The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 23

The stem slender, rigid, hollow, glabrous, reddish, reddish-brown or brown, often whitish at the top, especially when young, commonly with a matted down at the base. Spores elliptical, 63-4.

The plant is cespitose. Pileus one-half inch broad. Stem two to three inches long. _Peck's_ 49th Report.

This is a beautiful plant when growing in large tufts. The entire plant is tender and has a delicate flavor. I found the plant figured here on the Frankfort pike where an old saw mill had formerly stood. It grew abundantly there, along with Lepiota Americana and Pluteus cervinus.

Found from August to October.

_Collybia velutipes. Curtis._

THE VELVET-FOOT COLLYBIA. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._

Plate XV. Figure 88.--Collybia velutipes.

Natural size, showing the velvet stems, which give name to the species.]

Velutipes, from _vellum_, velvet and _pes_, foot.

Pileus from one to four inches broad, tawny yellow, fleshy at the center, thick on the margin, quite sticky or viscid when moist, margin slightly striate, sometimes inclined to be excentric.

Gills rounded behind, broad, slightly adnexed, tan or pale-yellow, somewhat distant.

The stem is cartilaginous, tough, hollow, umber, then becoming blackish, with a velvety coat. Spores are elliptical, 73-3.5.

It grows on stumps, logs and roots, in the ground. It grows almost the year round. I have gathered it to eat in February. Plate XV gives a very correct notion of the plant. It is most plentiful in September, October and November, yet found throughout the winter months.

_Mycena. Fr._

Mycena is from a Greek word, meaning a fungus. The plants of this genus are small and rather fragile.

Pileus more or less membranaceous, generally striate, with the margin almost straight, and at first pressed to the stem, never involute, expanded, campanulate, and generally umbonate.

The stem is externally cartilaginous, hollow, not stuffed when young, confluent with the cap. Gills never decurrent, though some species have a broad sinus near the stem.

Most species are small and inodorous, but some which have a strong alkaline odor are probably not good. Some are known to be edible.

A few species exude a colored or watery juice when bruised. The Mycena resembles the Collybia, but never has the incurved margin of the latter.

The plants are usually smaller, and the caps are more or less conical.

This genus might be mistaken for Omphalia, in which the gills are but slightly decurrent, but in Omphalia the cap is umbilicate while in Mycena it is umbonate.

Their being so small makes the determination of species somewhat difficult. Some have characteristic odors which greatly a.s.sist in establis.h.i.+ng their ident.i.ty.

_Mycena galericulata. Scop._

THE SMALL PEAKED-CAP MYCENA. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XVI. Figure 89.--Mycena galericulata.

Natural size.]

Galericulata, a small peaked-cap.

The pileus is campanulate, whitish or grayish, center of the disk darker and lighter toward the margin, smooth, dry, margin striated nearly to the peak of the umbo, sometimes slightly depressed.

The gills are adnate with a tooth, connected by veins, whitish, then gray, often flesh color, rather distant, ventricose, edge sometimes entire, sometimes serrate.

The stem is rigid, cartilaginous, hollow, tough, straight, polished, smooth, hairy at the base.

It grows on logs and stumps in the woods. It is very common and sometimes found in abundance. The plants are frequently densely cl.u.s.tered, the numerous stems matted together by a soft hairy down at the base. There are many forms of this plant. Found from September to frost. The plants in Figure 89 were photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith, Akron, O.

_Mycena rugosa. Fr._

THE WRINKLED MYCENA. EDIBLE.

Rugosa means wrinkled. The pileus is somewhat fleshy, darker and smaller than the galericulata, quite tough, bell-shaped, then expanded, with unequal elevated wrinkles, always dry, striate on the margin.

The gills are adnate, with a tooth, united behind, connected by veins, somewhat distant, whitish, then gray, edge sometimes entire, sometimes serrate.

The stem is short, tough, rooted with a hairy base, strongly cartilaginous, hollow, rigid, smooth. It is found on stumps or decayed logs during September and October.

_Mycena prolifera. Sow._

THE PROLIFEROUS MYCENA. EDIBLE.

Prolifera is from _proles_, offspring, and _fero_, to bear. The pileus is somewhat fleshy, campanulate, then expanded, dry, with a broad, dark umbo; margin at length sulcate or furrowed and sometimes split, pale-yellowish or becoming brownish-tan.

The gills are adnexed, subdistant, white, then pallid.

The stem is firm, rigid, smooth, s.h.i.+ning, minutely striate, rooting.

_Fries._

This species, as well as M. galericulata, is closely related to M.

cohaerens. I have found it in dense tufts or cl.u.s.ters, sometimes on lawns, on the bare ground, and in the woods. It is one of the plants in which the stems may be cooked with the caps.

_Mycena capillaris. Schum._

Capillaris means hair-like. This is a very small but beautiful white plant.

The pileus is bell-shaped, at length umbilicate, smooth.