles enter into its composition, how short is the period of its existence, and how liable it must be to enter into new combinations in consequence. Vauquelin found in its flesh fat, adipocere, osmazome, an animal matter insoluble in alcohol, sugar, fungine, and acetate of potash. What a medley! and what wonder, if the changes induced during decomposition should cause the indigestions suffered by those who have eaten them in this state! The mushroom, having the same proximate principles as meat, requires, like meat, to be cooked before these become changed. The _Ag. campestris_ may be prepared in a great variety of ways: they give a fine flavour to soups, and greatly improve beef-tea;—where arrow-root and weak broths are distasteful to the patient, the simple seasoning of a little ketchup will frequently form an agreeable change. Some roast them, basting with melted butter and white (French) wine sauce.[160] In patties and _vols-au-vent_ they are equally excellent; in fricassees, as everybody knows, they are the important element of the dish. Roques recommends in all cases the removal of the gills before dressing, which though it secures a more elegant-looking _entremet_, is only flattering the eye at the expense of the palate.

_Var._ E. _bovinus_.

This variety differs from the _Ag. Georgii_ and the type of the species in size and other particulars. There are specimens which measure fifteen inches across the pileus, with a stalk of corresponding dimensions. The pileus is shaggy, like that of the _Ag. procerus_, with epidermic scales, which are at first nearly white, but in fully developed specimens, of a rich tawny colour, like the _Polyporus squamosus_; and sometimes of a red-brown. The scales more depressed than in _Ag. procerus_, the gills not ventricose, equal at both ends, separated from the stalk by a fossa or groove which runs round its apex; the stalk solid, attenuated at the very base, but thickened just above it, a slightly vinous hue when bruised; flesh of ring perfect, persistent, and hanging round the stalk like a sheet of thin white kid; into which a number of delicate silver threads may be traced proceeding from the apex of stem. The smell is powerful but agreeable, as also is the flavour; no part of the surface ever turns yellow. This variety is both wholesome and well-flavoured; as it is commonly known by the peasants under the name of the “Ox-Mushroom,” I have called it _bovinus_.

_Receipt I.—“A la Provençale._”

Steep for two hours in oil, with some salt, pepper, and a little garlic: then toss up in a small stewpan over a brisk fire, with parsley chopped and a little lemon-juice.

_Receipt II.—To stuff Mushrooms._

Take large mushrooms, full-grown, but not black; remove the gills, and place in lieu of them the following stuffing:—bacon shredded, crumbs of bread, chopped herbs, and a little garlic or eschalots (as for omelettes), salt, pepper, and a taste of spice. Broil in paper as a Maintenon cutlet, moistening with butter when necessary.

_Receipt III.—Mushrooms “à la Marquis Cussi._”

Take button mushrooms; put to them a very small quantity of garlic, finely chopped; toss up over a brisk fire with a little butter; add some lemon-juice; give them a few turns; then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a wine-glassful of the richest brown gravy (Grande Espagnole); when the mushrooms are warmed through in this, add a couple of glasses of Sauterne, simmer for ten minutes, and serve.

A homely mode of cooking _Ag. campestris_ in Bucks. is to cut up the buttons with pieces of bacon the size of dice, and then to boil them in a dumpling.

_Method of Cultivating._

The following method of cultivating mushrooms is given in Paxton’s ‘Botanical Dictionary:’—

“Collect a sufficient quantity of fresh horse-droppings, as free from straw as possible; lay it in an open shed in a heap or ridge; here it will heat violently, and in consequence should be now and then turned for sweetening; after this has subsided to moderation, it will be in a fit state for forming into a bed. In the process of making the bed, the dung should be put on in small quantities and beat firmly and equally together, until it is the required size; in this state let it remain until the highest degree of heat to which it is capable of coming is ascertained, which may be readily done by inserting a heat-stick, and pressing it with the hand; if not found violent, the spawn may be broken up into pieces of two or three inches square, and put into holes about three inches in depth by six inches asunder, over its surface; after this, throw a very small quantity of well-broken droppings over the whole. In this state let it remain for two or three weeks, when a loamy soil may be put on about an inch or an inch and a half thick, and gently patted with the spade. If the temperature of the house be kept about sixty or sixty-five degrees, mushrooms may be expected in six weeks. It is not well to water the beds much, particularly when bearing; it is much better to throw a little water over the path and flues, which will both improve the colour and the flavour of the mushrooms, without being attended with those bad effects frequently resulting from watering, viz. that of destroying the young stock, and turning browner those already fit for table.”—_Paxton’s Bot. Dict._

With regard to the spawn, it may be collected as recommended in the French work cited by M. Roques, and kept in a dry place till wanted; or by digging about the roots of growing mushrooms, and carrying away the earth which contains it. The _débris_ of a former mushroom-bed will always furnish spawn for a new.

AGARICUS EXQUISITUS, _nob._

PLATE IV., FIGS. 3, 4, AND 5.

Section PSALIOTA, _Fries_. Subdivision PRATELLA, _ibid._

AGARICUS GEORGII, _Withering_.

“L’Agarico esquisito è un fungo sano, oltremodo delicato e di facilissima digestione.”—_Vitt._

“Its flavour is far inferior to that of the common mushroom.”—_Berkeley._

This fungus, called also the Horse Mushroom, from the enormous dimensions[161] to which it sometimes attains, is for the most part shunned by the English epicure; it is also this species from which many persons report themselves to have suffered indigestion attended with violent colicky pains, when they have eaten it by mistake for the _Ag. campestris_. It is sold, under the name of White Caps, for making ketchup; but, notwithstanding its foreign name and reputation, most persons will agree with Mr. Berkeley, in holding both its flesh and its juices as greatly inferior to those of the _Ag. campestris_. Our other name for it, that of St. George’s Agaric, can have no reference to the time of its appearance, as it is seldom met with in England till after that saint’s day; it has, moreover, the same name in Hungary, where the inhabitants look upon it as a special gift from Saint George.

Its botanical characters are the following:—

_Pileus_ at first conico-campanulate, covered with floccose shreds, which are very fugacious; when fully expanded, minutely squamulose, of a beautiful white, shining and smooth; turning yellow when bruised, and sometimes exuding a yellow juice (Sibthorpe). _Gills_ numerous, broad, attenuated both ways, but most so behind, free, of a pallid hue (grey flesh-colour), during the growth of the fungus; later, clouded brown-black; the imperfect gills obtuse behind. _Stem_ long, subcylindrical, slightly thickened at the base, white without, stuffed within. _Ring_ tumid and reflected over the stalk. _Flesh_ of both pileus and stalk compact, fibrous, and fragile. Flavour and smell strong, and, according to Vittadini, agreeable, but according to English perception generally the reverse. Persoon pronounces this fungus to be _superior_ to the common mushroom in smell, taste, and digestibility, on which accounts, he says, it is generally preferred in France. It is to be cooked in the same way as that, and, if eaten in moderation, will seldom be found to incommode the stomach or offend the palate.

_Locality._—Pastures, amidst thickets, under trees, generally in large rings, reproducing itself every year in the same situations.

AGARICUS DELICIOSUS.

PLATE V., FIG. 4.

_Orange Milk Agaric._

Subgenus GALORRHEUS.

_Bot. Char._ Gregarious. _Pileus_ from three to four inches across; colour dull orange-rufous, frequently zoned with concentric circles of a brighter hue, fleshy, firm, full of red orange milk, which turns green on exposure to the air (as does the whole plant when bruised); the margin at first involute and downy, then expanded, afterwards depressed. _Gills_ decurrent, forked at the base, always of the same colour as the pileus, rather distant, substantial. _Stem_ from two to three inches high, slightly bent, stuffed in part, scrobiculate (_i. e._ marked with little superficial pits); at the base strigose (_i. e._ covered with short pointed hairs).

This is one of the best Agarics with which I am acquainted, fully deserving both its _name_ and the estimation in which it is held abroad. Its flesh is firm, juicy, sapid, and nutritious. It grows under old Scotch firs and pines, and occasionally in considerable abundance, and is well worth the trouble of searching for from September to the beginning of November, when it is in season. There is but one fungus which it in any way resembles, and as that one (_Ag. torminosus_) is acrid and poisonous, the gatherer must pay particular attention to the following characteristic difference between the two, viz. that the milk of the _Ag. deliciosus_ is _red and subsequently turns green_, while that of the _Ag. torminosus_ is _white_ and _unchangeable_.

Mr. Sowerby thus speaks in praise of this species:—“I had one dressed; it was very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the flavour of mussels.”

Sir James Smith, in his ‘Tour,’ says:—“The market of Marseilles exhibited a prodigious quantity of _Ag. deliciosus_, which really deserves its name, being the most delicious mushroom known.”

The _Agaricus deliciosus_ may be served with a white sauce, or fried; but the best way to cook them, after duly seasoning with pepper and salt, and putting a piece of butter upon each, is to bake (in a closely-covered pie-dish) for about three-quarters of an hour.

BOLETUS SCABER, _Fries_.

PLATE VI. FIGS. 1, 2.

“Fungo innocente e che non può cagionare alcun danno, non molto ricercato a motivo, senza dubbio, del cambiamento di colore in cui va soggetto la sua carne allorchè viene rotta o compressa.”—_Vitt._

_Bot. Char._ This fungus presents itself under two distinct forms; in the first, the _B. aurantiacus_ of Bull., the _pileus_ (generally rather downy, but sometimes rough) is of a beautiful deep orange hue; in the other it is cinereous.

In both cases its shape is that of a hemisphere of from three to seven inches across, the surface of which becomes viscid when moist, and is minutely downy. In the first variety, the _stem_ is rough with black, in the second with orange scales.

Half a foot is its average height; it is attenuated upwards. While young, it is very thick in proportion to the pileus, and exhibits frequently the traces of a floccose veil. The flesh is thick and flabby, of a dingy white, not greatly changeable in young specimens, but deepening in colour when old, and acquiring a vinous tint;[162] the _tubes_ are of a dirty white, those that surround the stem being shorter than the rest.

The odour of this fungus is slight; the taste subacid; the seminal dust copious, and tawny-ferruginous. It may be cooked like the _B. edulis_, and has an agreeable flavour; but being more viscid in substance, it requires when stewed to be thinned with water; when dried, it loses all odour, and is then insipid and unfit for food.

BOLETUS LURIDUS.

PLATE VI. FIGS. 3, 4, AND 5.

Nothing can be more accurate than Mr. Berkeley’s description of this species, which I therefore subjoin:—“Woods. Summer and autumn. Common. _Pileus_ two to six inches broad, convex, expanded, minutely tomentose, olive, brick-red, pinkish, cream-coloured, or ferruginous-brown. _Flesh_ more or less yellow, changing to blue.[163] _Tubes_ free, yellow or greenish; their orifices of a beautiful red or bright orange, quite simple, round. _Spores_ olivaceous-ochre. _Stem_ very variable in length, bulbous, tomentose, sometimes quite smooth, red with ferruginous or the brightest yellow shades, solid, generally more or less marked or reticulated with crimson-red, _very deleterious_”(?[164]).

AGARICUS PERSONATUS.

PLATE I. FIG. 2.

Subgenus TRICHOLOMA, _Fries_.

_Blewitts._

I never met with this fungus in Italy; it has not been described by Vittadini, nor, that I am aware of, by any Italian mycologist; neither is it mentioned by Cordier or Roques, in their treatises on the esculent funguses of France. Extremely common in England, this species has already found its way to Covent Garden, where, according to Sowerby, it is sold under the name of “Blewitts.”[165] The favourite haunt of the Blewitt is amidst grass, where it grows in clusters, or in large rings, seldom appearing before October.

The botanical characters, as given by Mr. Berkeley, are as follows:—“_Pileus_ from two to six inches broad, fleshy, firm; pale bistre or purple-lilac, occasionally violet; convex, obtuse, very smooth, and shining, as if oiled, but not viscid; margin involute, pulverulento-tomentose. _Gills_ rounded; free, narrow in front, paler than the pileus, sometimes violet, turning to a dirty flesh-colour, especially when bruised; _stem_ from one to three inches high, three-quarters of an inch thick, firm, bulbous, solid, mottled within towards the apex, with watery spots; clothed more or less with villous fibrillæ, tinged with violet; odour like that of _Oreades_, but rather overpowering; taste pleasant.” As the “Blewitt” is apt to imbibe in wet weather a great quantity of moisture, it should not be gathered during rain; when not water-soaked it is a fine firm fungus with a flavour of veal, like which it is to be dressed _en papillottes_ with savoury herbs and the usual condiments, and the more highly seasoned the better.

AGARICUS OREADES, _Bolt_.

PLATE VII. FIG. 4.

Subgenus CLITOCYBE. Section SCORTEI, _Fries_.

_Scotch Bonnets._

Every one knows the Champignon,—that little buff fungus which during so many months in the year comes up in successive crops, in great profusion after rain, and generally in rings. These Champignons abound everywhere: this summer (1847) Hyde Park was full of them; amid the seared and much-trodden grass they were continually tracing their fairy rings, and in some instances they reached the very border of the gravel walks. Independent of the excellent flavour of this little mushroom, which is as good as that of most funguses, two circumstances give it an additional value in a domestic point of view, viz. the facility with which it is dried, and its very extensive dissemination. When dried (two or three days’ exposure to the air is generally sufficient to effect this), the _Ag. oreades_ may be kept for years without losing any of its aroma or goodness, which on the contrary become improved by the process, so as, in fact, to impart more flavour to the dish than would have been imparted by the fresh fungus; though it is not to be denied that the flesh then becomes coriaceous and less easy of digestion.[166] From the sad accidents occasioned by persons mistaking other small and poisonous Agarics growing in the neighbourhood of the Champignon for the Champignon itself, this species is frequently looked upon with suspicion, and not often eaten in England. The Agaric the least unlike and most commonly found growing in company with the _Ag. oreades_, is the _Ag. semilobatus_, which is nearly allied to, if it be not the same as the _Ag. virosus_ of Sowerby. But as I have also heard of a gentleman who intending to gather Champignons, and taking home some _Ag. dryophilus_ by mistake, was rendered very ill by his repast, to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes for the future, I here add the botanical characters, marking what is peculiar to each in italics. _Ag. dryophilus_ is represented in Pl. VII. fig. 5.

AG. DRYOPHILUS.

Solitary or tufted. Pileus from one to two inches broad, whitish, pinkish, yellowish, or yellow-brown, flat, sometimes _depressed_, fleshy, thin, _fragile_, _when moist easily injured_, of a tougher substance when dry. Gills soft, tender, numerous, white, or pale yellow straw-colour. Stem shining, _hollow_, of the same colour as the pileus, but towards the apex generally darker and of a redder tinge.

AG. OREADES.

In dense rings, or gregarious. Pileus smooth, _fleshy_, _convex_, _subumbonate_, generally more or less _compressed_, or _sinuate_; _tough_, coriaceous, _elastic_, _wrinkled_, when _water-soaked brown_, _buff_ or _cream-colour_ when dry; the umbo often remaining _red-brown_, as if _scorched_. Gills _distant_, ventricose, of the _same tint as the pileus_ or _paler_. Stem equal, _solid_, _twisted_, very _tough_ and _fibrous_, _pure, silky, white_; base downy, somewhat rooting and attached to the roots of grass.[167]

AG. SEMIGLOBATUS.

Pileus hemispherical, _viscid_ when moist, _shining_ and _smooth_ as if varnished, obtuse, fleshy. Gills very broad, perfectly _horizontal to the stem_, broadly adnate, with a little tooth, minutely _serrated_, mottled with purple-brown sporules. _Stalk very viscid_, shining when dry with a closely-matted silkiness, _fistulose_, sometimes bulbous with a hollow bulb; ring generally complete, reflexed, often dusted with the dark-coloured spores.

AGARICUS NEBULARIS.

PLATE IV. FIG. 2.

Subgenus CLITOCYBE. Section DASYPHYLLI, _Fries_.

AG. PILEOLARIUS, _Bulliard_.

“Il est très-agréable au goût.”—_Bulliard._

The following description was made from some among the more characteristic specimens of a large supply which I gathered this autumn (1847) near Hayes, from a spot where they are in the habit of re-appearing regularly in October.

_Pileus_ from two and a half to five inches across; at first depresso-convex; when expanded nearly flat or broadly subumbonate, never depressed, margin at first involute and pruinose; occasionally somewhat waved and lobed, but generally regular in form; smooth, viscid when moist, so that dead leaves adhere to it; grey, brown at the centre, paler towards the circumference. _Flesh_ thick, white, unchanging; _gills_ cream-colour, narrow, decurrent, close, their margins waved, unequal, generally simple. _Stem_ from two to four inches long, from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick; incurved at the base, not rooting, but attaching by means of a floccose down, round its lower portion and for one-third of its length, a large quantity of dead leaves, by which the plant is held erect; subequal, more or less marked with longitudinal pits, firm externally, within of a softer substance. The _odour_ strong, like that of curd cheese.

This Agaric appears to be local in Italy; otherwise it could scarcely have been omitted in Vittadini’s work, nor by the author of the article “Fungo” in the Venice edition of the ‘Dizionario Classico di Medicina:’ add to which that I have never met with it myself either at Florence, Pisa, Naples, or Leghorn. That it grows in the neighbourhood of Rome is certain, since I find it admirably delineated in a curious collection of very old drawings which I purchased there. Moreover Professor Sanguinetti, of that city, writes in terms of high commendation of this mushroom, which, he says, may be discerned _inter alia_, “by its peculiar odour and grateful taste: when properly cooked it is equal to any of our funguses, rivalling not only the _Ag. prunulus_, but even the _Cæsareus_: as few are aware of its good qualities, it seldom finds its way into the Roman market.” The _Ag. nebularis_ requires but little cooking; a few minutes’ broiling (à la Maintenon is best), with butter, pepper, and salt, is sufficient. It may also be delicately fried with bread crumbs, or stewed in white sauce. The flesh of this mushroom is perhaps lighter of digestion than that of any other.

CANTHARELLUS CIBARIUS.

PLATE VIII. FIG. 1.

Tribe MESOPUS. Subdivision AGARICINI, _Fries_.

“Sunt qui hunc perniciosum scripsere. Verum etiam latranti stomacho eum comedi; atque ex eo pulmenta parantur, quæ si aridis mortuorum oribus admovcantur peream ni reviviscerent!”—_Batt._

“Jure inter sapidissimos fungos numeratur.”—_Fries._

No fungus is more popular than the above, though the merits—nay, the very existence—of such a fungus at home is confined to the Freemasons, who keep the secret! Having collected a quantity at Tunbridge Wells, this summer, and given them to the cook at the Calverley Hotel to dress, I learnt from the waiter that they were not novelties to him; that, in fact, he had been in the habit of dressing them for years, on state occasions, at the Freemasons’ Tavern. They were generally fetched, so he said, from, the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, and were always well paid for. Of the _Cantharellus_, this summer (1847), the supplies were immense! the moss under the beech-trees in Buckhurst Park in particular, was so lavish of them, that a hamper might soon have been filled, had there been hands to gather them. On revisiting the same park about five weeks later, they were still continuing to come up, but in less abundance.

The botanical characters of the _Cantharellus_ are as follow:—