mild. Specimens of this species were sent to me from western New York

several years ago by a correspondent who found it growing in quantities in a corn field. He had cooked several dishes of it, and reported its flavor as very agreeable.

L. _vellereus_ and L. _piperatus_ are very common in fir woods. The plants are large and stout, white throughout, the milk white and excessively acrid; gills decurrent, unequal and narrow. The milk in _vellereus_ is apt to be scanty but copious in _piperatus_.

Of L. _piperatus_, Worthington Smith says: "So strongly acrid is the milk that if it be allowed to trickle over tender hands it will sting like the contact of nettles; and if a drop be placed on the lips or tongue the sensation will be like the scalding of boiling water." He records it as "poisonous." Fries and Curtis say that, "notwithstanding its intense acridity, it is edible when cooked." Cordier, while recording it as edible, says that the milk, and butter made from the milk of cows fed with it, are bitter and nauseous, although cows eat it with avidity. Gibson, while quoting one or two authors as to its edibility when cooked, says: "Its decidedly ardent tang warns me not to dwell too enthusiastically upon its merits in a limited selection of desirable esculents." The Secretary of the Boston Mycological Club, writing in the Club bulletin, says "it has been eaten as a sort of duty after the acridity was cooked out," but does not commend it. It is spoken of as "an unattractive fungus which usurps in the woods the place that might well be occupied by something better." In this opinion I fully concur.

L. _torminosus_, "_Wooly Lactarius_," sometimes called the "_Colic Lactarius_," has been termed acrid and poisonous by Badham. Cordier and Letellier, on the other hand, say that it can be eaten with impunity when cooked. Gillet declares it deleterious and even dangerous in the raw state, constituting a very strong and drastic purgative. One author states that, although it does not constitute an agreeable article of food, it is eaten in some parts of France and in Russia. Considering the differences of opinion which exist with regard to this and other extremely acrid species, it would seem the part of prudence for persons with delicate stomachs to avoid the use of very acrid species, for, though the acridity may be expelled by cooking, there would seem to be no necessity for risking unpleasant or dangerous results while the range of unquestionably wholesome and agreeable species is sufficiently wide to satisfy the most enthusiastic mycophagist.

AGARICINI.

LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE OR YELLOWISH).

Armillaria Fries. Cooke places Armillaria in the order Agaricini, _genus Agaricus_, making of it a _sub_-genus. Saccardo, in taking it out of Agaricus, elevates it to the position of a separate genus. The name Armillaria is derived from a Greek word, meaning a ring or bracelet, referring to its ringed stem.

In the plants of the Armillaria the veil is partial in infancy, attaching the edge of the cap to the upper part of the stem; the stem furnished with a ring. Below the ring the veil is concrete with the stem, forming scurfy scales upon it. The gills are broadly adnexed. In abnormal specimens the ring is sometimes absent, or appearing only in scales, running down the stem. Spores white. The species are few; eight are recorded as growing in the United States. Cooke describes twelve species found in Great Britain.

PLATE VI.

=Ag. (Armillaria) melleus= Vahl. "_Honey-Colored Armillaria._"

EDIBLE.

Cap fleshy, rather thin at the margin, at first subconical, then slightly rounded, or nearly plane, clothed with minute hairy tufts; margin sometimes striate, color varying, usually a pale-yellowish or honey color or light reddish brown; flesh whitish. Gills whitish or paler than the cap, growing mealy with the shedding of the profuse white spores, and often spotted with reddish-brown stains, adnate, ending with decurrent tooth. Stem fibrillose, elastic, stuffed or hollow, ringed, and adorned with floccose scales which often disappear with age; in some varieties distinctly bulbous at the base, in others showing tapering root. Specimens occur in which the ring is wanting or only traces of it appear in the form of scales encircling the stem. Veil usually firm, membraneous, and encircling the stem in a well-pronounced ring or collar, but sometimes filmy as a spider's web, in very young specimens hiding the gills, but breaking apart as the cap expands.

Manner of growth caespitose, generally on decayed tree stumps, although the group figured in the plate was found growing on moist sand, mixed with clay, on a roadside in Hynesbury Park.

Authors differ widely as to the value of this species as an esculent. I have only eaten the very young and small specimens when cooked, and found them very palatable. A Boston mycophagist records it as "very good," fried after five minutes' boiling in salted water. Prof. Peck, having tried it, considers it "a perfectly safe species, but not of first-rate quality." It is very common in Maryland and Virginia, and in the mountain districts prolific. I have talked with Bohemians and with Germans who have gathered it in basketfuls in the vicinity of the District of Columbia, who speak well of it, considering it a valuable addition to the table. Its prolific growth makes it valuable to those who like it. There are no species recorded as dangerous in this group.

Ag. (Armillaria) robustus, a very stout species, with a fleshy, compact, smooth cap, bay color or tawny, occurs in the Maryland woods, and in the open woods of the Massachusetts coast.

AGARICINI. Fries.

_Genus Cantharellus_ Adans. In the plants of this genus the hymenophore or fleshy substance of the cap is continuous with the stem. They are fleshy, membranaceous, and putrescent, having neither veil, ring, nor volva. The stem is central, except in a few species, where it is lateral. A characteristic of the genus which separates it from other genera of the Agaricini is the vein-like appearance of the gills. They are very shallow and so obtuse on the edges as to present the appearance of a network of swollen branching veins. They are usually decurrent and anastomosing. It is a small genus. Cooke figures nineteen species. Among the described species C. cibarius is the only one whose edible qualities have been highly recommended. C. umbonatus, a very small plant, found in eastern Massachusetts is commended by those who have eaten it. They are usually found in woods, and amongst moss. One species, _C. carbonatus_, is found upon charred ground.

PLATE VII.

=Cantharellus cibarius= Fries. "_The Edible Chantarelle_."

EDIBLE.

Cap a rich golden yellow, like the yolk of an egg; at first convex, later concave and turbinated; margin sinuous, undulate, smooth, shining, and more or less lobed; diameter from two to four inches; flesh pale yellow or whitish; veins or gills rather thick and wiry, remarkably decurrent, usually very much bifurcated and of the same golden yellow as the cap; stem solid or stuffed, slightly attenuated downwards, yellow; spores white or pale yellowish, elliptical.

European authors esteem it very highly, and some speak of the odor as like that of ripe apricots. The plant as found in Maryland and Virginia has a slightly pungent but agreeable taste when raw, and a pleasant odor when cooked. It is ranked as one of the best of the wood mushrooms by those who have eaten it in this locality (District of Columbia). It is found here in abundance, after light rains, in fir woods. Berkeley states that it is somewhat rare in England, where it is held as a delicacy, but quite common on the continent. We have had specimens from various localities throughout the States. Cooke says the spores are white. Peck and Gibson record them as yellow. I find them white, sometimes slightly tinted with yellow.

The _Chantarelle_ takes its name from a Greek word signifying a cup or vase, referring to its shape and possibly also to its rich golden color; _cibarius_ refers to its esculent qualities.

The variety _rufipes_ Gillet closely resembles C. _cibarius_, but is darker, with the stem _rufous_, reddish, at the base.

C. _aurantiacus_ Fries bears a sufficient resemblance to C. _cibarius_ to be sometimes taken for it, although the cap is tomentose and of a much deeper orange in tint, the gills more crowded, darker than the cap, and the stem less stout. In the variety _pallidus_ the whole plant is very light or buff yellow, and the gills nearly white. C. aurantiacus has been recorded as poisonous or unwholesome by some of the earlier authors, others say that they have eaten it, but do not commend it.

RECEIPTS FOR COOKING.

_Stuffed Morels._--Choose the freshest and lightest colored Morels, open the stalk at the base, fill with minced veal and bread-crumbs, secure the ends of the stalk and place between thin slices of bacon.

The Morel should not be gathered immediately after heavy rains, as it becomes insipid with much moisture. The flavor is said to grow stronger in drying.

_Escalloped Mushrooms._--(From Mr. Frank Caywood, Fredericktown, Ohio, November 14, 1893.) Season as directed in the usual methods for mushrooms and add a small quantity of vinegar to hasten the cooking. Cook slowly until tender; rapid boiling evaporates the flavor. When done, put in from a pint to a quart of sweet milk and heat. Take a pudding dish and put in a layer of broken crackers; light milk crackers are the best. Put lumps of butter and pepper and salt over the crackers. Next a layer of the tender mushrooms with some of the hot gravy and milk. Continue these layers until the dish is full, having a layer of crackers on top. Place the dish in the oven and bake slowly until the crackers are browned.

_Mushroom Fritters._--Take nice large tops, season, and dip into batter and fry in hot butter as other fritters.

_Mushrooms en ragout._--Put into a stewpan a little "stock," a small quantity of vinegar, parsley, and green onions chopped up, salt and spices. When this is about to boil, the cleaned mushrooms are put in. When done remove them from the fire and thicken with yolks of eggs.

The Lactarius _deliciosus_ may be served with a white sauce or fried. Badham says the best way to cook them is to season first with pepper, salt, and small pieces of butter, and bake in a closely covered pie dish for about three quarters of an hour.

The Cantharellus, being somewhat dry, requires more fluid sauce in cooking than the juicier mushrooms, and is best minced and slowly stewed until quite tender. Some advise soaking it in milk a few hours before cooking. The Italians dry or pickle it or keep it in oil for winter use.

Persoon gives the following recipes for cooking the Morel: 1st. Wash and cleanse thoroughly, as the earth is apt to collect between the ridges; dry and put them in a saucepan with pepper, salt, and parsley, adding or not a piece of bacon; stew for an hour, pouring in occasionally a little broth to prevent burning; when sufficiently done, bind with the yolks of two or three eggs, and serve on buttered toast.

2. _Morelles a l'Italienne._--Having washed and dried, divide them across, put them on the fire with some parsley, scallion, chives, tarragon, a little salt, and two spoonfuls of fine oil. Stew till the juice runs out, then thicken with a little flour; serve with bread crumbs and a squeeze of lemon.

MUSHROOM GROWING.[A]

[A] A part of the matter presented under this caption was contributed by the author to the Health Magazine and appeared in the March number (1897) of that periodical.

To France is due the credit of being the first country to cultivate mushrooms on a large scale, and France still supplies the markets of the world with canned mushrooms. The mushroom which is cultivated in the caves and quarries of France, to the exclusion of all others, is the Agaricus arvensis (the "Snowball"), a species of field mushroom.

Of late years France has found a formidable competitor in the culture of mushrooms in Great Britain. The English market gardeners find their moist, equable climate favorable to outdoor culture, and abundant crops are grown by them in the open air, chiefly, however, for the home market.

That mushroom growing can be made a lucrative business is shown by the experience of a well-known English grower, Mr. J. F. Barter, who on one acre of ground has produced in the open air, without the aid of glass, an average of from ten to twelve thousand pounds of mushrooms annually; the price obtained for them varying according to the season, but averaging ten pence, or twenty cents, per pound for the whole year. The value of twelve thousand pounds of mushrooms at ten pence per pound would be L.500 sterling or $2,500.

For the purposes of comparison the following are quoted from the Pall Mall Gazette, as exceptional prices realized in England for other fruits and vegetables in recent years:

Pounds sterling per statute acre:

Very early gooseberries, 100; onions, 192; early lettuces, 100; plums, 100; potatoes, 100; strawberries, 150; black currants, 168; filberts, 200.

It will be seen that onions and filberts head the list, but the product of an acre of mushrooms has been shown to be worth more than double that of either filberts or onions.

In the localities specially favorable to hop growing 30 cwt. of hops to the acre is considered exceptional, while the average price has been quoted at 3 pounds sterling, or about one-fifth of the sum obtained from Mr. Barter's acre of mushrooms. Three months in the year the weather does not favor outdoor culture, and these months Mr. Barter spends in manufacturing brick spawn, which he exports to this and other countries. Among those who have been very successful in indoor culture are Mr. William Robinson, editor of the "London Garden," and Mr. Horace Cox, manager of the "Field."

In America, where mushroom culture is still comparatively in its infancy, there have already been obtained very encouraging results by painstaking growers. Most of the cultivation has been in the northern and midwestern States, where the climatic conditions seemed most favorable to indoor culture. A few figures as to the revenue obtained in this way may be interesting to readers.

An experienced Pennsylvania grower states that from a total area of 5,500 square feet of beds, made up in two mushroom houses, he obtained a crop of 5,000 pounds of mushrooms in one season, or about one pound to the square foot. These sold at an average of a little over 50 cents per pound. A third house, with 19,000 square feet of beds, produced 2,800 pounds, or one and one-half pounds to the square foot. This house yielded a net profit of one thousand dollars. This, however, can be quoted only as showing the possibilities of careful culture by experienced growers under very favorable circumstances. Amateurs could scarcely expect such good results. Three-fourths of a pound to the square foot would probably come nearer the average. A Philadelphia grower gives the average price secured from fifty shipments of mushrooms in one season at 54 cents per pound. New York dealers report higher rates than this. A Washington florist who utilizes the lower shelves of his propagating houses for the purpose of mushroom growing informed me that during two seasons he received 60 cents per pound wholesale, shipping to New York, and that he sold one thousand dollars worth in one season. Mr. Denton, a market gardener of Long Island, who cultivates in houses built for the purpose, markets from 1,700 to 2,500 pounds per year.

Thus far the market is in the hands of a comparatively few dealers in the neighborhood of large cities, but there is certainly no good reason why the growing of mushrooms should not be more generally undertaken by the farming community. Certainly no one has better facilities than are at the command of the enterprising American farmer. On most farms the conditions are favorable or could easily be made so for mushroom culture, on a moderate scale, at least. Generally there are disused sheds, old barns, etc., which with a small outlay could be transformed into mushroom houses, and where timber is plentiful the cost of building a small mushroom house would be repaid by the profits accruing from the business.

In the culture of mushrooms there are open, to the enterprising with small capital, four sources of profit: first, the sale of the fresh mushrooms; second, the manufacture of mushroom catsup; third, the canning of the small button mushroom for exportation; and, fourth, the manufacture of spawn.

It is well in this, as in all new industries, to begin in a small way, and if success is attained it is easy to extend operations on a larger scale. My advice to amateurs is to begin with one or two beds in a well-drained cellar or shed where good ventilation and even temperature can be secured at moderate cost. In the underground cellar economy is secured by the saving in fuel. The beds can be made on the floor, flat, ridged or banked against the wall, ten or twelve inches deep in a warm cellar, and from fifteen to twenty inches in a cool cellar. The boxing for the sides and ends may be built six or eight inches higher than the beds to give the mushrooms plenty of head room.

DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING THE COMPOST FOR THE BEDS.

Procure not less than a cartload of clean, fresh stable manure. Place it under cover, to protect it from rain and drain water, mix well and heap up the whole mass into a mound three feet high then beat the mound firmly down to prevent undue heating. Repeat this operation every other day until its rank smell is gone, taking care that on each turning the outside dry manure is placed in the centre of the mound. By this means the stable odor is dissipated while its heating properties are equally distributed. Add to this from one-fourth to one-fifth of clean, rich garden mould. Mix well. After this careful handling, the mass may be considered fit for bedding purposes. When placed in the beds the mass should be compacted again by beating with the back of a spade or trowel. The bed surface should appear moist but not wet, smooth and of firm consistence. From day to day it will be necessary to test its general temperature by means of a thermometer. To this end make at various places at different depths openings sufficiently large to admit the use of a thermometer. It will be found that the temperature is highest nearest the bottom. Test at various points. At first the temperature will run high; 105 to 120 Fahrenheit is probably as high as it will reach, but in a few days it will fall to 85 or 80 Fahrenheit. At this point spawn the bed. For this purpose make holes in the top of the bed about six inches apart and two inches deep with a blunt dibble or broom handle. Place in these holes or openings a piece of brick spawn about the size of a hen's egg, and cover the holes with manure; finish by packing the same, keeping the surface of the bed smooth and moist. The spawn should be slightly moistened before using. Should the surface of the bed become dry, use water from a fine sprinkling pan. The temperature of the cellar or house in which the bed may be placed should range between 55 and 75, and should not be lower than 50. If the spawn is good and all conditions attended to, the white filaments should appear spreading through the bed within eight or ten days after spawning. When the white spawn is observed on or near the surface, cover the whole surface with from one to two inches of garden loam well pulverized. A good general rule for spawning the bed is to wait until the heat of the bed is on the decline and has fallen to at least 90 Fahrenheit. If the heat in the middle of the bed runs too high the spawn is killed. The experience of a number of growers has shown that a bed spawned at 60 to 80 and kept at 55 after the mushrooms appear gives better results than one spawned at 90.

The quality of the manure makes some difference in its temperature. That obtained from stables where horses are grass fed will be of lower normal temperature and will chill quicker than that obtained from corn or oat fed stock.

A solution of saltpeter in proportion of about fifteen grains to a quart of water, occasionally spread over the bed with a fine hose, helps to accelerate the growth of the mushrooms.

The proper condition of the manure as regards dryness or moistness can be readily ascertained by squeezing it in the hand; it should be unctuous enough to hold together in a lump, and so dry that you cannot squeeze a drop of water out of it. Excessive moisture in the manure has been often a cause of failure. It should be remembered also that when the heat of the manure is on the decline it falls rapidly, five, often ten degrees a day, till it reaches about 75, and between that and 65 it may rest for weeks.

One of the principal causes of the failure of mushroom culture in this country is the use of old or poor spawn. Good spawn should have a fresh, mushroomy odor, and a bluish-white appearance on the surface. In buying spawn one should always go to reliable seedsmen.

COMPOST FOR MUSHROOM BEDS.

Sawdust has been used in England for mushroom beds, after having been used for stable bedding, with very good results. It has also been used successfully in the District of Columbia. In fact, the very large models of cultivated mushrooms exhibited by the Division of Microscopy of the Department of Agriculture at the World's Fair in Chicago were moulded from mushrooms which were grown on the writer's premises, in a composition of sawdust stable bedding, combined with about one-fourth garden mould, but I am confident, at the same time, that much depends on the kind of timber the sawdust is made from. In this case the sawdust came from spruce.

MUSHROOM CULTURE IN CANADA.

A Canadian correspondent informs me that he, with others, has been very successful in growing mushrooms in the open air during the summer months in Canada, and gives the following directions for preparing the beds in the colder latitudes:

Place under a shed such amount of clean stable manure as may be required for the beds, turning it over and over until all free ammonia has escaped and the tendency of undue fermentation and evolution of high temperature has greatly modified. To effect this, it is necessary to heap up the manure each time in a mound, say three feet high after turning, and beat it firmly down (the exclusion of free air prevents overheating). To put the manure in proper condition for use in the beds, from two to four weeks' treatment may be required, but much depends on the quality of the manure and temperature of the atmosphere. Before making the beds, and several days after the last turning, test the internal temperature of the mound in the following manner: Make a hole with a broomstick through the mound from top to bottom, and suspend a thermometer half way down in the hole for, say, an hour. The temperature may be as high as 150 F. After the lapse of the time stated, beat the mound more firmly down to prevent rise of temperature. Test again two days after in the same manner. If the temperature has risen several degrees the mound must be again taken down, turned over, and remade. If, on the other hand, the temperature has fallen to 100 F., the permanent bed may be made. If indoor growth is desired, such as a cellar, outbuilding, or cave, the atmosphere must not fall below 50 F., nor be over 80 F. Air drafts cannot be permitted. The floor must be dry and the atmosphere moist. The cellar may be dark, or moderately light. Growers differ in opinion in this respect. Growers generally add to the manure about one-fourth or one-fifth garden soil, but success has been attained without the use of garden soil, except as surface dressing after spawning the bed; an excessive use of loam, in any case, tends to lower the temperature too rapidly. Having prepared a box or frame-work for the bed twelve inches deep, fill it up to within two inches of the top; beat gently down with a board, or a brick, until it is even and compact. On the following day make holes in the bed, with a dibble, ten inches deep, in which suspend a thermometer half way down for an hour. Should the temperature have fallen to 90 F., cover lightly with straw and test on the following day. Should the temperature prove to be going down, say to 80 F., or 85 F., it is safe to plant the spawn; but should the temperature be on the rise, wait until it is falling. One grower has stated that his greatest success has been when the spawn was planted at the temperature of 75 F. Should the temperature fall too quickly and the surface be too dry, sprinkle with water at blood heat, using a very fine hose, and cover the bed with straw.

The spawn brick should be cut into pieces, about the size of an egg, and planted in holes made in the bed, about two inches deep and about six inches apart. The holes are then filled up and about two inches of garden soil sifted over the surface of the bed. Tamp the bed surface gently with the back of a spade. Mushrooms may be expected for table use in about six or seven weeks, provided the spawn is good and the temperature has not fallen below 50 F. In outdoor culture the beds must be well covered with straw or canvas, and had better be under a shed roof with southern exposure.

The spawn used by this grower is the "brick" spawn, imported from Carter & Holborn, London, England.

CULTIVATION OF MUSHROOMS IN JAPAN.

The Japanese are very successful in cultivating a mushroom which they call "Shiitake" or "Lepiota shiitake." China also produces the same mushroom, but of an inferior quality. The Chinese therefore prefer the mushroom cultivated by the Japanese, which they import from Japan in large quantities. It is cultivated on a variety of trees, but is said to grow best on the "Shiinoki," a species of oak (Quercus cuspidata).

There are three varieties of "Shiitake," the spring, summer, and autumn crops differing somewhat in quality. The method of growing the "Shiitake" is given by the Japanese Commissioner of Agriculture as follows:

"Trees of from twenty to fifty years' growth are cut down at the approach of winter when the sap has ceased to run, and after the lapse of twenty or thirty days, according to the condition of the drying of the wood, are sawed into logs of 4 or 5 feet in length. Into each of these logs incisions are made with a hatchet, at intervals of about 6 inches, and they are piled regularly upon a frame-work erected at a height of about 1 foot above the ground, under the trees. The location of the ground selected for piling the logs should be the slopes of a forest, facing southeast or southwest. After keeping the logs as above described for from two to three years, they are immersed in water for twenty-four hours in the middle of November, and again laid one upon another for about four days; if it is in a cold district, the pile is covered with straw or mats. At the expiration of the fourth day the logs are obliquely tilted against poles fixed horizontally to the trees at a height of about 4 feet in a well-ventilated and sunny situation. The mushrooms soon appear in quantity, and, after twenty or thirty days' growth, are ready for harvesting."

Recent reports of the Japanese Agricultural Department show the total value of the annual export of "Shiitake" to be nearly five hundred thousand "yen" (silver).

MANUFACTURE OF SPAWN.

As many tons of artificial spawn are yearly imported into this country, it would seem that the manufacture of spawn in the United States might prove a profitable form of investment.

"BRICK SPAWN."

For commercial purposes the English method of making the spawn into bricks has some advantages over the French "flake" process. Its compact and uniform shape makes the brick more convenient for storage and general handling, and greatly facilitates its transportation to long distances. Brick spawn is made in the following manner: Clean horse droppings, cow manure, loam, and road sweepings are beaten up in a mortar-like consistency and then formed into bricks, moulds being used, slightly differing in shape with different makers, but usually thinner and wider than common building bricks. The following proportions are given: (1) Horse droppings the chief part; one-fourth cow dung; remainder loam. (2) Fresh horse droppings mixed with short litter for the greater part; cow dung, one third; and the rest mould or loam. (3) Horse dung, cow dung, and loam, in equal parts. When about half dry, depressions are made in the bricks, sometimes in the centre, and sometimes in each corner, and small pieces of good spawn are placed in these depressions, and plastered over with the material of the brick. The cakes are then laid out to dry, standing on their edges, and when nearly dry are piled in pairs with the spawn-larded surfaces face to face. The bricks are then stacked away, and covered with sweet fermenting litter, sufficiently to cause a heat of 60 F. It should not be over 70 F. One spawn manufacturer says that the most rapid and successful growth of the mycelium is attained when the temperature is from 63 F. to 67 F. The bricks are examined frequently during the process, and when the mycelium of the old spawn has permeated the whole mass like a fine white mould, the bricks are taken out and dried in a well-ventilated dark place. They are then placed in a cool, dark storehouse, where they are not subject to dampness and where the temperature is about 50 F., not over 65 or below 35 F. Slight ventilation is necessary, but not enough to make the bricks dust-dry. Keeping the spawn dry merely suspends its growth; as soon as it is again submitted to favorable conditions of moisture and heat, its pristine activity returns. Dampness, combined with heat, stimulates the growth of mycelium; frost also destroys the vitality of the spawn. It is evident, therefore, that these conditions should not exist in the store-room.

One manufacturer advocates piling the bricks, after spawning, on a clay floor, packing closely four bricks deep, and covering them with sifted loam. By this method it is claimed that danger of "fire fang" will be avoided, as the bricks will be kept at a perfectly uniform temperature of about 60 or 66, which causes the spawn to run quickly and uniformly. In from four to six weeks they are ready to take out and dry for use or storage.

The French or "Flake" spawn comes in light masses of loose, dry litter. It is obtained in the following way: A bed is made up as if for mushrooms in the ordinary way, and spawned with "virgin" spawn, and when the bed is thoroughly impregnated with spawn, it is broken up and set aside to dry. This spawn is usually sold in small boxes, containing from two to five pounds, but it also can be obtained in bulk when it is purchased by weight. The French or "flake" spawn is much more expensive than the English or "brick" spawn. It is claimed by some very successful growers, who have tried both, that the brick spawn produces heavier and fleshier mushrooms than the French "flake."

"MILL TRACK" SPAWN.

"Mill track" spawn was formerly considered the best in England, but since horse power has given place to steam power in the mills there is now no further supply of mill track, and it is practically superseded by the "brick" spawn. The real "mill track" is the natural spawn that has spread through the thoroughly amalgamated horse droppings in mill tracks, or the sweepings from mill tracks.

SPAWN PRODUCED IN A MANURE HEAP.

During the past year I have made some experiments in the pine and oak woods of Hynesboro' Park, Maryland, with relation to spawn culture, an account of which may prove of interest to students in this line of investigation. Several loads of stable manure and oak-leaf bedding were well mixed and formed into a mound about three feet in height, having a diameter of six feet, and tapering to about four inches in depth at the outer edge. The mass was quite moist and slightly tamped to give it general consistency. It was exposed to the open air, without protection, during the months of September, October, and November. In the meantime, frequent rains occurred. On examination it was found that the rains did not penetrate to a depth of more than four inches. On opening up the centre of the mound, it was observed that the portion thus exposed consisted of highly decomposed leaves, and presented a white mass of matted, "burned" mycelium. It was evident that the temperature at that point had risen considerably above 100 Fahr. The mycelium was, doubtless, produced in abundance before the temperature reached 100 Fahr. and became scorched as the temperature increased. On examining the outer edges, where the depth was only twelve inches, I found an abundance of mycelium which did not show any appearance of having been scorched by undue temperature. Since no mycelium had been added to the mound, it is evident that the spores which produced it must have been present, although unobserved, and awaiting only the proper conditions for development, _i. e._, for budding and the production of mycelium. At the end of the third month, groups of the common meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris, together with some fine examples of Tricholoma terreum, an edible mushroom, common to these woods, appeared on the edges of the mound.

APPENDIX A.

CONTINUATION OF GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING MUSHROOMS.

_Maculate_, spotted.

_Marginate_, having a distinct border.

_Matrix_, the substance upon which a mushroom grows.

_Medial_, at the middle; of the ring of a mushroom which is between superior or near the apex of the stem, and distant or far removed from the apex.

_Merismoid_, having a branched or laciniate pileus.

_Moniliform_, contracted at intervals in the length, like a string of beads.

_Multifid_, having many divisions.

_Multipartite_, divided into many parts.

_Mycelium_, the delicate threads proceeding from the germinating spores, usually white and popularly termed spawn.

_Narrow_, of very slight vertical width.

_Netted_, covered with projecting reticulated lines.

_Nucleus_, the reproductive germ in the spore.

_Obconic_, inversely conical.

_Obcordate_, like an inverted heart.

_Oblique_, slanting.

_Oblong_, longer than broad.

_Obovate_, inversely egg-shaped, broadest at the apex.

_Obtuse_, blunt or rounded.

_Ochrospore_, ochre-colored spore.

_Orbicular_, having the form of an orb.

_Order_, group of a classification intermediate between tribe and family.

_Ostiole_, _ostiolum_, mouth of the perithecium; orifice through which the spores are discharged.

_Ovate_, egg-shaped.

_Pallid_, pale, undecided color.

_Papillate_, _papillose_, covered with soft tubercles.

_Paraphyses_, sterile cells found with the reproductive cells of some plants.

_Parasitic_, growing on and deriving support from another plant.

_Partial_, of a veil clothing the stem and reaching to the edge of the cap but not extending beyond it.

_Patent_, spreading.

_Pectinate_, toothed like a comb.

_Pedicel_, foot-stock.

_Pedicillate_, having a pedicel.

_Pelliculose_, furnished with a pellicle or distinct skin.

_Penciled_, with pencil-like hairs either on the tip or border.

_Peridium_, general covering of a puff-ball, simple or double, dehiscent or indehiscent at maturity.

_Perithecia_, bottle-like receptacles containing asci.

_Peronate_, used when the stem has a distinct stocking-like coat.

_Persistent_, inclined to hold firm, tenacious.

_Pervious_, forming an open tube-like passage.

_Pileate_, having a cap.

_Pileoli_, secondary pilei; arising from a division of the primary pileus.

_Pileus_, the cap, receptacle, or one part of a mushroom; other parts are the stem and gills.

_Pilose_, covered with hairs.

_Pits_, depressions in cells or tubes resembling pores, applied also to hollow depressions in the surface of the cap of the morel.

_Plumose_, feathery.

_Pore_, orifice of the tubes of polypores.

_Poriform_, in the form of pores.

_Porous_, having pores.

_Powdery_, covered with bloom or powder.

_Projecting_, the anterior end jutting out beyond the margin.

_Proliferous_, applied to an organ which gives rise to secondary ones of the same kind.

_Pruinose_, covered with frost-like bloom.

_Pruniform_, plum-shaped.

_Pubescent_, downy.

_Pulverulent_, covered with dust.

_Pulvinate_, cushion-shaped.

_Punctate_, dotted with points.

_Pyriform_, pear-shaped.

_Quaternate_, arranged in groups of four.

_Receptacle_, a part of the mushroom extremely varied in form, consistency, and size, inclosing the organs of reproduction.

_Remote_, when the margin of the gill comes to an end before reaching the stem.

_Reniform_, kidney-shaped.

_Repand_, bent backwards.

_Resupinate_, of mushrooms spread over the matrix without any stem and with the hymenium upwards; inverted by twisting of the stalk.

_Reticulate_, marked with cross lines like the meshes of a net.

_Revolute_, rolled backwards; of the margin of a cap, the opposite of involute.

_Rhodospore_, rose or pink spore.

_Rimose_, cracked.

_Ring_, a part of the veil adhering to the stem of a mushroom in the shape of a ring.

_Rivulose_, marked with lines like rivulets.

_Rubiginous_, rust colored.

_Rufescent_, reddish in color.

_Rugose_, wrinkled.

APPENDIX B.

Through the courtesy of Mr. Hollis Webster, Secretary of the Boston Mycological Club, the following list of mushrooms, which have been collected and eaten by members of that club during the past year, has been supplied to me:

AMANITA.

A. _Caesarea_ Scop., "True Orange." A. _rubescens_ Persoon. A. _vaginata_ Bull.

LEPIOTA.

L. _procera_ Scop., "Parasol Mushroom." L. _rachodes_ Vilt. L. _Americana_ Pk. L. _naucinoides_.

ARMILLARIA.

A. _mellea_ Vahl, "Honey Mushroom."

TRICHOLOMA.

T. _equestre_ L. T. _sejunctum_ Low, "Yellow Blusher." T. _portentosum_ Fr. T. _coryphacum_ Fr. T. _russula_ Schaeff. T. _columbetta_ Fr. T. _gambosum_ Fr., "St. George's Mushroom." T. _personatum_. T. _nudum_.

HYGROPHORUS.

H. _virgineus_ Fr. H. _fuligineus_ Frost. H. _flavo discus_ Frost, "Yellow Sweet-Bread." H. _hypothejus_ Fr. H. _puniceus_ Fr.

LACTARIUS.

L. _piperatus_ Fr. L. _deliciosus_ Fr. L. _volemus_ Fr.

RUSSULA.

R. _virescens_ Fr. R. _lepida_ Fr. R. _punctata_ Gt. R. _aurata_ Fr. R. _ochracea_ Fr. R. _alutacea_ Fr.

CANTHARELLUS.

C. _cibarius_ Fr. C. _umbonatus_ Fr.

MARASMIUS.

M. _oreades_ Fr., "Fairy Ring." M. _scorodonius_ Fr. M. _alliaceus_ Fr.

HYPHOLOMA.

H. _sublateritium_ Schaeff. H. _candolleanum_ Fr. H. _perplexum._ H. _appendiculatum_ Bull.

COPRINUS.

C. _comatus_ Fr., "Shaggy Mane." C. _ovatus_ Fr. C. _atramentarius_. C. _micaceus_ Fr. C. _fimetarius_ Fr.

CORTINARIUS.

C. _turmalis_ Fr. C. _sebaceus_ Fr. C. _caerulescens_ Fr. C. _collinitus_ Fr. C. _violaceus_ Fr. C. _albo violaceus_ Pers. C. _cinnamomeus_ Fr. C. _cinnamomeus_ var. _semi-sanguineus_ Fr.

CLITOCYBE.

C. _clavipes_ Fr. C. _odora_ Fr. C. _dealbata_ Low. C. _laccata_ Scop. C. _multiceps_ Pk. C. _infundibuliformis_ Schaeff.

COLLYBIA.

C. _dryophila_ Bull. C. _velutipes_ Curt.

PLEUROTUS.

P. _ostreatus_ Fr. P. _sapidus_ Kalch. P. _ulmarius_ Fr., Elm-tree Mushroom. P. _pluteus cervinus_ Schaeff.

CLITOPILUS.

C. _prunulus_ Scop. C. _orcella_ Bull. C. _unitinctus_ Pk. C. _Seymourianus_ Pk.

PHOLIOTA.

P. _caperata_ Pers., "The Gypsy." P. _praecox_ (when too old is bitter). P. _adiposa_.

AGARICUS (Psalliota).

A. _arvensis_. A. _cretaceus_ Fr. A. _campester_ L. A. _silvicola_ Vilt.

SPARASSIS.

S. _crispa_ Fr.

CLAVARIA.

(Any and all Clavarias found are generally eaten by us without identification).

C. _botrytes_ Pers. C. _amethystina_ Bull. C. _coralloides_ L. C. _cinerea_ Bull. C. _aurea_ Schaeff. C. _rugosa_ Bull. C. _pistillaris_ L.

LYCOPERDON.

L. _cyathiforme_ Bose. L. _giganteum_ Batsch. L. _pyriforme_ Schaeff. L. _saccatum_ Fr.

MORCHELLA.

M. _esculenta_ Bull. M. _conica_ Pers.

PEZIZA.

P. _aurantia_ Vahl.

STROBILOMYCES.

S. _strobilaceus_ Berk.

FISTULINA.

F. _hepatica_ Fr., "Beef Steak Mushroom."

POLYPORUS.

P. _betulinus_ Fr. (coriaceous when old). P. _sulphureus_ Fr.

HYDNUM.

H. _imbricatum_ L. H. _repandum_ L. H. _caput-medusae_ Bull.

Also thirteen of the Boleti.

STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK OF MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA

EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.

BY THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.

AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.

Published in Serial Form--=No. 3=--Price, 50c. per number.

WASHINGTON, D. C.: A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E. 1897.

PLATE E.

Plate E illustrates various forms and positions of the annulus or ring characteristic of certain species of mushrooms, together with the cortina or veil of which the ring, if present, is the remnant, in some species, either as it appears entire or as a fringe on the margin of the cap, contrasting these forms with a sectional view of a species in which the veil or ring is always wanting.

Fig. 1. Ring broad, reflexed or deflexed, or both; situated high up on the stem, as in _Armillaria mellea_.

Fig. 2. Ring situated about midway of the stem, deflexed and pendulous as in _Amanita muscaria_.

Fig. 3. Ring about half midway of the stem, split, and radiating outwards, as in _Agaricus arvensis_.

Fig. 4. Ring drooping.

Fig. 5. Ring persistent, movable, wholly detached, in age, from the tall and slender stem, upon which it easily slips up and down. A species of great beauty, _Lepiota procera_.

Fig. 6. Ring narrow, scarcely perceptible above the middle of the stem; remnants of the veil adhering to the margin of the cap as a fugacious web.

Fig. 7. Ring generally wanting--_Tricholoma nudum_. Remnants of the veil seen on the margin of the cap.

Fig. 8. Remnants of the veil appearing on the margin of the cap as a fringe, and particularly on the stem as a mere fibrillose zone of a darker color as in the _Cortinarii_.

Fig. 9. Plant exhibiting the cortina unbroken, the extremities of its delicate arachnoid threads attached to cap and stem, respectively.

Fig. 10. Section of a Russula, in which genus the ring is always wanting; veil none.

PLATE F.

Plate F illustrates by section or otherwise various forms of these gill-like processes characteristic of species, considered either with regard to marginal outline or position of their posterior extremity:

Fig. 1. Gills distant. Fig. 2. Gills crowded. Fig. 3. Gills flexuose. Fig. 4. Gills unequal. Fig. 5. Bifurcated. Fig. 6. Anastomosing veins. Fig. 6a. Sectional view. Fig. 7. Gills narrow. Fig. 8. Gills broad. Fig. 9. Lanceolate. Fig. 10. Ventricose. Fig. 11. Anteriorly rounded. Fig. 12. Posteriorly rounded. Fig. 13. Emarginate. Fig. 14. Emarginate and denticulate.

Copyright, 1897, by Thomas Taylor, M. D., and A. R. Taylor.

AGARICINI.

_Subgenus Hypholoma_. Hymenophore continuous with the stem, veil woven into a fugacious web, which adheres to the margin of the pileus. Gills adnate or sinuate; spores brownish purple, sometimes intense purple, almost black.--M. C. Cooke.

This subgenus has been divided into the following five groups:

1. Fasciculares.--Pileus smooth, tough, bright colored when dry, not hygrophanous. Examples, Ag. (Hypholoma) _sublateritius_ and Ag. (Hypholoma) _fascicularis_.

2. Viscidi.--Pileus naked, viscid. Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _oedipus_.

3. Velutini.--Pileus silky, with innate fibrils. Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _velutinus_.

4. Flocculosi.--Pileus clad with floccose superficial evanescent scales. Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _cascus_.

5. Appendiculati.--Pileus smooth and hygrophanous. Example, Ag. (Hypholoma) _Candollianus_.

The species are not numerous. They are generally either gregarious or caespitose, and are often found in clusters upon tree stumps, or springing from the buried roots of stumps. A few species are found in short grass in open places; but few are recorded as edible, and one, H. _fascicularis_, has been classed as deleterious by Berkeley, Cooke, and some of the earlier authors. I find, however, no authenticated case of poisoning by this species, and, indeed, have as yet found no species of Hypholoma which could be satisfactorily identified as H. fascicularis.

The few species of Hypholoma which I have tested have been palatable, and one or two are of very delicate flavor.

PLATE VIII.

=Ag. (Hypholoma) sublateritius= Schaeff. "_Red Tuft_." (=Hypholoma sublateritium=) "_The Brick Top_."

EDIBLE.

The cap of this species is fleshy and obtuse, convexo-plane, sometimes showing a superficial whitish cloudiness upon the margin coming from the veil, which soon disappears, leaving it smooth and dry; color tawny brick red, with pale straw margin; flesh compact and whitish, turning yellow when wilted. Stem stuffed and fibrillose, tapering downward. Near its attachment to the cap the color is very light yellow; lower down and towards the root it is covered with patches and lines of burnt sienna color. It bears no distinct ring. In very young plants the filmy veil is sometimes perceived, reaching from the margin of the cap to the stem. This disappears as the cap expands, sometimes leaving the stem obscurely annulate. Gills adnate in full-grown specimens, slightly decurrent, somewhat crowded, dingy white or cinereous, turning to dark olive, never yellow; in old or wilted specimens changing to a dark brown. In old specimens the cap is a reddish brown and the gills are sometimes stained with the purplish brown of the spores.

This is a very common species and very abundant in pine and oak woods. I have seen an oak stump in Prince George's County, Md., measuring from 3 to 4 feet in height, literally covered with mushrooms of this species. This mushroom has been recorded as suspicious by some writers, probably owing to its slightly bitter taste, but I have thoroughly tested its edible qualities, both uncooked and prepared in various ways for the table, using the caps only. It keeps well when dried, and when ground into powder, with the addition of boiling water and a little pepper and salt, makes a very pleasant and nutritious beverage. It is most abundant in the early autumn, and is gathered in this latitude well into the winter, even when the snow is on the ground.

Our American plant is less heavy and more graceful in aspect than the same species in England, as figured in English works, but the general characteristics are the same.

Ag. (Hypholoma) _fascicularis_ Hudson, recorded as deleterious, is figured in "Cooke's Illustrations."

Dr. Berkeley thus distinguishes these two species from each other. Cap of _sublateritius_ is obtuse, discoid; that of _fascicularis_, subumbonate. Flesh of the former, compact, dingy-white; that of the latter, yellow. Stem in _sublateritius_ is "stuffed," attenuated downwards, ferruginous; stem of _fascicularis_ hollow, thin, flexuose. The gills in both species are adnate, crowded; but in _fascicularis_ they are also linear and deliquescent, and are _yellow_ in color.

NOTE.--In the Friesian arrangement of the genera of the order Agaricini, which is adopted by M. C. Cooke, Hypholoma finds place as a subgenus of the genus Agaricus, spore series Pratelli. Saccardo in his Sylloge elevates Hypholoma to the rank of a separate genus and places it in his spore series Melanosporae.

PLATE IX.

=Agaricus (Hypholoma) incertus= Peck. (_Hypholoma incertum_.)

EDIBLE.

Cap fleshy but fragile, smooth and hygrophanous, moist; at first convex, then expanding; color creamy white. Gills adnate, narrow, crowded, whitish in young specimens, turning to a pinkish dun color, later to a rosy cinnamon, sometimes showing when mature a slightly purplish tint. Stem smooth, slender, long and hollow, with slight striations near the apex, white. Specimens occur in which the stem is obscurely annulate arising from the attachment to it of fragments of the veil, but usually it is ringless.

The typical species of Hypholoma have the fleshy part of the cap confluent with the stem, but in H. _incertum_ the stem is not confluent and is easily separated from the cap as in the Lepiotas. This mushroom was first recorded by Peck in his early reports as the variety "_incertus_" of the species Agaricus (Hypholoma) Candollianus, but has since been recorded by Saccardo as a distinct species, Hypholoma incertum.

Two species of Hypholoma have the same habit and sufficiently resemble _incertum_ to be taken for it, if not carefully examined as to points of difference. These are H. _Candollianum_, named in honor of A. De Candolle, and H. _appendiculatum_. In the first named of these two species the cap is whitish, the gills at first violet in color, changing to dark cinnamon brown. In H. appendiculatum the pileus is rugose when dry, and sprinkled with atoms. It is darker in color than that of H. incertum; Cooke says tawny or pale ochre; Massee says bay, then tawny. The gills are sub-adnate, in color resembling those of H. incertum; stem slender, smooth, and white.

From the foregoing it will be seen that H. _incertum_ agrees more nearly with H. _Candollianum_ in the color of the cap, but more nearly with H. _appendiculatum_ in the color of the gills. Saccardo recognizes the three as "distinct species of the _genus Hypholoma_." As all are edible, the slight differences observed are interesting chiefly to the mycologist. The mycophagist will find them equally valuable from a gastronomic point of view. In taste they resemble the common mushroom. They are more fragile, however, and require less cooking than the cultivated mushroom. Broiled on toast or cooked for ten minutes in a chafing dish, they make a very acceptable addition to the lunch menu.

The specimens figured in Plate IX were selected from a crop of thirty or more growing in the author's garden, in very rich soil at the base of a plum-tree stump. For several seasons past small crops have been gathered from the same spot, as well as around the base of a flourishing peach tree. Quantities of all three species have been gathered in the short grass of the Capitol grounds for a number of seasons, and in the various parks of the District of Columbia. Specimens have been received from western New York and Massachusetts. Those growing upon soil very heavily fertilized are apt to be somewhat stouter and shorter stemmed than those coming up through the short grass in the parks.

ANALYTICAL TABLE.

The following compendious analytical table showing prominent characteristics of the leading genera and subgenera of the order Agaricini, according to Fries, Worthington Smith, and other botanists, which appears in Cooke's Hand Book, revised edition, will be found helpful to the collector in determining the genus to which a specimen may belong.

ORDER AGARICINI

I. Spores white or very slightly tinted--Leucospori 1. Plant fleshy, more or less firm, putrescent (neither deliquescent nor coriaceous) 2. Hymenophore free 3. Pileus bearing warts or patches free from the cuticle (volvate) _Amanita_ 3. Pileus scaly, scales concrete with the cuticle (not volvate) _Lepiota_ 2. Hymenophore confluent 4. Without cartilaginous bark 5. Stem central 6. With a ring _Armillaria_ 6. Ringless 7. Gills sinuate _Tricholoma_ 7. Gills decurrent 8. Edge acute _Clitocybe_ 8. Edge swollen obtuse CANTHARELLUS 7. Gills adnate 9. Parasitic on other Agarics NYCTALIS 9. Not parasitic 10. Milky LACTARIUS 10. Not milky 11. Rigid and brittle RUSSULA 11. Waxy HYGROPHORUS 5. Stem lateral or absent _Pleurotus_ 4. With cartilaginous bark 12. Gills adnate _Collybia_ 12. Gills sinuate _Mycena_ 12. Gills decurrent _Omphalia_ 1. Plant tough, coriaceous or woody 13. Stem central. 14. Gills simple MARASMIUS 14. Gills branched XEROTUS 13. Stem lateral or wanting 15. Gills toothed LENTINUS 15. Gills not toothed PANUS 15. Gills channelled longitudinally or crisped TROGIA 15. Gills splitting longitudinally SCHIZOPHYLLUM 15. Gills anastomosing LENZITES

II. Spores rosy or salmon color--Hyporhodii 16. Without cartilaginous bark 17. Hymenophore free 18. With a volva _Volvaria_ 18. Without a volva 19. With a ring _Annularia_ 19. Ringless _Pluteus_ 17. Hymenophore confluent, not free 20. Stem central 21. Gills adnate or sinuate _Entoloma_ 21. Gills decurrent _Clitopilus_ 20. Stem lateral or absent _Claudopus_ 16. With cartilaginous bark 22. Gills decurrent _Eccilia_ 22. Gills not decurrent 23. Pileus torn into scales _Leptonia_ 23. Pileus papillose, sub-campanulate. 24. Gills membranaceous, persistent _Nolanea_ 24. Gills sub-deliquescent BOLBITIUS

III. Spores brownish, sometimes rusty, reddish or yellowish brown.--Dermini. 25. Without cartilaginous bark. 26. Stem central. 27. With a ring. 28. Ring continuous _Pholiota_ 28. Ring arachnoid, like a spider's web filamentous or evanescent. 29. Gills adnate terrestrial CORTINARIUS 29. Gills decurrent, or acutely adnate, mostly epiphytal, _Flammula_ 27. Without a ring. 30. With rudimentary volva _Acetabularia_ 30. Without a volva. 31. Gills adhering to the hymenophore, and sinuate. 32. Cuticle fibrillose or silky _Inocybe_ 32. Cuticle smooth viscid _Hebeloma_ 31. Gills separating from the hymenophore, and decurrent, PAXILLUS 26. Stem lateral or absent _Crepidotus_ 25. With cartilaginous bark. 33. Gills decurrent _Tubaria_ 33. Gills not decurrent. 34. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Naucoria_ 34. Margin of pileus always straight. 35. Hymenophore free _Pluteolus_ 35. Hymenophore confluent _Galera_

IV. Spores purple, sometimes brownish purple, dark purple, or dark brown.--Pratellae. 36. Without cartilaginous bark. 37. Hymenophore free. 38. With a volva _Chitonia_ 38. Without a volva _Psalliota_ 37. Hymenophore confluent. 39. Veil normally ring shaped on the stem _Stropharia_ 39. Veil normally adhering to the margin of the pileus _Hypholoma_ 36. With cartilaginous bark. 40. Gills decurrent _Deconica_ 40. Gills not decurrent. 41. Margin of pileus at first incurved _Psilocybe_ 41. Margin of pileus at first straight _Psathyra_

V. Spores black or nearly so.--Coprinarii. 42. Gills deliquescent COPRINUS 42. Gills not deliquescent. 43. Gills decurrent GOMPHIDIUS 43. Gills not decurrent. 44. Pileus striate _Psathyrella_ 44. Pileus not striate _Panaeolus_

In the Friesian classification which, with modifications, has prevailed for many years among mycologists, the _genus Agaricus_ included in its _subgenera_ the greater part of the species of the order _Agaricini_. The subgenera, printed in the above table in italics, were included in this genus. The genera are printed in capitals. In the Saccardian system, all the _subgenera_ of _Agaricus_ having been elevated to _generic_ rank, the term Agaricus is limited to a very small group which includes the _subgenus Psalliota_ of Fries, the species being characterized by fleshy caps, free gills, ringed stem, and dark brown or purplish brown spores. As restricted, it naturally falls into the spore series _Melanosporeae._

In the white-spored section, Leucospori, the recorded edible species occur in the following genera: Marasmius, Cantharellus, Lactarius, Russula, Hygrophorus, Collybia, Pleurotus, Clitocybe, Tricholoma, Armillaria, Lepiota, and Amanita. The plants of Marasmius are usually thin and dry, reviving with moisture. Cantharellus is characterized by the obtuseness of the edges of the lamellae, Lactarius by the copious milky or sticky fluid which exudes from the plants when cut or bruised. Russula is closely allied to Lactarius, and the plants bear some resemblance in external appearance to those of that genus, but they are never milky, and the gills are usually rigid and brittle. In Hygrophorus the plants are moist, not very large, often bright colored, and the gills have a waxy appearance. The Collybias are usually caespitose, the stems exteriorly cartilaginous, in some species swelling and splitting open in the centre.

In Pleurotus the stem is lateral or absent. The plants are epiphytal, usually springing from the decaying bark of trees and old stumps.

In Clitocybe the plants are characterized by a deeply depressed, often narrow cap, with the gills acutely adnate, or running far down the stem, which is elastic, with a fibrous outer coat covered with minute fibers. Many of the species have a fragrant odor. The Tricholomas are stout and fleshy, somewhat resembling the Russulas, but distinguished from them by the sinuate character of the gills, which show a slight notched or toothed depression just before reaching the stem (represented in Fig. 4, Plate IV). Typical species of Armillaria show a well-defined ring and scales upon the stem, the remains of the partial veil, and the plants are usually large, and caespitose. The Lepiotas are recognized by the soft, thready character of the fleshy portion of the cap, and the fringed scales formed by the breaking of the cuticle. The ease with which the ringed stem is removed from its socket in the cap is another characteristic which distinguishes the plants from those of other genera.

The Amanitas are distinguished by the volva, which sheathes the somewhat bulbous stem at its base and the ring and veil which in the young plant are very distinct features, the whole plant in embryo being enveloped in the volva.

The Amanita group, besides containing some very good edible species, is also credited with containing the most dangerous species of all the mushroom family, and some which are undoubtedly fatal in their effects.[A]

[A] A more detailed description of this group will appear in No. 5 of this series.

The Nyctali are minute mushrooms parasitic on other mushrooms.

In Omphalia, the plants are quite small, with membranaceous caps, gills truly decurrent, and cartilaginous stems.

The Myceneae are generally very small, slender, and fragile, usually caespitose, with bell-shaped caps, sinuate gills, not decurrent, and cartilaginous stems. In some species the plants exude a milky juice.

In the genera Panus, Lentinus, Lenzites, Schizophyllum, Xerotus, and Trogia, the plants are leathery or coriaceous, dry and tough, and though none are recorded as poisonous, they are too tough to be edible.

The mushrooms having pink or salmon colored spores, section Rhodosporii, form the smallest of the four primary groups of Agaricini, the number of known species not exceeding 400, and most of these are tasteless, or of disagreeable odor, while some are recorded as unwholesome.

The species are pink-gilled when mature, though often white or whitish when very young.

The recorded edible species are found in Volvaria, Clitopilus, and Pluteus. The Volvariae are characterized by the very large and perfect volva which wraps the base of the stem in loose folds, the ringless stem, and the pink, soft, liquescent gills, which are free and rounded behind. The cap is not warted; in some species it is viscid, and in _bombycinus_, recorded by several authors as edible, and by some as doubtful, it is covered with a silky down.

In Clitopilus the odor of the edible species is more or less mealy. The cap is fleshy, and the margin at first involute. Two edible species which closely resemble each other--viz., Clitopilus _prunulus_, "Plum mushroom," and Clitopilus _orcella_, "Sweetbread mushroom,"--are highly recommended for their delicacy of flavor.

In Leptonia most of the species are small, thin, and brittle, corresponding with Mycena in the white-spored series, and with Psathyra and Psathyrella in the dark-spored series.

Eccilia corresponds with Omphalia. Claudopus corresponds with Pleurotus in its habit of growth and lateral stem, differing in the color of the spores.

Annularia includes only a few small species having a ringed stem, no volva, and free pink gills. Cooke says of this subgenus that no British species are known.

The recorded species of Pluteus have their habitat on tree stumps, sawdust, or upon fallen timber. One species, Pluteus _cervinus_, is recorded as edible, but not specially commended. Of Entoloma, Worthington Smith says, "It is allied to Tricholoma, though most of the species are thinner and often brittle. It agrees also in structure with Hebeloma and Hypholoma." None of the species are recorded as having value as esculents.

The genus Bolbitius is described by Cooke as a small genus intermediate between Agaricus and Coprinus on the one side, and Coprinus and Cortinarius on the other. The species are small and ephemeral. Saccardo places Bolbitius in his division Melanosporae, although the spores are ochraceous.

In the section Pratelli Psalliota and Hypholoma contain mushrooms which are of exceptionally fine flavor. In the first of these is found the common field mushroom Agaricus campester and its allies.

The black-spored section Coprinarii contains two genera which include a few recorded edible species, viz., Coprinus and Gomphidius. The Psathyrellas correspond in size to the Mycenas in the white-spored series and to the Psathyras in the purple-spored section; the gills are free or adnate and turn black when mature. None of the species are edible.

In Paneolus the plants are somewhat viscid when moist, the gills are described as "clouded, never becoming purple or brown." They are usually found on manure heaps near cities. None are edible.

Saccardo in his Sylloge combines the Pratellae and Coprinarii, making of them one section which he calls _Melanosporeae_.

G. Massee, the British mycologist, makes of the black-spored and the purple and purplish-brown spored series two divisions, calling them, respectively, _Porphyrosporeae_ and _Melanosporeae_.

The recorded edible species of the spore section Dermini are found in Pholiota, Cortinarius, and Paxillus. The larger proportion of the Pholiotas grow upon tree stumps. They have a fugacious, persistent friable ring, and are liable to be confused with the Cortinarii, unless attention is paid to the spidery veil and the iron-rust tint of the spores of the latter. Only a few of the species are recorded as edible, but none are known to be poisonous. Cortinarius is a large genus. It contains a larger proportion of edible species than Pholiota, and none are recorded as poisonous. The cobweb-like veil which extends from stem to margin of cap in the young species, and the rust-colored spores which dust the gills as the species mature, distinguish the genus from all others.

A characteristic feature of Paxillus, and one which makes it easily distinguishable from others of the same group, is the ease with which the gills as a whole can be separated from the substance or fleshy portion of the cap. There is an exception to this in the species Paxillus involutus, recorded by Peck as edible.

POLYPOREI.

Hymenium lining the cavity of tubes or pores which are sometimes broken up into teeth or concentric plates.--Berkeley's Outlines.

The plants of this second primary group or order of the family Hymenomycetes exhibit a greater dissimilarity of form and texture than do those of the Agaricini. Some of its genera consist almost wholly of coriaceous or woody plants. A few contain fleshy ones. Some of the species have a distinct stem, while others are stemless. With regard to the receptacle in the plants of the genera _Boletus_, _Strobilomyces_, etc., it forms a perfect cap, like that of the common Agaric, a cushion of tubes taking the place of gills on the under surface of the cap, the hymenium in this case lining the inner surface of the tubes from which the spores drop when mature.

In some species, such as those of the genus Poria, the receptacle is reduced to a single thin fibrous stratum, adhering closely to the matrix and exposing a surface of crowded pores, and in others it consists of fibrous strata formed in concentric layers.

A number of groups, each of which was treated in the original Friesian classification as a single genus, have more recently been recognized as comprising several distinct genera. In the Saccardian system the genera Trametes, Daedalea, Merulius, Porothelium, and Fistulina still retain the generic rank assigned to them by Fries, but the old genus Boletus is subdivided into four genera, Boletus, Strobilomyces, Boletinus, and Gyrodon, while Polyporus, originally a very large genus, is subdivided into the genera Polyporus, Fomes, Polystictus, and Poria. This arrangement was in part suggested by Fries in his later works, and is accepted by M. C. Cooke, as indicated in his latest work on fungi.

Quoting M. C. Cooke, "_Strobilomyces_ is _Boletus_ with a rough warty and scaly pileus; _Boletinus_ is _Boletus_ with short, large radiating pores; and _Gyrodon_ is _Boletus_ with elongated sinuate irregular pores, all fleshy, firm fungi of robust habit, possessing stem and cap." The species of the genus Polyporus as now restricted are somewhat fleshy in the young stage, shrinking as they mature and dry, and becoming indurated with age. In Fomes the species, of woody consistency from the first, have no room for shrinkage, and are quite rigid; the tubes being in strata, and the strata growing yearly, the species are virtually perennial. The pileus of the plant shows a rigid polished crust resulting from resinous exudations.

In Polystictus the plants are usually small, thin, tough, and irregular in outline, the tubes exceedingly short, with thin walls, which easily split up, giving the pores at times a toothed or fringed appearance. The surface is velvety, or hairy, and zoned in varying colors. They are very common upon decaying tree stumps, often covering the surface of the stump in gaily colored layers. Not esculent.

Poria is composed of resupinate species with the pores normally in a single series, the whole stratum spread over, and adhering to the matrix. The species are coriaceous or woody. Not esculent.

The plants of the genus Trametes allied to Fomes are epiphytal, with the trama the same in substance and color as the hymenophore. The tubes do not form in regular strata, but are sunk into the substance of the pileus. The plants are coriaceous, and none are edible.

Daedalea closely resembles _Trametes_ with the tubes forming deep labyrinthiform depressions. Whole plant woody, sessile.

Hexagonia, allied by its characteristics to Polystictus, has large hexagonal pores, with firm, entire dissepiments.

In Favolus the plants are slightly fleshy and substipitate with the pores angular, and radiating from the stem. Not edible.

The species of the genus Laschia are recognized by the shallow irregular pores and the vein like character of their dissepiments (or pore walls). Substance slightly gelatinous.

In the plants of Porothelium, irregular papillae take the place of tubes, and the plants are sub-membranaceous and resupinate, having the habit of those of Poria.

The genus Merulius has been termed the lowest and most imperfect of the genera of Polyporei. It presents a soft, waxy spore-bearing surface, reticulated with obtuse folds. Solenia, by early authors placed in Discomycetes, thence transferred to Auricularini, and by some authors associated with Cyphella in Theleporei, now finds place as one of the genera of Polyporei as given by Saccardo.

The above-mentioned genera, together with Myriadoporus, Ceriomyces, Bresadolia, Theleporus, Gloeporus, and Cyclomyces, constitute the Polyporeae of the Saccardian system.

_Myriadoporus_ is a North American genus. It is a form of the genus Polyporus, but with pores in the _interior_ as well as on the _exterior_ surface. _Ceriomyces_ is generally regarded as a spurious genus. It is similar to _Myriadoporus_, but with internal pores and only spurious pores externally. Of _Bresadolia_ Cooke says "there is only one described species, and of this only one specimen has been found." _Theleporus_ is an African genus of which only one species is known. _Gloeporus_ is a form of resupinate Polyporus, except that the hymenium or pore-bearing surface is gelatinous instead of being firm. _Cyclomyces_ is a genus with some features of Lenzites; it is leathery. All of these are more or less coriaceous. None are edible. _Campbellia_ is a new genus. It is _Merulius_ with a pileus and central stem.

The edible Polyporeae are found in the genera Boletus, Strobilomyces, Gyrodon, Boletinus, Polyporus, and Fistulina. Of these, the first four genera contain most of the edible species as well as a few which have been regarded as unwholesome or poisonous.

In the genus Polyporus as now restricted, the species Polyporus _sulphureus_ Fries is perhaps the one most likely to be selected for table use, the others becoming very quickly indurated or tough, and this should be gathered when very young, as in maturity it loses its fleshy consistency and becomes dry and tough. It is common on old tree stumps and is often found on the dead wood of living trees, the bright yellow and vivid orange red tints which characterize the young plant making it very conspicuous.

It is easily recognized by its irregular, closely overlapping frond-like caps, white flesh, and the very small sulphur-yellow tubes. The spores are white, elliptical. The flesh of young specimens is somewhat juicy.

The geographical distribution is wide, and in places where a moist, warm temperature prevails plants of this species often attain very large proportions, sometimes completely encircling the trunk of a tree at its base. The bright colors fade as the plant matures, and the plant becomes indurated and friable, when very old crumbling readily in the hands.

To prepare for the table, very thin slices of young specimens should be cut and either allowed to slowly simmer on the back of the range, or soaked in milk and then fried in butter.

Of the genus Fistulina but one species, Fistulina hepatica, figured in Plate X, is recorded as edible and indigenous to this country.

PLATE X.

=Fistulina hepatica= Bull. "_Beefsteak Mushroom_," "_Liver Fungus_."

EDIBLE.

_Genus Fistulina_ Bull. Hymenophore fleshy, hymenium inferior, that is, on the under surface of the cap, at first papillose; the papillae at length elongated, and forming distinct tubes.

Besides Fistulina _hepatica_, five species of this genus are recorded in Saccardo's Sylloge, viz., F. _radicata_ Schw., F. _spathulata_ B. & C., F. _pallida_ B. & R., F. _rosea_ Mont., and F. _antarctica_ Speg.; the last indigenous to Patagonia.

F. _hepatica_ is the only species with which I am familiar. The plants of this species are very irregular in form, rootless, epiphytal, often stemless, and sometimes attached to the matrix by a very short stem. This fungus is frequently found upon old oak, chestnut, and ash trees, developing in the rotting bark. It appears first as a rosy pimple, or in a series of red granules. In a very short time it becomes tongue-shaped, sometimes kidney shaped, assuming the color of a beet root. As it increases in size it changes form again, becoming broad in proportion to its length, and changing in color to a deep blood red, and finally to a dull liver tint. Its lower surface is often paler than its upper, it being tinged with yellow and pinkish hues.

One author states that it requires about two weeks to attain its highest development, after which it gradually decays.

It varies in size from a few inches to several feet in circumference. Rev. M. J. Berkeley mentions one which weighed thirty pounds. It has been styled, the "_poor man's fungus_," and in flavor resembles meat more than any other.

The substance is fleshy and juicy in the early stage. The pileus is papillose, the papillae elongated, and forming distinct tubes as the pileus expands. These tubes are separable from each other, and with age become approximate and jagged at their orifices. The tubes are at first yellowish, with a pink tinge, becoming dingy with age. The fleshy substance, or hymenophore, is often veined in light and dark red streaks. The juice is pellucid, red, and slightly acid. Spores at first nearly round, becoming elliptical, salmon color.

This fungus is esteemed in Europe, where it is eaten prepared in a variety of ways.

When young and tender it can be sliced and broiled or minced and stewed, making a delicious dish. When too old the stock is rather tough for good eating, but the gravy taken from it forms a rich flavoring for a vegetable stew or a meat ragout. The following recipe for cooking this mushroom has been recommended:

Slice and macerate it, add pepper and salt, a little lemon, and chopped onions or garlic; then strain and boil the liquid, which makes most excellent gravy, resembling that of good beefsteak.

The Fistulina hepatica is well known in Europe, and is found in different parts of the United States, in some places growing abundantly. I have gathered some fine specimens in Maryland and Virginia, but none as large as that described by Dr. Berkeley.

RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.

_To Pot Mushrooms._--The small open mushrooms suit best for potting. Trim and rub them; put into a stewpan a quart of mushrooms, 3 ounces of butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne and mace, mixed, and stew for ten or fifteen minutes, or till the mushrooms are tender; take them carefully out and drain them perfectly on a sloping dish, and when cold press them into small pots and pour clarified butter over them, in which state they will keep for a week or two. Writing-paper placed over the butter, and over that melted suet, will effectually preserve them for weeks in a dry, cool place.

_To Pickle Mushrooms._--Select a number of sound, small pasture mushrooms, as nearly alike as possible in size. Throw them for a few minutes into cold water, then drain them, cut off the stalks, and gently rub off the outer skin with a moist flannel dipped in salt; then boil the vinegar, adding to each quart two ounces of salt, half a nutmeg grated, a dram of mace, and an ounce of white pepper corns. Put the mushrooms into the vinegar for ten minutes over the fire; then pour the whole into small jars, taking care that the spices are equally divided; let them stand a day, then cover them.

_Baked Mushrooms._--Peel the tops of twenty mushrooms; cut off a portion of the stalks and wipe them carefully with a piece of flannel dipped in salt. Lay the mushrooms in a tin dish, put a small piece of butter on the top of each, and season with pepper and salt. Set the dish in the oven and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. When done, arrange them high in the centre of a very hot dish, pour the sauce around them, and serve quickly and as hot as you possibly can.

_Mushrooms with Bacon._--Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry them in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.

_Mushroom Pie._--A very good mushroom pie is made in the following manner: Chop a quart of mushrooms into small pieces, season to taste, and add one pound of round steak chopped fine and seasoned with a small piece of onion. If the steak is lean, add a small piece of suet, unless butter is preferred to give flavor. Put the chopped steak and mushrooms in deep saucepan with cover, and stew slowly until tender. Make a crust as for beefsteak pie and put in a deep earthern dish, lightly browning the under crust before adding the stew, and cover with a crust lightly punctured.

In some parts of Russia mushrooms form an important part of the diet of the people, especially during the Lenten season, when the fast of the Greek church is very strictly kept, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter are forbidden.

Provision is made for this season in the securing of quantities of dried and salted mushrooms, which are cut up in strips and made into salads with a dressing of olive oil and vinegar. The poorer classes to whom the olive oil is unattainable use the rape seed and other vegetable oils in the cooking of their mushrooms.

The following recipes are translated from a recently published Russian work on the subject of mushrooms, cultivated and wild:

Select fresh, sound Boleti, cut off the caps, and, after wiping clean with a napkin, place them in a sieve, pouring over them scalding water; when thoroughly drained, leave them where there is a free current of air until perfectly dry. Next string them upon stout twine, leaving spaces between to allow of free circulation of air. If convenient, they can be dried artificially by placing in a not too hot oven with the door open. Dried by either method, they can be kept all winter. Before using, they should be soaked in water or milk until soft. In this condition they make very good flavoring for soup or gravy, and can also be used as filling for pies.

_Mushrooms Cooked in Butter._--Wipe the mushrooms clean and dip in dry flour. Heat a quantity of butter to boiling temperature in a saucepan, seasoning with a small piece of onion. Drop the flour-covered mushrooms into the boiling butter, shaking the pan constantly over the fire. When the mushrooms are cooked add sour cream to taste. Before serving, sprinkle with grated muscat nut.

_Mushroom Pickle._--Select only young button mushrooms. Put them for a few moments in boiling water lightly salted and vinegared. Boil vinegar (only the best should be used), spicing it according to taste. Allow the vinegar to cool. Put the mushrooms in layers in a jar and pour over them enough spiced vinegar to cover. Seal tightly.

_Salted Piperites._--Only the caps are taken of the Lactarius piperites. They are placed first in salted scalding water for several minutes. The water is then gently pressed out with a napkin, the mushrooms are placed on sieves and cold water poured over them. They are then placed in layers in a jar, each layer sprinkled with salt, and whole pepper and minced onion scattered over the layer. When the jar is full a thin round board is placed upon the top layer and pressed down with weights, and as the mass gives way mushrooms are added until the jar is compactly filled. The jar is then covered with parchment or otherwise tightly sealed. Eight gallons of mushrooms require from one to one and a half glasses of salt. This makes a good salad when treated with oil.

NOTE.--L. piperites is an extremely acrid mushroom when in the raw state, and the Russians do not stew it, but prepare it in the above way, taking the precaution to scald thoroughly with salted water before putting away. The precaution of scalding through several waters is a wise one to use in the preparation of all mushrooms inasmuch as the poisonous principle of most mushrooms is soluble in scalding water. Dilute vinegar is frequently used in the same manner. Vinegar should not be used in metal vessels unless porcelain-lined.

LIST OF THE GENERA OF HYMENOMYCETES.

The following list of the genera of Hymenomycetes, summarized from Kellerman's Synopsis of Saccardo's Sylloge Fungorum, will be found useful for reference:

I.--AGARICACEAE.

_Leucosporeae._ (Spores white or slightly tinted yellowish.)

GENERA.

Amanita Pers. Amanitopsis Roze. Lepiota Fries. Schulzeria Bres. Armillaria Fries. Tricholoma Fries. Clitocybe Fries. Collybia Fries. Mycena Fries. Hiatula Fries. Omphalia Fries. Pleurotus Fries. Hygrophorus Fries. Lactarius Fries. Russula Pers. Cantharellus Adans. Arrhenia Fries. Nyctalis Fries. Stylobates Fries. Marasmius Fries. Heliomyces Lev. Lentinus Fries. Panus Fries. Xerotus Fries. Trogia Fries. Lenzites Fries. Tilotus Kalch. Hymenogramme B. & Mont. Oudemansiella Speg. Pterophyllus Lev. Rachophyllus Berk. Schizophyllum Fries.

_Rhodosporae_ (spores pink or salmon color), corresponding to the Hyporhodii of Fries.

GENERA.

Volvaria Fr. Annularia Schulz. Pluteus Fries. Entoloma Fries. Clitopilus Fries. Leptonia Fries. Nolanea Fries. Eccilia Fries. Claudopus Worth. Smith.

_Ochrosporae_ (spores tawny ochraceous, or light rusty tint of brown), corresponding to the Dermini of Fries.

GENERA.

Pholiota Fries. Locillina Gill. Inocybe Fries. Hebeloma Fries. Flammula Fries. Naucoria Fries. Pluteolus Fries. Galera Fries. Tubaria Worth. Smith. Crepidotus Fries. Cortinarius Fries. Paxillus Fries.

_Melanosporae_ (spores black, dark-brown or purplish-brown), combining the attributes of both the Coprinarii and the Pratelli of Fries.

GENERA.

Chitonia Fries. Agaricus Linn. Pilosace Fries. Stropharia Fries. Hypholoma Fries. Psilocybe Fries. Deconica Worth. Smith. Psathyra Fries. Bolbitius Fries. Coprinus Pers. Panaeolus Fries. Annellaria Karsh. Psathyrella Fries. Gomphidius Fries. Anthracophyllum Ces. Montagnites Fries.

II.--POLYPORACEAE (Polyporei).

GENERA.

Boletus Dill. Strobilomyces Berkeley. Boletinus Kalchbr. Gyrodon Opatowski. Fistulina Bull. Polyporus Mich. Fomes Fries. Polystictus Fries. Poria Pers. Trametes Fries. Hexagonia Fries. Daedalea Pers. Myriadoporus Peck. Ceriomyces Corda. Bresadolia Speg. Cyclomyces Kunz. Favolus Fries. Gloeoporus Mont. Laschia Fries. Merulius Hall. Theleporus Fries. Porothelium Fries. Solenia Hoffm.

III.--HYDNACEAE (Hydnei).

GENERA.

Hydnum Linn. Caldesiella Lace. Hericium Pers. Tremellodon Pers. Sistotrema Pers. Irpex Fries. Radulum Fries. Plebia Fries. Lopharia K. & M. Ow. Grandinia Fries. Grammothele B. & C. Odontia Pers. Kneiffia Fries. Mucronella Fries.

IV.--THELEPHORACEAE (Thelephorei).

GENERA.

Craterellus Fries. Hypolyssus Pers. Thelephora Ehrh. Cladoderris Pers. Beccariella Ces. Stereum Pers. Hymenochaete Lev. Skepperia Berk. Corticium Fries. Peniophora Cooke. Coniophora D. C. Michenera B. & C. Matula Mass. Hypochnus Fries. Exobasidium Weron. Helicobasidium Pat. Cyphella Fries. Friesula Speg. Cora Fries. Rhipidonema Matt.

V.--CLAVARIACEAE (Clavariei).

GENERA.

Sparassis Fries. Acartis Fries. Clavaria Vaill. Calocera Fries. Lachnocladium Lev. Pterula Fries. Ptifula Pers. Pistallaria Fries. Physalacria Peck.

VI.--TREMELLACEAE (Tremellini)

GENERA.

Auricularia Bull. Hirneola Fries. Platygloea Schroet. Exidia Fries. Ulocolla Bref. Craterocolla Bref. Femsjonia Fries. Tremella Dill. Naematelia Fries. Gyrocephalus Pers. Delortia Pat. & Gail. Arrhytidia Berk. Ceracea Cragin. Guepinia Fries. Dacryomitra Pul. Collyria Fries.

GENERA MINUS CERTA.

Hormonyces Bon. Ditiola Fries. Apyrenium Fries.

BREFIELD'S CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI.

A system of classification of fungi which is receiving attention from mycologists is that recently presented by the distinguished German author Dr. Oscar Brefield. Dr. Brefield's exhaustive investigations into the life-history of fungi in general have been such as to entitle his views to consideration, although the system presents some inconsistencies which may prevent its adoption in its entirety.

According to the Brefield system, as summarized by his colleague Dr. Von Tavel, Fungi are divided into two primary classes: (1) the _Phycomycetes,_ or lower fungi nearest like the algae, _consisting of a one-celled thallus with sexual as well as non-sexual modes of reproduction_, and (2) the Mesomycetes and the Mycomycetes, _having a divided or many celled thallus, propagated by non-sexually formed spores_. The Phycomycetes are further divided into two large sections, based on their methods of reproduction, termed, respectively, Zygomycetes and Oomycetes. These include the old typical Mucors, the Peronosporeae or "rotting moulds," once classed with the Hyphomycetes, the Saprolegniaceae, "Fish Moulds," of aquatic habit, the Entomophthoraceae, "Insect Moulds," together with some minor groups. The Mesomycetes connect the Phycomycetes with the Mycomycetes. The class Mycomycetes is primarily divided into two sections, viz., Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, with the Ustilagineae, "Smut Fungi," in Mesomycetes, forming a transitional group between Phycomycetes and the Basidiomycetal group of the higher fungi.

The Ascomycetes are primarily subdivided into _Exoasci_ and _Carpoasci,_ groups based on the character of the asci. In the first, _Exoasci,_ the asci are naked and borne directly on the mycelium; in the second, _Carpoasci,_ they are enclosed in a wrapper composed of fertile hyphae and sterile threads, having also accessory fruit forms. The first includes Endomycetes and Taphrineae. In the second are included the groups Gymnoasci, Perisporaceae, Pyrenomycetes, Hysteriaceae, Discomycetes, and Helvellaceae.

The Basidiomycetes characterized by the possession of basidia are arranged in two groups, based on the character of the basidia: (1) the Protobasidiomycetes, in which the basidia are septate, divided, and (2) the Autobasidiomycetes, in which the basidia are not divided, and bear a definite number of spores.

The first of these (Protobasidiomycetes) includes the following distinct groups: (1) the Uredineae, "Rust Fungi," which have horizontally divided basidia, always free, never enclosed; (2) the Auricularieae, having basidia somewhat resembling those of the Uredineae, but which are borne in fruit bodies with open hymenia; (3) Pileacreae, having horizontal septate basidia in closed receptacles; and (4) Tremellineae, having vertically divided basidia borne in gymnocarpous receptacles--that is, those in which the hymenium is exposed while the spores are growing.

The Autobasidiomycetes are characterized by undivided basidia, bearing spores only at the apex. This group is subdivided into three sections: (1) Dacryomycetes, which includes the lowest of the Tremelloid forms, with club-shaped basidia, nearly approaching the true Hymenomycetal type, together with several groups of minor import; (2) Gasteromycetes; and (3) Hymenomycetes, with Phalloideae placed in the group as a subsection of Gasteromycetes.

The above can only be considered as a very brief abstract of the system of classification proposed by Dr. Brefield, but it will serve to give some idea of the principle on which the system is based, which is sufficient for our present purpose. Those who wish to study the system in detail will find it treated in a comprehensive manner in Dr. Von Tavel's summary as it appears in the _Vergleichende Morphologie der Pilze_, Jena, 1892.

CONIOMYCETES AND HYPHOMYCETES.

In the original classification of Fries two of the primary divisions of the sporiferous Fungi were termed, respectively, _Coniomycetes_ and _Hyphomycetes_. This arrangement was accepted by Berkeley, the term _Coniomycetes_ being applied to all fungi in which the naked spores, appearing like an impalpable dust, were the principal feature of the plant, and the term _Hyphomycetes_ to fungi in which the threads or hyphae bearing the spores were the most conspicuous feature.

Coniomycetes, as broadly interpreted by Berkeley and other mycologists of his day, included the Uredineae or "rust fungi," the Ustilagines or "smut fungi," the Sphaeropsideae, and the Melanconieae. This arrangement was very unsatisfactory on account of the distinctively different character of the methods of reproduction of the respective groups, and they have since been disassociated and by some authors ranked as distinct orders or families. Others combine Uredinei and Ustilaginei in one group under the name Hypodermei.

Familiar examples of Uredinei are seen in the rust of the Barberry leaf, etc., and of the Ustilaginei in the "smut" of corn and the "bunt" of wheat.

Some authors combine the Sphaeropsideae with the closely allied Melanconieae. M. C. Cooke contends that the _Sphaeropsideae_ should be considered apart from the _Melanconieae,_ on the fundamental basis that the former possess a distinct perithecium, while the latter do not.

The _Sphaeropsideae_ as recently defined by Cooke are "Fungi _possessed of a perithecium, but without asci_, ... sporules or stylospores being produced internally at the apex of more or less distinct supporting hyphae or pedicels, termed sporophores."

The Sphaeropsideae somewhat resemble the Pyrenomyceteae in external characteristics, but differ from them in the absence of asci and paraphyses. Saccardo retains all the species in his Sylloge, but relegates them to an inferior position as imperfect fungi.

The group _Pyrenomycetes_, or _Sphaeriacei_, as at first recognized by _Fries_, included not only the _Sphaeriacei_ and the _Perisporacei_, but also the _Sphaeropsidei_ and _Melanconiaceae_. Later, when ascigerous fungi were separated from stylosporous fungi, this group was revised, the ascigerous species only being retained. As at present limited, the Pyrenomycetes are "_ascigerous_ fungi having the fructification enclosed within a perithecium."

They constitute a very large group, the described species, according to Cooke's Census of Fungi, numbering not less than 10,500, or at least 1,000 more than all the recorded species of Hymenomycetes. The plants are microscopic in size, and grow upon vegetable or animal substances.

HYPHOMYCETES.

With regard to the Hyphomycetes, Cooke takes the ground that in their internal relations to each other, and their external relations to the remaining orders, the Hyphomycetes are undoubtedly a well-defined and natural group, and should have place as such in a systematic work. It is a large order, containing nearly 5,000 species, mostly parasitic on dead animals and vegetable matter. The spores, termed conidia, are free, as in Hymenomycetes. The species are microscopic in size, and the hyphae are strongly developed. They have no hymenium and no true basidia, and are non-sexual in their reproduction.

The four primary sections are the Mucedineae, or "white moulds;" the Dematieae, or "black moulds;" the Stilbea, with the hyphae or thread-like filaments pallid or brown, and densely cohering, and the Tubercularieae, with the hyphae densely compacted in wart-like pustules of somewhat gelatinous consistency.

The divisions called Melanconieae, Sphaeropsideae, and Hyphomyceteae are not recognized in the Brefield system of classification as distinct groups. Massee and Cooke, with other mycologists, take exception to this omission and its implication, in their discussion of the subject, giving consistent reasons for the retention of these groups in systematic works.

PHYCOMYCETES OR PHYSOMYCETES.

As originally defined by Berkeley, this group was composed chiefly of the old typical Mucors and their allies, and was then termed Physomycetes. In the newer system of classification its original definition has been extended so as to include a number of groups somewhat dissimilar in their habits and characteristics, but "united under the conservating bond of a dimorphic reproduction," and the name has been changed to Phycomycetes. As at present recognized "the Phycomycetes are characterized by a unicellular mycelium, often parasitic on plants or animals, sometimes saprophytic, developed in the air or in water. Reproduction sexual or asexual." As thus interpreted, Phycomycetes includes the Mucoracei; the Peronosporaceae, or "rotting moulds;" the Cystopi, or "white rusts;" the Saprolegniaceae, or "fish moulds;" the Entomophthoraceae, or "insect moulds," together with a few minor groups of doubtful natural affinity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Saccardo, P. A. "Sylloge Sphaeropsidearum et Melanconiearum," in Sylloge Fungorum. Vol. iii. Imp. 8vo. Padua, 1884.

L. A. Crie. _Recherches sur les Pyrenomycetes inferieurs du group de Depazees._ 8vo. Paris, 1878.

J. C. Corda. _Icones Fungorum._ Fol. 6 vol. Prague, 1837-'54.

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M. C. Cooke. _The Hyphomycetous Fungi of the United States._ 8vo. 1877.

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De Toni, J. B. "Sylloge Ustilaginearum et Uredinearum," in Saccardo, _Sylloge Fungorum._ Imp. 8vo. Vol. vii, pt. ii. Padua, 1888.

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O. Brefield. _Bot. Untersuch. ue. Hefenpilze._ Leipzig, 1883.

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M. Woronin. Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Ustilagineen. 1882.

M. C. Cooke. Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould. 12mo. Col. plates. London, 1870.

C. B. Plowright. _A Monograph of the British Uredineae and Ustilagineae._ 8vo. London, 1889.

W. C. Smith. _Diseases of Field and Garden Crops._ 12mo. Cuts. London, 1884.

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R. Thaxter. "The Entomophthoreae of the United States." Memoirs of Boston Society of Natural History. Vol. iv, 4to. Plates. 1888.

L. Mangin. _Sur le Structure des Peronosporees._ Paris, 1890.

K. Lindstedt. _Synopsis d. Saprolegniaceen._ 8vo. Four plates. Berlin, 1872.

M. Cornu. "Monographie des Saprolegniees." Ann. des Sci. Nat., 5th series. Vol. xv. Paris, 1872.

M. C. Cooke. _Synopsis Pyrenomycetum._ 2 parts. 8vo. London, 1884-'86.

A. de Zaczewski. "Classification naturelle des Pyrenomycetes." Bull. Soc. Myc. de France, vol. x. 1894.

J. B. Ellis and B. M. Everhart. _The North American Pyrenomycetes._

M. C. Cooke. _Mycographia,_ vol. i. "Discomycetes." Col. plates. Imp. 8vo. London, 1879.

W. Phillips. _A Manual of British Discomycetes._ Im. 8vo. Plates. London, 1887.

P. A. Saccardo. "Sylloge Discomycetum," in _Sylloge Fungorum_. Vol. viii. Padua, 1889.

R. Hartig. _Text Book of Diseases of Trees._ Roy. 8vo. London, 1894.

Geo. Massee. The Evolution of Plant Life, Lower Forms. 12mo. London, 1891.

Marshall Ward. Diseases of Plants. 12mo. Cuts. London, 1884.

A. De Bary. _Recherches sur le Developpement de quelques champignons parasites._ 8vo. Plates. Berlin, 1878-'94.

APPENDIX.

_Superior_, the upper surface; applied to the ring when near the apex of the stem.

_Tetraspore_, _tetra_ Gr. four; spores.

_Theca_, cell-mother, the protoplasm of which originates by segmentation; a certain number of spores, usually eight, held in suspension in the protoplasm of the theca without being attached to each other or to the cell walls.

_Thecaspore_, the spore thus encased.

_Tomentose_, downy, with short hairs.

_Torsive_, spirally twisted.

_Torulose_, a cylindrical body swollen and restricted alternately.

_Toxic_, poisonous.

_Trama_, the substance proceeding from the hymenophore, intermediate between the plates (central in) of the gills of agarics.

_Transverse_, crosswise.

_Tremelloid_, jelly-like.

_Truncate_, ending abruptly, as if cut short; cut squarely off.

_Tubaeform_, trumpet-shaped.

_Tubercle_, a small wart-like excrescence.

_Tubular_, hollow and cylindrical.

_Turbinate_, top-shaped.

_Typical_, agreeing closely with the characters assigned to a group or species.

_Umbilicate_, having a central depression.

_Umbo_, the boss of a shield; applied to the central elevation of the cap of some mushrooms.

_Umbonate_, having a central boss-like elevation.

_Uncinate_, hooked.

_Unequal_, short imperfect gills interspersed among the others.

_Universal_, used in relation to the veil or volva which entirely envelops the mushroom when young.

_Variety_, an individual of a species differing from the rest in external form, size, color, and other secondary features, without perpetuating these differences only under exceptional circumstances.

_Veil_, in mushrooms a partial covering of the stem or margin of the pileus.

_Veliform_, a thin veil-like covering.

_Venate_, _Veined_, intersected by swollen wrinkles below and on the sides.

_Ventricose_, swollen in the middle.

_Vernicose_, shining as if varnished.

_Verrucae_, warts or glandular elevations.

_Verrucose_, covered with warts.

_Villose_, _villous_, covered with long, weak hairs.

_Virescent_, greenish.

_Virgate_, streaked.

_Viscid_, covered with a shiny liquid which adheres to the fingers when touched.

_Viscous_, gluey.

_Volute_, rolled up in any direction.

_Volva_, a substance covering the mushroom, sometimes membranous, sometimes gelatinous; the universal veil.

_Walnut brown_, a deep brown like that of some varieties of wood. (Raw umber, and burnt sienna and white.)

_Wart_, an excrescence found on the cap of some mushrooms; the remains of the volva in form of irregular or polygonal excrescences, more or less adherent, numerous, and persistent.

_Zone_, a broad band encircling a mushroom.

_Zoned_, furnished with one or more concentric circles.

Although some writers apply the terms spore, sporidia, sporophore, sporules, and conidia somewhat indiscriminately to all spore bodies, in order to avoid confusion, it is now recommended by the best authorities that certain distinctive limitations should be adhered to in the use of these terms. Saccardo, in defining the terms which he employs, accepts the term spores as applicable exclusively to the naked spores supported on basidia, as found in the Basidiomyceteae. The term sporidia he limits to spores produced or enclosed in an ascus, as in the Ascomyceteae. The term sporules he applies to the spores of imperfect fungi, where they are enclosed in perithecia (microscopic cups or cells), such as the Sphaeropsidea. The term conidia he uses to designate the spores of imperfect fungi without perithecia or asci, such as the Hyphomyceteae and the Melanconieae. This arrangement is in accordance with M. C. Cooke's published views on the subject, except in the case of the spore bodies of the Melanconieae, which he prefers, for well-defined reasons, to call sporules.

In accordance with these limitations, the terms _spermatia_, _stylospores_, and _clinospores_ are merged in _sporule_.

Other terms appropriate to their development are employed to designate the spores of Uredineae, Phycomyceteae, etc.

STUDENT'S HAND-BOOK OF MUSHROOMS OF AMERICA

EDIBLE AND POISONOUS.

BY THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.

AUTHOR OF FOOD PRODUCTS, ETC.

Published in Serial Form--=No. 4=--Price, 50c. per number.

WASHINGTON, D. C.: A. R. Taylor, Publisher, 238 Mass. Ave. N.E. 1897.

Copyright, 1897, by Thomas Taylor, M. D., and A. R. Taylor.

GASTEROMYCETES.

Hymenium more or less permanently concealed, consisting in most cases of closely packed cells of which the fertile ones (the basidia) bear naked spores on distinct spicules, exposed only by the rupture or decay of the investing coat or peridium. Berkeley's Outlines.

This family has been subjected to numerous revisions since the days of Fries, when its structural characteristics were not so well understood as at present.

Montagne and Berkeley are credited with being the first to show the true structure of the hymenium in the puff-balls, as well as to demonstrate the presence of basidia. This important discovery led to the correlating of the Gasteromycetes with the Hymenomycetes under the common title Basidiomycetes, both having the spores borne upon basidia. The two families still remained distinct, however, not only because of the dissimilarity in their external features but principally on account of the difference in the disposition and character of the hymenium.

In the Hymenomycetes the hymenium is exposed to the light from the first, and the spores drop from the basidia as they mature; whereas in the Gasteromycetes the hymenial pulp, or gleba, consisting of the spores with the supporting basidia and the hyphae, is enclosed within the substance of the fungus, and the spores are exposed only on the decay of the investing coat.

The basidia of the Gasteromycetes, though resembling those of the Hymenomycetes, are more variable in form and the number of the spores not so constant. They perform the same functions and bear spicules, sometimes in pairs, sometimes quaternate, each spicule being surmounted by a spore. They dissolve away as the spores mature and can, therefore, only be observed in the very young stage of the plant. The spores of the Gasteromycetes are usually colored and, except in the subterranean species, globose. As seen through the microscope they have often a rough warty appearance, sometimes spinulose. Paraphyses may be present as aborted basidia, but cystidia are rarely distinguished. A characteristic of a large proportion of the plants is the drying up of the hymenial substance, so that the cavity of the receptacle becomes at length filled with a dusty mass composed of spores and delicate threads, the remains of the shriveled hyphae.

The following table will serve to show the distinctive features of the four primary divisions of the Gasteromycetes:

_Lycoperdaceae_.--Hymenium fugitive, drying in a dusty mass of threads and spores, dispersed by an opening or by fissures of the peridium. Terrestrial.

_Phalloideae_.--Hymenium deliquescent and slimy; receptacle pileate; volva universal. Foetid fleshy fungi.

_Hypogaei_, or _Hymenogastreae_.--Hymenium permanent, not becoming dusty or deliquescent except when decayed. Capillitium wanting. Subterranean.

_Nidulariaceae_.--Receptacle cup-shaped or globose; spores produced on sporophores or short basidia enclosed in globose or disciform bodies (sporangia) contained within a distinct peridium. Terrestrial.

The section Lycoperdaceae contains upwards of 500 species or more than two-thirds of the whole number of recorded species of the Gasteromycetes. Lycoperdon, Bovista, and Geaster, its most conspicuous genera, are said to contain the largest number of well-known species. A few are edible.

The Phalloideae include about 90 species. The plants are usually ill-smelling and unwholesome. Some are stipitate, others are latticed, etc. Some are conspicuous for their bright coloring. In the young stage they are enclosed in an egg-shaped volva having a gelatinous inner stratum.

The plants of the Nidulariaceae are very minute, tough, and widely distributed. The species Cyathus, the "bird's-nest fungus," is quite common in some localities, and is interesting because of its peculiar form. The individual plant is very small, not more than two centimeters high. It resembles an inverted bell, or a miniature wine-glass. A delicate white membrane covers the top at first. This disappears as the plant matures, revealing lentil-shaped bodies packed closely together like eggs in a nest. These oval bodies are the peridiola containing the spores. They are usually found upon rotten wood or sticks on the ground. Sixty-five species are recorded, but none are edible.

The plants of the division Hypogaei or Hymenogastreae are subterranean in habit, preferring a sandy soil. They are usually somewhat globose in form, having a thick outer coat or peridium, though in some of the genera the outer coat is very thin or obsolete. They are dingy in color. In the young plants the interior substance somewhat resembles that of the truffle, but is streaked and mottled. When old the gleba consists of a dusty mass of threads and spores. They are known under various appellations, such as "underground puff-balls," "false truffles," etc.

The Hypogaei are analogous to the Tuberacei, except that the spores are not contained in asci as in the latter. Cooke says they appear to be the link which unites the Basidiomycetes to the Ascomycetes by means of the Tuberacei or genuine Truffles. In the young stage the basidia in the Hypogaei are easily distinguished by the aid of the microscope.

In external features and habit of growth the species of Elaphomyces, a genus of Tuberacei, closely resemble the Hypogaei, and in old age, when the _asci_ have disappeared, it is difficult to distinguish the plants of this genus from the Hypogaei.

The genus _Melanogaster_ contains an edible species, _M. variegatus_, Tulasne, commonly known in Europe as the "Red Truffle" or "False Truffle." _M. variegatus_ is usually gregarious and subterranean in habit. The exterior is minutely granular, tawny yellow or reddish rust color; the interior soft, bluish-black, streaked with yellow, the spore mass in maturity becoming pubescent. The odor is pleasantly aromatic, and the taste sweet. Under trees in woods. The variety _Broomeianus_ Berk. is paler in the marbling, which shows reddish instead of yellow streaks. The pulpy mass is at first white, changing to a yellowish, smoky hue.

LYCOPERDACEAE AND PHALLOIDEAE.

The plants figured in Plates G and H belong to the Lycoperdaceae and Phalloideae.

LYCOPERDACEAE.

Massee, who has given the Puff-Ball group very close study, says that in the gleba of the Lycoperdaceae, "at a very early period two sets of hyphae are present. One, thin-walled, colorless, septate and rich in protoplasm, gives origin to the trama, and elements of the hymenium, and usually disappears entirely after the formation of the spores; the second type consists of long thick-walled aseptate or sparsely septate, often colored hyphae, which are persistent and form the capillitium. The latter are branches of the hyphae forming the hymenium."

GENERA LYCOPERDON AND BOVISTA.

To the genera Lycoperdon and Bovista belong most of the "Puff-balls" and all of the species figured in Plate G. In the plants of these two genera the peridium is more or less distinctly double, and the hyphae, or delicate threads which are seen mixed with the dusty mass of spores in the mature plant, forming what is called the capillitium, are an important element in classification.

_Genus Lycoperdon_ Tourn. In this genus the investing coat or peridium is membranaceous, vanishing above or becoming flaccid; bark or outer shell adnate, sub-persistent, breaking up into scales or warts; capillitium soft, dense, and attached to the peridium, base spongy and sterile.

PLATE G.

EDIBLE PUFF-BALLS.

FIG. 1.--=Lycoperdon caelatum= Fries. "_Collapsing Puff-Ball_."

Peridium flaccid above, with mealy coating, obtuse, at length collapsing, the sterile stratum cellulose. Inner peridium distinct from the outer all round; capillitium nearly free, collapsing when mature, threads long and brittle; spores dingy olive, turning brown; base stem-like, broad and blunt, with root, obconical, somewhat spongy. Common in pastures and open woods. Edible when young, but not much commended. Plant pale cream color.

FIGS. 2 and 3.--=Lycoperdon gemmatum= Batsch. "_Warted Puff-Ball_," "_Studded Puff-Ball_."

Plant sub-globular, with a stem-like base; white or cinereous, turning to light greyish-brown, the surface warty, the warts unequal, the larger ones somewhat pointed, the smaller granular. As the warts fall off they leave the surface of the denuded peridium somewhat dotted or slightly reticulated. Flesh, when young, firm and whitish. The plants of this species are small, variable in form, sometimes turbinated, sometimes nearly globose, or depressed globose, but usually the basal portion is narrower than the upper portion. The stem varies in thickness and length; sometimes it is quite elongated, in some instances absent. Capillitium and spores yellowish-green, turning dark olive or brown. Columella present. When the spores are fully ripe the peridium opens by a small apical aperture for their dispersion. The plants are sometimes densely caespitose, and crowd together on the ground or on decaying wood in large patches after warm rains. They are found both in fields and open woods during summer and autumn. They are edible when young, but not specially well flavored. There are several varieties. Plants sometimes oval or lens-shaped.

In Var. _hirtum_ the plant is turbinate, subsessile, and hairy, with slender, spinous warts. The variety _papulatum_ is subrotund, sessile, papillose and pulverulent, the warts being nearly uniform in size. Plants from one to two inches in height.

FIGS. 4 and 5.--=Lycoperdon pyriforme= Schaeffer. "_Pear-Shaped Puff-Ball_."

Plant dingy white or brownish yellow; pear-shaped, or obovate pyriforme, sometimes approaching L. gemmatum in size and shape, but easily distinguished from that species by the surface features of the peridium and the internal hyphae. The persistent warts which cover the surface of the peridium are so minute as to appear to the naked eye like scales. In some instances the peridium is almost smooth, and sometimes cracks in areas, inner peridium thin and tough. The hyphae are thicker than the spores and branched, continuous with the slightly cellular base, and forming a columella inside the peridium. Spores greenish-yellow, then brownish-olive, smooth and globose.

The short stem-like base of the plant terminates in fiber-like rootlets, creeping under the soil and branching, thus attaching large clusters of the young plants together. They are often found in quantity on the mossy trunks of fallen trees.

FIG. 6.--=Lycoperdon giganteum= Batsch. "_Giant Puff-Ball_."

The Giant Puff-Ball, so generally neglected, is one of the most valuable of the edible mushrooms. It is readily distinguished from other puff-balls and allied fungi by its large size. It is subglobose in form, often flattened at the top and usually wider than deep. The peridium or rind is membranaceous, smooth, or very slightly floccose, and creamy white at first, turning to pale yellowish-brown when the plant is old. When young it is filled with a white, seemingly homogeneous fleshy substance of pleasant flavor. This substance changes, when mature, to an elastic, yellowish or olivaceous brown, cottony but dusty mass of filaments and spores. The peridium is very fragile above, cracking into areae in the mature plant and breaking up and falling away in fragments, thus allowing the dispersion of the spores. The capillitium and spores are at first greenish-yellow, turning to dingy olive. The plants vary in size, but average from ten to twenty inches in diameter. In the columns of the _Country Gentleman_ some years ago there appeared a description of a puff-ball of this species which weighed forty seven pounds and measured a little over eight feet in circumference. It was found in a low, moist corner of a public park. Specimens weighing from twenty to thirty pounds are recorded as being found in different parts of the country; but specimens of such large dimensions are unusual. This species is found in many parts of the United States. It is the L. _bovista_ of Linn. Sacc.

A correspondent writes that he has found the giant puff-ball in great abundance growing on the Genessee Flats, Livingstone Co., New York. Another writes from Nebraska that it is quite abundant on the prairies there in summer. A third writes from Missouri, "Since the late rains we have had puff-balls in abundance, and find them delicious made into fritters."

The puff-balls should be gathered young. If the substance within is white and pulpy, it is in good condition for cooking, but if marked with yellow stains it should be rejected.

Vittadini says:

"When the giant puff-ball is conveniently situated you should only take one slice at a time, cutting it horizontally and using great care not to disturb its growth, to prevent decay, and thus one may have a fritter every day for a week."

Different authors write with enthusiasm of the merits of the giant puff-ball as an esculent.

Mrs. Hussey, an English botanist, gives the following receipt for "puff-ball omelet:"

First, remove the outer skin; cut in slices half an inch thick; have ready some chopped herbs, pepper, and salt; dip the slices in the yolk of an egg, and sprinkle the herbs upon them; fry in fresh butter, and eat immediately.

I have tested fine specimens of the giant puff-ball gathered in the public parks of Washington, D. C., finding it delicious eating when fried in batter.

FIGS. 7 and 8.--=Lycoperdon cyathiforme= Bose. "_Cup-shaped Puff-Ball_."

Synonyms--L. fragile Vitt. L. albopurpureum Frost.

Plant nearly globose, with a short, thick, stem-like base, color varying, cinereous, brown, tinged with violet.

Rind or peridium smooth, or minutely floccose, scaly in the mature plant, cracking into somewhat angular areas, the upper portion finally falling away in fragments, leaving a wide cup-shaped base, with irregular margin, which remains long after the dispersion of the spores and capillitium. This basal portion is often tinged with the purplish hue of the spores. Spores rough, purplish-brown. Capillitium same color as the spores.

Lycoperdon _cyathiforme_ is a more common species than L. _giganteum_, and is deemed quite equal to the latter in flavor. The plants are of good size, being from 4 to 10 inches in diameter.

They are frequently found in open fields and grassy places after electric storms. When sliced and fried in egg batter, they taste much like the _giganteum_ or _giant puff-ball_.

A puff-ball which is not inferior to either of the two last-named species, though not as large, and perhaps not as abundant as either, is the Lycoperdon _saccatum_ of Fries, sometimes called the "Long-stemmed puff-ball," because of its elongated stem.

The plants of this species are attractive in appearance, usually hemispherical, or lentiform in shape, with cylindrical stem-like base. The peridium is thin and delicate, breaking into fragments; creamy white in the young stage, and clothed with delicate warts, so minute as to give the surface a soft mealy appearance, the under surface somewhat plicate. Capillitium sub-persistent and dense. Both spores and capillitium brown.

LYCOPERDACEAE.

_Genus Bovista_ Dill. Peridium papery (or sometimes corky), persistent; the outer rind, sometimes called the bark, quite distinct from the inner, at length shelling off. Capillitium sub-compact, equal, adnate to the peridium on all sides; spores pedicillate, brownish.

FIGS. 9 and 10.--=Bovista plumbea= Pers. _Lead-Colored Bovista_.

Plant small, spherical, having a double shell or peridium, the inner one white and the outer one smooth and greyish lead-color or bluish-grey, and shelling off at maturity. When young the interior is filled with a creamy white substance. This soon begins to disintegrate, and, as the spores mature, changes to a mass of dusty brown spores and threads. When the spores are ready for dissemination a small aperture appears in the top of the peridium, through which they push their way outwards like a little puff of smoke.

When young, and while the flesh is white throughout, the plant is edible, although so small that it would take a quantity to make a good dish. It is found chiefly in pastures in the autumn. Sometimes found growing in company with Agaricus campestris. Of pleasant flavor when young.

Fig. 11. Basidium and spores of a Lycoperdon highly magnified.

An English author states that inflammation of the throat and swelling of the tongue have been known to ensue from eating some of the small species of Lycoperdon in the raw state. It would be a wise precaution, therefore, to cook all of the smaller species well before eating.

The genus Scleroderma is allied to Lycoperdon, but differs from it in the absence of a capillitium, and in the thick indehiscent outer skin, or peridium, which bursts irregularly on the maturity of the spore-mass, the flocci adhering on all sides to the peridium and forming distinct veins in the central mass.

The species Scleroderma _vulgare_ is very common in woods, and has sometimes been mistaken for a form of Truffle. The plants are not very attractive, and the odor is rank. They are subsessile and irregular in shape, with a hard outer skin, the larger form of a yellowish or greenish brown hue, and covered with large warts or scales, the smaller very minutely warty, and of a darker brown hue. The internal mass is of a bluish-black hue, threaded through with white or greyish flocci. Spores dingy. The interior becomes pulverulent when the plant matures. This species has been eaten in its young state when cooked, but the flavor is by no means equal to that of the large puff-balls. It is sometimes attacked by a fungus larger than itself, called Boletus _parasiticus_, and this parasite is again attacked by a species of Hypomyces, one of the genera of the Pyrenomycetes, which grows in patches upon dead fungi.

PHALLOIDEAE OR PHALLACEAE.

The Phalloideae, sometimes called the "Stink-horn" fungi on account of their foetid odor, are not numerous, the whole number of described species being about eighty. The plants are watery, quick in growth, and decay very rapidly. They are varied in form and are quite unlike the ordinary mushroom types. In some of the genera the plants are columnar and phalloid, in other clathrate or latticed, in others again the disk is stellate, and in one genus it is coralloid, but they are all enclosed, in the early stage, in a volva which is at first hidden or partially hidden beneath the surface of the ground. A gelatinous stratum is contained within the firmer outside membrane.

_Genus Ithyphallus_. In this genus the cap is perforated at the top, free from the stem and reticulate. No veil. The mature plants are columnar in form with the remains of the volva enclosing the column-like stem at the base; the cap in its deeply pitted reticulations somewhat resembling that of the _Morel_, although of different texture.

PLATE H.

FIGS. 1 to 6.--=Ithyphallus= _impudicus_ Linn. "_Foetid Wood Witch_."

In the embryonic stage the plant is enclosed in a volva which is composed of three layers, the outer one firm, the intermediate one gelatinous, and the inner one consisting of a thin membrane. The gleba, or spore-bearing portion, in the early stage forms a conical honeycombed cap within the inner shell or membrane, concealing the stem to which it is attached. The stem at this stage is very short, cylindrical, and composed of small cells filled with a gelatinous substance. The volva is about the size of a hen's egg. On maturity it ruptures at the apex. The stem rapidly expands and, elongating, elevates the cap into the air. The stem becomes open and spongy, owing to the drying of the gelatinous matter and its quick expansion.

The whole plant attains a height of from four to ten inches in a few hours. The hymenial surface is on the outside of the cap, the spores being embedded in its glutinous coated ridges and depressions. The hymenium is at first firm but rapidly deliquesces, holding the spores in the liquid mass. The cap is greenish or greenish-gray in color, changing to a dark bottle-green. In its deliquescent state the odor is very repulsive. While enclosed in the volva the unpleasant odor is not so perceptible, and it has been eaten in that condition without unpleasant effects, but in its mature stage it is considered unwholesome, and certainly its offensive odor would be quite sufficient to deter most persons from attempting to test its edible qualities. Flies, however, are very fond of the fluid, and consume it greedily and with impunity. It is found in gardens and woods, its presence being detected several rods away by the offensive odor. Specimens occur in which the color of the cap is white or reddish.

In the allied genus _Mutinus_ the pileus is adnate and is not perforated at the apex. Mutinus _caninus_ resembles _impudicus_ in form, but the cap is continuous with, not free from the stem, and is crimson in color, covered with a greenish-brown, odorless mucus. The stem is hollow, whitish, tinted with a pale yellow or orange color. Not common.

_Genus Clathrus_ Mich. In this genus the receptacle is sessile, and formed of an obovate globular net-work. At first wholly enclosed in a volva which becomes torn at the apex and falls away, leaving a calyx-like base at its point of contact with the stem.

FIG. 7.--=Clathrus cancellatus= Tourn.

UNWHOLESOME.

Receptacle bright vermillion or orange red, covered at first with a greenish mucus which holds the colorless spores. Volva white or pale fawn color. Odor strongly foetid.

MYXOMYCETES OR MYXOGASTERS.--"_Slime Fungi_."

In their early history the Myxomycetes, or "slime moulds," were classed with the gasteromycetal fungi, and by Fries grouped as a sub-order of the Gasteromycetes, under the name Myxogasters. From this connection they were severed in 1833 by Link, who, recognizing certain distinctive features which entitled them to consideration as an entirely separate group, ranked the Myxogasters, as a separate order, under the title _Myxomycetes_, _Slime moulds_. De Bary, in a monograph on the subject written some years later, questioned the right of this group to the place assigned it in the vegetable world, claiming that the Myxogasters were as nearly related to the animal as to the vegetable kingdom, and changing the name to Mycetozoa. Massee assailed this position in his "Monograph of the Myxogasters," pointing out that De Bary derived his reasons and deductions from the early or vegetative stage of the fungi, without taking sufficiently into account the characteristics of the later or reproductive stage in which the great disparity between these organisms and those of the lower animals becomes apparent.

Dr. Rostafinski, the Polish botanist, and pupil of De Bary, adopts the name given the group by De Bary, but applies it in a more restricted sense, classifying on a botanical basis. Both De Bary and Massee have their earnest disciples. M. C. Cooke takes the ground that the Myxomycetes are entitled to mention as "_fungi_ which produce their fructification enclosed within a peridium," although considering them as an aberrant group which, on account of certain peculiarities of their early or vegetative stage, should no longer be classed as having affinity with Gasteromycetes. Without further discussion of the subject, it is sufficient, for our present purpose, to state that mycologists now very generally agree in regarding this group as quite distinct from the Gasteromycetes.

The species are minute, rarely exceeding a millimeter in diameter, at first pulpy, then dry. In the early or vegetative stage the "slime mould" is plasmoidal, consisting of a mass of protoplasm without cell wall, and prefers damp surfaces, such as rotting leaves, moist logs, etc. The whole substance is slippery or slimy and presents different hues, red, orange, violet, brown, etc., according to species, but never green. It is in the reproductive or fruiting stage that their resemblance to microscopic puff-balls appears, the sporangium in many species exhibiting a distinct peridium or outer coat which encloses the spores together with the hair-like threads called the capillitium. On the ripening of the spores this peridium ruptures, allowing their escape, the capillitium lending valuable aid in their dissemination.

GENERA OF GASTEROMYCETES, ACCORDING TO SACCARDO.

I.--PHALLACEAE, OR PHALLOIDEAE.

Dictyophora, Desvaugh. Ithyphallus, Fr. Mutinus, Fr. Kalchbrennera, Berk. Simblum, Klotzsch. Clathrus, Mich. Colus, Cav. & Sech. Lysurus, Fr. Anthurus, Kalchbr. Calathiscus, Mont. Aseroe, La Bill. Staurophallus. (?)

II.--NIDULARIACEAE.

Nidularia, Fr. & Nordh. Cyathus, Hall. Crucibulum, Tul. Thelebolus, Tode. Dacryobolus, Fr. Sphaerobolus, Tode. Polyangium, Link. } Genera delenda. Atractobolus, Tode. }

III.--LYCOPERDACEAE.

Gyrophragmium, Mont. Secotium, Kunze. Polyplocium, Berk. Cycloderma, Klotzsch. Mesophellia, Berk. Cauloglossum, Grev. Podaxon (Desv.) Fr. Sphaericeps, Welw. & Curr. Tylostoma, Pers. Queletia, Fr. Battarrea, Pers. Husseya, Berk. Mitremyces, Nees. Geaster, Mich. Diplocystis, B. & C. Diploderma, Link. Trichaster, Czern. Broomeja, Berk. Coilomyces, B. & C. Lanophila, Fr. Eriosphaera, Reich. Bovista, Dill. Calvatia, Fr. Lycoperdon, Tourn. Hippoperdon, Mont. Scleroderma, Pers. Castoreum, C. & M. Xylopodium, Mont. Areolaria, Forquigu. Phellorina, Berk. Favillea, Fr. Polygaster, Fr. Polysaccum, D. C. Testicularia, Klotzsch. Arachnion, Schw. Scoleciocarpus, Berk. Paurocotylis, Berk.

IV.--HYMENOGASTRACEAE (HYPOGAEI).

Hysterangium, Vitt. Octaviania, Vitt. Rhizopagon, Fr. Melanogaster, Corda. Hymenogaster, Vitt. Hydnangium, Walk. Gautieria, Vitt. Macowanites, Kalchbr.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

E. Fischer, etc. "Gasteromycetae," Saccardo, _Sylloge Fungorum_. Vol. vii, part i. Padua, 1888.

Chas. H. Peck. "United States species of Lycoperdon."

Geo. Massee. "Monograph of the British Gasteromycetes." _Annals of Botany,_ Nov., 1889. "Monograph of the Genus Lycoperdon" in _Journal Royal Micro. Soc._ London, 1887.

C. Bambeke. _Morphologie du Phallus impudicus._ Gand, 1889.

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