Part 29
=H. crustulinifor´me= Bull.—_crustulum_, a small pie; _forma_, form. =Pileus= pale-whitish tan, most frequently pale-yellowish or brick-color at the disk, fleshy, convexo-plane, obtuse or slightly gibbous with an obtuse umbo, somewhat spreading with an uneven margin, even, smooth, at first slightly viscid, not zoned. =Flesh= transparent when moist. =Stem= _stuffed then hollow_, stout, somewhat bulbous, white, naked, white-scaly at the top. =Gills= _rounded-adnexed_, crowded, _narrowed_, 1 line broad and linear, thin, whitish then clay-color, at length date-brown, _the unequal edge distilling watery drops in wet weather, spotted when dry_.
=Veil= quite _wanting_. Odor strong, fetid, of radish. Very variable in stature; the stem, however, is never elongated as in A. elatus, etc.; in smaller specimens equal, pileus regular, gills almost adnate.
In mixed woods. Common. August to November. _Stevenson._
=Spores= ellipsoid, 10–12×5–7µ _K._; 9×5µ _W.G.S._
Var. _mi´nor_ Cke. Smaller than the type.
Minnesota, common in woods, _Johnson_; California, _H. and M._; Wisconsin, _Bundy_; New Jersey, _Ellis_; Vermont, _Burt_ (Lloyd); New York, _Peck_, 41st Rep.; Mt. Gretna, Pa., November, 1898. In woods. _McIlvaine._
But one specimen found and that was sent to Professor Peck. Taste bitter.
Regarded as poisonous by European writers. It is not reported as tested in America.
=FLAM´MULA= Fr.
_Flamma_, a flame. (In reference to the bright colors of many of the species.)
=Pileus= fleshy, margin _at first turned inward_. =Veil= fibrillose or none. =Stem= fleshy-fibrous, not mealy at the top. =Gills= decurrent or attached without a tooth. =Spores= mostly pure rust color; some brownish-rust, others tawny-ochraceous.
A few species grow on the ground, the majority on wood.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
GYMNOTI (naked). Page 288.
Pileus dry, generally scaly. Spores not yellowish.
LUBRICI (_lubricus_, slimy). Page 289.
Pileus covered with a continuous, _viscid_, smooth, partly separable cuticle. Veil fibrillose. Spores not yellowish. Gregarious, on the ground, rarely on wood. Distinguished from Hebeloma by the gills not being sinuate and the top of the stem not mealy.
UDI (_udus_, moist). Page 290.
Veil slight, generally hanging in fragments. Cuticle of the pileus continuous, not separable, smooth, in places superficially downy, moist or slightly viscid in rainy weather. Spores not yellowish. Cespitose, growing on wood.
SAPINEI (_sapinus_, pine). Page 291.
Veil silky, very slight, adpressed to the stem or forming a silky ring on it. Cuticle of pileus thin, the flesh splitting at the surface into scales, not viscid. Distinguished by the gills and spores being light yellow or tawny. Somewhat cespitose; always on pine or on the ground among pine branches.
SERICELLI (_sericeus_, silky).
Cuticle of the pileus slightly silky, dry or at the first viscid.
None known to be edible.
The genus Flammula is not represented in our territory by a large number of species. It is, nevertheless, not very sharply distinct from the allied genera, Pholiota, Hebeloma and Naucoria. From Pholiota it is especially separated by the slight development of the veil which is merely fibrillose or entirely wanting. It never forms a persistent membranous collar on the stem. From Hebeloma it may be distinguished by the absence of a sinus at or near the inner extremity of the gills, by the absence of white particles or mealiness from the upper part of the stem and by the brighter or more distinctly rusty or ochraceous color of the spores. From Naucoria the fleshy or fibrously fleshy stem affords the most available distinguishing character. The genus belongs to the Ochrosporæ or ochraceous-spored series, but the spores of its species vary in color from ochraceous or tawny-ochraceous to rust-color or brownish-rust color. The three things to be especially kept in mind in order to recognize the species are the color of the spores, the adnate or decurrent but not clearly sinuate gills and the fleshy or fibrously fleshy stem without a membranous ring.
Our species are mostly of medium size, none being very small and one only meriting the appellation large. They appear chiefly in late summer or in autumn and grow in woods or in wooded regions either on the ground or more often on decaying wood. Many are gregarious or cespitose in their mode of growth. Some have a bitterish or unpleasant flavor and none of our species has yet been classed as edible. Fries arranged the species in five groups, of which the names and more prominent characters are here given. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
The few species which the writer has found to be edible, and the two new species found by him, were tested after the publication of the above. Several of the species found are not mentioned herein for the reason that a sufficient quantity was not obtained to make certain their quality as a food. The bitterness, as far as observed, with which most of the species are tainted disappears in cooking.
GYMNO´TI. Veil absent, pileus dry, etc.
=F. alie´na= Pk. =Pileus= thin, flexible, broadly convex, umbilicate, dry, bare, slightly striate on the margin when old, grayish or pale grayish-brown. =Flesh= white, fibrous. =Gills= thin, subdistant, bow-shaped, decurrent, ochraceous-brown. =Stem= firm, fibrous-striate, solid, slightly tapering upward, colored like the pileus, covered at the base with a dense white tomentum. =Spores= rusty-brown, globose, 5µ broad.
=Pileus= 3–5 cm. broad. =Stem= 5 cm. long, 4–6 mm. thick.
Gregarious on partly burned anthracite coal, Mt. Gretna, Pa. September. _C. McIlvaine._
The species is peculiar in its color and habitat. In the dried specimen the gills have assumed a brown color with no ochraceous tint. Mr. McIlvaine remarks that it is an edible species, dries well, and is excellent when cooked. Its relationship is with F. anomala Pk., but it is a larger plant with darker color and a different habitat. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899.
It grows on partly _burned_ anthracite coal, not _buried_, as printed in the Torrey Bulletin. The mycelium completely involves the pieces of coal, holding them tightly in its meshes. Patches of it were strictly limited to the size of the ash-pile containing the partly burned coal. Quite fifty were found.
As stated, it is edible, and it is of remarkably fine substance for a Flammula.
LU´BRICI. Pileus viscid, etc.
=F. edu´lis= Pk.—eatable. =Pileus= fleshy, convex, obtuse, glabrous, moist, brown, grayish-brown or yellowish-brown, sometimes rimose. =Flesh= whitish. =Lamellæ= rather broad, close, decurrent, bright tan color, becoming brownish-rusty. =Stems= cespitose, equal, stuffed or hollow, brown. =Spores= subelliptical, 13×5–6µ.
=Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 3–6 lines thick.
Grassy ground, along pavements, in gutters and by the side of wooden frames of hotbeds. Haddonfield, N.J. October. _C. McIlvaine._
The collector of this species informs me that the flavor of the fresh plant is slightly bitter, but that this disappears in cooking and the fungus furnishes a very good and tender article of food. Successive crops continued to appear for a month. In the dried specimens the stem is striate. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 24, No. 3.
This new species appears annually in the same place. I have not found it elsewhere. It is meaty and excellent.
UDI. Pileus smooth, not viscid; veil fragmentary, etc.
(Plate LXXVI_b_.
=F. alni´cola= Fr.—_alnus_, alder; _colo_, to inhabit. =Pileus= 2–3 in. broad, _yellow_, at length becoming rust-color and sometimes green, fleshy, convex then flattened, obtuse, slimy when moist, but not truly viscous, at the first superficially fibrillose toward the margin. =Flesh= not very compact, of the same color as the pileus. =Stem= 2–3 in. and more long, ½ in. thick, _stuffed then hollow_, attenuato-rooted, commonly curved-flexuous, _fibrillose_, at first yellow, then becoming rust-color. =Veil= _manifest_, sometimes fibrillose, sometimes woven into a spider-web veil. =Gills= somewhat adnate, broad, plane, at first _dingy-pallid_ or yellowish-pallid, at length together with the plentiful spores rust-colored.
The gills vary decurrent and rounded according to situation. Odor and taste bitter. There are two forms: _a._ Pileus irregular, fibrillose round the margin; gills at first dingy-pallid. _b._ Salicicola, pileus somewhat convex, smooth, rarely at the first downy-scaly; gills at first yellowish-pallid. _Fries._
=Spores= subelliptical, 8×5µ _K._; 8–10×5–6µ _Peck_.
New York, swampy woods about base of alders, October, _Peck_, Rep. 35; at base of alders, with adnate gills, and on birch stumps, with the gills rounded behind, Rep. 39. Mt. Gretna, Pa., New Jersey, mixed woods, August to November, 1898, _McIlvaine_.
Gregarious and in loose tufts, not plentiful. It is a pretty plant, usually of a bright yellow, sometimes darker at the center of cap. Traces of an evanescent fibrillose ring are occasionally found or the fibrils adorn the margin of the cap. The gills next to the stem are either rounded, attached or slightly decurrent.
Raw the taste is slightly bitter. This disappears in long cooking.
=F. fla´vida= Schaeff. (Pers.)—_flavidus_, light yellow. =Pileus= fleshy, thin, broadly convex or nearly plane, glabrous, moist, pale yellow. =Flesh= whitish or pale yellow, taste bitter. =Lamellæ= moderately close, adnate, pale or yellowish becoming rust-color. =Stem= equal, often more or less curved, hollow, fibrillose, whitish or pale yellow, with a white mycelium at the base. =Spores= 8×5µ.
=Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–3 in. long, 1–3 lines thick.
Decaying wood of various trees. Commonly in wooded or mountainous districts. Summer and autumn.
Our specimens were found on wood of both coniferous and deciduous trees. The plants are sometimes cespitose. The pileus becomes more highly colored in drying. The spores are pale rust-colored approaching ochraceous. In Sylloge the spores of this species are described as pale yellowish. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
=Spores= broadly elliptical, 6–8×5µ _Massee_.
New York, decaying wood, _Peck_, Rep. 32, 50; _Mrs. E.C. Anthony_, August. West Virginia, 1881–1885; Mt. Gretna, Pa. August to October. _McIlvaine._
F. flavida is a frequent species, gregarious and tufted on decaying wood, either standing, fallen, or as roots in the ground. The texture and substance are good. The slight bitter when raw disappears in cooking. The caps, only, are tender.
SAPIN´EI. Gills and spores yellowish, etc.
=F. hy´brida= Fr.—_hybrida_, a hybrid. =Pileus= about 2 in. broad, at first tawny-cinnamon, then tawny-orange, fleshy, hemispherical with the margin involute, then expanded, obtuse, regular and well formed, even, _smooth, moist_. =Flesh= moderately compact, pallid. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 4–5 lines thick, at first _stuffed_ with a soft pith, then hollow, _attenuated_ (almost conico-attenuated) _upward_, whitish with adpressed silky-hairy down (becoming tawny when the down is rubbed off) slightly striate, with white hairs at the base, and somewhat mealy at the apex. =Veil= _manifest in the form of an annular zone at the apex of the stem_, white or at length colored with the spores. =Gills= adnate, somewhat crowded, _light yellow then tawny, not spotted_. _Fries._
=Spores= elliptical, tawny-ochraceous, 7–8×4–5µ _Massee_; 6×4µ _W.P._
Mt. Gretna, Pa., August, September, 1898. On ground under pine trees. Gregarious. _W.H. Rorer._ Not elsewhere reported.
This is a handsome plant, quite prolific in the large pine groves at Mt. Gretna, Pa. The caps are of good flavor.
=F. mag´na= Pk.—_magnus_, large. =Pileus= fleshy, broadly convex, soft, dry, fibrillose and somewhat streaked, pale yellow or buff, the margin commonly becoming revolute with age. =Flesh= whitish or yellowish. =Gills= close, adnate or slightly decurrent, often crisped or wavy toward the stem, about three lines wide, ochraceous. =Stem= equal or thickened toward the base, fleshy-fibrous, solid, elastic, fibrillose, colored like the pileus, brighter yellow within. =Spores= subelliptical, ochraceous, 10×6µ.
Cespitose. =Pileus= 4–6 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, 8–12 lines thick.
About the base of trees. Westchester county. October.
This is a large and showy species. The stems are sometimes united at the base into a solid mass. The young gills are probably yellow, but I have seen only mature specimens. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
New Jersey, Trenton, ground in clearing, in pairs and singly. November, _E.B. Sterling_; Mt. Gretna, Pa. Mixed thin woods. October to November. Near trees. Cespitose, _McIlvaine_.
Individuals of all ages were found and eaten. The young gills are very light yellow, darkening to a deep, rich yellow.
The caps are of good substance and flavor. When very young the stems are edible.
=TUBA´RIA= W.G.S.
_Tuba_, a trumpet.
(Plate LXXVII.)
=Stem= _somewhat cartilaginous, fistulose_. =Pileus= somewhat membranaceous, often clothed with the universal floccose veil. =Gills= _somewhat decurrent_. =Spores= rust-color or (in Phæoti) brownish-rust color.
The species referred to this subgenus were taken from Naucoria and Galera because they correspond with Omphalia and Eccilia. The pileus is, however, distinctly umbilicate or depressed in only a few of them; the others are placed here on account of their somewhat decurrent gills, which are broadest behind and triangular. _Fries._
Small and unimportant.
=NAUCO´RIA= Fr.
_Naucum_, a nut-shell.
(Plate LXXVIII.)
=Pileus= more or less fleshy, conical or convex, then expanded, _margin at first incurved_. =Gills= free or adnate, not decurrent. =Veil= fugacious or absent, sometimes attached in minute flakes to the edge of the young pileus. =Stem= cartilaginous, hollow or with a spongy stuffing. Growing on wood or on the ground, sometimes rooted. =Spores= various shades of brown, dull or bright.
Naucoria corresponds with Collybia, Leptonia and Psilocybe; from the latter it is distinguished by the spore colors and from Galera in the brown-spored series by the margin of the pileus being at first incurved.
“The spores are rust-color, or brownish rust-color. The color of the pileus is some shade of yellow. The stem is not distinctly ringed, but sometimes a slight spore-stained band marks the place of the obsolete ring.” _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
The members of this genus are with two or three exceptions very common, and common over the land. The greater number grow on the ground among grass; a few grow upon decaying wood. The stems are not of the same texture as the cap and frequently will not cook tender. The caps, however, are, of all species tested, tender and of good flavor. Species of the genus are among the first to appear in spring, and well reward the enterprising mycophagist for his early tramps.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
GYMNOTI (_Gr_—naked). Page 295.
Pileus smooth. Veil absent. Spores rust-color, not becoming dusky-rust-color.
PHÆOTI (_Gr_—dusky). Page 296.
Pileus smooth. Gills and spores dusky rust-color. Veil rarely manifest.
LEPIDOTI (_lepis_, a scale).
Pileus flocculose or squamulose. Veil manifest.
None known to be edible.
I.—GYMNO´TI.
=N. hama´dryas= Fr.—_Gr_, a nymph attached to her tree. =Pileus= 1½-2 in. broad, _bay-brown-ferruginous_ when young and moist, pale yellowish when old and becoming pale, slightly fleshy, convex then expanded, gibbous, even, smooth. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 3 lines thick, _somewhat fragile, hollow_, equal, naked, smooth, _pallid_. =Gills= _attenuato-adnexed_, somewhat free, slightly ventricose, almost 2 lines broad, crowded, rust-color, opaque. =Veil= none. Widely removed from neighboring species. Pileus _somewhat separate_ as in Plutei. _Fries._
=Spores= elliptical, rust-color, 13–14×7µ _Massee_.
Haddonfield, N.J. Frequent. Solitary. On ground along pavements, under trees, in woods. Spring to autumn. _McIlvaine._
Massee gives it as hygrophanous. I have not found it so. It is moist after rain and dew.
The caps and upper part of the stem are tender, easily cooked and of good flavor.
=N. cero´des= Fr. _Gr_—wax. =Pileus= ½-1 in. broad, watery cinnamon when moist, tan-color _when dry_, somewhat membranaceous, _convex bell-shape_ and flattened, at length depressed, _obtuse_, when moist smooth, pellucid-striate at the circumference, _when dry_ even, _slightly silky-atomate_. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 1–2 lines thick, slightly firm, tubed, equal, somewhat flexuous, fibrilloso-striate under a lens, _becoming dingy bay-brown_ sometimes for the most part, sometimes only at the base, pallid upward, mealy at the apex. =Gills= adnate, separating, _very broad behind_, hence almost triangular, _somewhat distant_, broad, plane, soft, distinct, pallid then cinnamon very finely fimbriated at the edge under a lens. _Fries._
The typical form, growing among damp mosses, is quite early, gregarious, with the colors almost those of Galera hypnorum, but otherwise very different. _b._ Another form occurs on naked, commonly burnt soil, in late autumn, with almost the habit of N. pediades, but with a different color of gills and spores; this form is firmer. =Stem= 1 in. long, tense and straight, and color more ochraceous. _Stevenson._
=Spores= 9µ _B. and Br._; smooth, 6×3µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in grass and moss, along damp wood margins. August to October. _McIlvaine._
N. cerodes is not plentiful where I have found it. Enough has been collected at a time to prove it esculent. It is tender, but has not much flavor.
(Plate LXXVIII_a_.)
=N. stri´apes= Cke.—_stria_, a line; _pes_, a foot. =Pileus= 1–1½ in. broad, ochraceous, bell-shaped, obtuse, then expanded, smooth, even. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 2 lines thick, hollow, equal, erect or flexuous, white, _longitudinally striate_. =Gills= slightly adnate behind, rather distant, tawny rust-color.
_Cespitose_ or gregarious. Among grass on lawn. _Stevenson._
=Spores= narrowly elliptical, 10–12×4µ _Massee_.
New Jersey, Trenton. Growing among leaves near dump. May to November. _E.B. Sterling._
The few specimens tested were delicate and of slight flavor.
II.—PHÆ´OTI.
=N. pedi´ades= Fr.—_Gr_, a plain. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, _yellow_ or pale yellowish-ochraceous then becoming pale, slightly fleshy, convex then plane, obtuse, even, dry, smooth, at length crookedly cracked, but always without striæ. =Flesh= white. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 1–2 lines thick, _stuffed with a pith, somewhat flexuous_, tough, equal, but with a small bulb at the base, _slightly silky becoming even, yellowish_. =Gills= adnexed, 2 lines broad, at first crowded, at length somewhat distant, _somewhat dingy-brown, then dingy cinnamon_.
=Spores= brownish-rust-color. The small bulb at the base is formed by the mycelium being rolled together. Stature variable. _Fries._
=Spores= dingy rust-color, elliptical, 10–12×4–5µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in grassy places, pastures and along pavements. Common. May to November. _McIlvaine._
In 1897 Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, abounded with N. pediades, which were collected and eaten by many. The caps are tender and of a mushroom flavor.
=N. semi-orbicula´ris= Bull.—_semi_, half; _orbicularis_, round. (Plate LXXVIII, p. 294.) =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, _tawny rust-color_ then ochraceous, slightly fleshy, convexo-expanded, obtuse, dry, even, smooth, corrugated when dry. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, scarcely beyond 1 line thick, cartilaginous, tough, slender, tense and straight, equal, even, smooth, becoming pallid _rust-color_, shining, often darker at the base, _internally containing a separate narrow tube_ which is easily broken up into fibrils. =Gills= adnate, rarely sinuate behind, almost 3 lines _broad_, and many times broader than the flesh of the pileus, crowded, _pallid then rust-color_.
The pileus is slightly viscid when fresh and moist. Easily distinguished from S. semi-globatus, with which it has been confounded, by the stem. _Stevenson._
=Spores= 14×8µ _W.G.S._; 10×5–6µ _Massee_.
Allied to N. pediades, distinguished by its viscid cap when moist, and dark stem.
Common over the states. Washington, D.C., _Mrs. Mary Fuller_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey. Solitary, sometimes cespitose, very common on lawns, rich pastures, etc. April until frost. _McIlvaine._
This is one of our first appearing toadstools, coming up when the grass shows its full spring hue. It is found after rains until the coming of frost. Its hemispherical caps, precise, neat, dark gills and brown spores readily distinguish it. While usually small, patience and picking will soon gather quarts. The caps cook easily and are of excellent flavor.
=N. platysper´ma= Pk.—_platys_, broad; _sperma_, seed. =Pileus= convex, becoming nearly plane, glabrous, slightly tinged with ochraceous or reddish-yellow when young, soon whitish, the margin at first adorned with vestiges of a white flocculent veil. =Flesh= white. =Lamellæ= moderately close, slightly rounded behind, pallid, becoming brownish. =Stem= equal, stuffed with a white pith, slightly flocculent or furfuraceous above when young, whitish, the mycelium sometimes forming white thread-like strands. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 15µ long, 12.5µ broad.
=Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5.5 in. long, 1.5–2 in. thick.
On the ground. Compton, Cal. _Prof. A.J. McClatchie._
This species differs from N. pediades and N. semi-orbicularis, to which it is related, by its larger, broader spores and paler color. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 25, No. 6.
This new species reported from California is so closely allied to N. semi-orbicularis and N. pediades, both of which are edible, that it is here given, that it may be recognized by students on the Pacific coast or wherever it occurs.
=GALE´RA= Fr.
_Galerus_, a cap.
=Pileus= more or less membranaceous, conical or oval, then expanded, striate, margin at the first straight, then adpressed to the stem. =Gills= not decurrent. =Stem= somewhat cartilaginous, continuous with the pileus, but differing in texture, tubular. =Veil= none or fibrillose. =Spores= tawny-ochraceous.
Slender, fragile, generally growing on the ground.
Galera corresponds with Mycena, Nolanea, Psathyra and Psathyrella, which are distinguished by their spore colors. In the brown-spored series Naucoria is separated by the margin of the pileus being at first incurved, and Tubaria by the decurrent gills.
The genus is composed of small species, but many grow in clusters, and are of a consistency which decreases but little in quick cooking. Those tested are delicate in texture and flavor.
=G. lateri´tia= Fr.—_later_, a brick. =Pileus= 1 in. high, _pale yellowish when moist_, ochraceous when dry, hygrophanous, membranaceous, _acorn-shaped then bell-shaped_, obtuse, even, smooth, slightly and densely striate at the margin when moist. =Stem= 3 in. and more long, 1 line thick, tubular, attenuated upward, tense and straight, even, but _white-pruinose, whitish_. =Gills= _adnexed_ in the top of the cone, hence appearing as if free, ascending, very narrow, _crowded, cinnamon_.
=Gills= almost adpressed to the stem, almost pendulous. Remarkably analogous with A. ovalis, but easily distinguished by the _linear gills_ and the absence of a veil; very fragile. _Fries._
=Spores= 11×5µ _W.P._; 11–12×5–6µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. On dung and rich pastures. June to frost. _McIlvaine._
The narrow conical cap, distinctly striate, distinguishes this species from G. tenera. In quality there is no difference. It is a well-flavored, delicate species.
(Plate LXXIX.)