Part 25

=P. al´bido-tomento´sus= CKE. MASS.—_albidus_, white; _tomentum_, down. =Pileus= about ⅔ in. long, ½ in. broad, horizontal, sometimes imbricated, semi-circular, subcoriaceous, flexuous or regular, pale umber, densely clothed with a short, whitish, velvety down, which seems to be persistent, but thinner and shorter toward the shortly incurved margin. =Stem= lateral, very short, or entirely absent, and attached by a downy base. =Gills= radiating from the point of attachment; narrowed behind, lanceolate, honey-colored, margin entire, rigid, scarcely crowded, shorter ones intermixed. =Spores= subglobose, smooth, 5µ diameter.

On trunks and branches.

=Pileus= about 1 in. broad, often in imbricated tufts. It is doubtful whether this is not a distinct species from the type described by Fries. _Cooke and Massee._

Panus albido-tomentosus is given by Cooke and Massee as a variety of Panus farinaceus. The writer decides to give it place as a species.

It has been sent to me by Mr. H.I. Miller, from Terre Haute, Ind., by Dr. E.L. Cushing, Albion, N.Y., Miss Madeleine Le Moyne, Washington, Pa. I have found it in West Virginia, New Jersey and many parts of Pennsylvania. It is plentiful in patches upon branches and boles of deciduous trees. Long, slow cooking makes it tender. It makes a luscious gravy after thirty minutes' stewing.

*** _Stem absent, pileus resupinate or dimidiate._

=P. betuli´nus= Pk.—_betula_, birch. =Pileus= thin, suborbicular or dimidiate, nearly plane, glabrous, prolonged behind into a short stem, grayish-brown, darker or blackish toward the stem. =Gills= narrow, close, decurrent, whitish. Stem adorned with a slight tawny hairiness which is more fully developed toward the base. =Spores= minute, 4–5×1.5–2µ.

Decaying wood of birch. Newfoundland. October, _Rev. A.C. Waghorne_. _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, Vol. 23, No. 10.

Common in West Virginia mountains on birches, 1882; found at Eagle’s Mere, Pa., August, 1898. Quite plentiful on decaying birch trees, which abound there. Size from ½-1½ in. across.

Eaten raw it has a gummy quality and very pleasant nutty flavor. I did not have opportunity to cook it, but regard it as a species well worth trying.

=P. stip´ticus= Fr.—_stypticus_, astringent. =Pileus= ½-1 in. broad, cinnamon becoming pale, arid, thin, but not membranaceous, kidney-shaped, pruinose, the _cuticle separating into furfuraceous scales_. =Stem= not reaching 1 in. long, solid, _definitely lateral_, compressed, _dilated upward_, ascending, pruinose, paler than the gills. =Gills= ending determinately (not decurrent), thin, very narrow, crowded, _elegantly connected by veins_, cinnamon. _Fries._

Gregarious, cespitose, remarkable for _its astringent taste_. The pileus sometimes has a funnel-shaped appearance with lobes all around.

On stumps, etc. Common. August to February.

Reckoned poisonous. _Stevenson._

=Spores= obovoid-spheroid, 2–3×1–2µ _K._; 3×4µ _W.G.S._

Plentiful and general. The markings upon the cap in moist weather are sometimes exquisitely regular.

The immediate and lasting unpleasantness of this fungus to mouth and throat, whether cooked or raw, will cancel all desire to eat of it forevermore. A nibble will detect it. It is reckoned poisonous, and may be. No one but a determined suicide would resort to it. Dr. Lambotte asserts that it is a violent purgative.

=XER´OTUS= Fr.

_Gr_—dry; _Gr_—an ear.

(Plate LVI.)

Hymenophore continuous with the stem, descending into the trama which is homogeneous with the _coriaceous pileus_. =Gills= coriaceous, broadly plicæform, dichotomous, edge quite entire, obtuse. _Rigid, persistent, analogous with the Cantharelli, but differing in the whole structure._ _Fries._ The gills are more distant than in any species of Agaricaccæ.

None edible.

=TRO´GIA= Fr.

After _Trog_, a Swiss botanist.

(Plate LVIII.)

=Gills= fold-like, edge longitudinally channelled (in the single European species only crisped). In other respects agreeing with Xerotus. _Soft, flaccid, but arid and persistent, texture fibrillose._ _Fries._

Reviving when wet. =Spores= white. _Stevenson._

=Spores= elongated or cylindrical.

American representative, Trogia crispa, var. variegata.

Pileus and gills variegated with bluish or greenish-blue stains. Sandlake. September. _Peck_, 38th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Not edible.

=SCHIZOPHYL´LUM= Fr.

_Gr_—to split; _Gr_—a leaf.

(Plate LVIII_a_.)

=Pileus= fleshless, arid. =Gills= coriaceous, fan-wise branched, united above by the tomentose pellicle, bifid, split longitudinally at the edge. =Spores= somewhat round, white. _Fries._

The two lips of the split edge of the gills are commonly revolute. The farthest removed of all the Agaricini from the type.

Growing on wood. _Stevenson._

Common on decaying _wood_. Tough.

=LENZITES= Fr.

After _Lenz_, a German botanist.

=Pileus= corky or coriaceous, texture arid and floccose. =Gills= coriaceous, firm, sometimes simple and unequal, sometimes anastomosing and forming pores behind, trama floccose and similar to the pileus, edge somewhat acute. The European species are dimidiate, sessile, persistent, growing on wood, quite resembling Dædalea. _Fries._

Allied most nearly to Trametes and Dædalea and forming as it were the transition from Agaricaceæ to Polyporaceæ. In tropical countries they are more woody in texture. _Stevenson._

Very common. None edible.

(Plate LVII.)

RHODOSPORAE.

_Hymenophore distinct from fleshy stem._

VOLVARIA. PLUTEUS

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— _Hymenophore confluent and homogeneous with fleshy stem._

ENTOLOMA.

CLITOPILUS. CLAUDOPUS. —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--

_Hymenophore confluent with, but heterogeneous from cartilaginous stem._

LEPTONIA. NOLANEA. ECCILIA.

PLATE LVIII_b_.

CHART OF GENERA IN PINK-SPORED SERIES—RHODOSPORAE. PAGE 239.

_Series II._ =RHODOSPORÆ.= _Gr_—rose; _Gr_—seed. Or =HYPORHO´DII=—_hypo_,

under; _rhodon_, rose.

Spores pink or salmon-color.

In Volvaria, Pluteus and most of Clitopilus, the spores are regular in shape, as in the white-spored series, in the rest of the subgenera they are generally angular and irregular.

Though European writers, generally, condemn the rosy-spored series as inedible, a few of our best American edibles are found in it—notably Pluteus cervinus.

=VOLVA´RIA= Fr.

_Volva_, a wrapper.

=Spores= regular, oval, pink, or salmon. =Veil= universal, forming a perfect _volva_, distinct from the cuticle of the pileus. =Stem= separating easily from the pileus. =Gills= _free_, rounded behind, at the very first white then pinkish, soft. Analogous with Amanita.

Growing in woods and on rich mold, rotten wood and damp ground, hence often found in hot-houses and gardens. V. Loveiana Berk. is parasitic on Clitocybe nebularis.

There are thirteen species reported from different parts of the United States. Most of them grow upon wood. Two species have previously been reported as edible, to which I have added V. Taylori, tested by myself.

One species, V. gloiocephala, is upon the authority of Letellier, given as poisonous. It is found in several parts of the United States, but no comment has been made upon its edibility. I have not seen it. A careful study of its botanic characters is urged. It should be regarded as poisonous until its reputation is cleared up, as it probably will be.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.

* Pileus dry, silky or fibrillose.

** Pileus more or less viscid, smooth.

* _Pileus dry, silky or fibrillose._

(Plate LIX_a_.)

=V. bombyci´na= Schaeff.—_bombyx_, silk. =Pileus= 3–8 in. broad, _wholly white_, fleshy, soft, at first globose, soon bell-shaped, at length convex, somewhat umbonate, _everywhere silky_ or, _when older, hairy-scaled_, more rarely becoming smooth at the vertex. =Flesh= not thick, white. =Stem= 3–6 in. long, ½ in. thick or more at the base, solid, equally attenuated from the base to the apex, even, smooth, white. =Volva=, soon torn asunder, ample, 2–3 in. broad, membranaceous, lax, slashed, somewhat viscid, persistent. =Gills= free, very crowded when young, almost cohering, ventricose, in groups of 2–4, then toothed, flesh-colored.

Ovate when young. According to some becoming brownish. The stem is curved-ascending on vertical trunks and straight on prostrate ones. Commonly solitary, sometimes however cespitose. _Stevenson._

=Spores= elliptic, smooth, 6–7×4µ _Massee_; 6–8µ _Lloyd_.

Considered edible. _Stevenson._ Edible. _Curtis._

Very general but not common over the United States. It is a large plant, from 3 in. upward across cap. Growing from wood, oaks, maples, beech, etc.

The writer has not been successful in finding it. Drawing, spore-print and description received from _H.I. Miller_, Terre Haute, Ind.

Upon such an authority as the late Dr. Curtis there is no doubt of its edibility.

(Plate LX.)

=V. volva´cea= Bull.—_volva_, a wrapper. =Pileus= 2–3 in. across. =Flesh= white, thick at the disk, very thin elsewhere, soft, bell-shaped then expanded, obtuse, grayish-yellow, virgate or streaked with adpressed blackish fibrils. =Gills= free, about 2 lines broad, pale flesh-color. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, about 4 lines thick, almost equal, white, solid. Volva large, loose, whitish. =Spores= smooth, elliptical, 6–8×3.5–4µ; no cystidia. _Massee._

On the ground by roadsides, etc., also in stoves.

Allied to V. bombycina, but constantly different in the less ample and less persistent, brownish volva. =Pileus= 3 in. across, rarely more, gray, elegantly virgate with blackish fibrils; flesh-color of the gills not so pure. _Fries._

Once found in woods at roots of a tree. It occurs every year in the cellar of our drug store. _Lloyd_ “Volvæ.”

North Carolina, _Schweinitz_; Minnesota, _Johnson_; Ohio, _Morgan_.

Probably edible, should be carefully tested.

=V. Tay´lori= Berk. =Pileus= 1¾ in. high and broad, livid, conico-campanulate, obtuse, striately cracked from the apex, thin, margin lobed and sinuated. =Stem= 2½ in. long, ¼ in. thick, pallid, solid, nearly equal, slightly bulbous at the base. =Volva= date-brown, lobed, somewhat lax, small. =Gills= uneven, broad in front, very much attenuated behind, rose-color.

Pileus beautifully penciled and cracked. The dark volva, bell-shaped pileus, and uneven, attenuated gills are marked characters. The habit is rather that of some Entoloma than of its more immediate allies. _Fries._

=Spores= 6×9µ _W.G.S._; broadly elliptical, smooth, 5×3.5–4µ _Massee_.

Indiana, _Mrs. L.H. Cox_; West Philadelphia, in much decayed stump of maple. _McIlvaine._

=Caps= 1½-2 in. across and beautifully penciled and cracked. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long. =Gills= up to ⅓ in. wide. The spores when shed in body are a beautiful maroon. Resembling V. volvacea, but lighter in color, and having a brown volva. Specimens sent me by J.J. Newbaker, Steelton, Pa., had snow-white caps and when young were velvety to the touch. Gills tinged with pink; volva dark brown.

The few specimens eaten were of good flavor, somewhat resembling Pluteus cervinus.

**_Pileus more or less viscid, smooth._

=V. specio´sa= Fr.—_speciosus_, handsome. =Pileus= 3–5 in. broad, whitish, _gray_ or umber _at the disk_, fleshy, globose when young, then bell-shaped, at length plane and somewhat umbonate, even, _smooth, gluey_. =Flesh= soft, floccose, white. =Stem= 4–8 in. long, as much as 1 in. thick, solid, firm, slightly attenuated from the base as far as the apex, when young, _white-villous_ and tomentose at the base, then becoming smooth, white. =Volva= bulbous rather than lax, free however, variously torn into loops, membranaceous, ½-1 in. broad, externally tomentose, white. =Gills= free, flesh-colored.

The gills are wholly the same as those of A. bombycinus. It occurs also thinner, with the pileus wholly gray. _Fries._

=Spores= 12–18×8–10µ _K._; elliptical or subglobose, smooth, 14–16×8µ _Massee_.

Distinguished by the whitish, viscid pileus, and the downy volva and stem. _Massee._

“Common in cultivated soil, especially grain fields and along roads. A fine edible agaric and our most abundant one in California.” _McClatchie._ Volvæ, U.S., Lloyd.

=V. gloioceph´ala= Dec. Fl. _Gr_—sticking; head. =Pileus= dark opaque brown, fleshy, bell-shaped then expanded, umbonate, smooth, _glutinous_, striate at the margin. =Stem= solid, _smooth_, becoming brownish or tawny; the _volva_, which is _circularly split_, pressed close. =Gills= free, reddish.

Fragments of the volva are sometimes seen on the pileus. The stem is commonly more slender than that of A. speciosus. _Fries._

On the ground. Uncommon. June to October. _Stevenson._

Pileus about 3 in. across, with a strong regular, obtuse umbo in the center, of a delicate mouse-gray, viscid when moist, but when dry shining, quite smooth, margin striate in consequence of the thinness of the flesh. =Stem= 6 in. or more high, about ½ in. thick in the center, attenuated upward, bulbous at the base, clothed with a few slight fibers, easily splitting, solid, rather dingy, ringless. =Volva= loose, villous like the base of the stem, splitting into several unequal lobes; the gills are broad, especially in front, narrower behind and quite free, so as to leave a space round the top of the stem, white, tinged with grayish-pink; margin slightly toothed. Smell strong and unpleasant, and taste disagreeable. _M.J.B._ VERY POISONOUS according to Letellier. _Stevenson._

=Spores= 19×9µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, smooth, 10–12×6–7µ _Massee_.

Distinguished by the smoky, glutinous pileus. The measurement of the spores as given by Saccardo (19×9µ) is certainly too large, and is probably an uncorrected error. _Massee._

North Carolina, _Curtis_; South Carolina, _Ravenel_; Ontario, _Dearness_; California, _Harkness and Moore_; Ohio, _Morgan_; Mississippi, Minnesota, _Johnson_.

FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.

1. PLUTEUS CERVINUS, 243 2. PLUTEUS CERVINUS, 245 VAR.,

=PLU´TEUS= Fr.

(_Pluteus_, a shed. From the conical shape of the pileus.)

=Stem= fleshy, distinct from the pileus. =Gills= free, rounded behind (never emarginate), at first cohering, white, then colored by the spores.

Generally growing on or near trunks of trees.

Resembling Volvaria in all respects but the volva. =Spores= rosy.

Several of the genus are edible. Pluteus cervinus is one of our earliest, persistent, plentiful, delicious food species. The caps of those tested are tender, easily cooked and best fried.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.

* Cuticle of the pileus separating into fibrils or down, which at length disappear.

** Pileus frosted with atoms, somewhat powdery.

*** Pileus naked, smooth.

* _Cuticle of pileus fibrillose, etc._

=P. cervi´nus= Schaeff.—_cervus_, a deer. (Plate LXI, fig. 1, p. 242.) =Pileus= fleshy, at first campanulate, then convex or expanded, _even, glabrous, generally becoming fibrillose or slightly floccose-villose_ on the disk, occasionally cracked, variable in color. =Lamellæ= broad, somewhat ventricose, at first whitish, then flesh-colored. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, firm, solid, fibrillose or subglabrous, variable in color. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 6.5–8×5–6.5µ.

=Plant= 2–6 in. high. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–6 lines thick.

The typical form has the pileus and stem of a dingy or brown color and adorned with blackish fibrils, but specimens occur with the pileus white, yellowish, cinereous, grayish-brown or blackish-brown. I have never seen it of a true cervine color. It is sometimes quite glabrous and smooth to the touch and in wet weather it is even slightly viscid. It also occurs somewhat floccose-villose on the disk, and the disk, though usually plane or obtuse, is occasionally slightly prominent or subumbonate. The form with the surface of the pileus longitudinally rimose or chinky is probably due to meteorological conditions. The gills, though at first crowded, become more lax with the expansion of the pileus. They are generally a little broader toward the marginal than toward the inner extremity. Their tendency to deliquesce is often shown by their wetting the paper on which the pileus has been placed for the purpose of catching the spores. The stem is usually somewhat fibrous and striated but forms occur in which it is even and glabrous. When growing from the sides of stumps and prostrate trunks it is apt to be curved. Two forms deserve varietal distinction.

Var. _al´bus_. Pileus and stem white or whitish.

Var. _al´bipes_. Pileus cinereous yellowish or brown. Stem white or whitish, destitute of blackish fibrils.

In Europe there are three or four forms which have been designated as species under the names of A. rigens, A. patricius, A. eximius and A. petasatus, but Fries gives them as varieties or subspecies of A. cervinus, though admitting that they are easily distinguished. None of these have occurred in our state. _Peck_, 38th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Var. _visco´sus_. The normal character of the cuticle of the species is slightly viscid in wet weather, but the specimens we collected and photographed were exceedingly viscid. They also differed from the normal form in their lighter color, flesh much thicker at the disk and thin at the margins, and cuticle not appearing fibrillose. It is close to petasatus, but differs, however, in its narrower gills and in having no striæ. It is a good variety if it is not a good species. _Lloyd_, Myc. Notes.

=Spores= 7–8×5–6µ _K._; 6–8×4–5µ _B._; 4×5µ _W.G.S._; 5.8×4.6µ _Morgan_.

Frequent on decaying stumps, roots and wood, May to frost. _McIlvaine._

Its free gills should distinguish it from any Entoloma, though both have pink spores and eventually pink gills. Among the earliest of large species. The sight of it is stimulating to the mycophagist. He then knows the toadstool season to be truly opened.

Caps only are tender. The stems are edible, but they are not of the same consistency as the caps, therefore will not cook with them. Fried in a buttered pan or broiled, they are exceedingly toothsome.

In October, 1898, a beautiful variety (see Plate LXI, fig. 2, p.—), occurred which I had not previously seen. It was sent by me to Professor Peck. The plants grew in large clusters from rotting, refuse straw in the ruin of a stable; the white, cottony mycelium running upon and through the straw. The solid stems of some were straight, others curved, ranging from 2–6 in. long, the taller ones tapering from base to spindling apex, the shorter ones decidedly bulbous and ending abruptly. They were twisted and delicately marked. These markings break up into dark thread-like fibrils, leaving the stem striate and satin-glossy. =Pileus= from 2–4 in. across, dark Vandyke-brown when young, lighter in age, streaked, glossy. =Gills= at first white, tardily changing to light salmon color, broad, ventricose, free.

Taste and smell pleasant of almonds. Good, delicious.

Professor Peck wrote of it: “It has the general appearance of Pluteus cervinus, but these specimens seem to depart from the usual form of growing in clusters from the ground, and in having an almond flavor. Without knowing more about it I would scarcely feel justified in separating it from such a variable species. As Fries sometimes remarks concerning variable species: Perhaps several species are concealed under the one name, but a pretty full and accurate knowledge of them is desirable if one is to split them up.”

This is excellent judgment. While I believe the above to be a distinct species, the disposition to make new species of varieties is regrettable in many botanists.

Var. _Bul´lii_ Berk., MS. =Pileus= 4–6 in. across, flesh thick, convex then expanded, smooth, even, pallid, the disk darker. =Gills= free, rounded behind, rather distant from the stem, crowded, ½ in. broad, pale salmon-color. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, 1 in. and more thick, slightly swollen at the base, fibrillose, pale brown, darkest at the base, solid. _Massee._

=Pileus= 6 in. across, expanded from bell-shape, ashy-white (oyster color), glossy, like floss silk, silky fibrillose, irregularly corrugated. =Skin= separable. =Flesh= spongy, pure white, like shreds of cotton, separable into plates, very brittle, ½ in. thick at stem, immediately thinning to ⅛ in., very thin toward margin. =Gills= thin, elastic, rounded behind, close to stem, free, ½ in. wide, close, alternate short and long, white, then tinged and spotted pink with spores which when cast in mass are a pinkish-brown with slight lavender shade. =Stem= 5 in. long, ½-¾ in. thick, subequal, spreading at top, white, silky-fibrillose, changing to very light yellowish brown from center to base, exterior hard, skin thin, tough, interior filled with continuous, cottony fibers, snow-white, brittle, watery, slightly swollen at base. Taste pleasant.

Mt. Gretna, Pa., July, 1898, on chestnut stump and in woods on ground among leaves. Leaves adhere to base of stem which is powdery-white. _McIlvaine._

Cooked, it is as good as P. cervinus.

Var. _petasa´tus_ Fr. =Pileus= 3–4 in. across, flesh rather thick, campanulate then expanded, umbonate, grayish-white, very smooth, with a viscid cuticle, at length striate to the middle. =Gills= free, ½ in. and more broad, crowded, becoming dry, white then reddish. =Stem= 4–5 in. long, ½-⅔ in. thick, rigid, very slightly and equally attenuated from the base, whitish, fibrillosely striate, solid.

On heaps of straw and dung, sawdust, etc.

Color verging on bay when old. Stem and margin of gills at length with a tawny tinge. _Fries._

Haddonfield, New Jersey, Bell’s Mill, sawdust, 1890; Mt. Gretna, Pa., August, 1898, among sawdust from ice-house. =Caps= 6 in. across. =Stem= easily split, exterior hard, fibrillose, streaked, whitish, shining, stuffed with cottony fibers. =Spores= dark pink. _McIlvaine._

Equal to P. cervinus.

=P. umbro´sus= Pers.—shady, from its dark color. =Pileus= fleshy, at first bell-shaped, then convex or expanded, _roughly wrinkled_ and more or less villose on the disk, fimbriate on the margin, _blackish-brown_. =Gills= broad, somewhat ventricose, at first whitish, then flesh-colored, _blackish-brown and fringed or toothed on the edge_. =Stem= solid, colored like or paler than the pileus, fibrillose or villose-squamose. =Spores= elliptical, 8×5µ.

Decaying woods and swamps, especially of pine, both in shaded and open places. Not rare. _Peck_, 38th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= broadly elliptical, smooth, 6–7×5µ; cystidia ventricose, 65–75×18–20µ _Massee_.

New York, _Peck_, Rep. 32, 38; West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, frequent on decaying logs, stumps, pine and other woods. _McIlvaine._

At times the caps are a deep sepia-brown. It is readily distinguished from P. cervinus by the wrinkled, downy disk of the cap and the gills having dark-brown edges. Smell rather strong. Professor Peck says he has not seen it with the margin fimbriate. Neither have I, though this is prominent in the European species.

P. umbrosus is a fine species, equal in every way to P. cervinus, which is seldom excelled. Caps only are tender.