Part 18

“Mony littles make muckle,” says the Scotch proverb. It applies well to the brave little toadstool looking through the first grass of lawns for the coming of spring, and coming again in the autumn, defiant of early frosts. Small though it be, its numbers soon fill the basket.

The “Ivory Caps” are plentiful, and extend their haunts to the woods, where thick mold or grassy places abound.

=H. ni´veus= Fr.—_niveus_, snow-white. (Plate XXXVII, fig. 7, p. 146.) Wholly white. =Pileus= scarcely reaching 1 in. broad, _somewhat membranaceous_, and without a more compact disk, hence truly _umbilicate_, bell-shaped then convex, smooth, striate and viscid when moist, not cracked when dry. =Flesh= thin, everywhere equal, white, hygrophanous. =Stem= 2 in. or a little more long, 1–2 lines thick, _tubed_, _equal_, even, smooth, tense and straight. =Gills= decurrent, _distant_, _thin_, scarcely connected by veins, arcuate, quite entire.

Thinner, _tougher_, and later than H. virgineus, etc. Being hygrophanous the pileus is shining white when dry. Very tender forms occur.

In pastures. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 7×4µ _Cooke_.

The H. niveus, H. virgineus, “Ivory Caps” as M.C. Cooke calls them, are pretty and plentiful in some sections. In the West Virginia mountains, along grass-grown road-sides, their purity and exquisite perfume attracted me in 1881. I have them and a few others to thank for seducing me into becoming a mycophagist. I think of them affectionately. I have seldom met with them since. They are found on lawns and in pastures and on grassy edges of woods, early in spring and late in autumn.

=H. boreal´is= Pk.—northern. =Pileus= thin, convex or expanded, smooth, moist, white, sometimes striatulate. =Gills= arcuate-decurrent, distant, white. =Stem= smooth, equal or tapering downward, stuffed, white.

=Plant= 2 in. high. =Pileus= 8–12 lines broad. =Stem= 1 line thick.

Ground in woods. Croghan and Copake. September and October.

The species is related to H. niveus but the pileus is not viscid. _Peck_, 26th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Found at Mt. Gretna, Pa., October 20, 1898, ground in mixed woods. The cap is white, silky, smooth, _not_ viscid. Stem likewise.

A neat species pleasant in every way.

** _Gills ventricose, adnate, etc_.

=H. dis´tans= Berk.—distant (of the gills). =Pileus= about 2 in. broad, white, with a silky luster, here and there stained with brown, somewhat fleshy, plane or depressed, viscid. =Stem= white above, _gray_ below, and attenuated, not spotted. =Gills= decurrent, _few_, _very distant_, somewhat ventricose, pure white then tinged with ash-color, interstices obscurely wrinkled.

Often umbilicate. Remarkable for the few and distant gills. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 10×8µ _Cooke_.

Caps white, shaded to light pinkish-brown toward center. Gills very distant. Leaves adhere to cap.

Specimens tested were of mild, pleasant flavor.

=H. sphæro´sporus= Pk. =Pileus= fleshy and thick in the center, sub-obconic, convex, obtuse or slightly umbonate, whitish, inclining to reddish-brown, the margin incurved. =Flesh= firm, white. =Gills= rather broad, subdistant, adnate or slightly decurrent, white. =Stems= tufted, flexuous, solid, glabrous, often slightly thickened at the base, colored like the pileus. =Spores= globose, 6–8µ broad.

=Pileus= 6–12 lines broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 2–3 lines thick.

Iowa. October. Communicated by C. McIlvaine.

The fresh plant is said to have no decided odor, but when partly dried it emits a slight but rather unpleasant odor. It belongs apparently to the section Camarophyllus, and is related to Hygrophorus Peckii. _Peck_, Torr. Bull., Vol. 22, No. 12.

Received by the writer from Hon. Thomas Updegraff, MacGregor, Iowa, and forwarded to Professor Peck as a new species.

The fungus has but slight taste and is without odor when fresh.

It is probably edible. Not received in sufficient quantity to test.

III.—HYGRO´CYBE.

* _Gills decurrent._

=H. cera´ceus= Fr.—_cera_, wax. =Pileus= about 1 in. broad, _waxy-yellow, shining_, slightly fleshy, thin, but slightly firm, convexo-plane, obtuse, slightly pellucid-striate, viscid. =Stem= 1–2 in. and more long, about 2 lines thick, _hollow_, often _unequal_, flexuous and at length compressed, even, smooth, of the same color as the pileus, never darker at the apex. =Gills= _adnato-decurrent, broad, almost triangular_, distinct, yellow. _Fries._

Fragile; easily distinguished from others by its waxy (not changeable) color. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 8×6µ _Cooke_.

Eaten in Germany.

Found at Angora and Kingsessing, Philadelphia, 1887. August to October. Open grassy places in woods, and in pastures. Scattered and in troops. Excellent. Stew slowly.

=H. cantharel´lus= Schw. _Gr_—a small vase. (Plate XXXVII, fig. 5, p. 146.) =Pileus= thin, convex, at length umbilicate or centrally depressed, minutely squamulose, moist, bright red, becoming orange or yellow. =Gills= distant, subarcuate, decurrent, yellow, sometimes tinged with vermilion. =Stem= smooth, equal, subsolid, sometimes becoming hollow, concolorous, whitish within.

=Height= 2–4 in., breadth of pileus 6–12 lines. =Stem= 1–2 lines thick.

Swamps and damp shaded places in fields or woods. July to September. Common. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Var. _fla´va_. Pileus and stem pale yellow. Gills arcuate, strongly decurrent.

Var. _fla´vipes_. Pileus red or reddish. Stem yellow.

Var. _fla´viceps_. Pileus yellow. Stem red or reddish.

Var. _Ro´sea_. Has the pileus expanded and the margin wavy scalloped. Swamps. Sandlake. _Peck_, 23d Rep.

Common in the Adirondack region, and throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in all its varieties.

The resemblance to H. miniatus in color is great, but there is a marked difference in the gills, which extend further down the thinner stem. It is tougher, and takes longer to cook. It has a flavor of its own which is enjoyed by some and condemned by others.

=H. cocci´neus= Schaeff.—of a scarlet color. (Plate CXXXVI, fig. 6, p. 508.) =Pileus= 1–2 in. and more broad, _at first bright scarlet, then soon changing color and becoming pale_, slightly fleshy, convex, then plane and often unequal, _obtuse_, at first viscid and even, _smooth_, not floccose-scaly. =Flesh= of the same color as the pileus. =Stem= 2 in. long, 3–4 lines thick, _hollow_, then _compressed_ and rather even, not slippery, _scarlet upward, always yellow at the base_. =Gills= wholly adnate, _decurrent with a tooth_, plane, distant, connected by veins, watery-soft as if fatty, when full grown _purplish at the base, light yellow in the middle, glaucous at the edge_. _Fries._

Flesh of the pileus descending into the gills and forming a trama of the same color. Fragile. Varying in stature, easily mistaken for some of the following species which are of the same color. Pileus at length becoming yellow. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 10–12×6µ _Cooke_; 7×4µ _Morgan_.

Edible. _Cooke_, _Peck_.

In woods and pastures. In troops. Common in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. _McIlvaine._

Excellent when stewed for twenty minutes.

(Plate XXXIX.)

=H. fla´vo-dis´cus= Frost—_flavus_, yellow; _discus_, disk. =Pileus= convex or plane, smooth, glutinous, white with a pale-yellow or reddish-yellow disk. =Flesh= white. =Gills= adnate or decurrent, subdistant, white, sometimes with a slight flesh-colored tint, the inter-spaces sometimes veiny. =Stem= subequal, solid, glutinous, white, sometimes slightly stained with yellow. =Spores= elliptical, 6–8×4µ.

=Plant= 2–3 in. high. =Pileus= 1–3 in. broad. =Stem= 2–8 lines thick.

Pine woods. West Albany. November.

This, like H. fuligineus, has a short white space at the top of the stem, free from the viscidity that exists elsewhere. It resembles in many respects Hygrophorus speciosus, which has the pileus red, fading to yellow with advancing age. Perhaps the three may yet prove to be forms of one very variable species, for the most conspicuous differences between them consist in the colors of the pileus. The constancy with which the three styles of coloration has thus far been maintained indicates a specific difference, but color alone is not generally regarded as having any specific value. _Peck_, 35th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= 6.4–7.6×4µ _Peck_.

I find this very good but its dirty pellicle should be peeled before using. _Peck_, in letter, 1896.

Mr. Hollis Webster writes of H. flavo-discus (Yellow Sweet Bread) in Bull. No. 45, of the Boston Mycological Club, 1897: “This is a mushroom worth going a long way to get. It is abundant in rich woods under pines in certain localities, and is a great favorite with those who know it. It is easily prepared and requires little cooking.”

I have eaten enjoyably of it since 1881.

Plentiful in the Jersey pines, in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and equal to any toadstool of its size.

(Plate XL.)

=H. fuligi´neus= Frost—resembling soot. =Pileus= convex or nearly plane, glabrous, very viscid or glutinous, grayish-brown or soot-color, the disk often darker or almost black. =Gills= subdistant, adnate or decurrent, white. =Stem= solid, viscid or glutinous, white or whitish. =Spores= elliptical, 7–9×5µ.

The Sooty hygrophorous resembles the Club-stemmed clitocybe in the color of its cap, but in nearly every other respect it is different. When moist the cap is covered with an abundant gluten which when dry gives it a shining appearance as if varnished. The color varies from grayish-brown to a very dark or sooty-brown with the central part usually still darker or almost black, but never with an umbo. The flesh and the gills are white. The stem also is white or but slightly shaded toward the base with the color of the cap. It is variable in length and shape, being long or short, straight or crooked, everywhere equal in thickness or tapering toward the base. It is glutinous and unpleasant to handle.

The cap is 1–4 in. broad, the stem 2–4 in. long, and 4–8 lines thick. The plants grow either singly or in tufts. In the latter case the caps are often irregular from mutual pressure.

The plants occur early in October and November, in pine woods or woods of pine and hemlock intermixed.

This mushroom is tender and of excellent flavor, but its sticky and often dirty covering should be peeled before cooking. _Peck_, 49th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Found at Angora, near Philadelphia, August 1, 1897. Densely cespitose.

Raw it tastes like dead leaves. Tender and of fine flavor when cooked.

=H. minia´tus= Fr.—_minium_, red lead. (Plate XXXVII, fig. 4, p. 146.) =Pileus= thin, fragile, at first convex, becoming nearly plane, glabrous or minutely squamulose, often umbilicate, generally red. =Gills= distant, adnate, yellow, often tinged with red. =Stem= slender, glabrous, colored like the pileus. =Spores= elliptical, white, 8µ long.

=Cap= ½-2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 1–2 lines thick. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Var. _lutes´cens_. Pileus yellow or reddish-yellow. Stem and gills yellow. Plant often cespitose. _Peck_, 41st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= 10×6µ _Cooke_; elliptical, white.

Grows where it pleases and abundantly throughout the land. In wet weather I have found it in July and late in autumn.

Professor Peck says: It is scarcely surpassed by any mushroom in tenderness of substance and agreeableness of flavor.

The gunner for partridges will not shoot rabbits; the knowing toadstool seeker will pass all others where H. miniatus abounds.

** _Gills adnexed, etc._

=H. puni´ceus= Fr.—blood-red. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad, glittering blood-scarlet, in dry weather and when old becoming pale especially at the disk, slightly fleshy for its breadth, at first bell-shaped, obtuse, commonly repand or lobed, very irregular, even, smooth, viscid. =Flesh= of the same color, fragile. =Stem= 3 in. long, ½-1 in. thick, solid when young, at length hollow, very stout (not compressed), ventricose (attenuated at both ends), striate, and for the most part squamulose at the apex, when dry light yellowish or of the same color as the pileus, always white and often incurved at the base. =Gills= ascending, ventricose, 2–4 lines broad, thick, distant, white-light yellow or yellow and often reddish at the base. _Fries._

The largest of the group and very handsome. It certainly differs from H. coccineus, for which it is commonly mistaken, in stature, in the adnexed gills, and in the white base of the striate stem. The attachment of the gills varies, but from the form of the pileus they ascend to the base of the cone and appear free.

In pastures. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 8×5µ _Cooke_.

Edible. _Cooke._ No harm would come of confusing it with the vermilion mushroom—H. miniatus Pk.

=H. con´icus= Fr.—conical. =Pileus= thin, submembranaceous, fragile, smooth, conical, generally acute, sometimes obtuse, the margin often lobed. =Gills= rather close and broad, subventricose, narrower toward the stem, free, terminating in an abrupt tooth at the outer extremity, scarcely reaching the margin, yellow. =Stem= equal, fibrous-striate, yellow, hollow.

=Height= 3–6 in., breadth of pileus 6–12 lines. =Stem= 1–2 lines thick.

Ground in woods and open places. North Elba and Center. August to October.

The color of the pileus is variable. I have taken specimens with it pale sulphur-yellow and others with it bright red or scarlet. The plant turns black in drying. _Peck_, Rep. 23, New York State Bot.

=Spores= 10×7µ _Cooke_; 10×6µ _Morgan_.

An old-time cure-all had medicinal virtues proportionate to its offensiveness. Old-time writers, contrariwise, gave every toadstool a bad name which changed color or displeased their noses. The pretty little Hygrophorus conicus, for these reasons, has, until now, been under the ban of suspicion. M.C. Cooke, in his handy book, Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, was the first to lighten its sentence and make it a sort of ticket-of-leave culprit.

The writer has frequently eaten it, and is glad to vouch for its harmlessness and testify to its eminent respectability.

=H. chloroph´anus= Fr. _Gr_—greenish-yellow. =Pileus= 1 in. broad, commonly bright sulphur-yellow, sometimes, however, scarlet, not changing color, somewhat membranaceous, very fragile, at first convex, then plane, obtuse, orbicular and lobed, and at length cracked, smooth, viscid, striate. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 2–3 lines thick, hollow, equal, round, rarely compressed, wholly even, smooth, viscid when moist, shining when dry, wholly unicolorous, rich light yellow. =Gills= emarginato-adnexed, very ventricose, with a thin decurrent tooth, thin, distant, distinct. _Fries._

Very much allied to H. conicus, but never becoming black, and otherwise certainly distinguished by its convex, obtuse, striate pileus, by its even and viscous stem, and by its emarginato-free, thin, somewhat distant, whiter gills. Like H. ceraceus in appearance.

In grassy and mossy places. Common. August to October. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 8×5µ _Cooke_; 8µ _Q._

Received from E.B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J., August, 1897.

Open grassy woods.

But three specimens were tested. They were in every way agreeable.

FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE. 1. LACTARIUS PIPERATUS, 168 3. LACTARIUS DELICIOSUS, 170 2. LACTARIUS INDIGO, 171 4. LACTARIUS VOLEMUS, 180

LACTA´RIUS Fr.

Giving _lac_ (milk).

The hymenophore continuous with the stem. =Pileus= somewhat rigid, fleshy, becoming more or less depressed, often marked with concentric zones. =Gills= unequal, membranaceous-waxy, slightly rigid, milky, edge acute, decurrent or adnate and often branched. =Stem= stout, central, rarely excentric except in those growing on trunks. =Spores= globose, minutely echinulate, white, rarely yellowish.

Nearly all grow on the ground.

Distinguished from all other fungi by the presence of a granular milk which pervades every part of the plant and especially the gills; it is commonly white, sometimes changing color and in section Dapetes highly colored from the first. The nature of the milk, especially its taste, whether acrid, subacrid or mild, must be carefully noted in distinguishing species, as it is the most useful characteristic.

In Russula, the only allied genus, the milk-bearing cells are present, but their contents do not appear as milk.

Many of the species are peppery, acrid, astringent; some mildly so, others will be long remembered if tasted raw. Yet not a species is hotter than some radishes, onions, and others of our favorite vegetables. Who would condemn them because they are peppery? There is not a single species of Lactarius which retains its pepperiness after cooking. This quality has to be and is supplied by one of our favorite condiments—pepper itself. Simply because they are _toadstools_ and _hot_, they have been condemned without trial. It is remarkable that not one of the fungi known to be deadly gives any warning by appearance or flavor of the presence of a poison. The day will probably come when it can be said that if toadstool eaters will confine themselves to _hot_ species, otherwise attractive, they will run no risk. Panus stypticus is astringent, not hot.

ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.

PIPERITES (peppery, after _piperitis_, pepperwort). Page 163.

Stem central. Gills unchangeable, not pruinose nor becoming discolored. Milk white at first, usually acrid.

* TRICHOLOMOIDEI—inclining to Tricholoma. Pileus moist, viscid, margin incurved and downy at first.

** LIMACINI—_limax_, a slug. Pileus viscid when moist, with a pellicle, margin naked.

*** PIPERATI. Pileus without a pellicle, hence absolutely dry, often more or less downy or unpolished.

DAPETES (_daps_, a feast). Page 170.

Stem central. Gills naked. Milk highly colored from the first.

RUSSULARIA (inclining to Russula). Page 173.

Stem central. Gills pallid then discolored, at length dark and powdered with the white spores. Milk at first white, mild, or from mild becoming acrid.

* VISCIDI—_viscidus_, viscid, sticky. Pileus viscid at first.

** IMPOLITI—_impolitus_, unpolished. Pileus squamulose, downy or pruinose.

*** GLABRATI—_glaber_, smooth. Pileus polished, smooth.

PLEUROPUS (_pleura_, side; _pous_, a foot).

Stem excentric or lateral. Growing on trunks. None known to be edible.

I.—PIPERI´TES.

* TRICHOLOMOI´DEI. _Pileus viscid, margin incurved, etc._

=L. tormino´sus= Fr.—_tormina_, gripes. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad, convex, then depressed, viscid when young or moist, yellowish-red or paleochraceous tinged with red or flesh color, often varied with zones or spots, the at first involute _margin persistently tomentose-hairy_. =Gills= thin, close, narrow, whitish, often tinged with yellow or flesh color. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 4–8 lines thick, equal or slightly tapering downward, hollow, sometimes spotted, whitish. =Spores= subglobose or broadly elliptical, 9–10µ. =Milk= white, taste acrid.

Woods. Adirondack mountains and Sandlake. August. _Peck_, 38th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Poisonous, and Gillet declares it to be deleterious and even dangerous, and that in the raw state it is a very strong drastic purgative. On the other hand, Cordier states that almost all authors agree in stating that it is eaten with impunity, and that Letellier has eaten it more than once without inconvenience.

Cooke states: “Whether it is poison is rather uncertain, and probably assumed from its acridity.”

Bulliard says: “It is very acrid and this is changed by heat into an astringent of such power that a very little suffices to produce the most terrible accidents.” On the other hand, Boudier says that the presence of an acrid milk is an indication of no importance, that in certain parts of the country they eat such Lactaria as even L. piperatus and do not experience any trouble. Certain Russulæ as acrid as any Lactaria are known to be inoffensive.

The Russians preserve it in salt and eat it seasoned with oil and vinegar.

=L. tur´pis= Fr.—_turpis_, base, from its ugly appearance. =Pileus= large, as much as 3–12 in. broad, _olivaceous inclining to umber_, fleshy, rigid, convex becoming plane, disk-shaped or umbilicate, at length depressed, innately hairy at the circumference or wholly covered over with tenacious gluten, _zoneless_, sometimes tawny toward the margin, _at length_ entirely _inclining to umber_; _margin for a long time involute, at the first villous, olivaceous-light-yellow_, then more or less flattened, at length often densely furrowed. =Flesh= compact, white, then slightly reddish. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, ½-1 in. and more thick, _solid_, hard, equal or _attenuated downward_, even or pitted and uneven, but not spotted, viscid or dry, _pallid or dark olivaceous_, ochraceous-whitish at the apex. =Gills= adnato-decurrent, thin, 1–2 lines broad, much crowded, forked, _white straw-color_, spotted brownish when broken or bruised. =Milk= acrid, white, unchangeable. _Fries._

Gregarious, _rigidly and compactly fleshy_; habit almost that of Paxillus involutus. It varies with the stem hollow, and the pileus somewhat zoned.

=Spores= spheroid or subspheroid, uniguttate, echinulate, 6–8µ _K._; minutely spinulose, 6–8µ _Massee_.

New Jersey, Trenton, _E.B. Sterling_; North Carolina, _Curtis_, _Schweinitz_; Mt. Gretna, Pa. September, 1898. Along road in woods, moist places. _McIlvaine._

The species is attractive by its very homeliness and odd individuality. It is not inviting. Cooked it is coarse and resembles L. piperatus. An emergency species.

=L. controver´sus= Fr.—_contra_, against; _verto_, to turn. =Pileus= 3 in. and more broad, fleshy, compact, rigid, at the first convex, broadly umbilicate, when fuller grown _somewhat funnel-shaped, oblique_, on emerging from the ground dry, flocculose, _whitish_, then with rain smooth, viscid, _reddish, with blood-colored spots and zones_ (especially toward the margin), margin acute when young, closely involute, more or less villous. =Flesh= _very firm_. =Stem= commonly 1 in. long and thick, sometimes, however, 2 in. long and then manifestly attenuated toward the base and often excentric, _solid, obese_, even but pruinate and as if striate at the apex from the obsoletely decurrent tooth of the gills, wholly _white_, never pitted. =Gills= decurrent, thin, very crowded, 1–2 lines broad, with many shorter ones intermixed, but rarely branched, pallid-white-flesh-color. =Milk= white, unchangeable, plentiful. _Fries._

Odor weak but pleasant, taste very acrid. Allied to L. piperatus.

In woods. Uncommon. August to October. _Stevenson._

=Spores= echinulate, 8×6µ _W.G.S._; globose, rough, 6–8µ _Massee_.

California, _H. and M._

Edible, rather deficient in aroma and flavor. _Cooke._

(Plate XL_a_.)

=L. blen´nius= Fr. _Gr_—slimy. =Pileus= 3–5 in. across. =Flesh= thick, firm; soon expanded and more or less depressed, glutinous, dingy greenish-gray, often more or less zoned with drop-like markings; margin at first incurved and downy. =Gills= slightly decurrent, crowded, narrow, whitish or with an ochraceous tinge. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, up to 1 in. thick at the apex, where it expands into the thick flesh of the pileus, often attenuated at the base, viscid, colored like the stem or paler, soon hollow. =Milk= persistently white, very acrid. =Spores= subglobose, 7–8×6µ.

In woods, on the ground, very rarely on trunks.

L. turpis somewhat resembles the present species but differs in the darker olive-brown pileus and the yellow down on the incurved margin, especially when young. _Massee._