Part 30

=G. te´nera= Schaeff.—_tener_, tender. =Pileus= ½ in. and more high, _of one color, pallid rust-color when damp_, becoming pale when dry, hygrophanous, somewhat membranaceous, _conico-bell-shaped_, commonly smooth, slightly striate when moist, wholly even when dry, opaque, somewhat atomate. =Stem= commonly 3–4 in. long, 1 line thick, tubular, fragile, equal or when larger thickened downward, _tense and straight, somewhat shining_, striate upward, of the same color as the pileus when moist, and like it becoming pale when dry. =Gills= _adnate in the top of the cone_, appearing _as if free_, ascending, somewhat crowded, _linear, cinnamon_.

Pastures and grassy places in woods. Common. May to November. _Stevenson._

=Spores= ellipsoid, 14–21×8–12µ _K._; 14–8µ _W.G.S._; 14×7µ _W.P._; 12–13×7µ _Massee_; elliptical, dark rust-color, almost rubiginous, 13–16.5×8–10µ _Peck_.

Var. _pilosella_ (Agaricus pilosellus Pers.), has both pileus and stem clothed with a minute erect pubescence when moist. A form is sometimes found in which the center of the pileus is brown or blackish-brown. _Peck_, 46th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Var. _obscu´rior_ Pk. A notable form of this species was found growing in an old stable of an abandoned lumber camp. The plants were large, the pileus in some being more than an inch broad, the stems were 3–6 in. long and the color was rust-colored as in G. ovalis, to which the plants might be referred but for the large spores. Essex county. July. I have labeled the specimens variety _obscurior_. _Peck_, 50th Rep.

Haddonfield, N.J.; Chester county; West Philadelphia, Pa.; West Virginia. In rich pastures, on lawns, dung in woods. Common. June to October. _McIlvaine._

Very variable in size and in color when wet and dry. The color of gills and spores readily distinguishes it in its habitats. From spring to frost it can usually be gathered in quantity. It is small, tender, shrivels in cooking, but makes a savory, excellent dish.

Var. obscurior found cespitose on very old manure at a ruined stable, Mt. Gretna, Pa., August. _McIlvaine._

=G. fla´va= Pk.—_flavus_, yellow. =Pileus= membranous, ovate or bell shaped, moist or subhygrophanous, obtuse, plicate striate on the margin, yellow. =Lamellæ= thin, narrow, crowded, adnate, at first whitish, then yellowish-cinnamon. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, hollow, slightly striate at the top, sprinkled with white mealy particles, white or yellowish. =Spores= ovate or subelliptical, brownish-rust-color, 13×8µ.

=Pileus= 6–12 lines broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 1–1.5 lines thick.

Damp vegetable mold in woods. Tompkins county. July.

This species is well marked by the pale-yellow color of the pileus and its plicate striations which are very distinct even in the dried specimens. They extend half way to the disk or more. When dry the pileus is seen to be sprinkled with shining atoms as in some other species of the same genus. Occasionally the yellow cuticle cracks into squamules or small scales. _Peck_, 46th Rep.

Trenton, N.J., _Sterling_; Haddonfield, N.J.; Pennsylvania. Among chips in woods and on woods ground. _McIlvaine._

This species is frequent, and when plentiful well worth gathering. It has a more woody flavor than other Galera, but is tasty.

=G. vittæfor´mis= Fr.—_vitta_, a chaplet; _forma_, form. =Pileus= ½-1 in. broad, _date-brown_ when moist, membranaceous, conical then hemispherical, obtuse, _even at the disk_, striate toward the margin, smooth. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, ½-1 line thick, tubular, equal, _somewhat straight_, but not tense and straight, smooth or sometimes pubescent, slightly striate under a lens, _opaque, rust-color_. =Veil= scarcely conspicuous. =Gills= adnate, broader at the middle, in the form of a segment when larger, somewhat ascending, somewhat distant, at first _watery-cinnamon_, at length rust-color. _Fries._

=Spores= elliptical, 12×6µ _Massee_.

Haddonfield, N.J.; Mt. Gretna, Pa. On pastures, lawns, etc. June to September. _McIlvaine._

Not previously reported.

Though small it makes up in quantity when found. The stems are not as tender as the caps. Quality good.

=BOLBITIUS= Fr.

_Gr_—cow’s dung.

=Pileus= membranaceous. =Gills= adnexed or free, membranaceous, soft, salmon-color or rusty, dissolving (not dripping as in Coprinus), powdered with the rusty spores. =Stem= central; universal veil absent, partial veil often obsolete.

Very delicate and fragile, remarkable among the Ochrosporæ for the gills dissolving into mucus, and in this respect analogous with Coprinus among the Melanosporæ, and Hiatula amongst the Leucosporæ. Growing on dung or amongst grass where dung abounds.

A small but very natural genus, with the vegetative portion like Coprinus and the fructification resembling Cortinarius, hence occupying an intermediate position between these two genera. _Fries._

=B. Bol´toni= Fr.—after Bolton. =Pileus= rather fleshy, viscid, at first even, then with the membranaceous margin sulcate, disk darker, subdepressed. =Stem= attenuated, yellowish, at first floccose from the remains of the fugacious veil. =Gills= subadnate, yellow then livid-brown. _Fries._

Haddonfield, N.J., cespitose among manure on sawdust.

Of small substance but good consistency and flavor.

(Plate LXXX.)

=B. fra´gilis= Fr. =Pileus= 2 in. broad, _light yellow_, then becoming pale, somewhat membranaceous, almost pellucid, conical then expanded, somewhat umbonate, smooth, viscous, _striate round the margin_ (which is often crenulated). =Stem= 3 in. long, 1 line or little more thick, fistulose, attenuated upward, _naked, smooth_ (and without a manifest veil), yellow. =Gills= attenuato-adnexed, almost free, ventricose, _yellow then pale cinnamon_. =Spores= rust-colored. _Fries._

Thinner than B. Boltoni, etc., very fragile, rapidly withering.

On dung. Common. June to October. _Stevenson._

=Spores= subspheroid-ellipsoid, elliptical, 7×3–5µ _Massee_.

West Virginia; Pennsylvania. June to frost. On rich grass and dung.

Pileus usually not over 1.5 in. across. Often in plenty. Its substance does not cook away as with C. micaceus. It amply repays gathering, being highly flavored.

(Plate LXXX_a_.)

=B. no´bilis= Pk.—noble. =Pileus= thin, fleshy on the disk, ovate then bell-shaped, smooth, plicate-striate, pale-yellow, the disk tinged with red, the margin at length recurved and splitting. =Gills= subdistant, tapering outwardly, attached, the alternate ones more narrow, pale-yellow with a darker edge. =Stem= long, equal, smooth, striate at the top, hollow, white.

=Plant= cespitose, 3–5 in. high. =Pileus= 1 in. broad. =Stem= 1 line thick. Ground in woods. Greig. September.

A fine large species, but probably rare. _Peck_, 24th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

I have not seen this species. Figure after Professor Peck.

=CREPIDO´TUS= Fr.

_Gr_—a slipper.

(Plate LXXXI.)

=Veil= wanting or not manifest. =Pileus= eccentric, lateral or resupinate. =Spores= rust-color.

The Crepidoti correspond in shape and habit to the smaller Pleuroti and the Claudopodes, but they are distinguished from both by the rust-color of their spores. These are globose in several species, in others they are elliptical. In some there is a depression on one side which gives them a naviculoid character and causes the spore to appear slightly curved when viewed in a certain position. In consequence of the similarity of several of our species, the character of the spores is of much importance in their identification, and it is unfortunate that European mycologists have so generally neglected to give the spore characters in their descriptions of these fungi. In most of the species the pileus is at first resupinate, but it generally becomes reflexed as it enlarges. It is generally sessile or attached by a mass of white fibrils or tomentum. For this reason it is usually somewhat tomentose or villose about the point of attachment, even in species that are otherwise glabrous. In several species the pileus is moist or hygrophanous and then the thin margin is commonly striatulate. This character is attributed to but one of the dozen or more European species. Their mode of growth is usually gregarious or somewhat loosely imbricated, in consequence of which the pileus, which in most species is white or yellowish, is often stained by the spores, and then it has a rusty, stained or squalid appearance. The species occur especially on old stumps, prostrate trunks and soft much decayed wood in damp, shaded places. _Peck_, 39th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=C. ful´vo-tomento´sus= Pk.—tawny-tomentose. =Pileus= ¾-2 in. broad, scattered or gregarious, suborbicular, kidney-shaped or dimidiate, sessile or attached by a short, white-villose tubercle or rudimentary stem, hygrophanous, watery-brown and sometimes striatulate on the margin when moist, whitish, yellowish or pale ochraceous when dry, _adorned with small, tawny, hairy or tomentose scales_. =Lamellæ= broad, subventricose, moderately close, rounded behind, radiating from a lateral or eccentric white villose spot, whitish becoming brownish-ferruginous. =Spores= _elliptical_ often uninucleate, 8–10×5–6µ.

Decaying wood of poplar, maple, etc. Common. June to October.

A pretty species, corresponding in some respects to the European C. calolepis, but much larger and with tawny, instead of reddish scales. The cuticle is separable and is tenacious, though it has a hyaline gelatinous appearance. The pileus is subpersistent, and specimens dried in their place of growth are not rare. _Peck_, 39th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Haddonfield, N.J.; Angora, West Philadelphia. On decaying hickory. _McIlvaine._

Substance fair. Taste strong but pleasant.

FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.

1. CORTINARIUS 318 4. CORTINARIUS TURMALIS, 309 SQUAMULOSUS,

2. CORTINARIUS VIOLACEUS, 314 5. CORTINARIUS 323 ARMILLATUS,

3. CORTINARIUS OCHRACEUS, 319

=CORTINA´RIUS= Fr.

_Cortina_, a veil or curtain.

=Veil= resembling the consistency of a cob-web, superficial, distinct from the cuticle of the pileus. =Flesh= of pileus and stem continuous. =Gills= persistent, dry, changing color, powdered with the spores. =Trama= fibrillose. =Spores= globose or oblong, somewhat ochraceous on white paper. _Fries._

This genus is not easily confounded with any other, the cob-webby veil stretched from stem to pileus in the young plant not being found in other fungi. This must be looked for only in youth, as from its tender character it soon breaks and often appears only as a very indistinct collar on the stem, colored from catching the falling spores. The colors are generally pronounced and often extremely bright, there being very few prettier toadstools than those inclined to the blue or purple shades, which are not uncommon in the immature form. The color of the spores is also a marked feature, being rusty or brownish-ochraceous, turning the gills to the same color at maturity. On account of this change it is generally necessary to have specimens at both stages of growth to accurately determine the species. The gills are thin, attached to the stem in various manners, rarely slightly decurrent.

Cortinarius is distinguished from Flammula by growing on the ground and by the bright ferruginous color of its spores.

Cortinarius is a sturdy, hardy genus preferring northern latitudes and autumnal months, though several of its species grow as far south as Alabama, and one, a new species described by Professor Peck, is found on the Helderberg mountains in May. The genus contains many species, most of which produce in great numbers, yet being woods-growing, and coming as they do when leaves are falling, they are often missed because of their similarity to their surroundings.

Heretofore, less than a dozen species have been reported as eaten. This number is now doubled. While several species are bitter and others equally unpleasant, not one has been accused of harm. It is highly probable that other varieties than those herein given will prove equally acceptable as food. I have tested all I have found in sufficient quantity to warrant passing judgment upon them.

The genus does not contain as many species of superior excellence as other fleshy genera of like numbers. The flesh is frequently dry and of a strong woody or musky flavor, which it does not lose in cooking. The stems are seldom cookable. All can be fried in butter, but cut in small pieces and well stewed, or stewed and served in patties, or made into croquettes are certain ways of keeping them in palate memory.

ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.

PHLEGMACIUM (_Gr_—shiny or clammy moisture). Page 308.

Pileus viscid. Stem firm, dry. Veil partial, cobweb-like.

_A._ CLIDUCHII (_Gr_—holding the keys—the typical subdivision). Page 308.

Partial veil as a ring on the upper part of the stem which is equal or slightly expanded above. Not distinctly bulbous.

* Gills pallid then clay-colored.

** Gills purplish then clay-colored.

_B._ SCAURI (_Gr_—club-footed). Page 310.

Bulbous. Bulb depressed or top-shaped, with a distinct margin caused by the pressure of the pileus before expansion. Veil generally ascending from the margin of the bulb. Gills somewhat sinuate.

* Gills whitish then cinnamon.

** Gills blue then cinnamon.

*** Gills brownish-white then cinnamon.

MYXACIUM (_Gr_—mucus). Page 313.

Universal veil glutinous. Pileus and stem viscid. Stem slightly bulbous. Gills adnate.

INOLOMA (_Gr_—a fibrous fringe). Page 314.

Pileus dry, not hygrophanous or viscid, covered at first with innate silky scales or fibrils, becoming smooth. Veil simple. Pileus and stem fleshy, rather bulbous.

* Gills violaceous, then cinnamon.

** Gills pinkish-brown, then cinnamon.

*** Gills yellow, then cinnamon.

DERMOCYBE. Page 320.

Pileus thin, equally fleshy, at first silky with a fine down, becoming smooth when adult. Not hygrophanous, but flesh watery when moist or colored. Stem equal or larger above, externally rigid, elastic or brittle, internally stuffed or hollow. Veil single, thread-like.

TELAMONIA. Page 323.

Pileus moist, hygrophanous, at first smooth or sprinkled with the whitish superficial evanescent fibrils of the veil. Flesh thin, or when thick it becomes abruptly thin toward the margin, scissile. Stem ringed below or coated from the universal veil, slightly veiled at the apex, hence with almost a double veil.

HYGROCYBE. Page 325.

Pileus hygrophanous, smooth or covered with superficial white fibrils, not viscid, moist when fresh, becoming discolored when dry. Flesh very thin or scissile, rarely more compact at the center. Stem rather rigid, bare. Veil thin, rarely collapsing and forming an irregular ring on the stem.

PHLEGMA´CIUM. (_Gr_—clammy moisture.)

_A._ CLIDUCHII.

* _Gills pallid, then clay-colored._

=C. seba´ceus= Fr.—_sebum_, tallow. =Pileus= 2½-5 in. broad, unicolorous, _pale_, of the color of tallow, equally fleshy, convex then rather plane, commonly very repand, viscid, smooth, but at the first _covered over with a whitish pruinose luster_. =Flesh= white. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, ½-1 in. thick, solid, stout, compact, never bulbous, often twisted and compressed, slightly fibrillose, pale white. =Cortina= delicate, fugacious, adhering only to the margin of the pileus. =Gills= emarginate, _not crowded_, connected by veins, 4 lines broad, clay-color or pallid-cinnamon, paler at the sides. _Fries._

The flesh of the pileus is not compact at the disk and abruptly thin at the circumference, but equally attenuated toward the margin. The flesh of the stem is white. The gills never turn bluish-gray. Taste mild. _Stevenson._

=Spores= pip-shaped, 9×7µ _Cooke_.

A very common and prolific species in West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina. _McIlvaine._

Pushing from the earth in great clusters it raises the mat of leaves above it into hut-like mounds through which it seldom bursts. Yet side openings to its huts show its coziness, and reveal the ground thickly dusted with its spores. Detecting these mounds is part of the woodcraft of a toad-stool hunter.

Where clusters are not dense, or the fungus is solitary, the stem is frequently swollen at the base, even bulbous.

Both caps and stems are edible, but the stems are not equal to the caps. It is a valuable food species, because of its lateness and quantity. It is not of best quality.

=C. tur´malis= Fr.—_turma_, a troop. (Plate LXXXII, fig. 4, p. 306.) =Pileus= yellow-tan, most frequently darker at the disk, not changeable, compact, convex then plane, very obtuse, even, smooth (sometimes obsoletely piloso-virgate), when young veiled with pruinate but very fugacious villous down, soon naked, viscid. =Flesh= white. =Stem= sometimes 3 in., sometimes 6 in. long, 1 in. thick, solid, very hard, rigid, _cylindrical_, here and there attenuated at the base, shining white when dry, _when young sheathed with a white woolly veil_, naked when full grown. Cortina entirely fibrillose, superior and persistent in the form of a ring, at length ferruginous with the spores. =Gills= variously adnexed, rounded or emarginate, even decurrent with a tooth, crowded, _serrated_, white then clay-color. _Fries._

I find it edible and of great value, being plentiful in pine woods, Maryland. I have collected a bushel in less than an hour in October. Under pine needles forming mounds. _Taylor._

The localities and the habit of C. turmalis are very like that of C. sebaceus. The leaf mat broods the clusters.

C. turmalis is on a par with C. sebaceus. Personally I prefer the latter.

** _Gills purplish, then clay-colored._

=C. va´rius= (Schaeff.) Fr.—_varius_, changeable. =Pileus= 2 in. and more broad, bright _ferruginous-tawny_, compact, hemispherico-flattened, very obtuse, regular, slightly viscid, even, smooth, the thin margin at first incurved, appendiculate with the cortina. =Flesh= firm, white. =Stem= curt, 1½-2½ in. long, 1 in. and more thick, _bulbous_, absolutely immarginate, compact, _shining white_, adpressedly flocculose, the superior veil pendulous. =Gills= emarginate, thin, somewhat crowded, _at first_ narrow, _violaceous-purplish_, then broader and ochraceous-cinnamon, always quite entire.

Variable in stature, but the habit and colors are always unchangeable. It varies with the stem taller and somewhat equal, the pileus yellow-tawny, and the gills dark blue. _Fries._

In woods. Uncommon. September to November. _Stevenson._

Minnesota; Ohio.

Edible. _Cooke_, 1891.

_B._ SCAU´RI.

* _Gills whitish then cinnamon._

=C. intru´sus= Pk. =Pileus= fleshy, rather thin, convex, then expanded, glabrous, somewhat viscid when moist, even or radiately wrinkled on the margin, yellowish or buff, sometimes with a reddish tint. =Flesh= white. =Lamellæ= thin, close, rounded behind, at first whitish or creamy-white, then cinnamon, often uneven on the edge. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering either upward or downward, stuffed or hollow, sometimes beautifully striate at the top only or nearly to the base, minutely floccose when young, soon glabrous, white. =Spores= broadly elliptical, brownish-cinnamon, 6–8×4–5µ.

=Pileus= 1–2.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1–3 in. long, 3–6 lines thick.

Mushroom beds, manured soil in conservatories or in plant pots. Boston, Mass. _R.K. Macadam._ Haddonfield, N.J. _C. McIlvaine._

This interesting species is closely allied to Cortinarius multiformis and belongs to the Section Phlegmacium. It has a slight odor of radishes and is pronounced edible by Mr. McIlvaine. Its habitat is peculiar, but it possibly finds its way into conservatories and mushroom beds through the introduction of manure or soil, or leaf mold from the woods. It seems strange, however, that it has not yet been detected growing in the woods or fields. Hebeloma fastibile is said sometimes to invade mushroom beds, and our plant resembles it in so many particulars that it is with some hesitation I separate it. The chief differences are in the stem and spores. The former, in Hebeloma fastibile, is described as solid and fibrous-squamose and the latter as 10×6 micromillimeters in size. The brighter color of the smaller spores and the stuffed or hollow smooth stem of our plant will separate it from this species. _Peck_, Bull. of the Torrey Bot. Club, October, 1896.

Cortinarius intrusus was a happy find. Several pints of it were collected by the author in February—usually a famine month for the mycophagist. They grew on the ground, in beds among plants, and with potted plants in a hot-house in Haddonfield, N.J. The crop continued well into the spring. The species is delicate, savory, and a most accommodating renegade from its kind. I have never found it elsewhere.

** _Gills blue, then cinnamon._

=C. cærules´cens= Fr. =Pileus= 2–3 in. across, equally fleshy, convex then plane, obtuse, regular, even, almost glabrous, but often fibrilloso-streaked; viscid, when dry shining or opaque, dingy yellow, almost tan-colored, varying to yellowish-brown, etc. =Gills= slightly rounded behind, adnexed, thin, closely crowded, 2 lines broad, at first clear intense blue then becoming purplish, at length dingy cinnamon. =Stem= about 2 in. long, ½ in. thick (bulb more than an inch), firm, equally attenuated upward, at first fibrillose, bright violet, then becoming pale and whitish, naked, bulb often disappearing with age; veil fibrillose, fugacious. =Spores= elliptical, 9–10×5µ.

Amongst moss in woods, etc.

Neither the gills nor the flesh change color when broken, a point which distinguishes the present from C. purpurascens. When young every part is generally blue. Smell scarcely any. _Fries._

=Spores= 10–12×5µ _Cooke_.

Haddonfield; West Virginia; Mt. Gretna, Pa. In woods September to frost. _McIlvaine._

The American species seldom entirely loses the bluish-purple color of its cap. The beautiful color fades somewhat or becomes splotched with yellow. Neither does the bulb ordinarily disappear with age. It is common. Taste of cap is mild, somewhat woody. They require long, slow stewing, and are better made into patties and croquettes.

=C. purpuras´cens= Fr.—gills becoming purple when bruised. =Pileus= 4–5 in. across, fleshy, disk compact, obtuse, wavy, variable, covered with a dense layer of gluten, but opaque when dry, bay or reddish then tawny-olivaceous, spotted; often depressed round the margin, which is at first incurved then wavy, marked with a raised brown line. =Flesh= entirely clear blue. =Gills= broadly emarginate, 3 lines and more broad, crowded, bluish-tan, then cinnamon, violet-purple when bruised. =Stem= about 3 in. long, ⅔ in. and more thick, solid, bulbous, everywhere fibrillose, intensely pallid clear blue, very compact, juicy, becoming purplish-blue when touched, bulb submarginate. =Spores= elliptical, 10–12×5–6µ _Fries_.

Var. _subpurpuras´cens_. Massachusetts. _Frost._

Plentiful in West Virginia mountains in mixed woods, 1882. On South Valley Hill, near Downington, Pa., October, 1887. Haddonfield, N.J., 1892. In woods. September to frost. _McIlvaine._

Both stems and caps are juicy when young and of agreeable flavor. It is among the best edible species of Cortinarius.

*** _Gills brownish-white, then ferruginous._