Chapter IV: The Fungi

BY W. B. GROVE, B.A.

The district of which Birmingham is the centre is in some ways peculiarly interesting to a British Mycologist. It was the scene of the labours of two students of British Fungi who will always hold an honourable place in the history of the development of the science in this country--William Withering and Thomas Purton.

Withering was in his time (1741-1799) the foremost physician of this town. He lived for many years at Edgbaston Hall, a residence still situated among picturesque scenery just on the edge of the town, and then no doubt a wilder and more productive spot than now. Many species and varieties of Fungi new to Britain or new to science rewarded his constant researches in the park surrounding the hall, and some of the forms which he described still linger in this retreat. Packington Park, about ten miles from the town, is another locality frequently quoted by him; in fact by far the great majority of the species found by Withering himself came from these two places.

Withering enjoys the distinction of being one of the earliest authors on the British Flora, who devoted to the Fungi a space even decently comparable with that devoted to the Flowering plants. In his “Arrangement of British plants” (3rd edition), 1286 species of Phanerogams are recorded, and 566 of Fungi, which thus fill more than one-third as much space as their superiors in rank.

Thomas Purton was a surgeon of Alcester, a town about 18 miles from Birmingham. In his “Midland Flora” (1817-1821), he gives descriptions of over 400 species of Fungi, found chiefly in the neighbourhood of Alcester, especially in Oversley Wood and Ragley Park. He provides moreover excellent coloured engravings of 35 species. Since the whole number of Flowering Plants recorded by Purton from the Midlands is only 798, it will be seen that he surpasses Withering in devoting more than half as much space to the Fungi as to the Phanerogams.

Mrs. Russell, of Kenilworth, made, a few years since, a nearly exhaustive study of the Hymenomycetes of Kenilworth, Stoneleigh, and Warwick, and bequeathed to the British Museum her valuable series of over 300 coloured illustrations. But with this exception little has been done recently to elucidate the Fungi of the neighbourhood of this town, until the subject was taken up, within the last few years, by Mr. J. E. Bagnall and the writer. On reckoning up the number of species now known to occur in this district it will be found that they considerably exceed 900. It is probable that the district is as productive as any other in the smaller and microscopic kinds, but the larger species of Fungi are, with few exceptions, not to be found in any great abundance.

From want of sufficient material, it is not possible to treat this group successfully, as has been done with the Phanerogams, according to the counties. It will be preferable merely to string together short notices of a few of the more remarkable or uncommon kinds, according to the orders into which the class “Fungi” is divided. The names are those of Stevenson’s “Hymenomycetes Britannici,” so far as it is published, and of Cooke’s “Handbook” or “Grevillea” for the rest.

The first and most conspicuous of these orders is the Hymenomycetes, the mushroom and toad-stool family, of which the common mushroom may be taken as the type. These are all distinguished by having the spore-bearing cells arranged in a more or less continuous exposed surface, even or variously folded. In the more typical species, this surface assumes the form of the flat laminæ which are termed gills. Of these, _Agaricus nitidus_ has been found at Coleshill Pool; the yellow variety of _Ag. cepæstipes_ at Sutton Coldfield; _Ag. polystictus_ and _Ag. pessundatus_, near Kenilworth; _Ag. stans_ in Edgbaston Park; _Ag. virgatus_, both there and at Coleshill Pool; _Ag. inornatus_ at Kenilworth; _Ag. tuba_, at Middleton; _Ag. ditopus_, there and in Edgbaston Park; _Ag. platyphyllus_ frequently in and near Sutton Park; _Ag. rancidus_ at Middleton; _Ag. pullatus_, at Coleshill Pool; _Ag. leucogalus_, at New Park, Middleton; _Ag. electicus_, on rush stems in Sutton Park; _Ag. subpalmatus_, at Kenilworth and near Studley Castle; _Ag. petaloides_, var. _spathulatus_, at Oversley; _Ag. volvaceus_, _Ag. speciosus_, and _Ag. umbrosus_, at Kenilworth; _Ag. jubatus_, near Barnt Green; _Ag. heteroclitus_, many striking and well developed specimens at Sutton Coldfield; and _Ag. lanuginosus_, in Oversley Wood. _Ag. horizontalis_ is said by Purton to be “not rare” near Alcester, and he records _Ag. erinaceus_ and _Ag. pezizoides_ from the same locality. _Ag. echinatus_, with its remarkable blood-red gills, is found frequently at Sutton Coldfield. At this point in the systematic order comes in the mysterious _Ag. versicolor_ of Withering, of which he found only a few specimens in Edgbaston Park, and which has never since been seen by any other author; yet neither Fries nor the others venture to omit it, because Withering gives so clear and unmistakeable a description as almost to preclude the possibility of error. _Ag. luteonitens_ and _Ag. sarcocephalus_ have been found at Kenilworth; _Ag. udus_ is common in Sutton Park and the neighbourhood, and is also found among the Lickey Hills, accompanied in the latter place by the variety _polytrichi_. _Ag. areolatus_ has been found at Warwick; _Ag. atrorufus_ at Sutton; _Ag. retirugis_ at Kenilworth and Middleton; and Bolton’s _Ag. cinctulus_ (“History of Funguses,” tab. 152), which is omitted by Fries as possibly incorrectly figured, is said by Purton to be “not rare” near Alcester.

Of the genera allied to Agaricus, the rare species found here are rather few. The district seems to be especially ill supplied with the larger Cortinarii. Scarcely more than thirty species of this genus are recorded, of which the following may be mentioned:--_Cortinarius cyanipes_, from Kenilworth; _C. callochrous_, from Edgbaston; _C. scaurus_, from Packington; _C. violaceus_, which seems to have been found by Purton; _C. callisteus_ and _C. ochroleucus_, from Kenilworth; _C. sanguineus_, in Sutton Park; _C. bulbosus_, from Oversley; _C. armillatus_, at Coleshill Pool; _C. brunneus_ (recorded only by Withering among British authors), in Packington Park; and _C. hemitrichus_, in Sutton Park.

The other gilled genera may be briefly dismissed. _Gomphidius viscidus_ and _G. glutinosus_ have both occurred in the district. Lactarii are not uncommon. _L. deliciosus_ is frequent in a certain part of Sutton Park, and is recorded by both Withering and Purton; it also occurs at Hagley and at Bromsgrove Lickey, but is very local. _L. turpis_, of large size, abounds in several woods in the neighbourhood of Sutton; _L. cilicioides_, _L. uvidus_, _L. hysginus_, _L. zonarius_, _L. pyrogalus_, _L. glyciosmus_, and _L. camphoratus_, in addition to the more common species, have all been found; as also _Russula delica_, _R. rosacea_, _R. citrina_, _R. lutea_, and the very rare _R. drimeia_, _Hygrophorus chrysodon_ and _H. russo-coriaceus_ have been found at Kenilworth; Purton found the pretty little _Marasmius Hudsoni_; _Lentinus tigrinus_ is recorded by Withering, from Packington Park; _L. adhœrens_ by both Withering and Purton; and _L. lepideus_ and _L. cochleatus_ have been met with several times. _Panus conchatus_ was found by Withering at Edgbaston, and by Purton at Studley, and the writer has found _P. torulosus_ in Packington Park.

Among the pore-bearing Hymenomycetes, the most striking and rare is _Boletus (Strobilomyces) strobilaceus_, found at “the Valley,” Bromsgrove, in 1861. _Boletus badius_ is rather common, and is an edible species. The rare _B. parasiticus_ has been found at Middleton; _B. striæpes_ and _B. olivaceus_ are also on record. The writer has found the true _Polyporus frondosus Fr._ once in Sutton Park, and fine specimens of _P. giganteus_ in Edgbaston Park. Purton records _P. heteroclitus_ from Oversley, and _P. molluscus_ is occasionally found at Sutton and Coleshill Pool. The curious _Ptychogaster albus_, which is now usually considered a conidial form of a Polyporus, called _P. ptychogaster_, has occurred in Sutton Park on stumps of firs. _Trametes gibbosa_ is found at Sutton; _Dædalea confragosa_ in the coppice near Windley Pool; and the edible _Fistulina hepatica_ is occasionally met with on old oaks in Sutton Park, Hagley Park, and elsewhere.

Dismissing the rest of the Hymenomycetes, in which there is little worthy of mention to record, we come to the Gastromycetes, or Puff-ball family, in which the spore-bearing surface is more or less concealed within an outer coating, and most frequently breaks up into a dusty mass. The Myxomycetes, which were formerly included in this group, will here be placed in their proper position at the end of the Fungi. Of the aberrant group to which the common Stinkhorn (not very common in this district) belongs, the more brilliant _Cynophallus caninus_ is recorded by Purton, from near Bridgnorth, and was found at Bromsgrove Lickey, in 1856. The very rare and remarkable Earth-star, _Geaster coliformis_, has not been found in the district to which this notice is limited, but it has been twice found in the county of Worcester. The localities are given as “near Hanley Castle, Worcestershire,” _Mr. Ballard_, by Withering; and “Hanley Common, Worcestershire,” _Mr. Rufford_, by Purton. In the same place _Geaster fornicatus_ occurred, and this is said by Withering to have been found also “at Birches Green, near Birmingham.” _G. limbatus_ is recorded from Edgbaston Park, Stonebridge, Allesley, Oversley, and Rushford.

Another group of Fungi is that which grows upon living leaves, the various forms of which are known as Cluster-cups, Rust, Smut and Brand. These are what are usually called Leaf-Fungi. Many species are common here; but, as most kinds grow only upon certain specified plants, it follows that their range is determined in great measure by the presence or absence of their hosts. _Podisoma sabinæ_ and _P. juniperi_ have been found in the district. The only rare cluster-cup recorded is _Œcidium depauperans_, which occurs every summer on cultivated Violas in a few localities, and in one of these it is uniformly accompanied and followed by the Puccinia, to which the name of _Puccinia ægra_ has been given by the writer. Till lately this Œcidium was not known to occur out of the United Kingdom, but Professor Trelease, of St. Louis, in a private letter says that he has recently seen in the United States specimens apparently identical with it. _Puccinia sonchi_ was found by Mr. Hawkes, near Great Barr, on seedlings of Sonchus, and as yet has not been found anywhere else in Great Britain.

The species of the next group, the Discomycetes, or Cup-fungi, are not uncommon, though few of the showy forms are to be seen. The common Morell occurs, sparingly in the district, and _Morchella semilibera_ is recorded from Badsey. _Helvella crispa_, _H. lacunosa_, _H. elastica_; _Mitrula paludosa_; _Spathularia flavida_; _Leotia lubrica_; _Geoglossum glabrum_, _G. hirsutum_, and _Rhizina undulata_ have all been found, though rarely. Among the minuter species may be mentioned _Peziza dematiicola_, of which the writer found a few specimens at Sutton two years ago, this being the first and at present the only locality cited, since the place where the original specimens of Berkeley were discovered is unknown. _P. asperior_ has been found at Berkswell (the only British locality); the curious _P. Curreiana_, on rush stems in Sutton Park and elsewhere; and the rare _P. Crouani_, _P. Dalmeniensis_, _P. stereicola_; _Ascobolus minutissimus_; _Vibrissea leptospora_; _Propolis pyri_, and a new species which Mr. Phillips has named _Dermatea nectrioides_, at various places in the neighbourhood.

The next group of Fungi is the Pyrenomycetes or Globe-fungi. They occur usually on dead bark and wood, or stalks of plants, and are mostly black, more rarely red or brown. Several common species look like grains of gunpowder scattered over the wood. Among these Withering mentions no species at all rare from this district, and Purton only three--_Melogramma Bulliardi_, _M. gastrinum_, and _Sphæria pomiformis_. To these may be added _Nectria mammoidea_ and _Hypomyces candicans_ from near Sutton; _Eutypa velutina_ and _E. scabrosa_ from Berkswell; _Valsa cincta_ Fr., _V. aglæostoma_, and _Sphæria ampullasca_, from Sutton; _Lophiostoma angustilabra_, from Middleton; and the interesting _Gymnoascus ruber_, which affords a glimpse of the mode by which the Pyrenomycetes were evolved, has appeared in Birmingham itself.

Of the Mucorini or Pin-mould family, to which belongs the pin-shaped mould, so common on decaying meat--two species of Pilobolus, _P. œdipus_ and _P. Kleinii_, remarkable for their extraordinary explosive power, have been found here and nowhere else in the kingdom. The same is true of two species of Mortierella, _M. Candelabrum_ and _M. polycephala_, of which even the genus is not known from any other British locality.

Lastly we come to the Myxomycetes, a group which, though distinctly fungal, approximates in some degree to the animal kingdom. These are rather abundant here, nearly one third of the British Species having been found; including the rare _Didymium pertusum_; _Badhamia hyalina_; _Enerthenema papillatum_; _Dictydium umbilicatum_; _Cribraria aurantiaca_; _Arcyria cinerea_, and _Prototrichia flagellifera_. Worthy of especial notice is _Physarum leucophæum_ Fr., hitherto only known as British by specimens published by Cooke in his “Fungi Britannici.” The writer has found this at Sutton in abundance, and identifies it with the heretofore unidentified _Trichia rubiformis_ of Purton, whose description is accompanied by an exceedingly accurate and picturesque plate (“Midland Flora,” tab. 37.)

Besides the groups of Fungi enumerated above, there are others more obscure and consequently less interesting to many students, of which no mention will be made here, although numerous rare or undescribed species belonging to them have been found in the district within recent years.