Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. Part 16

The spores are ochre yellow, rusty, rusty-brown, or some shade of yellow. For a.n.a.lytical keys to the genera see Chapter XXIV.

PHOLIOTA Fr.

The genus _Pholiota_ has ferruginous or ferruginous brown spores. It lacks a volva, but has an annulus; the gills are attached to the stem.

It then corresponds to _Armillaria_ among white-spored agarics, and _Stropharia_ among the purple-brown-spored ones. There is one genus in the ochre or yellow-spored plants with which it is liable to be confused on account of the veil, namely _Cortinarius_, but in the latter the veil is in the form of loose threads, and is called an arachnoid veil, that is, the veil is spider-web-like. Many of the species of _Pholiota_ grow on trunks, stumps, and branches of trees, some grow on the ground.

=Pholiota praec.o.x= Pers. =Edible.=--_Agaricus candicans_ Bull. T. 217, 1770: _Pholiota candicans_ Schroeter, Krypt, Flora, Schlesien, p. 608, 1889. This plant occurs during late spring and in the summer, in pastures, lawns and gra.s.sy places, roadsides, open woods, etc. Sometimes it is very common, especially during or after prolonged or heavy rains.

The plants are 6--10 cm. high, the cap from 5--8 cm. broad, and the stem 3--5 mm. in thickness. The plants are scattered or a few sometimes cl.u.s.tered.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, whitish to cream color or yellowish, then leather color, fleshy, the margin at first incurved, moist, not viscid. Sometimes the pileus is umbonate. The surface is sometimes uneven from numerous crowded shallow pits, giving it a frothy appearance. In age the margin often becomes upturned and fluted. The =gills= are adnate or slightly decurrent by a tooth, 3--4 mm. broad, a little broader at or near the middle, crowded, white, then ferruginous brown, edge sometimes whitish. There is often a prominent angle in the gills at their broadest diameter, not far from the stem, which gives to them, when the plants are young or middle age, a sinuate appearance. The =spores= are ferruginous brown, elliptical. =Cystidia= abruptly club-shaped, with a broad apiculus. The =stem= is stuffed, later fistulose, even, fragile, striate often above the annulus. The stem is whitish or sometimes flesh color. The veil is whitish, large, frail, and sometimes breaks away from the stem and clings in shreds to the margin of the cap.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 46, FIGURE 145.--Pholiota praec.o.x. Cap whitish, to cream, or leather color, stem white, gills white then ferruginous brown (natural size). Copyright.]

Figure 145 is from plants (No. 2362, C. U. herbarium) collected on the campus of Cornell University, June, 1898. The taste is often slightly bitter.

=Pholiota marginata= Batsch.--This is one of the very common species, a small one, occurring all during the autumn, on decaying trunks, etc., in the woods. The plants are usually cl.u.s.tered, though appearing also singly. They are from 4--10 cm. high, the cap 3--4 cm. broad, and the stem 3--5 in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 47, FIGURE 146.--Pholiota adiposa. Cap very viscid, saffron-yellow or burnt umber or wood-brown in center, scales wood-brown to nearly black, stem whitish then yellowish; gills brownish, edge yellow (natural size, sometimes larger). Copyright.]

The =pileus= is convex, then plane, tan or leather colored, darker when dry. It has a watery appearance (hygrophanous), somewhat fleshy, smooth, striate on the margin. The =gills= are joined squarely to the stem, crowded, at maturity dark reddish brown from the spores.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 147.--Pholiota marginata. Cap and stem tan or leather color, gills dark reddish brown when mature (natural size).

Copyright.]

The =stem= is cylindrical, equal, smooth, fistulose, of the same color as the pileus, becoming darker, and often with whitish fibrils at the base. The =annulus= is distant from the apex of the stem, and often disappears soon after the expansion of the pileus. Figure 147 is from plants (No. 2743, C. U. herbarium) collected near Ithaca.

=Pholiota unicolor= Vahl, is a smaller plant which grows in similar situations. The plants are usually cl.u.s.tered, 3--5 cm. high, and the caps 6--12 mm. in diameter, the annulus is thin but entire and persistent. The entire plant is bay brown, becoming ochraceous in color, and the margin of the cap in age is striate, first bell-shaped, then convex and somewhat umbonate. The gills are lightly adnexed.

=Pholiota adiposa= Fr.--The fatty pholiota usually forms large cl.u.s.ters during the autumn, on the trunks of trees, stumps, etc. It is sometimes of large size, measuring up to 15 cm. and the pileus up to 17 cm.

broad. Specimens collected at Ithaca during October, 1899, were 8--10 cm. high, the pileus 4--8 cm. broad, and the stems 5--9 mm. in thickness. The plants grew eight to ten in a cl.u.s.ter and the bases of the stems were closely crowded and loosely joined.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, the margin more or less inrolled, then incurved, prominently umbonate, very viscid when moist, the ground color a saffron yellow or in the center burnt umber to wood brown. The cuticle of the pileus is plain or torn into scales which are wood brown, or when close together they are often darker, sometimes nearly black.

The flesh is saffron yellow, thick at the center of the cap, thinning out toward the margin, spongy and almost tasteless. The =gills= are adnate, and sometimes a little notched, brown (mars brown), and the edge yellow, 6--7 mm. broad. The =spores= are 8 5 . The =stem= tapers downward, is compact, whitish then yellow, saffron yellow, flesh vinaceous, viscid, and clothed more or less with reflexed (pointing downward) scales. The stem is somewhat cartilaginous, tough, but snapping off in places. The veil is thin floccose and sometimes with coa.r.s.e scales, soon disappearing.

Figure 146 is from plants (No. 3295, C. U. herbarium) collected on the Ithaca flats from a willow trunk, Oct. 10, 1899.

=Pholiota aurivella= Batsch, which has been found in the United States, is closely related to _P. adiposa_.

=Pholiota squarrosa= Mull., widely distributed and common in the autumn, both in Europe and America, on stumps and trunks, is a large, cl.u.s.tered, scaly plant, the scales "squarrose", and abundant over the pileus and on the stem below the annulus. It is brownish or ferruginous in color.

=Pholiota squarrosoides= Pk., as its name indicates, is closely related to _P. squarrosa_. It has erect, pointed, persistent scales, especially when young, and has a similar habit to _squarrosa_, but differs chiefly in the pileus being viscid, while that of _P. squarrosa_ is dry. _P.

subsquarrosa_ Fr., occurring in Europe, and also closely related to _P.

squarrosa_, is viscid, the scales are closely appressed to the surface of the cap, while in _squarrosa_ they are prominent and revolute.

=Pholiota cerasina= Pk., occurs on decaying trunks of trees during late summer. The plants grow in tufts. They are 5--12 cm. high, the caps 5--10 cm. in diameter, and the stems 4--8 mm. in thickness. The pileus is smooth, watery when damp, cinnamon in color when fresh, becoming yellowish in drying, and the flesh is yellowish. The stem is solid, and equal, the apex mealy. The annulus is not persistent, and the gills are crowded and notched. The spores are elliptical, and rugose, 5 8 .

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 48, FIGURE 148.--Pholiota squarrosoides. Entire plant brownish or reddish brown; pileus viscid (three-fourths natural size). Copyright.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 49, FIGURE 149.--Pholiota johnsoniana. Cap yellowish to yellowish brown, stem whitish, gills grayish then rust-brown (natural size). Copyright.]

=Pholiota johnsoniana= Pk. =Edible.=--This species was described from specimens collected at Knowersville, N. Y., in 1889, by Peck, in the 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 98, as _Agaricus johnsonia.n.u.s_. I found it at Ithaca, N. Y., for the first time during the summer of 1899, and it was rather common during September, 1899, in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C. It grows in woods or in pastures on the ground.

The larger and handsomer specimens I have found in rather damp but well drained woods. The plants are 7--15 cm. high, the cap 5--10 cm. broad, and the stem 6--12 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is fleshy, very thick at the center, convex, then expanded and plane, smooth, sometimes finely striate on the thin margin when moist, yellowish, or fulvous, the margin whitish. The =gills= are attached to the stem by the upper angle (adnexed), rounded, or some of them angled, some nearly free. In color they are first gray, then rusty brown. They appear ascending because of the somewhat top-shaped pileus.

The =spores= are irregularly ovoid, 4--6 3--3.5 . The =stem= is cylindrical or slightly tapering upward, smooth, slightly striate above the annulus, whitish, solid, with a tendency to become hollow. The =veil= is thick, and the annulus narrow and very thick or "tumid,"

easily breaking up and disappearing. The plant is quite readily distinguished by the form of the pileus with the ascending gills and the tumid annulus. Peck says it has a "somewhat nutty flavor."

Figure 149 is from plants (No. 4014, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

NAUCORIA Fr.

This genus, with ferruginous spores, corresponds with _Collybia_ among the white-spored agarics. The gills are free or attached, but not decurrent, and the stem is cartilaginous. The plants grow both on the ground and on wood. Peck, 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, _et seq._, gives a synopsis of seven species.

=Naucoria semi-orbicularis= Bull. =Edible.=--This is one of the common and widely distributed species. It occurs in lawns, pastures, roadsides, etc., in waste places, from June to autumn, being more abundant in rainy weather. The plants are 7--10 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is convex to expanded, and is remarkably hemispherical, from which the species takes the name of _semi-orbicularis_. It is smooth, viscid when moist, tawny, and in age ochraceous, sometimes the surface is cracked into areas. The =gills= are attached, sometimes notched, crowded, much broader than the thickness of the pileus, pale, then reddish brown. The =stem= is tough, slender, smooth, even, pale reddish brown, shining, stuffed with a whitish pith.

Peck says that the plants have an oily flavor resembling beechnuts.

=Naucoria vernalis= Pk.--_Naucoria vernalis_ was described by Peck in 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, from plants collected in May. The plants described here appeared in woods in late autumn. The specimens from which this description is drawn were found growing from the under side of a very rotten beech log, usually from deep crevices in the log, so that only the pileus is visible or exposed well to the view. The plants are 4--8 cm. high, the cap 2--3 cm. broad, and the stem 4--5 mm.

in thickness. The taste is bitter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 150.--Naucoria vernalis. Cap hair brown to clay color; gills grayish brown to wood brown; stem clay color (natural size). Copyright.]

The =pileus= is convex, then the center is nearly or quite expanded, the margin at first inrolled and never fully expanded, hygrophanous, smooth (not striate nor rugose), flesh about 5--6 mm. thick at center, thin toward the margin. The color changes during growth, it is from ochraceous rufus when young (1--2 mm. broad), then clove brown to hair brown and clay color in age. The =gills= are grayish brown to wood brown, at first adnate to slightly sinuate, then easily breaking away and appearing adnexed. The =spores= are wood brown in color, oval to short elliptical and inequilateral 6--8 4--5 . =Cystidia= hyaline, bottle shaped, 40--50 8--12 . The =stem= is somewhat hollow and stuffed, rather cartilaginous, though somewhat brittle, especially when very damp, breaking out from the pileus easily though with fragments of the gills remaining attached, not strongly continuous with the substance of the pileus. The color is buff to pale clay color; the stem being even, not bulbous but somewhat enlarged below, mealy over the entire length, which may be washed off by rains, striate at apex either from marks left by the gills or remnants of the gills as they become freed from the stem. Base of stem sometimes with white cottony threads, especially in damp situations. In the original description the stem is said to be "striate sulcate." Figure 150 is from plants (No. 3242, C. U.

herbarium) collected in woods near Ithaca, October 1, 1899.

GALERA Fr.

_Galera_ with ochraceous (ochraceous ferruginous) spores corresponds to _Mycena_ among the white-spored agarics. The pileus is usually bell-shaped, and when young the margin fits straight against the stem.

The stem is somewhat cartilaginous, but often very fragile. The genus does not contain many species. Peck gives a synopsis of five American species in the 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 93, _et seq._, and of twelve species in the 46th Report, p. 61, _et seq._ One of the common species is =Galera tenera= Schaeff. It occurs in gra.s.sy fields or in manured places. The plants are 5--8 cm. high, the cap 8--16 mm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is oval to bell-shaped, and tawny in color, thin, smooth, finely striate, becoming paler when dry. The =gills= are crowded, reddish-brown, adnexed and easily separating. The =stem= is smooth, colored like the pileus but a little paler, sometimes striate, and with mealy whitish particles above.

=Galera lateritia= is a related species, somewhat larger, and growing on dung heaps and in fields and lawns. =Galera ovalis= Fr., is also a larger plant, somewhat shorter than the latter, and with a prominent ovate cap when young. =Galera antipoda= Lasch., similar in general appearance to G. _tenera_, has a rooting base by which it is easily known. =Galera flava= Pk., occurs among vegetable mold in woods. The pileus is membraneous, ovate or campanulate, moist or somewhat watery, obtuse, plicate, striate on the margin, yellow. The plants are 5--8 cm.

high, the caps 12--25 mm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The plant is recognized by the pale yellow color of the caps and the plicate striate character of the margin. The plicate striate character of the cap is singular among the species of this genus, and is shared by another species, =G. coprinoides= Pk.

FLAMMULA Fr.

In the genus _Flammula_, the pileus is fleshy, stem fleshy-fibrous, and the gills adnate to decurrent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 151.--Flammula polychroa, under view. Cap vinaceous buff to orange buff, scales lilac, purple or lavender; gills drab to hair brown (natural size). Copyright.]

=Flammula polychroa= Berk.--This is a beautiful plant with tints of violet, lavender, lilac and purple, especially on the scales of the pileus, on the veil and on the stem. It occurs in cl.u.s.ters during late summer and autumn, on logs, branches, etc., in the woods. The plants occur singly, but more often in cl.u.s.ters of three to eight or more. The plants are 4--7 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 4--6 mm.

in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex, and in the young stage the margin strongly incurved, later the cap becomes expanded and has a very broad umbo. It is very viscid. The surface is covered with delicate hairs which form scales, more prominent during mid-age of the plant, and on the margin of the cap. These scales are very delicate and vary in color from vinaceous-buff, lilac, wine-purple, or lavender. The ground color of the pileus is vinaceous-buff or orange-buff, and toward the margin often with shades of beryl-green, especially where it has been touched. In the young plants the color of the delicate hairy surface is deeper, often phlox-purple, the color becoming thinner as the cap expands.

The =gills= are notched (sinuate) at the stem, or adnate, sometimes slightly decurrent, crowded. Before exposure by the rupture of the veil they are cream-buff in color, then taking on darker shades, drab to hair brown or sepia with a purple tinge. The =stem= is yellowish, nearly or quite the color of the cap, often with a purplish tinge at the base. It is covered with numerous small punctate scales of the same color, or sulphur yellow above where they are more crowded and larger. The scales do not extend on the stem above the point where the veil is attached.

The stem is slightly striate above the attachment of the veil. It is somewhat tough and cartilaginous, solid, or in age stuffed, or nearly hollow. The =veil= is floccose and quite thick when the plant is young.