Among the Mushrooms Part 7

1. Chitonia.

2. Psalliota.

3. Stropharia.

4. Hypholoma.

5. Psilocybe.

6. Psathyra.

7. Panaeolus.

8. Psathyrella.

9. Coprinus.

10. Gomphidius.

11. Anellaria.

Having arranged these lists of mushrooms by their different characteristics, and then by the color of the spores, we will give a list of fungi familiar to most persons, cla.s.sified according to the colors of the cap. The far greater number have been a.n.a.lyzed by the writers, and a full description is given to enable the beginner more easily to identify them.

The reader will notice that in the lists of fungi given above there are certain genera not elsewhere mentioned in this book. He will understand that it is inadvisable in a short primer to allude to all the genera that exist. It was, however, impossible to give a complete table without including them in it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Russula pectinata.

Photographed by C. G. Lloyd.]

DESCRIPTIONS OF FUNGI, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO COLOR OF CAP ONLY.

MUSHROOMS WITH RED OR PINK COLORED CAP.

The genus Russula probably contains the largest number of mushrooms with reddish caps, the word Russula meaning reddish.

+RUSSULA EMETICA = a vomit.+ +The Nauseating Russula.+

+Cap+ bright blood red, at first rosy, then blood color, tawny when old, 3 to 4 inches broad, first bell-shaped, then flattened or depressed, polished, margin at length grooved (sulcate), flesh white, reddish under the cuticle. +Stem+ 1 to 3 inches long, of an inch thick, white or with a reddish hue, spongy, stuffed, stout, elastic when young, fragile when old, even, tapering slightly upward. +Gills+ free, broad, rather distant, white.

This is found on the ground among dead leaves, in the woods and open places from July to December. It has a bitter taste, and is said to be poisonous. Those eating it are often affected as if they had taken an emetic. It is easily distinguished by the fact of the flesh turning red immediately under the skin when it is peeled off. There are numerous varieties of it, in one the stem has minute wrinkles running lengthwise.

We found it in different localities. The taste was acrid. It was one of the first and the last mushrooms that we gathered. (Poisonous.)

+RUSSULA SANGUINEA = blood.+ +The Blood-colored Russula.+

+Cap+ blood red, becoming pale at margin, 2 to 3 inches broad, at first convex, then depressed, and funnel-shaped (infundibuliform), irregularly swollen in the centre, polished, even, margin acute, moist in damp weather. Flesh firm, cheesy, white. +Stem+ stout, spongy, stuffed, at first contracted at apex, then equal, slightly marked with lines white or reddish. +Gills+ at first fastened to stem and then decurrent, crowded, narrow, connected by veins, fragile, somewhat forked, s.h.i.+ning white, afterward turning ochraceous color. The taste is acrid and peppery. It is found in woods from August to September, and is not common. (Poisonous.)

+RUSSULA ROSEIPES = rosy stem.+ +The Rosy Stemmed Russula.+

This is a striking-looking mushroom. The colors are pretty, and the tinge of red in the stem adds to its beauty. There are other species of Russula that also have red tints in the stem. +Cap+ rosy red, with pink and orange hues, 1 to 2 inches broad, convex, becoming nearly plane or slightly depressed; at first viscid, soon dry, slightly marked with lines on the thin margin, taste mild. +Gills+ moderately close, nearly entire, rounded behind and slightly adnexed, swollen in the middle, whitish, becoming yellow. +Stem+ 1 to 2 inches long, 3 to 4 lines thick, slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, white, tinged with red.

It is distinguished from other species by its mild taste, rosy cap, commonly dry and but slightly striate on margin, its gills changing from white to yellow or slightly ochraceous, and being partially attached to the stem, and its stem being slightly stained with rosy red. It grows in pine and hemlock woods, and is found in July and August. (Edible.)

+RUSSULA LEPIDA = neat or elegant.+ +The Elegant Russula.+

+Cap+ at first is a bright red, but becomes a dull reddish-pink, paler at the disc, 3 inches broad, dry, fleshy, convex; then expanded, scarcely depressed, obtuse and polished, afterward cracked (rimose), and with minute scales (squamulose). The margin spreading and rounded, obtuse, _not_ striate. +Stem+ about 3 inches long, from 1 to 1 inch thick, even, solid, white, or rose color. +Gills+ rounded behind, rather thick, somewhat crowded, often forked, connected by veins, white, often red at edge. Taste mild. We found our specimen in mixed woods. The stem was only tinged with pink. (Edible.)

+LACTARIUS VOLEMUS = a kind of large pear. (From its shape.)+ +The Orange Brown Lactarius.+

+Cap+ 3 to 5 inches broad, reddish-orange color, becoming pale, compact, rigid, obtuse, with the margin bent inward, depressed, at length marked with lines like a river (rimose). Flesh white, turning brown. +Stem+ 2 to 3 inches long, to 1 inch thick, stout, stuffed, then hollow, paler at apex, with a bloom, same color as cap, with lengthwise lines.

+Gills+ adnato-decurrent, yellowish turning ochraceous, broad, thin, crowded, milk sweet and plentiful. Stevenson says that the taste of this Lactarius is delicious, that it is savory even when raw. It should not be kept too long before cooking, or it will emit a strong, unpleasant odor. It is abundant in chestnut or oak woods from July to September.

Our specimen was much wrinkled on the margin. The milk was abundant.

(Edible.)

+LACTARIUS ICHORATUS = lymph.+ +The Colorless Lactarius.+

The name of this species is given on account of the color of the milk (Stevenson). +Cap+ a tawny pinkish-red color, 3 to 4 inches broad, zoned, plano-depressed, margin often wavy, dry, flesh creamy white or pallid. +Stem+ 1 to 3 inches long, thick, solid, afterward spongy, equal, smooth, the same color as the cap, lighter at the apex. +Gills+ adnate, slightly decurrent, not crowded, creamy white, turning ochraceous. Milk white, sweet. It has a strong smell. In the specimen we found the stem was slightly marked with lines and the milk plentiful. It is not spoken of as edible.

+LACTARIUS MITISSIMUS = mild.+

The name only applies to the taste of the milk. (Stevenson.)

+Cap+ a light, bright reddish-orange, golden tawny color, 1 to 4 inches broad, even, then depressed, smooth, sticky when moist, flesh whitish, turning yellow. +Stem+ 1 to 4 inches long, thick, stuffed, then hollow, even, smooth, same color as cap. +Gills+ slightly running down the stem, rounded at one end, broad, yellowish. Milk mild, then bitterish and plentiful. It is found in pine and mixed woods from August until November. It has a beautiful color, and resembles in that particular L.

volemus.

+CORTINARIUS ARMILLATUS = a ring or bracelet.+ +The Zoned Cortinarius.+

+Cap+ a tawny reddish-yellow, brick red, 2 to 5 inches broad, fleshy, bell-shaped or almost conical, then convex, dry, smooth, marked with reddish specks, darker toward the centre, flesh white, turning red and narrowing toward the margin. +Stem+ 3 to 6 inches long, inch thick, solid, firm, slightly tapering toward the apex, very bulbous at base, same color as cap, stuffed with brown pith inside. There are two or three reddish oblique zones encircling the stem. +Gills+ adnate, swollen in the middle, distant, variable, at first pale cinnamon color, and then dark brown. We found them at the end of August in great numbers, sometimes united in tufts (caespitose) in all stages of growth, the younger ones covered with a cobwebby veil, which is paler in color than the zones. They grow in mixed woods.

+c.l.i.tOCYBE LACCATA = a resinous substance.+ +The Waxy c.l.i.tocybe.+

This species is small in size. +Cap+ is about 1 inch broad, thin, convex and almost plane. Sometimes with a depression (umbilicate). When moist it has a water-soaked look, and becomes pale in drying. When wet it has a peculiar flesh color, but when dry it is a pale yellowish-red hue.

+Stem+ is long and slender, tough and of same color as cap, 2 lines thick, fibrous, stuffed, often twisted and white, with soft, weak hairs at base (villous). +Gills+ are attached to stem with a decurrent tooth, broad, distant, of a peculiar flesh color. We found several varieties.

One had gills of a beautiful violet color (Var. amethystina), in another the gills were pale (Var. pallidifolia). (Peck.) A small form with radiating lines extending from near the centre to the margin (Var.

striatula), Peck, is an interesting species and often seen. They grow closely together on the sides of roads, in groups, all through the season. Sometimes the cap is very small, inch across. It often grows in arcs of circles.

+c.l.i.tOCYBE INFUNDIBULIFORMIS = funnel-shaped.+ +The Funnel-shaped c.l.i.tocybe.+

+Cap+ a pale red color, 2 to 3 inches broad, convex when young, then slightly raised in the middle, umbonate, afterward the margin is elevated and the cap becomes funnel-shaped and the margin wavy.

Flesh thin and white. +Stem+ 1 to 3 inches long, 2 to 3 lines thick, smooth, paler colored than the cap, tapering upward. +Gills+ rather decurrent, arc-shaped, broad, distant, whitish, not yellow, netted with veins. This is also a variable species and grows in woods. It is pretty, and is easily known by its shape.

+BOLETUS MURRAYI.+ +Murray's Boletus.+

+Cap+ dark red, 1 to 3 inches broad, granulated, convex, with a slight mound or umbo, margin turned upward, flesh yellow. +Stem+ inch long, yellow. Tubes lemon color, angular and round, irregular. The stem in our specimen was granulated like the cap.

+BOLETUS CHROMAPES = chrome yellow and foot.+ +The Chrome-footed Boletus.+

+Cap+ tawny red, 2 to 4 inches broad, convex or nearly plane, flesh white. Tubes almost attached (subadnate), depressed around the stem, whitish, turning a pinkish-brown color. +Stem+ equal or tapering upward, rough whitish color, with reddish specks upon it, but chrome yellow at the base, both outside and inside, and spongy within. Stem 2 to 4 inches long, about inch thick. This is not a hard boletus to distinguish on account of the yellow color at the base of the stem. The Boleti seem to be most abundant from the beginning of July until early in September.

There are many varieties of beautiful colors, and they are a most interesting group, especially to beginners. This may be partly owing to the fact that Professor Peck's pamphlet on "Boleti" is clearly expressed, and the descriptions so vivid and plain that one has less trouble in naming them than any other cla.s.s of fungi.

+HYGROPHORUS MINEATUS = vermilion.+ +The Vermilion Hygophorus.+

+Cap+ 1 inch broad, at first vermilion color and then paler, broad, flattened and then even, depressed in centre by the margin becoming elevated. It is thin and fragile at first, even, smooth, and then scaly.

+Stem+ from 1 to 2 inches long, slender, 1 line thick, a little paler than the cap, equal, round, somewhat stuffed, smooth, s.h.i.+ning. +Gills+ attached, seldom decurrent, distant, distinct, yellow color, shaded with red. This species is very fragile. It grows in woods or in open country, on mosses or on dead leaves. It may be caespitose, or grows singly from July to October.

+HYGROPHORUS COCCINEUS = scarlet color.+ +The Scarlet Hygrophorus.+

+Cap+, first bright scarlet and then changing to a paler hue. One to 2 inches broad and even more, convex, plane, often unequal, obtuse, sticky, and even, smooth, flesh of the same color as cap. +Stem+ 2 inches long, 3 to 4 lines thick, hollow, then compressed and rather even, scarlet color like cap, but always yellow at the base. +Gills+ wholly attached, decurrent, with a tooth, distant, connected by veins, soft, watery, when full grown, purplish at the base, light yellow in the middle, powdery at the edge, fragile. This species grows in pastures, and is common. It is found from August to November.