Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. Part 22

=Hydnum caput-ursi= Fr. =Edible.=--This plant is also a beautiful one.

It is more common than the coral hydnum so far as my observation goes.

It is known by the popular name of "bear's head hydnum" in allusion to the groups of spines at the ends of the branches. It occurs in woods with a similar habit of growing on trunks, branches, etc. This plant also arises from the wood with a single stout stem, which then branches successively, the ends of the branches having groups of long pendant spines appearing like numerous heads. Sometimes the spines on the top of the group are twisted or curled in a peculiar way. Large tufts are sometimes formed, varying from 12--20 or more centimeters in diameter.

Figure 196 is from a plant collected at Ithaca.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 197.--Hydnum erinaceus. Entirely white (natural size, often larger).]

=Hydnum caput-medusae= Bull. =Edible.=--The medusa's head hydnum is a rarer species than either of the above in this country. It forms a large, tubercular ma.s.s which does not branch like the coral hydnum or the bear's head, but more like the Satyr's beard hydnum, though the character of the spines will easily separate it from the latter. The spines cover a large part of this large tubercle, and hang downward. The plant is known by the additional character, that, on the upper part of the tubercle, the spines are twisted and interwoven in a peculiar fashion.

=Hydnum erinaceus= Bull. =Edible.=--This plant is sometimes called "Satyr's beard." It grows on dead trunks in the woods or groves, and is often found growing from wounds in living trees. It forms a large, tubercular ma.s.s which does not branch. The spines are very long and straight and hang downward in straight parallel lines from the sides of the ma.s.s. The spines are from 1--2 cm. or more long. Figure 197 represents one of the plants, showing the long spines.

=Hydnum repandum= L. =Edible.=--This plant is not uncommon, and it is widely distributed. It grows usually in woods, on the ground. It varies greatly in size, from very small specimens, 1--2 cm. high to others 10--12 cm. high. The cap is 2--18 cm. broad, and the stem 6--12 mm. in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 78, FIGURE 198.--Hydnum repandum. Cap whitish or yellowish, or pale yellowish brown; spines whitish or yellowish (natural size, often smaller). Copyright.]

It is entirely white or the cap varies to buff, dull yellow reddish or dull brown. It is very brittle, and must be handled with the utmost care if one wishes to preserve the specimen intact. The pileus is more or less irregular, the stem being generally eccentric, so that the pileus is produced more on one side than on the other, sometimes entirely lateral at the end of the stem. The margin is more or less wavy or repand. The spines are white, straight, and very brittle. The stem is even or clavate. Figure 198 is from plants collected at Ithaca during August, 1899, and represents one of the large specimens of the species.

In one plant the pileus is entirely lateral on the end of the long clavate stem, and is somewhat reniform, the stem being attached at the sinus. In the other plant the stem is attached near the center. This species is considered one of the best mushrooms for the table.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 79, FIGURE 199.--Hydnum putidum. Caps whitish then buff, then brownish or nearly black in older parts, edge white (natural size). Copyright.]

=Hydnum imbricatum= L. =Edible.=--This is a very variable species both in size and in the surface characters of the pileus. It occurs in woods, groves, or in open places under trees. The plants are 3--7 cm. high, and the pileus varies from 5--15 cm. broad, the stem from .5--2.5 cm. in thickness. The pileus is convex and nearly expanded, fleshy, thinner at the margin, regular or very irregular. The color is grayish in the younger and smaller plants to umber or quite dark in the larger and older ones. The surface is cracked and torn into triangular scales, showing the whitish color of the flesh between the scales. The scales are small in the younger plants and larger in the older ones. Figure 200 is from plants collected at Ithaca, and the pileus in these specimens is irregular. The species is edible, but bitter to the taste.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 200.--Hydnum imbricatum. Caps brownish, spines whitish (natural size, often larger).]

=Hydnum putidum= Atkinson.--This plant grows on the ground in woods, and was collected in the Blue Ridge mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C., at an elevation of about 4000 feet. It is remarkable for its peculiar odor, resembling, when fresh, that of an Ethiopian; for its tough, zonate pileus with a prominent white edge, and the stout irregular stem, resembling the stem of _Hydnum velutinum_. The plants are 8--12 cm.

high, the cap 8--12 cm. broad, and the stem 2--4 cm. in thickness. The plants grow singly, or sometimes a few close together, and then two or more may be conjoined.

The =pileus= is first umbilicate or depressed, becoming depressed or infundibuliform, irregular, eccentric, the margin repand, and sometimes lobed, and lobes appearing at times on the upper surface of the cap. The surface is first tomentose or p.u.b.escent, becoming smooth, with prominent concentric zones probably marked off by periodical growth; the color is first white, so that the edge is white, becoming cream color to buff, and in age dull brown and sometimes blackish brown in the center of the old plants. The p.u.b.escence disappears from the old portions of the cap, so that it is smooth. The p.u.b.escence or tomentum is more prominent on the intermediate zones. The margin is rather thick, somewhat acute or blunt, the upper portion of the flesh is spongy and the middle portion tough and coriaceous, and darker in color. The pileus is somewhat pliant when moist or wet, and firm when dry, the dark inner stratum hard.

The =spines= are first white or cream color, in age changing through salmon color, or directly into grayish or grayish brown. The spines when mature are long, slender, crowded, and decurrent on the upper part of the stem. The =spores= are white, globose, echinulate, 3--4 . The =stem= is stout and irregular, very closely resembling the stem of _Hydnum velutinum_, with a thick, spongy, outer layer and a central hard core.

The odor, which resembles that of a perspiring darkey, before the plant is dry, disappears after drying, and then the plant has the same agreeable odor presented by several different species of Hydnum. The odor suggests _H. graveolens_, but the characters of the stem and surface of the pileus separate it from that species, while the tough and pliant character of the cap separates it from _H. fragile_. Figure 199 is from plants (No. 4334, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N.

C., during September, 1899.

CHAPTER XI.

CORAL FUNGI: CLAVARIACEAE.

This family is a very characteristic one, and very interesting from the large number of beautiful species in one genus, the genus _Clavaria_.

The plants all are more or less erect, or at least stand out from the substratum, that is, the substance on which they are growing. The fruiting surface covers the entire upper part of the plant, all but the bases of the stems. Some of the branched species of the _Thelephoraceae_ resemble the branched species of the _Clavariaceae_, but in the former there is a more or less well defined upper portion on the tips of the branches which is flat, or truncate, and sterile, that is, lacks the fruiting surface. Some of the species are simple, elongate and clavate bodies. Some stand singly, others are cl.u.s.tered, or others are joined by their bases, and others still are very much branched. All of the species are said to be edible, that is, they are not poisonous. A few are rather tough, but they are mostly the small species which would not be thought of for food. The spores are borne on club-shaped basidia, as in the common mushrooms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 80, FIGURE 201.--Clavaria formosa. Yellowish, red tipped when young, red disappearing in age (natural size, sometimes twice this size). Copyright.]

CLAVARIA Vaill.

The genus _Clavaria_ is one of the most common ones in the family, and is one of the most attractive from the variety and beauty of several of the species. All of the plants are more or less erect, and at least stand out from the substratum on which they grow. They are either long and simple and more or less club-shaped, as the name implies, or they are branched, some but a few times, while others are very profusely branched. The plants vary in color, some are white, some yellow, some red, and some are red-tipped, while others are brownish in color.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 202.--Clavaria botrytes. Branches red tipped (natural size).]

=Clavaria formosa= Pers. =Edible.=--This is one of the handsomest of the genus. It is found in different parts of the world, and has been collected in New England and in the Carolinas in this country. It is usually from 15--20 cm. high, and because of the great number of branches is often broader in extent. There is a stout stem from 2--4 cm.

in diameter, deep in the ground. This branches into a few stout trunks, which then rapidly branch into slender and longer branches, terminating into numerous tips. The entire plant is very brittle, and great care is necessary to prevent its breaking, both before drying and afterward.

When the plant is young and is just pushing out of the ground, the branches, especially the tips, are bright colored, red, pink, or orange, the color usually brighter when young in the younger plants. As the plant becomes older the color fades out, until at maturity the pink or red color has in many cases disappeared, and then the entire plant is of a light yellowish, or of a cream buff color. The spores are in ma.s.s light yellow, and the spores on the surface of the plant probably give the color to the plant at this stage. The spores are long, oval or oblong, 10--15 2.5--3 , and are minutely spiny. Figure 201 is from a plant (No. 4343, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., in September, 1899. The plant is very common in the mountain woods of North Carolina.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 203.--Clavaria pistillaris. Dull whitish, tan or reddish (natural size).]

Specimens of this Clavaria were several times prepared for table use during my stay in the mountains, but the flavor was not an agreeable one, possibly due to the fact that it needs some special preparation and seasoning.

=Clavaria botrytes= Pers. =Edible.=--This plant is much smaller than _C.

formosa_, but has much the same general habit and color, especially when _C. formosa_ is young. The plant has a stout stem which soon dissolves into numerous branches, which are red tipped. The spores are white, and in this way it may be distinguished from _C. formosa_, or from _Clavaria aurea_ (Schaeff.), which has yellow or ochre spores, and which has also much the same habit as _C. botrytes_, and is nearer in size.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 204.--Clavaria mucida. White (natural size).

Copyright.]

=Clavaria pistillaris= Linn. =Edible.=--This plant is a characteristic one because of its usually large size and simple form. It is merely a club-shaped body, growing from the ground. It has a wide range, both in Europe and North America, but does not seem to be common, though I have found it more common in the mountain woods of North Carolina than in New York. The plant is 5--20 cm. high, and 1--3 cm. thick at the upper end.

It is smooth, though often irregularly grooved and furrowed, due probably to unequal tensions in growth. The apex in typical specimens is rounded and blunt. It is dull white or tan color or rufescent. The flesh is white, and very spongy, especially in age, when it is apt to be irregularly fistulose. Figure 203 is from plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September 1899.

There is what seems to be an abnormal form of this species figured by Schaeffer, Table 290, which Fries separated as a distinct species and placed in the genus _Craterellus_, one of the _Thelephoraceae_, and called by him _Craterellus pistillaris_. This plant has been found at Ithaca, and the only difference between this and the _Clavaria pistillaris_ L., seems to be in the fact that in _Craterellus pistillaris_ the end is truncate or in some specimens more or less concave. The spores seem to be the same, and the color and general habit of the two plants are the same. It is probably only a form of _Clavaria pistillaris_.

=Clavaria mucida= Pers.--This is one of the smallest species of the genus _Clavaria_. It grows on rotten wood, and appears throughout the year. It is usually simple and clavate, but sometimes branched. The plant is white, or yellowish, or sometimes rose color, and measures from 0.5 to 2 cm. in height, though I have usually found it from 0.5--1 cm.

in height. It is soft and watery. Figure 204 is from plants (No. 4998, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca in October, 1899.

CHAPTER XII.

THE TREMBLING FUNGI: TREMELLINEAE.

These fungi are called the trembling fungi because of their gelatinous consistency. The colors vary from white, yellow, orange, reddish, brownish, etc., and the form is various, often very irregular, leaf-like, or strongly folded and uneven. They are when fresh usually very soft, clammy to the touch, and yielding like a ma.s.s of gelatine.

They usually grow on wood, but some species grow on the ground, and some are parasitic. The fruit surface usually covers the entire outer surface of the plant, but in some it is confined to one side of the plant. The basidia are peculiar to the order, are deeply seated in the substance of the plant, rounded or globose, and divided into four cells in a cruciate manner. From each one of these cells of the basidium a long, slender process (sterigma) grows out to the surface of the plant and bears the spore. A few species only are treated of here.

TREMELLA Dill.

In this genus the plants are gelatinous or cartilaginous. The form of the plant is usually very much contorted, fold-like or leaf-like, and very much branched. The fruiting surface extends over the entire upper surface of the plant.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 205.--Tremella mycetophila, on Collybia dryophila (natural size).]

=Tremella lutescens= Pers.--This plant is entirely yellow, and occurs on branches. It is 2--5 cm. in diameter, and is strongly folded, somewhat like the folds of a brain (gyrose). It is very soft and inclined to be watery and fluid, and is of a bright yellow color, spread out on the surface of rotten wood. It is of world-wide distribution, and appears from mid-summer to late autumn.

=Tremella mycetophila= Pk.--This plant is interesting from the fact that it is parasitic on a mushroom, _Collybia dryophila_. It grows on the stem or on the top of the cap of the _Collybia_, and it is white, or yellowish, very much contorted (gyrose-plicate), nearly rounded, and 8--16 mm. in diameter. Figure 205 represents this _Tremella_ growing on the _Collybia dryophila_, from plants collected at Freeville woods near Ithaca.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 206.--Tremella frondosa. Pinkish yellow or pinkish vinaceous (natural size). Copyright.]