Chapter IV: Part 4

Like the foregoing, a large cluster of these mushrooms leaves a most unsightly spot on the lawn. A diluted solution of this melting substance, as Cooke assures us, has been used "to replenish the ink-bottle. The resemblance is so complete that it may readily be employed as a substitute, all that is required being to boil and strain it, and add a small quantity of corrosive sublimate to prevent its turning mouldy." It may also be employed as pigment. It is, indeed, quite possible to paint the portrait of Coprinus with its own dark sepia, as the author has personally demonstrated. (See head-piece to "Illustrations.")

MILKY MUSHROOM

_Lactarius deliciosus_

[Sidenote: =Orange-milk Agaric=]

Prominent among the fungi which give unmistakable characters for their identification is the genus Lactarius, or milky mushrooms, another group of the agarics or gilled fungi, from which we will select for our first example the _Lactarius deliciosus_, or orange-milk Agaric (Plate 18). The figure will itself almost serve to identify it in its advanced open stage. Having found a specimen resembling our illustration, and anywhere from three to five inches in expanse, its general upper surface _dull reddish-orange_ in color, more or less plainly banded with darker red, it is safe to predict that when its surface or gills are broken an exudation of milky juice will follow. If this exudation is orange or _deep yellow_ in hue, gradually turning _greenish_ on exposure, the identification is complete, and we have the orange-milk _L. deliciosus_, of which an authority says, "It really deserves its name, being the most delicious mushroom known." W. G. Smith goes still further in its praise, assuring us that "when cooked with taste and care it is one of the greatest delicacies of the vegetable kingdom." The taste of this species when raw is slightly acrid, but this quality disappears in the cooking.

_PLATE XVIII_

THE ORANGE-MILK MUSHROOM

=Lactarius deliciosus=

=Pileus:= Diameter three to five inches. Color varying
from yellow to dull orange, or even brownish yellow
with mottled zones of deeper color, especially in
younger plants; outline at first convex, ultimately
somewhat funnel-shaped; surface usually smooth and
moist.

=Flesh:= Brittle; creamy, more or less stained with
orange.

=Gills:= Orange; generally clearer in hue than the
pileus; when bruised, exuding a copious milky juice
of orange color, becoming greenish in drying.

=Stem:= Paler than pileus; hollow; occasionally
spotted with orange or greenish stains from bruises.

=Spores:= White.

=Taste:= Slightly peppery.

=Habitat:= Woods, pine-groves, and swamps.

=Season:= July-September.

PLATE XVIII

[Sidenote: =Mild white-milk species=]

One other species of Lactarius, _L. volemum_, may properly find a place in this work as being easily recognized. In general shape it resembles _L. deliciosus_. The top is of a rich sienna golden hue; the gills are crowded. The milk is _white_ as it first falls from the fracture, becoming _dull dark-reddish_, and having a mild, pleasant taste; gills white, at length yellowish or buff-colored. This species is esculent.

[Sidenote: =Peppery white-milk species=]

Other species are accounted edible, even one--the peppery Lactarius, _L. piperatus_--a pure-white variety, whose copious exudations of _white_ milk will almost blister the lips, an _acrid_ property which is claimed by Curtis, Smith, and others to be dispelled in cooking, by which treatment it becomes delicious and wholesome.

This species may reach a diameter of seven inches, its shape at first rounded, convex, then flat, concave, and finally funnel-shaped, as in many of the species. But its decidedly ardent tang in the raw state, as reminiscent from my own experience, warns me not to dwell too enthusiastically upon its merits in my limited selection of desirable esculent species.

THE CHANTARELLE

_Cantharellus cibarius_

Bearing somewhat the shape of the Lactarius, but having its own distinguishing features, is the Chantarelle (Plate 19).

[Sidenote: =Fluted gills=]

The "Agarics," as already described on page 79, are distinguished by the feature of the gills, or thin laminated curtains--the _hymenium_--upon which the spores are produced, and from which they are shed beneath the mushroom. These gills vary in thickness and number in the various species, and in one genus are so short, thick, swollen, and branched as to give rather the effect of turgid veins than gills, as shown in the accompanying sectional drawing. We occasionally come upon one of these mushrooms in our walks, usually in the woods. When it first appears the cap is rounded, and the rim folded inward towards the stem; but in mature specimens it assumes the flat or, later, the cup-shaped form shown in Plate 19.

_PLATE XIX_

THE CHANTARELLE

=Cantharellus cibarius=

=Pileus:= At first convex, later flat; three to five
inches in diameter, with central hollow, and
finally almost funnel form. Color, bright to deep
yellow above and below.

=Gills:= Shallow and fluted, resembling swollen veins,
branched, more or less interconnected and tapering
off down the stem; color same as pileus.

=Stem:= Solid, generally (often slightly) tapering
towards base; paler than pileus or gills.

=Spores:= Very pale yellow ochre in color; elliptical.

=Taste:= Peppery and pungent in the raw state; mild
and sweet after cooking.

=Odor:= Suggesting ripe apricots or plums.

=Habitat:= In woods, especially hemlocks, generally in
clusters of two or three, or in lines or arcs of
several individuals.

PLATE XIX

[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]

A fungus thus formed is a Chantarelle, or _Cantharellus_, and is readily identified. Any specimen having these features, and which possesses in addition a fine, rich yellow color, is the _C. cibarius_ of our plate, the esculent morsel so highly prized by epicures on the Continent, where to many--perhaps somewhat indiscriminating--gastronomists it forms one of the greatest delicacies among the entire list of edible fungi. The diameter of the mature specimen may reach five inches, though three inches will be nearer the average size. The cap is frequently quite eccentric in its form, wavy-edged, or even folded upon itself in occasional individuals; but the pure, deep yellow color "suggesting the yolk of an egg," and the swollen, vein-like hymenium, generally of a similar color, will be sufficient to distinguish it under any disguise of mere form. Another unique characteristic is its odor, which suggests ripe apricots or plums. The taste of the Chantarelle when raw is pungent and peppery, but this quality disappears in cooking. The spores are of a pale yellow-ochre color, and beneath the microscope are elliptical in shape.

[Sidenote: =Stewed Chantarelle=]

From the last of May until early November the Chantarelle may be found in our woods, with more or less frequency, singly or in clusters. According to Dr. Badham, an eminent authority on esculent fungi, "the best ways of dressing the Chantarelle are to stew or mince it by itself, or to combine it with meat or with other fungi. It requires long and gentle stewing to make it tender, but by soaking it in milk the night before, less cooking will be requisite."

But the recipes employed in Great Britain and upon the Continent to the glory of the Chantarelle would almost fill a fair-sized receipt book, and some of them are quite elaborate. A few of these are given in a later chapter. After a trial of a number of them the writer is assured that the simple broiling or frying in butter or oil, with proper seasoning, and serving on toast, will prove a most acceptable substitute.

[Sidenote: =Another species=]

Another species of Chantarelle, which might possibly be confounded with the _C. cibarius_, is the Orange Chantarelle, _C. aurantiacus_, which is pronounced "scarcely esculent" by the authorities. Its average size is much smaller than the true Chantarelle, and its much deeper orange hue, and straighter, more regularly branched and crowded gills, will readily identify it, the gills of _cibarius_ being thicker, and usually somewhat eccentric and netted. Like the foregoing, it assumes the funnel form with age, as indicated in the generic name, Cantharellus--"a diminutive drinking-cup."

Polyporei

[Sidenote: =Works by Prof. Peck=]

The previous examples of mushrooms have all been included in the order of the Agarics, or "gill-bearing" fungi, the under spore-bearing surface of the cap having been disposed in the form of laminæ or gills. We will now pass to the consideration of a class of mushrooms certain of which enjoy a wider reputation as "toadstools" than any other species, a new botanical order of fungi--the Polyporei--in which the gills are replaced by _pores_ or tubes--polyporus (many pores). Conspicuous among the Polyporei are those great shelf-like woody growths so frequently to be seen on the trunks of trees, and popularly known as "punk," "tinder," and "touch-wood," and many of which increase in size year by year by accession of growth at the rim. A few of these lateral-stemmed species are edible during their young state, one or two of which are included in my subsequent pages. But the most notable group from the standpoint of esculence is the typical genus _Boletus_, containing a large number of species, and of which Plate 20 presents a conspicuous example. Especial attention should here be called to the notable monograph on the Boleti of the United States by State Botanist Professor Charles Peck, of Albany University, New York, which presents detailed descriptions of one hundred and eight indigenous species. Other contributions to mycological literature by this distinguished American authority are noted in my bibliographical list at the close of the volume.

THE BOLETI

_Tube mushrooms_

The structure of these mushrooms is clearly shown in Plate 38, in my chapter on "Spore-prints," the hymenium being here spread upon the honey-combed pore surfaces, and shedding its spores from the tubes. Each of these tubes is distinct and may be separated from the mass.

The ideal form as shown in Plate 20 is perfectly symmetrical, in which condition the pores would naturally be perpendicular. But this perfection seldom prevails, and we continually find the specimens more or less eccentric in shape, especially where they are crowded or have met with obstruction in growth. But in any case, no matter what the angle or distortion of growth during development, the _tubes_ are always adjusted to the perpendicular, or in malformed individuals as nearly so as the conditions will permit, as shown in the section on next page.

The Boleti are in general a salubrious group. Certain species have long been accredited as being poisonous, and others excluded from the feast as "suspicious." The early authorities caution us to avoid all Boleti having any shade of red on the spore-bearing surface beneath, even as it was originally claimed that all _red-capped_ toadstools were poisonous. But from the writer's own individual experiments, reinforced by the experience of others, he is beginning to be persuaded that the Boletus as a _genus_ has been maligned. Many species accredited as poisonous he has eaten repeatedly without the slightest deleterious consequences, including the crimson Boletus, _B. alveolatus_ (Plate 24, fig. 2), with its red spore surface, and the _B. subtomentosus_ (Plate 22, fig. 1), whose yellowish flesh, like the species just mentioned, changes quickly to blue upon fracture, a chemical feature which has long stamped both species as dangerous.

[Sidenote: =Maligned species=]

It is interesting to note that the ban is gradually being lifted from the Boleti by mycophagists of distinction, largely through their own experiments. Thus I note that Mr. McIlvaine, who has made a close study of esculent fungi, in a recent article claims that "all the Boleti are harmless, though some are too bitter to eat"; and Mr. Palmer, in his admirable portfolio of esculent fungi, includes among his edible species one of those whose flesh "changes color on fracture," and which has hitherto been proscribed as "off color." Of course, this food selection would obviously apply only to species of inviting attributes, possessing pleasant odor, agreeable taste, and delicate fibre. The selection comprised in this volume is confined to a few varieties of established good repute. As to the rest--if only on the consideration of idiosyncrasy--it is wiser to urge extreme caution on the lines laid down on page 34.

[Sidenote: =Changes of form in growth=]

The Boletus, like all other mushrooms, passes through a variety of forms from its birth to maturity, at first being almost round, then convex, with the spore surface nearly flat, horizontal, the profile outline finally almost equally cushion-like on both upper and lower surfaces, or the upper surface absolutely flat. Mere outline drawings of a number of Boleti would be almost identical. The form alone, therefore, is of minor importance in their identification. Among those more readily recognized by their color and structural features, may be classed the following common species:

_PLATE XX_

EDIBLE BOLETUS

=Boletus edulis=

=Pileus:= Cushion-like; moist; variable in color,
light brown to darker brownish red; surface smooth
but dull; dimensions at full expansion, three to
six or eight inches.

=Tube surface= (_A_--magnified): Whitish in very young
specimens, at length becoming yellow and yellowish
green. Pore openings, angled.

=Spores:= Ochre-colored.

=Stem:= Stout; often disproportionately elongated.
Pale brown, generally with a fine raised network of
pink lines near junction of cap.

=Flesh:= White or yellowish, not changing color on
fracture.

=Taste:= Agreeable and nutty, especially when young.

=Habitat:= Woods, especially during July and August;
common.

PLATE XX

EDIBLE TUBE MUSHROOM

_Boletus edulis_

[Sidenote: =A famous delicacy=]

The most prominent member of the Boleti is the typical species whose portrait I have given on Plate 20, "in vain calling himself '_edulis_,' where there were none to believe him." But in spite of this remark of Dr. Badham, which had reference especially to his native country, England, this fungus had long been a favorite article of food among a large class of the more lowly Europeans, to say nothing of the luxurious epicures of the continent.

_Boletus edulis_ is to be found singly or in groups, usually in the woods. Its average diameter is perhaps four or five inches, though specimens are occasionally found of double these dimensions. A letter to the writer from a correspondent in the Rocky Mountains describes specimens measuring fifteen inches in diameter having been found there.

[Sidenote: =Specific characters=]

The cushion-like cap is more or less convex, according to age, of a soft brownish or drab color somewhat resembling kid, and with velvety softness to the touch. The under surface or hymenium is thickly beset, honey-combed with minute vertical pores, which will leave a pretty account of themselves upon a piece of white paper laid beneath them and protected from the least draught, a process by which we may always obtain a deposit of the ochre-tinted spores, as is further described in a later chapter.

In _Boletus edulis_ this pore surface is white in young specimens, later yellow, finally becoming bright olive-green; flesh _white_ or _creamy_, unchangeable on fracture. Stem paler than cap, thick, swollen at base, often malformed and elongated, especially when from a cluster, generally more or less covered with vertical raised ridges, which become somewhat netted together and pinkish as they approach the cap. The taste is sweet, and in the very young specimen, which is brittle, quite suggestive of raw chestnut.

[Sidenote: =Insects and decay=]

Any Boletus answering this description may be eaten without fear, assuming, of course, that its substance is free from any taint of dissolution and traces of insect contamination. Both of these conditions are too apt to prevail in the mature specimens, and all Boleti are more safely employed for food in their young crisp stage, or at least before their full expansion. In their maturity, moreover, they often prove too mucilaginous in consistency to be pleasant to the average partaker, especially the novice.

[Sidenote: =Preparation for table=]

In preparing them for the table, all that is necessary is to cut off the stems, which are apt to be tough and fibrous, and to wipe the pellicle of the cap perfectly clean, or, if preferred, to pare the pileus with a very sharp knife. It is recommended by some that the entire mass of the pore section be removed. In a mature specimen this would reduce the bulk of the mushroom by half, and, moreover, deprive the remainder of the full flavor of the fungus. I have not found it necessary, and it is certainly needless in a young and tender specimen.

_PLATE XXI_

ROUGH-STEMMED BOLETUS

=Boletus scaber=

=Pileus:= Rounded convex; diameter two to five inches;
surface occasionally smooth and viscid when moist;
color usually brownish red, but varying from orange
brick red or even black in certain varieties to
yellow or whitish.

=Tube surface:= Rounded, cushion-like; whitish at
first, becoming dingy; tube openings small and
round, and rather long as seen in section.

=Spores:= Reddish brown.

=Stem:= Solid, dingy white, tapering slightly above,
more or less thickly beset with brownish, fibrous,
dot-like scales, this being the most pronounced
botanical character for identification.

=Flesh:= White or dingy in certain varieties, often
changing to blue, brown, pinkish, or black where
wounded.

=Taste:= Negatively pleasant.

=Habitat:= A common and widely distributed species,
with many variations of color. Found in woods and
shaded waste-places.

=Season:= July-October.

PLATE XXI

ROUGH-STEMMED BOLETUS

_Boletus scaber_

This is a very common mushroom in our woods all through the summer and autumn, in reasonably moist weather. It is figured in Plate 21. The cap of an average specimen expands four inches or more, is of a brown or brownish buff color, and viscid when moist. The pore-surface is _dingy white_, the _tube_ orifices being quite _minute_ and _round_--not so conspicuously angular or honey-combed as in other species--and with occasional reddish stains, presumably a deposit from the floating _spores_, which are _tawny reddish_. The flesh is dirty white, the stem solid, contracting upwards, and rough with fibrous _brownish scaly_ points--whence the name "_scaber_"--often arranged somewhat in vertical lines. Epicures fail to agree as to the esculent qualities of this mushroom. It is certainly inferior to the _edulis_.

THE YELLOW-CRACKED BOLETUS

_Boletus subtomentosus_

[Sidenote: =Specific qualities=]

The general contour of the present species--_B. subtomentosus_ (Plate 22, fig. 1)--resembles the foregoing, but it is easily distinguished by the color of its cap and tube surface, the pileus being usually olive, olive-brown, or red of various shades; the color, however, does not extend to the flesh beneath the peeled cuticle, as in _B. chrysenteron_, Fig. 2. The surface is soft and dry--subtomentous--to the touch. Cracks in the cap become yellow, on which account this species is called the "yellow-cracked Boletus," in contradistinction to the red-cracked _B. chrysenteron_. Its most important distinction, however, is of a chemical nature.

[Sidenote: =The blue stain=]

The stem is stout, unequal, firm, yellowish, and more or less ribbed, occasionally tinted, minutely dotted, or faintly striped with the color of the cap. The taste of the flesh is sweet and agreeable. Palmer compares it to the flavor of walnuts. The tube surface is _yellow or yellowish green_, and the _tubes and yellowish flesh of cap and stem turn a rich peacock-blue immediately on fracture, becoming deeper_ moment by moment until the entire exposed portion becomes leaden--especially noticeable in mature specimens. The pore surface shows a similar blue stain whenever bruised. The tubes are angular-sided instead of round, and much larger than in the _B. edulis_; spores ochre colored.

[Sidenote: =An unwarranted stigma=]

This blue stain was formerly, and is even now, deemed sufficient with many mycophagists to place this mushroom on the black-list, but is believed by Mr. Palmer and Mr. McIlvaine to be unwarranted as a stigma, assuming that fresh specimens are employed. The _B. subtomentosus_ is also among the eleven edible Boleti in the list of Dr. Curtis, given on a previous page, and the present author has habitually eaten the species with enjoyment and without unpleasant results. Fresh young specimens with the least change of color would perhaps be the wiser choice for the novice.

_PLATE XXII_

YELLOW CRACKED BOLETUS

1. =Boletus subtomentosus=

=Pileus:= Diameter three to six inches. Color, varying
in different individuals, yellowish brown, olive,
or subdued tan color; epidermis soft and dry, with
a fine pubescence. Cracks in surface become yellow.

=Flesh:= Creamy white in mature specimens, changing to
blue, and at length leaden on fracture.

=Tube surface:= Yellow or yellowish green, becoming
bluish when bruised; opening of tubes large and
angled.

=Stem:= Stout; yellowish; minutely roughened with
scurfy dots, or faintly striped with brown.

=Spores:= Brownish ochre.

=Taste=: Sweet and agreeable.

=Habitat:= Woods.

=Season=: Summer and autumn.

GOLDEN-FLESH BOLETUS

2. =Boletus chrysenteron=

=Pileus:= Diameter two to four inches; convex,
becoming more flattened; soft to the touch, varying
from light yellowish brown to bright brick red;
more or less fissured with red cracks and clincks.

=Flesh:= Rich, bright yellow, red immediately beneath
the cuticle.

=Tube surface:= Olive-yellow, becoming bluish where
bruised; tube openings rather large, angled, and
unequal in size.

=Stem:= Generally stout and straight; yellowish, and
more or less streaked or spotted with the color of
the cap.

=Spores:= Light brown.

=Habitat:= Woods and copses.

=Season:= Summer and autumn.

PLATE XXII

.

[Sidenote: =Caution advisable=]

Another species having this peculiar property of "turning blue" even in a more marked degree, and named, in consequence, the _B. cyanescens_, though always heretofore considered poisonous, is now pronounced by certain prominent mycophagists to be not only harmless but esculent. It is still advisable, however, to caution moderation in its use as food, if only on the ground of idiosyncrasy. The spores of this species are _white_, which, with the more minute tube openings, form a sufficient discrimination from _subtomentosus_. The spores should be obtained by a deposit on black or dark-colored paper. The flesh is white also. Other blue-stain species, such as _B. alveolatus_ (Plate 24), are still considered with suspicion, presumably groundless.

YELLOW-FLESHED BOLETUS

_Boletus chrysenteron_

Among the toadstools which tradition would surely brand as poisonous on account of "bright color" is the common species whose name heads this paragraph, and which is illustrated in Plate 22, fig. 2. In its various shapes it suggests the preceding varieties. Its cap, however, is brownish red, often bright _brick red_. _Flesh almost lemon-yellow_, stained _red just beneath_ the cuticle, and _not noticeably changeable_ on fracture. _Tube surface yellowish green_, turning blue or bluish green when bruised. Spores light brown. _Tubes_ rather _large_, angular, and _unequal in shape of aperture_. Stem yellow, often brightly colored with the red of the cap. Chance cracks in its surface become red, whence the common name of the "Red-cracked Boletus." A species frequent in woods throughout the summer and autumn, and edible.

In its brightly colored cap it might possibly be superficially confounded with the suspicious _Boletus alveolatus_ of Plate 24. But the latter species is easily distinguished by its rose-colored spores and red pore surface.

CONE-LIKE BOLETUS

_Strobilomyces strobilaceus_

[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]

Another allied species, not especially famous for its esculent qualities, but which is, nevertheless, not to be despised, is here introduced on account of its especially pronounced character (Plate 23)--the cone-like Boletus, or, more properly, Strobilomyces. It is of a brownish gray color, its shaggy surface more or less studded with deep brown or black woolly points, each at the centre of a scale-like segment. The tubes beneath are covered by the veil in the younger specimens, but this at length breaks, leaving ragged fragments hanging from the rim of the pileus. The pore surface thus exposed is at first a grayish white, ultimately becoming brown. The substance of the fungus turns red when broken or cut.

This very striking mushroom is found in woods, especially under evergreens. It frequently attains a diameter of four inches. Its spores are a deep brown, and a specimen selected at the stage when the under surface is _flat_ will yield a most beautiful spore print if laid upon white paper and protected from the atmosphere, as described in a later chapter.

_PLATE XXIII_

THE CONE-LIKE BOLETUS

=Strobilomyces strobilaceus=

=Pileus:= From two to four inches in diameter, covered
with a soft gray wool drawn into regular cone-like
points tipped with dark brown.

Flesh grayish white, turning red when bruised.

=Pore surface:= Grayish white in young specimen, and
then usually covered with the veil; dark brown
or almost black at maturity. Plate 38 shows a
spore-print of this species.

=Spores:= Very dark brown.

=Taste:= Negatively pleasant.

=Odor:= Sweet and mild.

=Habitat:= Woods; singly or in small clusters.

PLATE XXIII

[Sidenote: =Black spore-prints=]

A reproduction of one of these prints is shown in Plate 38, the white reticulation representing the contact of the tube orifices with the paper, each tube depositing its dot composed of spores, the depth of color increasing in proportion to the time involved in the deposit. A single mushroom will yield a half-dozen or more prints. This fungus dries readily, and may be kept indefinitely.

SUSPICIOUS BOLETI

_Boletus felleus--B. alveolatus_

[Sidenote: =Maligned species=]

[Sidenote: =A daring pioneer mycophagist=]

In Plate 24 are shown two examples of the Boleti which have commonly been accounted poisonous--_B. felleus_ and _B. alveolatus_--and, in the absence of absolutely satisfactory assurance to the contrary, it is safer from our present point of view to consider them still as suspicious and to give them a wide berth. There can be no doubt but that the popular condemnation of the Boleti has been altogether too sweeping. The gradual accession of many questionable species to the edible list of Messrs. McIlvaine and Palmer and other daring mycophagists is a sufficient attestation of this fact. Thus _subtomentosus_ and _cyanescens_, already described, always heretofore branded as reprobates, are now redeemed from obloquy, and even the universal ill-repute of the _B. satanas_, with its pale pileus and blood-red pores, has not frightened the indefatigable Captain McIlvaine from a personal challenge and encounter with this lurid specimen, with the result that the formidable "Satanas" has proved anything but deserving of its name--not half so lurid as it has been painted; indeed, it has been even pronounced "the best of them all." Of course there's no telling to what extent the considerations of contrast, through surprise and the consequent demoralization on the contingents of the personal equation, may have influenced the captain's discrimination, but it certainly would appear, to put it negatively, that even the ill-favored world-renowned _B. satanas_ has apparently been freed from aspersion as an enemy of mankind.

But it is well for the amateur to avoid these notorious species absolutely until their edibility becomes universally accepted by the "professionals."

[Sidenote: =The bitter Boletus=]

The _Boletus felleus_ (Plate 24, fig. 1) is a very common species. The pinkish substance of this Boletus is so extremely bitter when raw as to make it sufficiently repellent as food. The color of its smooth cap varies from creamy yellow to reddish brown. Substance white in young specimens, flesh color or pinkish in older individuals. Tube surface white at first, becoming pinkish. Opening of tubes, angled. Stem usually more or less netted with raised lines towards cap. Spores pinkish or "flesh colored." Common in rich soil in woods.

_PLATE XXIV_

SUSPICIOUS BOLETI

=Alveolate Boletus--Boletus alveolatus=

=Pileus:= Smooth, polished; bright, deep crimson
or maroon, occasionally mottled or marbled with
yellowish; three to six inches in diameter.

=Flesh:= Firm and solid in substance; pale greenish or
yellowish white, changing blue in fracture or where
bruised.

=Tubes:= Tube-surface reaching the stem proper;
undulate with uneven hollows; maroon, the tubes in
section being yellow beyond their dark red mouths.

=Spores:= Yellowish brown.

=Stem:= Usually disproportionately long, covered with
depressions or oblong pitted indentations, with
intermediate coarse network of raised ridges; red
and yellow.

=Habitat:= Woods; quite common.

=Bitter Boletus--Boletus felleus=

=Pileus:= At first firm in substance, becoming soft
and cushion-like; smooth, without polish, varying
in color from pale ochre to yellowish or reddish
brown; diameter three to nine inches.

=Flesh:= White on immediate section, generally
changing to slight pinkish or flesh color in
fracture.

=Tubes:= Tube-surface rounded upward as it reaches
stem; white at first, becoming dull pinkish with
age, or upon being bruised.

=Spores:= Flesh colored or dull pink.

=Stem:= Usually quite stout, nearly as smooth as the
cap, and somewhat lighter in color; more or less
ridged with coarse reticulations, occasionally
covered with them to its thickened base.

=Taste:= Bitter.

=Habitat:= Rich woods and copses, often about decaying
trunks.

PLATE XXIV

[Sidenote: =The crimson Boletus=]

_Boletus alveolatus_.--Pileus smooth and polished, usually rich crimson or maroon, sometimes varied with paler yellowish tints. Substance very solid, changing to blue on fracture or bruise. Tube surface deep dull crimson or maroon, this color not extending the full length of the pores, which are yellow a short distance above their mouths. The stem is quite stout and tall for the size of the cap as compared with other Boleti. It is mottled in yellow and bright red or crimson, and conspicuously meshed with a network of firm ridges. The spores are yellowish brown. A conspicuous and easily identified species.

THE VEGETABLE BEEFSTEAK

_Fistulina hepatica_

[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]

Our next member of the Polyporus order, or tube-bearing fungi, is a unique member of the fungus tribe, and cannot be mistaken for any other species. An example of this species is shown in Plate 25, the _beefsteak_ mushroom--_Fistulina hepatica_. The specimen from which my drawing was made was found growing at the foot of a chestnut-tree, and was about nine inches across by about two in greatest thickness. Its upper surface was dark meaty red or liver colored, somewhat wet, or viscid and clammy, and its taste slightly acid. The under tube surface was yellowish white, and, as the section will show, was proportionately thin--the pores being about one-eighth of an inch in length. The solid red substance much resembled meat, and in sections was streaked with darker lines of red, as indicated in plate, somewhat suggesting a section of beet-root.

[Sidenote: =Savory qualities=]

Though not common in my vicinity, I nevertheless succeed in obtaining a few specimens during the season. It varies greatly in size and shape. M. C. Cooke, in his admirable "plain and easy" account of British fungi, says of it: "When old it affords an excellent gravy, and when young, if sliced and grilled, would pass for a good beefsteak. Specimens are now and then met with that would furnish four or five men with a good dinner, and they have been collected weighing as much as thirty pounds. The liver, or paler pinkish meaty color, clammy viscidity, and streaky section are sufficient guides in the recognition of this species."

[Sidenote: =Culinary preparation=]

It is a highly prized article of diet on the Continent where the arts of the chef are ingeniously employed in endless recipes for its savory preparation, often, it would seem, with the main object of obliterating as far as possible all trace of the delicate flavor of the mushroom _per se_.

If the reader's experience correspond with the writer's in his mycological experiments "_à la mode_" he will gladly fall back to the plain plebeian method of simply broiling over the coals, or frying or roasting in the pan, with the least possible seasoning of pepper, salt, and butter, relying upon his mushroom to furnish the predominant zest and flavor.

Other hints for serving this fungus are given in a later chapter. Besides the common name of "beefsteak mushroom," it is also known on the Continent as the "oak tongue," and "chestnut tongue."

_PLATE XXV_

THE BEEFSTEAK MUSHROOM

=Fistulina hepatica=

=Pileus:= Diameter, average specimen, about six
inches, occasionally twice or three times this
size; color varying from pinkish to dark meaty red;
surface roughened with minute papillæ; soft and
moist.

=Flesh:= Light red, streaked with darker red; tender
and juicy in young specimens; juice light red.

=Tube surface:= Creamy in color; tubes distinct from
each other, crowded, very short, as shown in
section opposite.

=Stem:= Short or obsolete, growing at the side.

=Taste:= Slightly acid.

=Habitat:= On the stumps and trunks of oak and
chestnut trees.

=Season:= July-September.

PLATE XXV

THE SULPHUROUS POLYPORUS

_Polyporus sulphureus_

Probably the most conspicuous member of our native polyporei remains to be considered among the esculents, though until recently it was included in the black list, Dr. Curtis, of North Carolina, I believe, having first demonstrated its edibility, though pronouncing it merely "tolerable."

The brilliancy of its sulphur-yellow and orange-salmon colors, in association with its large size, renders it a most conspicuous object, especially from its habit of growing in dense clusters, often a number of such clusters in close contiguity upon a decaying stump or prostrate log, frequently so numerous and so crowded as to completely conceal the bark beneath, as shown in the accompanying figure, or completely covering; a space of several square feet.

There lies before me even as I write a fragment of a single cluster which I plucked yesterday from the trunk of an apparently healthy red-oak near my studio, the remainder of the clump having been enjoyed as a special course in my dinner of last evening. In Plate 26 I present a portrait of this specimen, the well-named Sulphur Polyporus--_Polyporus sulphureus_. It may be found frequently from July till frost upon its favorite habitat of old trunk, stump, log water-trough, or fencepost, usually upon wood in the early stages of decay. A single cluster will often measure a foot in diameter through its very solid mass of thickened pulpy branches, its early and esculent stage being thus compact with the subdivisions ascending from their common thick stem, the mass somewhat suggesting a cauliflower in shape, as shown in the illustration above.

The general color at this tender stage is pure sulphur-yellow, this being the ultimate _lower_ or spore surface now exposed by its upright position. The true upper surface or cap of the later eccentrically branched fungus is of a bright orange-salmon color, and is mostly concealed by the crowded growth.

[Sidenote: =A voice in the wilderness=]

The specimen above alluded to would have weighed about two pounds, and this central mass was so crowded as to afford scarcely a glimpse of the pinkish-orange pileus surface. Upon showing my specimen to a friend, I was informed that a certain log by the roadside about two miles distant was covered with this same kind of fungus, which seemed to be spreading all over the ground. Doubtless ten or twenty pounds of good nourishing food was thus going begging by the way-side, even in sight of a rural homestead, whose lord and master finds the butcher's bill a serious drain upon his resources.

My plate shows a more open cluster of the fungus in its earlier stages, the _only_ time when it is fit for food. In this condition it is tender, succulent, and juicy. In a few days the lobed fringes or fan-like divisions have lowered and spread out as widely as their crowded condition will permit, assuming the horizontal or even drooping position seen at C, and at D in the plate, as viewed from above. The pileus now being exposed, the fungus presents a deep orange-red or salmon color to the beholder, its sulphurous-hued pore surface being turned beneath. Its texture at this adult stage is tough, fibrous, and almost woody, especially as it approaches the stem, and no one would think of eating it.

The young specimen, however, is quite delicious and wholesome, and, considering that a single cluster will afford a dinner for a large family, its importance as a food product, especially to the farmer or peasant who finds economy a necessity, is thus manifest. Tasted at the tip, it yields for the first moment of mastication an acid flavor recalling that of the _Fistulina hepatica_. This is followed by a sweet, slightly mucilaginous savor, which, in the realization that the species is wholesome, will at once prove an invitation to further experiment with the fungus as food.

[Sidenote: =Texture and quality=]

The texture of the young mushroom will be found to vary in its different parts, extremely tender at the thickened tuberculated tips, becoming fibrous as the stem is approached, and increasing in toughness, in fracture suggesting wood in appearance (see A, Plate 26), and unless the specimen is _very_ young this portion will have to be excluded from the diet. Excepting this precaution it needs no preparation for the table, assuming, of course, that the substance is free from grubs, which will presumably be the case, as I have never seen this fungus thus infested except in its more advanced woody growth.

[Sidenote: =Methods of cooking=]

I have not as yet satisfied myself as to the best methods of cooking this polyporus. Fried in butter it has a tendency to become slightly tough in consistency, in its white stringy fibre as well as in taste closely suggesting the "white meat" of chicken. It lends itself well to a stew or ragoût, and might, perhaps, to a curry, the substance being cut or broken in small pieces and treated after the manner of meat under similar recipes. Following the hints contained in our last chapter, many methods of its culinary treatment will suggest themselves.

_PLATE XXVI_

THE SULPHUROUS POLYPORUS

=Polyporus sulphureus=

In the mature specimen the growth is horizontal,
spreading fan-like from stem, undulating with
radiating flutings. Upper surface salmon orange
or orange red, the edge being smooth and unevenly
thickened with nodule-like prominences. In young
specimen ascending, under yellow surface outwardly
exposed.

=Pore Surface:= Bright sulphur yellow; pores very
minute.

=Spores:= Dingy white.

=Stem:= Very short; a mere close attachment for the
spreading growth.

=Taste:= Slightly acid and mucilaginous when raw;
after cooking somewhat suggesting white meat of
chicken.

=Odor:= Suggesting A. campestris.

=Habitat:=: On tree trunks, particularly oaks, often
growing in very large clusters.

_A_. Section of fungus showing fibre.

_C_. and _D_. Matured specimen.

PLATE XXVI

[Sidenote: =Its ornamental attributes=]

The freely expanded specimen of this species is full of beauty, in its wavy fan-like form and flowing lines and flutings presenting a suggestive decorative theme, whether in the branches of painting, sculpture, or the plastic arts. The pores upon its sulphurous surface are so minute as to be scarcely visible, but they shed a copious quantity of whitish spores. The pileus of the dried specimen is often more or less frosted with minute white crystals--binoxalate of potash--and the spore surface dulls to the color of buckskin.

[Sidenote: =Luminous by night=]

Another remarkable feature about this fungus, if report be true, is its visibility by night, not merely from its pale yellow hue, but by an actual flood of bluish luminous phosphorescent light, the environment of its haunt in the woods sometimes being lighted up by the effulgence from its ample mass of growth, a resource not uncommon among the fungi, and popularly known under the name of "foxfire." This phenomenon is frequently observable in woods at night, following rainy weather. An old stump or prostrate log will appear streaked with lines of brilliant light. If we approach and detach the loosened bark, its back and the decayed surface of the log thus exposed will prove ablaze in phosphorescence, whose presence had scarcely been suspected but for the chance fissures which revealed the telltale streaks. I recall from my boyhood experience one such midnight episode as this in which, from the peculiar outline of the fallen trunk and the coincident circumstance of two approximate dots of brilliant light suggesting the eyes of a huge puma or tiger, I stood spell-bound with momentary fear, until I realized that the apparition was only a bugaboo after all. Approaching in the darkness, I soon laid hold of the rough head of the monster, and with a strong pull at the mass of bark of which it was composed, laid bare several square feet of blazing phosphorescence whose only hint had gleamed through those two imaginary eyes, which proved to be holes which had disclosed the hidden luminous fungus. One authority describes a single mass of this phosphorescence as extending the entire length of a prostrate trunk thirty feet long.

Hawthorne records having made good use of foxfire upon one occasion when, left in the lurch at night by a canal-boat, he procured a phosphorescent flambeau which effectually lighted his path for several miles through the otherwise impassable woods.

Miscellaneous Fungi

The species of fungi thus far described have been confined to the two great orders of the Agarics and the Polyporei, which include the large majority of our edible mushrooms and toadstools.

The remainder of my selection in the present chapter comprises scattered examples from four other orders: Hydnei (Spine-bearers), Clavariei (Coral-fungi), and the Trichogastres (Puff-balls), all belonging to the first great division of the Sporifera. The remaining two species considered--Morel and Helvella, of the order Elvellacei--are my only representatives of the second grand cohort of the Sporidiifera, whose botanical characters are described on page 77.

In our previous examples the hymenium or spore-bearing surface has been disposed upon "gills," as in the Agarics, and on "tubes" in the Polypores. In the Hydnei group, which we will first consider, this disseminating surface is spread over _spines_ or _teeth_.

The examples selected from this order are both in the typical genus Hydnum; and the object of this present book on fungi being especially the presentation of only such varieties as are conspicuously self-placarded by some distinctive marks for identification, these delicious spine-bearing or "hedgehog" mushrooms should of course be included--a genus which cannot be mistaken for any other, and which is _instantly_ recognized by its own peculiar character, already mentioned, its spore surface being beset with _soft, drooping spines_ instead of pores or gills. There are more than a score of species. The two more or less common with us are the _Hydnum repandum_, in outline suggesting an ordinary mushroom, and of which the above cut represents a section, and the _H. caput-medusæ_, or Medusa-head Hydnum. None of the group is accounted poisonous, though some of them are too tough to be acceptable as food.

_PLATE XXVII_

THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM

=Hydnum repandum=

=Pileus:= Diameter two to five inches, generally
irregular, with the stem off centre. Color varying
from pale buff, the typical hue, to a distinct
bricky red.

=Spines:= Beneath the cap, one-quarter to one-third
inch in length; soft, creamy in tint, becoming
darker in old specimens.

=Flesh:= Creamy white, solid.

=Stem:= Often set eccentrically into the cap;
proportionately thick and short.

=Taste:= Slightly aromatic.

=Habitat=: Woods or shaded places in rich soil, often
in clusters.

=Season:= Summer and autumn.

PLATE XXVII

THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM

_Hydnum repandum_

[Sidenote: =Characters and qualities=]

In this species, figured on Plate 27, bearing somewhat the contour of an Agaric, the spines are all confined to the lower surface of the expanded cap. The general color of the upper surface is buff, generally very pale, occasionally almost white. The spines being of similar hue, this color and the smoothness of texture have suggested the common popular English name of "doeskin mushroom." The flesh is firm and white or creamy, turning brownish when bruised. Its sweet but slightly pungent or peppery taste when raw disappears in cooking. It is quite frequent in our woods, and if fresh and free from insects may be eaten without the slightest hesitation. It is a species highly favored on the Continent, where the surplus yield is habitually dried and kept for winter use. The hot flavor of the raw Hydnum was formerly sufficient to brand it as poisonous, Roques, I believe, having been the first to demonstrate its edibility, and Dr. Badham to distinguish its mimetic flavor--"Hydna as good as oysters, which they somewhat resemble in taste."

[Sidenote: =Variations and varieties=]

Cooke and Berkeley describe a variety of this mushroom having a distinctly reddish pileus--_H. rufescens_--and Prof. Charles Peck gives the species quite a range in its color gamut. "Its color may be pale buff, rusty yellow, pale red, or sienna color." The "pale buff" will doubtless be found to be the most common. In the variety _rufescens_ the size is smaller and the form more symmetrical, but the general shape and fringe-toothed spore surface are sufficient to identify the typical species under any disguise of color.

The cap is occasionally quite symmetrical, suggesting the outline of a Boletus in profile, but more commonly is irregular and eccentric, with stem attached towards its side, as indicated in section on previous page. It may reach the diameter of five inches in a fine specimen.

Its favorite haunt is the open woods, where it may be seen from the last of June until September, either singly or in clusters, lifting the dried leaves from their bed, or occasionally barely revealed beneath them.

But the most important and savory of the entire group of Hydnei is the species following:

THE MEDUSA HYDNUM

_H. caput-medusæ_

[Sidenote: =A dinner thrown away=]

While driving through the White Mountain Notch, many years ago, I chanced upon a mass of cream-colored, fringy fungus growing upon a fallen beech-log by the side of the road. The fungus was then entirely new to me, and I lost no time in making a sketch of it, with notes. The growth covered a space possibly eighteen inches wide by eight in height, and I estimated it would weigh fully five pounds, its most marked feature being the dense growth of drooping spines. In my limited knowledge of edible fungi at the time, I cautiously left the specimen in the woods, afterwards to learn from Dr. Harkness, the mycologist, that I had "thrown away five pounds of the most delicious fungus meat known to the epicure." I have since found minor specimens many times, and can readily understand the enthusiastic encomiums of my connoisseur friend as to its esculent qualities.

_PLATE XXVIII_

THE MEDUSA MUSHROOM

=Hydnum caput-medusæ=

=Spines:= The long, soft spines cover the entire
exposed portion of the fungus, which is disposed
in fleshy branching divisions, each terminating in
a "crown" of shorter, drooping teeth. The color is
pale buff or dark creamy.

=Stem:= Short, concealed beneath the growth.

=Taste:= Sweet and aromatic, slightly pungent.

=Habitat:= Trunks of trees, especially beech.

=Season:= July to October.

PLATE XXVIII

[Sidenote: =Haunt and description=]

This species (Plate 28) cannot be confounded with any other; it is of a dark creamy color, and usually grows sidewise upon dead beech wood (Plate 29), sometimes in great profusion, especially in the summer. The soft spines entirely cover the rounded branching protuberances of the fungus. The upper teeth are short and form a sort of "crown," falling from which the more and more elongated spines are firmly pendent beneath, somewhat suggesting as many heads of tiny skye-terriers in crowded convocation--or a tiny bleached "hedgehog," if you choose.

A fungus bearing such conspicuous characteristics may be gathered and eaten without fear, assuming the specimen to be fresh and free from grubs. It will be found an aromatic and savory morsel, though simply fried in butter and served on toast.

[Sidenote: =Moss-mushroom=]

One other species may be mentioned briefly, the _H. coralloides_, or Moss-mushroom, which is unfamiliar to the writer, but which Curtis includes among his edible fungi. It may be found growing sidewise "on old trunks of living trees," _at first white_, then yellowish, resembling when young the _chou-fleur_ (cauliflower). From its base, which is tender and fleshy, spring a large number of flexible branches, interlaced and assembled in tufts, bearing upon the summit of each of their divisions an expansion of long points or projections, at first straight, then pendent, and even curved under, and terminating in layers. Cordier says that it is "delicate food."

Professor Peck speaks enthusiastically of this species. "It is found in woods, especially in hilly and mountainous districts, and occurs during rainy or showery weather from August to October. It is a pretty fungus, and very attractive to those who are neither botanists nor fungus eaters, and it is as good as it is beautiful. In our botanical expeditions in the vast wilderness of the Adirondack region, we were often obliged to camp in the woods several nights in succession. On such occasions this fungus sometimes formed a luxurious addition to our ordinarily simple and sometimes limited bill of fare."

[Sidenote: =Hydnum in the kitchen=]

The Hydnei may be cooked in the same manner as employed for the ordinary mushroom, or gathered and dried for winter use, a very common custom on the Continent. Owing to the somewhat firm, compact substance of these mushrooms they should be cooked _slowly_, in order to preserve their tenderness. Berkeley recommends that they be "previously" steeped in hot water. Badham especially favors the Hydnum stew, which he claims is "an excellent dish with a flavor of oysters." According to the same authority it yields also a "very good purée." The "oyster" flavor is recognized in many of the epicurean encomiums on this species. Various hints as to its culinary treatment will be found in a later chapter.

THE CORAL OR CLUB FUNGUS

_Clavaria_

[Sidenote: =A neglected feast=]

What frequenter of the summer and autumn woods has failed to observe that occasional dense cluster of creamy-colored, coral-like growth such as I have indicated at Plate 30, and who has thought to gather up its fragile, succulent mass with designs on the cook? I have seen clusters of this fungus so dense and ample as to strikingly suggest a huge cauliflower, and representing many pounds in weight. But in the absence of popular appreciation it must needs decay by "whole hundred-weights" in the woods.

This is the Clavaria, or coral fungus--more literally translated, though less appropriate to this particular species, "club fungus"--a representative of a genus containing many edible species.

The one presented in the Plate is _Clavaria formosa_, or the elegant Clavaria. It grows from four to six inches in height, is deep creamy yellow or pale orange buff in color, and slightly reddish at tips of branches. It has a sweet taste, a fragile, brittle consistency, and white substance; its spores are pale-ochre colored. Curtis gives thirteen edible native species. Among them are the following, which hardly call for severe technical description, as the entire group are doubtless edible:

[Sidenote: =Clavaria coralloides=]

The _true_ "coral fungus"--_Clavaria coralloides_--of our woods resembles _C. formosa_ in general shape, but its color is _white_, or perhaps pale gray. Its thick stem is hollow, and its uneven, crowded branches are brittle and flesh-white. Its odor is like that of the _Agaricus campestris_, and it possesses a sweet, pleasant flavor. Cordier recommends it as eatable even when raw. This species is in great favor in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where it is desiccated for winter use.

_PLATE XXX_

THE CORAL FUNGUS

=Clavaria formosa=

Thickly branched from a stout pale base, the dense
branchlets being tipped with two or three minute
teeth.

=Color:= Saffron yellow. Tips generally darker and
more rosy.

=Flesh:= White.

=Spores:= Ochre-tinted.

=Taste:= Sweet, tender, and delicate.

=Height:= Four to six inches.

=Habitat:= Woods.

PLATE XXX

PLATE XXXI.--VARIOUS FORMS OF CLAVARIA]

[Sidenote: =Clavaria fastigiata=]

_Clavaria fastigiata_ is a somewhat dwarf variety, usually found on lawns and pastures, seldom reaching a height of more than two inches. In general aspect it resembles Fig. 3 in Plate 31. It is of a yellow color, very densely branched from its short, slender stem close to the ground, the branches mostly terminating at the same height.

[Sidenote: =White-spored species edible=]

All of the above-mentioned species, except _C. formosa_, have _white spores_, and while none of the genus is considered poisonous, though some are so bitter and of such tough consistency as to make them unfit for food, it is generally conceded among the authorities that _all white-spored_ Clavarias _are certainly edible_. The spores are easily obtained by simply laying the fungus upon a dark surface and excluding the air, as directed in a later chapter.

The various forms assumed by the Clavarei are indicated in Plate 31.

Fig. 1 is _C. flava_; 2. _C. stricta_; 3. _C. umbrina_; 4. _C. rugosa_; 5. _C. amethystina_. Any specimen bearing resemblance to any of these in form, and which is found to have _white_ spores, may be eaten without fear.

The Clavaria forms a most inviting relish by the simple process of frying in butter, with seasoning to taste. They have the advantage of being quite free from "fungus-worms," and in the larger species are occasionally so plentiful that a half-bushel may be gathered in a few moments.

Another species bearing the general shape suggested in Plate 31, fig. 1, is the _C. botrytis_. It has a thick, fleshy trunk and swollen branches. Its substance is very brittle; color creamy-yellow, with red-tipped branchlets. It is found in woods.

THE MOREL

_Morchella esculenta_

In decided contrast to any of the foregoing fungi, and of unmistakable aspect, is the famous Morel, _Morchella esculenta_ (Plate 32).

[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]

The Morel belongs to a cohort of fungi known as the Sporidiifera, in which the spores are _enclosed in bag-like envelopes_, in distinction to the Sporifera, in which the spores are _naked_ and _exposed_, as shown in Plates 35 and 36. These cysts, or bags, or _asci_, which resemble the _cystidium_ in Plate 35, and in the family of Ascomycetes, to which the Morel belongs, each contains about eight spores, which are finally liberated by the bursting of the tip of the bag, after the manner of a Puff-ball.

In the Morel the hymenium or spore-bearing surface is crowded with these cysts, and covers the entire exposed conical and pitted surface of the mushroom.

Description is hardly necessary with its portrait before us. No other fungus at all resembles it except those of the same genus, and inasmuch as they are _all edible_, we may safely add to our bill of fare any fungus which resembles our illustration. The Morel has long been considered as one of the rarest of delicacies, always at a fancy premium in the markets--a _bon-mot_ for the rich, a prize for the peasant. I could fill all my allotted space with the delicate schemes of the chefs in its preparation for the table.

_PLATE XXXII_

THE MOREL

=Morchella esculenta=

=Pileus:= Oval, elliptical, or round in outline;
diameter one inch to three inches in a large
specimen; hollow. Color pale yellowish brown,
varying to greenish; surface more or less regularly
honey-combed with deep depressions.