Part 49
Stem distinct, bearing the hymenium at its expanded apex. (No edible species reported.)
APYRENIUM.
Subglobose or lobed, hollow. (No edible species reported.)
CALOCERA.
Subcylindrical and erect, simple or branched (No edible species reported.)
Sub-Family—=Auricularieæ=.
=HIRNE´OLA= Fr.
_Hirnea_, a small jug.
Gelatinous, rather cartilaginous, soft and tremulous when moist, but not distended with jelly, horny when dry, becoming somewhat cartilaginous when moistened. The hard skin forming the hymenium, which covers the cup-shaped cavity and is of a different color, can be separated entire after a thorough soaking in water. =Sporophores= (spore-bearing processes) not involved in jelly. =Spores= oblong, curved. _Fries._
A very peculiar and distinct genus separated from the neighboring genera by its disk-like, somewhat cup-shaped cavity and by its not being distended with jelly.
(Plate CXLIII.)
=H. auri´cula—Jude´a= (Linn.) Berk.—Jew’s ear. 1–4 in. across, thin, and flexible when moist, hard when dry, date-brown or blackish. =Hymenium= venoso-plicate (vein-plaited), forming irregular depressions such as are in the ear, yellowish-gray or grayish beneath and hairy. The large depressions or corrugations branch from smaller ones near the center of the plant.
=Spores= 20–25×7–9µ _Massee_.
H. auricula-Judea is not very particular in the trees it patronizes. Elm, maple, hickory, balsam-fir, spruce, alder bear it. When the plant grows on upright timber it usually turns upward. It is not generally reported in the United States.
Ohio, Maryland, _Miss Banning_; Indiana, _H.I. Miller_; New York, _Peck_; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, _McIlvaine_. Extensively used in China, where eating it probably antedates all European records by several thousand years. It is brought there dried from Tahiti in great quantities and made into soup.
The writer has found and eaten several specimens of it. It is not as tender as other gelatinous species, but it is an oddity that pleases.
Sub-Family—=Tremellineæ=.
=TREMEL´LA= Dill.
_Tremo_—to tremble.
Distended with jelly when moist, tremulous, without a defined margin and without nipple-like elevations. Spore-bearing processes globose, becoming divided into four parts, each division producing an elongated free point terminating in a simple spore. _Fries._
Distinguished by its peculiarly convoluted habit and jelly-like substance, which is more or less inclined to be cartilaginous.
Exidia, similar in form, is separated by possessing minute nipple-like elevations and Hirneola by its distinct difference in form.
Generally growing on dead wood; some species are found on trees and others on the ground, etc.
Old tradition, in many countries, attests that the Tremellas are Fairy bread, and T. albida the choicest baking. Pretty, indeed, must have been the feasts when piles of such purity filled the board, and the brilliant Pezizae were wassail cups.
They are better suited to Fairy appetites than to those of mortals; being watery their nutritive value is small. Nevertheless they have dainty flavor.
So far as tested no suspicion rests upon Tremellæ.
ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.
MESENTERIFOR´MES (_Gr_—the mesentery). Page 530.
Gelatinous inclining to cartilaginous, foliaceous, naked.
CEREBRINÆ (_cerebrum_, the brain). Page 530.
Firm, then pulpy, somewhat pruinose with the spores.
CRUSTA´CEÆ (_crusta_, a crust).
Diffused, becoming plane.
TUBERCULIFOR´MES (_tuberculum_, a little tuber).
Small, somewhat erumpent.
I.—MESENTERIFOR´MES. Gelatinous, inclining to cartilaginous.
=T. fimbria´ta= Pers.—_fimbriæ_, fringe. Olivaceous inclining to black, cespitose, clusters 2–3 in. high and even broader, _erect, corrugated_; _lobes_ flaccid, incised at the margin, _undulately fringed_.
When soaked with water it has a dark tawny tinge. _Stevenson._
=Spores= subpyriform.
On roots, dead branches, stumps, rails, etc.
From July to December, 1898, tufts five inches in diameter grew from an oak stump close by the writer’s cottage at Mt. Gretna, Pa. These tufts dried, and revived after rain into a gelatinous condition. They were nibbled at raw, and several were cooked. Tufts were found elsewhere in the same woods and eaten by others. They were unanimously approved. The species dries hard, like thin glue, but is darker. A dried piece swells in the mouth, grows tough, and has but little taste. Flavor develops in cooking.
=T. lutes´cens= Pers.—_luteus_, yellow. _Yellowish_, cespitose, small, cluster ½-1 in. broad, very soft, circling in wavy, undulating folds; lobes entire, naked.
Inclining to be fluid. Whitish when young. _Stevenson._
=Spores= subglobose, 12–16µ diameter _Massee_.
North Carolina, common. _Curtis._ On decaying branches, stumps, etc. July to February.
It dries and revives, or swells with moisture, very soft and tremulous.
Edible. _Leuba._
II.—CEREBRINÆ. Firm then pulpy, etc.
(Plate CXLIV.)
=T. mesenter´ica= Retz. _Gr_—the mesentary. Gelatinous but firm, bright orange-yellow, variously contorted; lobes short, smooth, pruinose with the white spores at maturity. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 6–9µ diameter; conidia 1–1.5µ diameter.
On dead branches. Very variable in form but known by the bright orange color. From ½-2 in. across. _Massee._
North Carolina. Common, edible. _Curtis_; California, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. _McIlvaine._ Dr. J.R. Weist, Richmond, Ind., November, 1898, sent me fine specimens.
Very common as an apparent exudation from sticks, branches and rails. It can usually be collected in quantity from June until far into the winter. It can be found in every month in the year.
During the civil war the writer’s first attempt at making a dish of cornstarch resulted in getting it _into knots_. T. mesenterica, when stewed, very much resembles these same knots. It has a mild, woody flavor, slightly sweet, and is good.
(Plate CXLIV_a_.)
=T. myceto´phila= Pk. (Plate CXLIV_a_.) Suborbicular, depressed, circling in folds, tremelloid-fleshy, slightly pruinose, yellowish or pallid, 4–8 lines broad. _Peck_, 28th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Haddonfield, N.J., August, 1895. _McIlvaine._
Professor Peck notes it as found parasitic upon Collybia dryophila.
I found T. mycetophila growing parasitic upon Marasmius oreades, August, 1894. The mass was 2 in. in diameter. Separating them was taking the host from the parasite. Cooked it is glutinous, tender—like calf’s head. Rather tasteless.
=T. al´bida= Huds.—_albidus_, whitish. _Whitish_, becoming dingy-brown when dry, 1 in. broad, ascending, tough, expanded, undulated, somewhat circling in folds, _powdered_. _Stevenson._
=Spores= oblong, obtuse, curved, 2-guttate, subhyaline, 12–14×4–5µ _K._
Where birch, sugar-maple, hickory are in abundance the T. albida will be found. At Eagle’s Mere and Springton, Pa., and other wooded places, it is common during the warm months. It has slight taste, sweet, woody, but makes a pleasant dish.
=T. intumes´cens= Eng. Bot.—_intumesco_, to swell up. Gelatinous; subcespitose, rounded, broken up into numerous tortuous lobes, brown, shining, obscurely dotted, becoming darker when dry. =Spores= oblong, slightly curved, 12–14×3–4µ.
From 1–2 in. across. _Massee._
Entire year, but dried or frozen during winter, swelling in wet weather.
North Carolina. Common. _Curtis._ West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, _McIlvaine_.
T. intumescens is not rare in West Virginia, or where beech logs are in plenty, though it does not confine itself to beech. It occurs on maples and some other woods.
It resembles the T. mesenterica in taste, but is sweeter. It is not as large, but is equally good.
=TREMEL´LODON= Pers.
_Tremo_, to tremble.
Gelatinous, pileate, prickly below, spines awl-shaped, equal. _Fries._
The members of this genus resemble in form the section Mesopus of Hydnum and have the same awl-shaped spines, but differ in their gelatinous consistency and fructification.
(Plate CXLV.)
=T. gelatino´sum= Pers.—_gelatina_, jelly. =Pileus= covered with a greenish-brown bloom, _gelatinous_, tremulous, dimidiate, somewhat stipitate, _covered with small pimples_. =Spines= soft, glaucous.
On fir, trunks and sawdust. September to October. _Stevenson._
Of singular beauty, almost translucent with steel-blue tints shading into violet, while the spines are of a pure soft white.
=Spores= round, somewhat irregular, white, 2µ _W.G.S._
Can not be confounded with any. The only gelatinous spiny fungus.
North Carolina, _Schweinitz_, _Curtis_; Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, _Farlow_, _Frost_; New York, _Peck_, Rep. 22. T. gelatinosum is well distributed over the United States but is not reported in quantity. It is an autumnal grower, lasting well into the winter. The writer found specimens near Haddonfield, N.J., in February, 1894, and sent them to Professor Peck. It is delicious when slowly stewed.
SUB-CLASS ASCOMYCETES.
The reproductive bodies consisting of sporidia mostly definite, contained in asci—mother cells or sacs—springing from a naked or enclosed stratum of fructifying cells and forming a hymenium or nucleus. The sporidia are often accompanied by simple or branched threads, which are abortive asci, called paraphyses.
In Hymenomycetes the spores are entirely unenclosed and are borne on stalk-like processes on the gills of Agaricaceæ, in the tubes of Polyporaceæ, on the spines of Hydnaceæ, etc. In Ascomycetes they are enclosed in sacs springing from the external layer of the fruit-bearing surface, which may be on the outer surface of the plant or enclosed.
COHORT _DISCOMYCETES_. _Gr_—a sac; _Gr_—a fungus.
The most important distinctive feature of Discomycetes consists in the disk or hymenium being fully exposed at maturity. It includes families which contain choice edible species.
FAMILY.—=HELVELLA´CEÆ.=
Fleshy, waxy or gelatinous; hymenium or sac-bearing surface exposed at first, or at length more or less exposed. Where a distinct stem is present it is surmounted by a more or less definite pileus or the stem is expanded into a club-like head. In Peziza the definite stem is absent and the plant is seated on the supporting surface.
Many more genera than are noted below are included in Helvellaceæ, but are not known to contain edible species.
SYNOPSIS OF THE GENERA.
* _Margin only or whole of pileus free from sides of stem._
HELVELLA. Page 536.
Pileus drooping, irregularly waved and lobed.
VERPA. Page 539.
Pileus drooping, regular, margin entire, thimble-shaped.
LEOTIA. Page 540.
Pileus fleshy, discoid.
** _Pileus adnate throughout to the stem._
MORCHELLA. Page 541.
Surface of pileus furnished with stout, anastomosing ribs bounding deep irregular pits.
GYROMITRA. Page 546.
Surface of pileus covered with rounded, variously contorted folds.
MITRULA. Page 548.
Pileus subglobose or clavate, surface even.
SPATHULARIA. Page 549.
Pileus flattened, running down the stem for some distance on opposite sides.
GEOGLOSSUM. Page 550.
=HELVEL´LA= Linn.
A small pot herb.
=Stem= of medium thickness. =Pileus= hanging loosely over the stem, more or less folded, but not into pits. Hymenium on the upper side only.
Helvella esculenta is now Gyromitra esculenta, and is in bad repute.
Meanings of the unfamiliar words are too lengthy to give in the descriptions of species. They are in the Glossary.
Dr. Badham says: “All Helvellæ are esculent, have an agreeable odor, and bear a general resemblance in flavor to the Morell.”
(Plate CXLVI.)
=H. cri´spa= Fr.—curled. =Pileus= deflexed, lobed or variously contorted, white or whitish. =Stem= equal or slightly swollen at the base, deeply and uninterruptedly grooved, white or whitish. =Spores= elliptical, 18×22µ long. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Distinguished from all other species by the stout, costate, lacunose, hollow stem; entirely glabrous, fragile and with a semi-transparent look. Color variable, included under the following forms:
Var. _al´ba_. Pileus whitish.
Var. _Grevil´lei_. Under surface of the pileus reddish; stem white.
Var. _incarna´ta_. Pileus and stem flesh-color.
Var. _ful´va_. Pileus yellowish or tawny. _Massee._
Pileus whitish, flesh-colored or yellowish, deflexed, lobed, at length free, crisped. =Stem= hollow, ribbed outside forming deep pits, 3–5 in. high, snowy white.
Edible. _Badham_, _Cordier_, _Cooke_, _Berkeley_, _Peck_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, _McIlvaine_.
H. crispa is white and variable in shape of cap. In its color it differs from all others of its genus. It is found in the woods only, from July until frost. It is not usually abundant. It is an esculent species and good of its kind.
=H. Califor`nica= Phillips. =Pileus= bell-shaped or saddle-shaped, deflexed, sublobate, free, veined beneath, purplish-brown. =Stem= longitudinally pitted between ridges, rosy-pink. =Asci= cylindrical, narrowed toward the base. =Sporidia= 8, elliptical, binucleate, 17×9µ paraphyses linear, clavate and brown at the apices.
2–6 in. in diameter. =Stem= 2–6 in. high, .75–1.5 in. in diameter.
On the earth in dense forests near rocks. Sierra Nevada mountains; California, _Harkness_.
Edible. _Harkness._
It presents characters essentially different from those of any species hitherto described. Its nearest ally is H. crispa, from which it differs in the color of the hymenium and stem and in being a larger species.
=H. lacuno´sa= Afzel.—uneven, pitted. =Pileus= inflated, lobed, cinereous-black, lobes deflexed, adnate. =Stem= white or dusky, hollow, exterior ribbed, forming intervening cavities; asci cylindrical, stemmed; sporidia ovate, hyaline.
Solitary or gregarious; very variable in size.
North Carolina, _Curtis_; Massachusetts, _Sprague_, _Frost;_ White mountains, _Farlow_; Rhode Island, _Bennett_; California, _H. and M._
Edible. _Cordier_, _Berkeley_, _Badham_, _Cooke_, _Curtis_.
=H. sulca´ta= Afzel.—furrowed. =Pileus= deflexed, equally 2–3 lobed, even, compressed, darker when dry. =Stem= 2 in. long, 4–5 lines thick, stuffed, equal, longitudinally furrowed. =Spores= very broadly elliptic, with a single large globose nucleus, 15–18µ long _B. and Br._
Solitary, rarely gregarious.
Var. _mi´nor_ Clem. Bot. Surv. of Neb. Univ. of Neb. Pileus .8–1.2 in., rarely 3.2 in. wide, .8–2 in. high. Stem .8–1.2 in., rarely 4 in. high, .6–1.4 in. wide; sporidia 15×10µ.
On shady ground. Otowanie woods, Lancaster county.
The prominent character in this species, as indicated by the name, is the sulcate stem. The furrows are very deep, and extend, without interruption, the entire length of the stem. The whole stem, as shown by a cross-section, is made up of the costæ intervening between these furrows. I do not find the stem “stuffed,” as required by the description in Syst. Myc., Vol. II, p. 15. The pileus is generally darker than that of H. crispa. _Peck_, 31st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
On decaying wood, stumps, trunks. Spring until autumn.
Known to be edible. _Peck._
=H. elas´tica= Bull.—elastic. =Pileus= free from the stem, drooping, 2–3 lobed, center depressed, even, whitish, brownish or sooty, almost smooth underneath, about 2 cm. broad. =Stem= 2–3.5 in. high, 3–5 lines thick at the inflated base; tapering upward, elastic, even or often more or less pitted, colored like the pileus, minutely velvety or furfuraceous, at first solid, then hollow. =Spores= hyaline, smooth, continuous, elliptical, ends obtuse, often 1-guttulate, 18–20×10–11µ; 1-seriate; paraphyses septate, clavate. _Massee._
It is not uncommon to find the pileus attached in one or two points to the stem. _Peck_, 32d Rep.
Var. _al´ba_ (Pers.) Sacc.
On decaying wood. August to frost.
Massachusetts, _Frost_; Rhode Island, _Bennett_; Nebraska, _Clements_; New York, _Peck_, Rep. 24, 32, 51.
Edible. _Unger_, _Cordier_. Known to be edible. _Peck._
=H. in´fula= Schaeff.—a head dress. =Pileus= hooded, in 2–4 irregular, drooping lobes, at length undulate, strongly adherent to the sides of the stem, reddish-brown or cinnamon more or less deep in color, whitish and downy underneath, 1.5–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1½-2½ in. long, ½ in. and more thick, usually smooth and even, sometimes compressed and irregularly pitted, pallid or tinged with red, covered with a white meal or down, solid when young but becoming hollow with age; asci cylindrical, apex somewhat truncate, 8-spored. =Spores= hyaline, smooth, continuous, elliptical, ends obtuse, 21–23×11–12µ _Massee_.
West Virginia, Pennsylvania. Decaying trunks, stumps and roots. _McIlvaine._
Edible. _Cooke_, _Curtis_, _Peck_.
Equal to any Helvella.
=VER´PA= Swartz.
_Verpa_, a rod.
=Ascophore= stipitate, campanulate, attached to the tip of the stem and hanging down like a bell, surrounding but free from the side of the stem, regular, smooth or slightly wrinkled but not ribbed, persistent, thin, excipulum formed of interwoven, septate hyphæ, hymenium entirely covering the outer surface of the ascophore; asci cylindrical, 8-spored. =Spores= elliptical, continuous, hyaline or nearly so, 1-seriate; paraphyses septate. =Stem= elongated, stuffed.
Very closely allied to Helvella; distinguished by the ascophore being more regular in form, and more evidently deflexed round the apex of the stem, which it surrounds like a thimble on a finger, and is quite free from the stem except at the apex.
The species grow on the ground, in spring. _Massee._
=V. digitalifor´mis= Pers.—_digitus_, a finger. =Pileus= at first nearly even, olivaceous-umber, dark at the apex. =Stem= obese, furnished at the base with a few reddish radicles, white with a slight rufous tinge, marked with transverse reddish spots; smooth to the naked eye, but under a lens clothed with fine adpressed flocci, the rupture of which gives rise to the spots, which are, in fact, minute scales. In the mature plant the pileus is ¾ in. high, bell-shaped, finger-form, or subglobose, more or less closely pressed to the stem, but always free, the edge sometimes inflexed so as to form a white border, wrinkled, but not reticulated, under side slightly pubescent; sporidia yellowish, elliptic. =Stem= 3 in. high, ½ in. or more thick, slightly attenuated downward, loosely stuffed, by no means hollow. _Berkeley._
Minnesota, _Johnson_; California, _H. and M._; New York, Buffalo, _Clinton_; Oneida, _Warne_, May. _Peck_, 30th, 32d Rep.
Mt. Gretna, July, 1897. Road-side bank. _McIlvaine._
Sold in Italy. Vittadini. Not to be despised when one can not get better nor to be eaten when one can. _Badham._
The substance of this fungus is the same as that of Helvella. It is pleasant but rather tasteless.
=LEOTIA= Hill.
Ascophore stipitate, substance fleshy, soft and somewhat gelatinous. =Pileus= orbicular, spreading; margin drooping or incurved free from the stem, glabrous, hymenium entirely covering the upper surface. =Stem= central, elongated; asci cylindric-clavate, apex narrowed, 8-spored. =Spores= hyaline, continuous or 1-septate, elongated and narrowly elliptical, obliquely 1–2 seriate; paraphyses present.
Growing on the ground, or on decaying wood. _Hill._ Emended. _Massee._
=Stem= long. =Pileus= flattened, margin incurved, covered everywhere with the smooth, somewhat viscid hymenium.
=L. chloroceph´ala= Schw.—_chloros_, green; _kephalos_, a head. Cespitose, stipitate. =Pileus= 4–6 lines across, depresso-globose, somewhat translucent, more or less wavy, margin incurved, dark verdigris-green to blackish-green. =Stem= 1–1½ in. long, almost equal, green but often paler than the pileus, pulverulent, often twisted; asci cylindric-clavate, apex rather narrowed, 8-spored. =Spores= smooth, hyaline, narrowly elliptical, ends acute, often slightly curved, usually 2–3-guttulate, 17–20×5µ, irregularly 2-seriate; paraphyses slender, hyaline.
On the ground.
Distinguished from L. lubrica by the green stem. _Massee._
North Carolina, _Curtis_; West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Cespitose. In mixed woods, moist ground. July until long after frosts. _McIlvaine._
A small clustered plant having a green gelatinous appearance. Quarts of it can frequently be gathered after rains. Both it and L. lubrica have less flavor than the larger Helvellaceæ, but they make a palatable dish.
(Plate CXLVII.)
=L. lu´brica=, Pers.—slippery. Gregarious or in small clusters, stipitate, somewhat gelatinous. =Pileus= irregularly hemispherical, inflated, wavy, margin very obtuse, yellowish olive-green, 6–8 lines across. =Stem= 1.5–2 in. high, nearly equal or more or less inflated at the base, pulpy within then hollow, externally yellowish and covered with minute white granules; asci cylindrical, apex slightly narrowed, 8-spored. =Spores= obliquely 1-seriate, hyaline, continuous, smooth, often guttulate, narrowly elliptical, straight or very slightly curved, 22–25×5–6µ; paraphyses slender, cylindrical, hyaline.
On the ground in woods. _Massee._
North Carolina, _Curtis_; Massachusetts, _Frost_; Minnesota, _Johnson_; New York, _Ellis_.
New York, _Peck_, 23d Rep.; Trenton, N.J. Cespitose on damp ground in woods. Forty specimens, July, 1898. _E.B. Sterling_; New Jersey; Pennsylvania. Gregarious and cespitose in several localities. July to frost. _McIlvaine._
Irregular in appearance. Helvella-like but with a very soft gelatinous stem, yellow. The color of the stem distinguishes it from L. chlorocephala, which has a green stem. It is a small plant, but of good food value. Where it occurs there is often a goodly quantity.
=MORCHEL´LA= Dill.
_Gr_—a mushroom.
Stipitate or subsessile. =Pileus= globose or ovate, adnate throughout its length to the sides of the stem, remaining closed at the apex, hollow and continuous with the cavity of the stem; externally furnished with stout, branched and anastomosing ribs or plates, every part bearing the hymenium. =Stem= stout, stuffed or hollow; asci cylindrical, 2–4–8-spored. =Spores= 1-seriate, continuous, hyaline, elliptical; paraphyses septate, clavate.
Most nearly allied to Gyromitra; differs in the ribs of the pileus being deep and plate-like, and anastomosing to form elongated or irregularly polygonal deep pits.
Growing on the ground in the spring. _Massee._
Stem stout; pileus ovoid or conical, deeply folded into pits, resembling honeycomb.
Notwithstanding Dill, the author of the genus, describes the caps as adnate throughout their length to the stem, such is not the case. Professor Peck arranges the genus into two groups, “in one of which the margin of the cap is wholly attached to the stem, in the other it is free.” In the latter group are M. bispora and M. semilibera.
The species are so much alike that botanical descriptions are omitted of all but M. esculenta and Professor Peck’s species.
Not one of the Morells is even suspicious. They are favorites wherever found. The Morell is one of the few species known to the settler and to the farmer. It loves old apple orchards, probably because ashes have been used about the trees; ashes and cinders are its choice fertilizers. In Germany peasants formerly burned forests to insure a bountiful crop. Mr. Moore, of San Francisco, Cal., says: “We find it in profusion on burnt hillsides all along the Pacific coast.”
But it does not confine its habitat to burned surfaces. It grows in thin open woods or on borders of woods. It grows under pine, ash, oaks and other trees. Strange to say it grows under the walnut tree where very few fungi of any kind grow. Especially does it love the white walnut or butternut.
Morchella dry well and keep well for winter use.