The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 32

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 124.--Pleurotus serotinoides. One-third natural size.]

Serotinoides, like serotinus, which means late-coming; from its appearing in the winter.

The pileus is fleshy, one to three inches broad, compact, convex or nearly plane, viscid when young and moist, half-kidney-shaped, roundish, solitary or crowded and imbricated, variously colored, dingy-yellow, reddish-brown, greenish-brown or olivaceous, the margin at first involute.

The gills are close, determinate, whitish or yellowish.

The stem is very short, lateral, thick, yellowish beneath, and minutely downy or scaly with blackish points.

The spores are minute, elliptical, .0002 inch long, .0001 inch broad.

There is probably no difference between this and P. serotinus, the European species. It is a beautiful plant. The color and size are quite variable. I found it on Ralston's Run and in Baird's woods on Frankfort Pike. It is found from September to January.

_Pleurotus applicatus. Batsch._

LITTLE GRAY PLEUROTUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 125.--Pleurotus applicatus. Natural size.]

Applicatus means lying upon or close to; so named from the sessile pileus. The pileus is one-third of an inch across, when young cup-shaped, dark cinereous, somewhat membranaceous, quite firm, resupinate, then reflexed, somewhat striate, slightly pruinose, villous at the base.

The gills are thick, broad in proportion to the size of the cap, distant, radiating, gray, the margin lighter, sometimes the gills are as dark as the pileus.

Sometimes it is attached only by the center of the pileus; sometimes, growing on the side of a shelving log, it is attached laterally. It is not as abundant as some other forms of Pleurotus. It differs from P.

tremulus in absence of a distinct stem.

_Pleurotus cyph.e.l.laeformis. Berk._

Cyph.e.l.laeformis means shaped like the hollows of the ears. The pileus is cup-shaped, pendulous, downy or mealy, upper layer gelatinous, gray, very minutely hairy, especially at the base, margin paler.

The gills are narrow, rather distant, pure white, alternate ones being shorter. These are very small plants, found only in damp places on dead herbaceous plants. They resemble a Cyph.e.l.la griseo-pallida in habit.

_Pleurotus abscondens. Pk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 126.--Pleurotus abscondens. Entire plant white.]

Abscondens means keeping out of view. It is so called because it persists in growing in places where it is hidden from sight.

The pileus is often two and a half inches broad, delicate-white, strong stringent odor, usually pruinose, margin slightly incurved.

The gills are attached to the stem, rather crowded, very white, somewhat narrow.

The stem is short, solid, pruinose, usually lateral, and curved.

The plant usually grows in hollow stumps or logs, and in this case the stem is always lateral and the plant grows very much as does the P.

ostreatus, except that they are not imbricated. Occasionally the plant is found on the bottom of a hollow log and in that case the cap is central and considerably depressed in the center. I have never seen it growing except in a hollow stump or log. Its manner of growth and its delicate shape of white will serve to identify it. It is found from August to November.

_Pleurotus circinatus. Fr._

Circinatus means to make round, referring to the shape of the pileus.

The pileus is two to three inches broad, white, plane, orbicular, convex at first, even, covered over with silky-pruinose l.u.s.tre.

The gills are adnate-decurrent, rather crowded, quite broad, white.

The stem is equal, smooth, one to two inches long, stuffed, central or slightly eccentric, rooted at the base.

The form of these plants is quite constant and the round white caps will at first suggest a Collybia. The white gills and its decurrent form will distinguish it from P. lignatilis. It makes quite a delicious dish when well cooked. I found some beautiful specimens on a decayed beech log in Poke Hollow. Found in September and October.

_Lactarius. Fr._

Lactarius means pertaining to milk. There is one feature of this genus that should easily mark it, the presence of milky or colored juice which exudes from a wound or a broken place on a fresh plant. This feature alone is sufficient to distinguish the genus but there are other points that serve to make the determination more certain.

The flesh, although it seems quite solid and firm, is very brittle. The fracture is always even, clean cut, and not ragged as in more fibrous substances.

The plants are fleshy and stout, and in this particular resemble the c.l.i.tocybes, but the brittleness of the flesh, milky juice, and the marking of the cap, will easily distinguish them.

Many species have a very acrid or peppery flavor. If a person tastes one when raw, he will not soon forget it. This acridity is usually lost in cooking.

The pileus in all species is fleshy, becoming more or less depressed, margin at first involute, often marked with concentric zones.

The stem is stout, often hollow when old, confluent with the cap.

The gills are usually unequal, edge acute, decurrent or adnate, milky; in nearly all the species the milk is white, changing to a sulphur yellow, red, or violet, on exposure to the air.

_Lactarius torminosus. Fr._

THE WOOLLY LACTARIUS. POISONOUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 127.--Lactarius torminosus. Three-fourths natural size. Caps yellowish-red or ochraceous tinged with red, margin incurved.]

Torminosus, full of grips, causing colic. The pileus is two to four inches broad, convex, then depressed, smooth, or nearly so, except the involute margin which is more or less s.h.a.ggy, somewhat zoned, viscid when young and moist, yellowish-red or pale ochraceous, tinged with red.

The gills are thin, close, rather narrow, nearly of the same color as the pileus, but yellower and paler, slightly forked, subdecurrent.

The stem is one to two inches long, paler than the cap, equal or slightly tapering downward, stuffed or hollow, sometimes spotted, clothed with a very minute adpressed down.

The milk is white and very acrid. The spores are echinulate, subglobose, 9-107-8.

This differs from L. cilicioides in its zoned pileus and white milk.

Most authorities speak of it as dangerous. Captain McIlvaine speaks of the Russians as preserving it in salt and eating it seasoned with oil and vinegar. They grow in the woods, open places, and in fields. The specimens in Figure 127 were found in Michigan and photographed by Dr.

Fischer.