The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Part 45

It is found very plentifully on decayed logs and stumps, and at times it is quite phosph.o.r.escent in its manifestations. It has an extremely unpleasant astringent taste. One might as well eat an Indian turnip as this species. Just a taste will betray it. Found from fall to winter.

_Pa.n.u.s strigosus. B. & C._

THE HAIRY Pa.n.u.s. EDIBLE.

Strigosus, covered with stiff hairs. The pileus is sometimes quite large, eccentric, covered with stiff hairs, margin thin, white.

The gills are broad, distant, decurrent, straw-color.

The stem is stout, two to four inches long, hairy like the pileus.

The favorite host of this species is an apple tree. I found a beautiful cl.u.s.ter on an apple tree in Chillicothe. Its creamy whiteness and hairy cap and short hairy stem will distinguish it from all other tree fungi.

It is edible when young, but soon becomes woody.

_Pa.n.u.s conchatus. Fr._

THE Sh.e.l.l Pa.n.u.s.

Conchatus means sh.e.l.l-shaped. The pileus is thin, unequal, tough, fleshy, eccentric, dimidiate; cinnamon, then pale; becoming scaly; flaccid; margin often lobed.

The gills are narrow, forming decurrent lines on the stem, often branched, pinkish, then ochre.

The stem is short, unequal, solid, rather pale, base downy.

This species will frequently be found imbricated and very generally confluent. Its sh.e.l.l-like form, its tough substance, and its thin pileus are its distinguishing marks. The taste is pleasant but its substance very tough. Found from September to frost.

_Pa.n.u.s rudis. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 179.--Pa.n.u.s rudis.]

This is a very plentiful plant about Chillicothe and is found throughout the United States, although it is a rare plant in Europe. It is generally given in American Mycology under the name Lentinus Lecomtei.

It grows on logs and stumps. The form of the plant is quite different when growing on the top of a log or a stump, from those springing from the side. Those in the extreme left of Figure 179 grew on the side of the log, while those in the center grew on the top, in which case the plant has usually a funnel-shaped appearance.

The pileus is tough, reddish or reddish-brown, depressed, sinuate, bristling with tufts of hair, the margin quite strongly incurved, caespitose.

The gills are narrow and crowded, decurrent, considerably paler than the cap.

The stem is short, hairy, tawny; sometimes the stem is almost obsolete.

There is a slight tinge of bitterness in the plant when raw, but in cooking this disappears. When prepared for food it should be chopped fine and well cooked. It can be dried for winter use. It is found from spring to late fall.

_Pa.n.u.s torulosus. Fr._

THE TWISTED Pa.n.u.s. EDIBLE.

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

Figure 180.--Pa.n.u.s torulosus.]

Torulosus means a tuft of hair. The pileus is two to three inches broad, fleshy, then tough, coriaceous; plane, then funnel-shaped, or dimidiate; even; smooth; almost flesh color, varying to reddish-livid, sometimes violet tinted.

The gills are decurrent, rather distant, distinct behind, separate, simple, ruddy, then tan-colored.

The stem is short, stout, oblique, gray, covered with a violaceous down.

The spores are 63.

The plant is variable both in form and color. Sometimes shaded very slightly with pink. It is not very common here. I found some very fine specimens growing on a log near Spider Bridge, Chillicothe.

It is edible but quite tough.

_Pa.n.u.s levis. B. & C._

THE LIGHT Pa.n.u.s. EDIBLE.

Levis, light. Pileus two to three inches broad, orbicular, somewhat depressed, white, covered with a dense mat of hair; margin inflexed and marked by triangular ridges.

The gills are broad, entire, decurrent.

The stem is two to three inches long, attenuated upward, eccentric, lateral, solid, hairy below like the pileus. The spores are white.

This certainly is a very beautiful plant and will hold the attention of the collector. It is not common with us. I have found it only on hickory logs. It is said to be of good flavor and to cook readily.

_Lentinus. Fr._

Lentinus means tough. The pileus is fleshy, corky, tough, hard and dry, reviving when moist.

The stem is central or lateral and often wanting, but when present is continuous with the cap.

The gills are tough, unequal, thin, normally toothed, decurrent more or less, margin acute. The spores are smooth, white, orbicular.

All the species, so far as I know, grow on wood. They a.s.sume a great variety of forms. This genus is very closely related to Pa.n.u.s in the dry, coriaceous nature of the pileus and the gills, but it can be readily recognized by the toothed margin of the gills.

_Lentinus vulpinus. Fr._

STRONG-SCENTED VULPINUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XXVI. Figure 181.--Lentinus vulpinus.

One-third natural size.]

Vulpinus is from _vulpes_, a fox.