Chapter I: Introduction

In the year 1876, as Microscopist of the Department of Agriculture, I prepared, as a part of the exhibit of my Division at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, a large collection of water-color drawings representing leading types of the edible and poisonous mushrooms of the United States, together with representations of about nine hundred species of microscopic fungi detrimental to vegetation.

In the preparation of the first collection I had the valuable assistance of Prof. Charles H. Peck, State Botanist of New York, and in the second the hearty co-operation of Rev. M. J. Berkeley and Dr. M. C. Cook, the eminent British mycologists.

The popular character of this exhibit attracted the attention of the general public, and many letters were received at the Department showing an awakening interest in the study of fungi, particularly with regard to the mushroom family, as to methods of cultivation, the means of determining the good from the unwholesome varieties, etc.

My first published paper on the subject of edible mushrooms, entitled "Twelve Edible Mushrooms of the U. S.," appeared in the annual report of the Department of Agriculture for 1885. This was followed by others to the number of five, and as the demand for these reports increased, reprints were made and issued, by order of the Secretary of Agriculture, in pamphlet form, under the general title of "Food Products." Numerous editions of these reprints were issued by the Department up to 1894. During the year 1894, and the first half of 1895, 36,600 of these reports were sent out by the Department, and the supply was exhausted. They have been out of print for more than two years. It is in view of this fact, and in response to a great and constant demand for these publications, that I have undertaken to publish a series of five pamphlets on the edible and poisonous mushrooms of the United States, which shall embody the substance of the five pamphlets on "Food Products" above alluded to, supplemented by new matter relating to classification, general and specific, analytical tables of standard authors, and a continuation of the chapters on structure, etc. Additional plates, representing leading types of edible and poisonous mushrooms, will also be inserted in each number.

In the compilation and extension of this work I have the assistance of my daughter, Miss A. Robena Taylor, who has given considerable attention to the study of fungi, and who has been my faithful coadjutor in the work of collecting specimens, etc., for a number of years.

For valuable suggestions as to structural characteristics and methods of classification I am especially indebted to Prof. Chas. H. Peck, of Albany, New York, Dr. M. C. Cooke, of England, and Prof. P. A. Saccardo, of Italy.

The colored plates in pamphlet No. 1, together with a few of those which will appear in the succeeding numbers of this series, are reproductions of those prepared, under my direct supervision, for the pamphlets entitled "Food Products" published by the Department of Agriculture and referred to above.

THOMAS TAYLOR, M. D.

May 7, 1897.

CRYPTOGAMS.

The cryptogamic or flowerless plants, _i. e._, those having neither stamens nor pistils, and which are propagated by spores, are divided, according to Dr. Hooper, into the following four classes:--Pteridophyta or vascular acrogens, represented by the ferns, club-mosses, etc.; Bryophyta or cellular acrogens, represented by the musci, scale-mosses, etc.; Algae, represented by the "Red Seaweeds," Diatomacae, etc.; Fungi or Amphigens, which include the molds, mildews, mushrooms, etc. The lichens, according to the "Schwendener Hypotheses," consist of ascigerous fungi parasitic on algae.

FUNGI.

Botanists unite in describing the plants of this class as being destitute of chlorophyll and of starch. These plants assume an infinite variety of forms, and are propagated by spores which are individually so minute as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. They are entirely cellular, and belong to the class Amphigens, which for the most part have no determinate axe, and develop in every direction, in contradistinction to the Acrogens, which develop from the summit, possessing an axe, leaves, vessels, etc.

Fungi are divided by systematists into two great classes:

1. Sporifera, in which the spores are free, naked, or soon exposed.

2. Sporidifera, in which the spores are not exposed, but instead are enclosed in minute cells or sacs, called asci.

These classes are again subdivided, according to the disposition of the spores and of the spore bearing surface, called the hymenium, into various families.

The sporiferous fungi are arranged into four families, viz:

1. _Hymenomycetes_, in which the hymenium is free, mostly naked, or soon exposed. _Example, "Common Meadow Mushroom."_

2. _Gasteromycetes_, in which the hymenium is enclosed in a second case or wrapper, called a peridium, which ruptures when mature, thus releasing the spores. _Example, Common Puff Ball._

3. _Coniomycetes_, in which the spores are naked, mostly terminal on inconspicuous threads, free or enclosed in a perithecium. Dust-like fungi. _Example, Rust of Wheat._

4. _Hyphomycetes_, in which the spores are naked on conspicuous threads, rarely compacted, Thread-like fungi. _Example, Blue Mold._

Of these four subdivisions of the Sporifera, only the Hymenomycetes and the Gasteromycetes contain plants of the mushroom family, and these two together constitute the class known as the Basidiomycetes. The chief distinction of the Basidiomycetes is that the naked spores are borne on the summits of certain supporting bodies, termed basidia. These basides are swollen, club-shaped cells, surmounted by four minute tubes or spore-bearers, called sterigmata, each of which carries a spore. See Figs. 3 and 4, Plate A.

These basides together with a series of elongated cells, termed paraphyses, packed closely together side by side, and intermixed with other sterile cells, called cystidia, constitute the spore-bearing surface or hymenium of the plant.

To the naked eye this hymenium appears simply as a very thin smooth membrane, but when a small portion of it is viewed through a microscope with high powers its complex structure is readily observed and can be carefully studied.

The _Sporidiferous_ fungi are represented by the families Physomycetes and Ascomycetes. The first of these consists wholly of microscopic fungi.

_Ascomycetes._--In the plants of this family the spores are not supported upon basidia, but instead are enclosed in minute sacs or asci formed from the fertile cells of a hymenium. In this connection it would be well to state that Saccardo does not recognize the divisions _Sporifera_ and _Sporidifera_ by those names.

They are nearly the equivalent of Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes.

What Cooke names Physomycetes, Saccardo calls Phycomyceteae, introducing it in his work between Gasteromyceteae and Myxomyceteae, which some mycologists consider somewhat out of place.

Saccardo calls its asci (sacs which contain the spores) sporangia. He does not regard them as genuine asci, but as corresponding more to the peridium of the _Gasteromyceteae_ and _Myxomyceteae._

Peck says that this group seems to present characters of both Hyphomycetes and Ascomycetes, with a preponderance towards Hyphomycetes.

It is a small group, however, and since it consists wholly of microscopic fungi, need not be farther considered in this work.

In the Ascomycetes are included the sub-families Discomycetes, Pyrenomycetes, and Tuberacei. Of these the Discomycetes and the Tuberacei are the only groups which contain any of the mushrooms, and but few of these are large enough or sufficiently tender to possess value as esculents. A good example of the first (Discomycetes) is found in the Morel, and of the second (Tuberacei) in the Truffle.

In the Discomycetes or "disk fungi," the spores are produced in minute membraneous sacs, each sac usually containing eight spores. These spore sacs are imbedded in the flesh of the exterior and upper surface of the mushroom cap.

In the four classes, Hymenomycetes, Gasteromycetes, Discomycetes, and Tuberacei, therefore, are included all of the plants which are here designated under the generic term of "mushrooms."

Some idea of the relative numerical value of these classes may be obtained from the following figures given by the distinguished British mycologist, M. C. Cooke:

"Hymenomyceteae--total number of described species 9,600
Gasteromycetae-- " " " " " 650
Discomyceteae-- " " " known " 3,500"

(The Tuberacei comprise a very small group of subterranean fungi, and comparatively few of the species are described.)

Saccardo in his Sylloge gives a total of 42,000 described species of fungi of all classes, including the most minute. Of these the Hymenomycetes include by far the largest number of edible mushrooms.

The family Hymenomycetes is divided into the following six orders: Agaricini, Polyporei, Hydnei, Thelephorei, Clavarei, Tremellini.

In the order Agaricini the hymenium is found on the under surface of the mushroom cap, covering pleats or gills, technically called lamellae. These gills vary in character in the different genera, being "persistent in such as the Agaricus, Russula, and Lentinus, deliquescent (melting) in Coprinus, Bolbitius, etc. The edge of the gills is acute in Agaricus, Marasmius, etc., but obtuse and vein-like in Cantharellus, longitudinally channelled in Trogia, and splitting in Schyzophyllum."

In the Polyporei, pore-bearing mushrooms, the gills are replaced by tubes or pores. The tubes are little cylinders, long or short, pressed one against another, forming by their union a layer on the under surface of the cap, and the sporiferous membrane or hymenium lines their inner walls. Their upper end is always closed, while the lower extremity is open to permit the outward passage of the spores. The tubes are generally joined together and are not easily disunited. They are free, _i. e._, separable, in the sole genus _Fistulina_. As regards their attachment to the cap, the tubes may be firmly adherent as in the genus Polyporus or easily detached in a single mass as in Boletus, the fleshy form of the order Polyporei. They frequently leave a circular space of greater or less dimensions around the stem, or they adhere to or are prolonged upon it in such a manner that the orifices rise in tiers one above another. The color of the tubes, although not offering as characteristic varieties as that of the gills, changes nevertheless according to species and according to the age of the plant. The tubes may sometimes be of a different color from their orifices, as in _Boletus luridus_. In some of the Boleti the color of the flesh is changed on exposure to the air and the tubes often assume the same tints. The tubes, generally called pores, are sometimes closely adherent to the substance of the cap, which is often hard, corky, or coriaceous, as seen in most of the _Polyporei_.

In the Hydnei, spine-bearing mushrooms, the hymenium is seen covering the spines or needle-like processes which take the place of gills in this order, and which project from the under surface of the cap. These spines may be divided or entire, simple or ramified, and are formed of the substance of the cap. In the early stages of development they appear like small projecting points or papillae, those on the margin of the cap and at the apex of the stem being always less developed, frequently remaining in this rudimentary state. They are rounded in the species Hydnum imbricatum, sometimes compressed in Hydnum repandum, sometimes terminating in hairs or filaments, as in Hydnum barba Jovis, or very much divided, as in Hydnum fimbriatum.

In the Clavarei, the whole plant consists of solid fleshy masses without any stem of a distinct substance, sometimes club-shaped, sometimes branched with the hymenium smoothly covering the entire surface, never incrusting or coriaceous.

In the Thelephorei, the lower surface of the cap presents neither gills, pores, nor spines, but instead the hymenium covers an uneven or slightly wrinkled surface, partially striate, sometimes obscurely papillose. The plants of this order assume a great variety of shape, from that of a perfect cup with a central stem to an irregularly and much branched frond. They are generally dry and tough. Very few are recommended as edible. Prof. Peck says of this order that probably no edible species will be found in any of its genera outside of the genus Craterellus.

In the order Tremellini we have a great departure from the character of the substance, external appearance, and internal structure of the other orders of the Hymenomycetes. The substance is gelatinous; the form is lobed, folded, or convolute, often resembling the brain of some animal. It is uniformly composed throughout of a colorless mucilage, with no appreciable texture, in which are distributed very fine, diversely branched, and anastomosing filaments. Towards the surface the ultimate branches of this filamentous network give birth to globular cells, both at their summits and laterally, which attain a comparatively large size. These cells are filled with a protoplasm, to which the plant owes its color. The fertile threads are not compacted into a true hymenium.

Representative types of the above-described orders of the Hymenomycetes are shown in Plate B. The various genera, and species of these orders, will be described more in detail in connection with the species illustrated.

CLASSIFICATION.

Owing to the fact that botanists of various countries, writing in diverse languages, have for more than a century been engaged in describing the fungi of their respective countries, with their work frequently unknown to one another, it is not surprising that there has been constant revision, or that many changes have been made in the way of classification and nomenclature which to the amateur student are often confusing.

The classification by the pioneer mycologist, Elias Fries, as presented in his several works on fungi, ignored all microscopical characters, and Saccardo's classification, as presented in his _Sylloge Fungorum_, was the first complete system offered in its place.

Saccardo, in 1882, commenced his Sylloge, of which not less than twelve volumes have been published. In Saccardo's system of classification the six orders of the Hymenomycetes are not essentially different in their arrangement from that of Fries, although Saccardo has raised all the subgenera of Agaricus to the rank of genera, and then altered their sequence so as to bring them into four sections, distinguished by the color of their spores. Having raised the old subgenera of Fries to generic rank, Saccardo found it necessary to limit the application of the term Agaricus to the group of fungi to which it was originally applied by Linnaeus, viz., the common field mushroom Agaricus campester, and its allies, represented by Agaricus arvensis, Agaricus Rodmani, etc., or, as Prof. Peck more definitely states it, "to those of the gilled mushrooms which have brown spores, free gills, a stem bearing a ring, gills generally pink-colored in the early stage, and brownish black when fully matured." M. C. Cooke, the distinguished English mycologist, prefers to retain the _genus Agaricus_ with its original subgenera intact, succeeded by the other genera of Agaricini, as in the Hymenomycetes Europei of Fries, giving as his reason the belief "that for purposes of classification features should be taken which are present and evident in the specimens themselves, and are not dependent on any of their life-history which cannot be presented in the herbarium."

In a work such as the present, which is designed to be popular in character rather than purely technical, it is deemed advisable to select as a basis for classification that system which is most accessible to reference by the general reading public. Saccardo's Sylloge, while exhaustive in character and of inestimable value to the mycologist, is written in Latin, and is, moreover, a very expensive work--facts which render it practically unavailable to the general public.

In the compilation of this series of pamphlets I have adopted the classification of M. C. Cooke, which, as regards the Hymenomycetes, the family containing most of the fleshy fungi, is, with exceptions noted, in accord with that of Saccardo. M. C. Cooke's hand-book of fungi is of convenient size and form for ready reference.

For the convenience, however, of those who may wish to familiarize themselves with both systems, a synopsis of _Saccardo's Genera_ of Hymenomycetes will be given later.

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGARICINI.

By far the greater number of the Agaricini have both cap and stem. The form of the cap, as well as that of the stem, varies somewhat in the different genera and species. Those which are terrestrial in habit are generally of an umbrella-like shape, while those which grow upon trees and decayed tree-stumps are apt to be one-sided or semi-spherical.

In many of the parasitical mushrooms the stem is absent. Where the stem is present it is either an interrupted continuation of the hymenophore or fleshy substance of the cap, or else is supported separately as a pillar on which the cap rests, a more or less distinct line of demarcation showing where the fibers terminate. Sometimes it is quite easily detached from the cap socket, as in the Lepiota procerus. It may be hollow or stuffed, solid or fibrillose. It varies in length and thickness. In some species it is smooth and polished, in others rough and hairy, reticulated, etc., sometimes tapering, sometimes distinctly bulbous at the base.

The spores of the species differ in color and are usually globular or oblong in shape. All of these characteristics assist in determining the species.

MUSHROOM GILLS.

Mushroom gills, or lamellae, anatomically considered, are composed, first, of a central portion, a prolongation of the hymenophore or flesh of the cap, more or less dense, sometimes so thin as to be scarcely perceptible; second, the hymenium or spore-bearing membrane covering the surfaces of this prolonged hymenophore. They are vertical, simple, equal, respectively, or more frequently alternating with shorter gills. They are often evanescent and putrescent, sometimes liquefying altogether. Their color is usually different from the upper surface of the cap, not always similar to that of the spores borne upon them, at least in youth; with age, however, they usually assume the color of the mature spore. The change of color of the gills according to the age of the plant is very important in the study of the Agaricini; it accounts for the white gills of certain species in youth, the pink in maturity, and the brown when aged.

The end of the gill nearest the stalk of the plant is termed the posterior extremity; the opposite end, the anterior extremity. In most of the Agaricini the gills are unequal. Some extend from the margin to about half the space between it and the stem; others are still shorter.

THE VOLVA.

The volva is a membrane which envelops the entire plant in embryo, giving it the appearance of an egg. It originates at the base of the mushroom and furnishes it, during its foetal life, with the means of support and nourishment. Its texture is so delicate that it generally disappears, leaving very little trace of its existence on the adult plant. In many of the volvate species this organ exists only so long as they are under ground, and some mycologists restrict the term "volvati" to such only as retain it afterwards. As the young plant expands it breaks through the top of this volva or wrapper, and, emerging, carries with it patches of the membrane on the upper surface of the cap. These are more or less prominent, numerous, and thick, sometimes irregularly disposed, sometimes regularly in the form of plates, warts, etc. At the base of the stem of the mushroom the remains of the volva are seen in the form of a sort of wrapper. This is more or less ample, thick, and ascending. It is called _free_ when it is loose or easily detached from the stem, and _congenital_ when it cannot be separated from it without laceration. In some species it is distinctly membranous, and in others floccose, and friable in character, sometimes appearing in ridges as a mere border, at others broken up into scales, and, as the plant matures, wholly disappearing. The volva is a feature of great importance in the study of the Agaricini, of the subgenera Amanita, Volvaria, etc.

THE MUSHROOM VEIL.

The veil is not a constant feature in the Agaricini, at least it is not always visible. When present it consists of a membrane which extends from the margin of the cap to the stem, veiling or protecting the gills. This membrane, called the cortina, has given its name to a numerous and important class of mushrooms (the _Cortinarias_). It is generally white, soft, slightly spongy, cottony, at times fibrillose or even slightly fibrous, again in texture comparable to the spider's web, and may be even powdery or glutinous. It exists intact only in the youth of the plant. It is not visible in the developing mushroom, at least while the cap is closely pressed against the stem, but as the cap expands the membrane extends and finally breaks, leaving in some species its remnants upon the margin of the cap and upon the stem in the usual form of a ring or a mere zone. When the stem is not ringed the veil rises high upon the stalk, stretches across to meet the edges of the cap, and is afterwards reflected back over its whole surface.

MUSHROOM SPORES AND MYCELIUM.

The spore is the reproductive organ of the mushroom. It differs from the seed of the flowering plant in being destitute of an apparent embryo. A seed contains a plantlet which develops as such. A spore is a minute cell containing a nucleus or living germ, the reproductive cell germ called by some authors the germinating granule. This in turn throws out a highly elongated process consisting of a series of thread-like cells branching longitudinally and laterally, at length bifurcating and anastomosing the mass, forming the vegetative process known as mycelium or mushroom spawn.

On this mycelium, at intervals, appear knob-like bodies, called tubercles, from which the mushrooms spring and from which they derive their nourishment. See Fig. 5, Plate A.

Where the conditions have been unfavorable this mycelium has been known to grow for years without bearing fruit.

Mushroom spores are very variable in size, shape, and color, but are generally constant at maturity in the same genus. Their shape, almost always spherical in the young plant, becomes ovate, ellipsoidal, fusiform, reniform, smooth, stellate, sometimes tuberculate, or remains globose. This feature, varying thus with the age of the plant, should be studied in the mature plant.

MYCELIUM.

De Leveille has thus defined mycelium: "Filaments at first simple, then more or less complicated, resulting from the vegetation of the spores and serving as roots to the mushroom."

The mycelium of mushrooms or the mushroom spawn is usually white, but is also found yellow, and even red. It is distinguished by some writers as nematoid, fibrous, hymenoid, scleroid or tuberculous, and malacoid. The nematoid mycelium is the most common. Creeping along on the surface of the earth, penetrating it to a greater or less depth, developing in manure among the debris of leaves or decayed branches, always protected from the light, it presently consists of very delicate filamentous cells more or less loosely interwoven, divided, anastomosing in every direction and often of considerable extent.

Its presence is sometimes difficult to detect without the use of the microscope, either on account of its delicacy or because of its being intermingled with the organic tissues in which it has developed.

Sometimes mycelium unites in bundles more or less thick and branched. This has been called the fibrous mycelium. Where the filaments intercross closely, are felted, and inclined to form a membrane, it is hymenoid mycelium. Where the filaments are so small and close that they form very compact bodies, constituting those solid irregular products called sclerotium, it is scleroid or tuberculous mycelium. With malacoid mycelium we have nothing to do in this paper. It is a soft, pulpy, fleshy mycelium.

Systematists have divided the Agaricini into groups according to the color of their spores. These groups are defined as follows by various authors:

According to--

Elias Fries, 5 groups: _Leucosporus_, white; _Hyporhodius_, pink;
_Cortinaria_, ochraceous; _Derminus_, rust; _Pratella_, purplish
black.

Rev. J. M. Berkeley, 5 groups: Very frequently pure white, but
presenting also pink, various tints of brown, from yellowish and
rufous to dark bister, purple-black, and finally black;
_Leucospori_, white; _Hyporhodii_, salmon; _Dermini_, ferruginous;
_Pratellae_, brown; _Coprinarius_, black.

Dr. Badham, 6 groups: Pure white or a yellow tinge on drying; brown;
yellow; pink; purple; purple-black; some pass successively from pink
to purple and from purple to purple-black.

Mrs. Hussey, 11 shades: White; rose; pale ocher; olivaceous-ocher;
reddish-ocher; ochraceous; yellowish olive-green; dull brown;
scarcely ferruginous; snuff-color; very dark brown.

Hogg & Johnson, 5 groups: _Leucosporei_, white; _Hyporhodii_,
salmon; _Dermini_, rusty; _Pratellae_, purplish-brown; _Coprinarii_,
black.

C. Gillet, 7 shades: White; pink; ochraceous; yellow; ferruginous;
black or purplish black; round, ovate, elongated, or fusiform,
smooth, tuberculate or irregular, simple or composite, transparent
or nebulous, etc.

Jules Bel, 5 groups: White; pink; red; brown; black.

Dr. Gautier, 5 shades: White; pink; brown; purplish-brown; black.

Constantin & Dufour, 5 groups: White; pink; ochraceous;
brownish-purple; black.

J. P. Barla, 7 groups: _Leucosporii_, white; _Hyporhodii_, pink;
_Cortinariae_, ochraceous; _Dermini_, rust; _Pratellae_,
purplish-black; _Coprinarii_, blackish; _Coprini_ and _Gomphi_,
dense black.

L. Boyer, 5 groups, 11 shades: White to cream yellow; pale pink to
ochraceous yellow; bay or red brown to brown or blackish bister;
rust color, cinnamon or light yellow.

W. D. Hay, 5 groups: White; pink; brown; purple; black.

C. H. Peck, 5 groups: _Leucosporii_, white; _Hyporhodii_, salmon;
_Dermini_, rust; _Pratellae_, brown; _Coprinarii_, black.

Saccardo divides the Agaricini into four sections, according to the
color of their spores, as follows: Spores brown, purplish brown or
black, _Melanosporae_; spores ochraceous or rusty ochraceous,
_Ochrosporae_; spores rosy or pinkish, _Rhodosporae_; spores white,
whitish or pale yellow, _Leucosporae_.

Dr. M. C. Cooke, 5 groups: _Leucospori_, white or yellowish;
_Hyporhodii_, rosy or salmon color; _Dermini_, brown, sometimes
reddish or yellowish brown; _Pratellae_, purple, sometimes brownish
purple, dark purple, or dark brown; _Coprinarii_, black or nearly
so.

These shades are somewhat different from the colors of the mushrooms' gills, so that, when it is of importance to determine exactly the color of the spore in the identification of a species, we may without recourse to the microscope cut off the stem of an adult plant on a level with the gills and place the under surface of the cap upon a leaf of white paper if a dark-spored species, and upon a sheet of black paper if the spores are light. At the expiration of a few hours we will find, on lifting the cap, a bed of the shed spores which will represent their exact shade. These may be removed to a glass slide and their size and form determined by means of the microscope.

In the present work Dr. M. C. Cooke's grouping of the spore series is adopted.

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "MUSHROOM."

Various opinions have been offered as to the derivation of the word "mushroom." According to Hay, it probably had its origin in a combination of the two Welsh words _maes_, a field, and _rhum_, a knob, which by gradual corruption have become _mushroom_. Some writers on the other hand regard it as a corruption of _mousseron_, a name specifically applied by the French to those mushrooms which are found growing in mossy places. But it seems to be of older usage than such a derivation would imply, and therefore the first explanation seems the more likely to be correct.

In England the term "mushroom" has been most commonly applied to the "meadow mushroom," that being the one best known; but English-speaking mycologists now apply it generically very much as the French do the term "champignon," while the name "champignon" is restricted in England to the Marasmius oreades, or "Fairy Ring" mushroom.

Berkeley says the French word "champignon" was originally scarcely of wider signification than our word "mushroom," though now classical in the sense of fleshy fungi generally. The German word _Pilz_ (a corruption of Boletus) is used to denote the softer kinds by some German authors. Constant and Dufour, in their recently published Atlas des Champignons, include types of a great variety of mushrooms.

Hay contends that the pernicious nick-name "toad-stool" has not the derivation supposed, but that the first part of the word is the Saxon or old English "tod," meaning a bunch, cluster, or bush, the form of many terrestrial fungi suggesting it. The second syllable, "stool," is easily supplied. "The erroneous idea of connecting toads with these plants," says Hay, "seems to be due to Spenser, or to some poet, possibly, before his time." Spenser speaks of the loathed paddocks, "paddock" then being the name given in England to the frog, afterwards corrupted to "paddic," and once received, readily converted by the Scotch into "puddick-stool." It would seem, therefore, from the foregoing, that the term "toad-stool" can have no proper relation to mushrooms, whether edible or poisonous.

The three mushrooms illustrated and described in this pamphlet, Plates I, II, and III, are of the order Agaricini or gilled mushrooms. They are well-defined types and of wide geographical distribution.

FOOD VALUE OF MUSHROOMS.

Rollrausch and Siegel, who claim to have made exhaustive investigations into the food values of mushrooms, state that "many species deserve to be placed beside meat as sources of nitrogenous nutriment," and their analysis, if correct, fully bears out the statement. They find in 100 parts of dried _Morchella esculenta_ 35.18 per cent. of protein; in _Helvella esculenta_, 26.31 per cent. of protein, from 46 to 49 per cent. of potassium salts and phosphoric acid, 2.3 per cent. of fatty matter, and a considerable quantity of sugar. The _Boletus edulis_ they represent as containing in 100 parts of the dried substance 22.82 per cent. of protein. The nitrogenous values of different foods as compared with the mushroom are stated as follows: "Protein substances calculated for 100 parts of bread, 8.03; of oatmeal, 9.74; of barley bread, 6.39; of leguminous fruits, 27.05; of potatoes, 4.85; of mushrooms, 33.0."

According to Schlossberger and Depping, in 100 grams of dried mushrooms they found the following proportions of nitrogenous substances:

-----------------------+--------
Varieties. | Grains.
|
Chanterelles | 3.22
Certain Russulas | 4.25
Lactarius deliciosus | 4.68
Boletus edulis | 4.25
Meadow mushroom | 7.26
-----------------------+--------

But all chemists are not agreed as to these proportions. For instance, Lefort has found 3.51 grains of nitrogenous matter in the cap of _Agaricus campestris_, 2.1 grains in the gills and only 0.34 of a grain in the stem. Payen has found 4.68 grains in _Agaricus campestris_, 4.4 grains in the common Morel (_Morchella esculenta_), 9.96 grains in the white truffle, and 8.76 grains in the black.

A much larger proportion of the various kinds of mushrooms are edible than is generally supposed, but a prejudice has grown up concerning them in this country which it will take some time to eradicate. Notwithstanding the occurrence of occasional fatal accidents through the inadvertent eating of poisonous species, fungi are largely consumed both by savage and civilized man in all parts of the world, and while they contribute so considerable a portion of the food product of the world we may be sure their value will not be permanently overlooked in the United States, especially when we consider our large accessions of population from countries in which the mushroom is a familiar and much prized edible. In Italy the value of the mushroom as an article of diet has long been understood and appreciated. Pliny, Galen, and Dioscorides mention various esculent species, notably varieties of the truffle, the boletus and the puff-ball, and Vittadini writes enthusiastically of the gastronomic qualities of a large number of species. Of late years large quantities have been sold in the Italian markets. Quantities of mushrooms are also consumed in Germany, Hungary, Russia, France, and Austria.

Darwin speaks of Terra del Fuego as the only country where cryptogamic plants form a staple article of food. A bright-yellow fungus allied to _Bulgarin_ forms, with shellfish, the staple food of the Fuegians. In England the common meadow mushroom _Agaricus campestris_ is quite well known and used to a considerable extent among the people, but there is not that general knowledge of and use of other species which obtains in Continental Europe.

In the English-speaking countries much has been done by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, Dr. M. C. Cooke, Worthington G. Smith, Rev. John Stevenson, Prof. Hay, Prof. Chas. H. Peck, Prof. W. J. Farlow, and others, including the various mushroom clubs, to disseminate a more general knowledge on this subject.

Late investigations show that nearly all the species common to the countries of Continental Europe, and of Great Britain, are found in different localities in the United States, and a number of species have been found which have not been described in European works.

The geographical distribution of many species of the mushroom family is very wide. We have had specimens of the _Morel_, for instance, sent to us from California and Washington, on the Pacific coast, and as far north as Maine, on the Atlantic, as well as from the southern and the midwestern States, and the same is true of other species. The season of their appearance varies somewhat according to the latitude and altitude of place of growth. Mushrooms are rarely seen after the first heavy frosts, although an exception is noted in this latitude in the species Hypholoma sublatertium, which has been found growing under the snow, at the roots of trees in sheltered woods. Frozen mushrooms of this and closely allied species have revived when thawed, and proved quite palatable when cooked.

At the present time only two species, Agaricus campester and Agaricus arvensis, are cultivated in America. Some attempts have been made by an amateur mushroom club in Ohio to cultivate the Morel, but the results have not, so far, been reported. In the meantime, however, it is well to utilize the wild mushrooms as fast as the collector can satisfactorily identify them. The woods of all moist regions of this country abound with edible varieties. Prof. Curtis, of North Carolina, gives a list of over one hundred edible species found in that State alone, and nearly all of these occur in our Northern States as well. It is not contended that this list includes all the species which may be eaten, nor have all of these equal value from a gastronomic point of view. Some are insipid as to flavor, and others are too tough or too slimy to please the popular taste.

CAUTIONARY SUGGESTIONS.

Before collecting for the table mushrooms found growing in the woods or fields, it would be well for inexperienced persons to consult carefully some work on the subject in which the characteristics of edible and poisonous varieties are described and illustrated.

Considering that an opinion seems to prevail that the discoloration of the silver spoon or small white onions when brought into contact with mushrooms during the culinary process is an infallible test of the poisonous species, I quote from a French author on mushrooms the following in relation to this supposed test:

* * * We may not dispute the fact that a silver spoon or article of
brass, or onions, may not become discolored on contact with the
poisonous principle, but this discoloration is not reliable as a
test for deciding the good or bad quality of mushrooms. In fact, we
know that in the decomposition of albuminoids sulphureted hydrogen
is liberated which of itself discolors silver, brass, and onions.

I have deemed it advisable to publish this as one of the best means of answering those correspondents who have made inquiries as to the reliability of this test.

It is by some supposed that high colors and viscidity are indications of non-edible species, but there are numerous exceptions here. _Russula alutacea_--the pileus of which is often a purplish red--_Amanita Caesarea_, and other species of brilliant coloring are known to be edible. As to viscidity, two very viscid species, when young, are among the highly prized esculents by those who know them, viz., _Fistulina hepatica_, or the ox tongue, and _Hygrophorus eburneus_, the ivory mushroom.

The method of deciding the character of mushrooms by their odor and flavor is not to be relied upon. Edible mushrooms are usually characterized by a pleasant flavor and odor; non-edible varieties have sometimes an unpleasant odor, and produce a biting, burning sensation on the tongue and throat, even in very small quantities, but several of the _Amanitas_ have only a slight odor and taste, and certain species of mushrooms, acrid otherwise, become edible when cooked.

In fact there is no general rule by which the edible species can be distinguished from the unwholesome or poisonous ones. The safest as well as the most sensible plan, therefore, is to apply the same rule as that which we adopt in the case of the esculents among the flowering plants, viz., to learn to know the characteristics of each individual species so as to distinguish it from all others.

With regard to the mushrooms which have been designated as poisonous, it should be remembered that the term "poisonous" is used relatively. While some are only slightly poisonous, producing severe gastric irritation and nervous derangement, but without fatal results, others, if eaten in even very small quantity, may cause death. Happily, however, the most dangerous species are not numerous as compared with the number that are edible, and with careful attention on the part of the collector they may be avoided.

Since the Amanita group is made responsible by competent authority for most of the recorded cases of fatal poisoning, we would recommend the amateur mycophagist to give special study to this group in order to learn to separate the species authentically recorded as edible from the poisonous ones.

Some writers, as a measure of precaution, counsel the rejection of all species of Amanita. But this is, of course, a matter for individual preference. There would seem to be no good reason why the observant student should not learn to discriminate between the edible and the poisonous species of the Amanita as of any other group, and they should not be eaten until this discriminating knowledge is acquired.

Saccardo describes fifteen edible species of this group of mushrooms. We have tested three of this number, which, on account of their abundance in our locality and their good flavor, we would be loth to discard, viz., A. rubescens, A. Caesarea, and A. strobiliformis.

A type of the Amanita group, which is named first in the genera of the order Agaricini, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate B.

By reference to this figure some of the special characteristics of the group can be observed. There are mushrooms in other genera which show a volva or sheath at the base of the stem, and which contain edible species, but in these the stem is ringless. The Volvariae, for instance, show a conspicuous volva, a stem that is ringless, and pinkish spores. The Amanitopsis vaginata carries a volva, but no ring. The spores are white, as in the Amanita.

In gathering mushrooms either for the table or for the herbarium, care should be taken not to leave any portion of the plant in the ground, so that no feature shall be lost that will aid in characterizing the species. In the careless pulling up of the plant the volva in the volvate species is often left behind.

AGARICINI. Fries.

LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE, OR YELLOWISH).

_Genus Russula_ Fr. The _Russulae_ bear some resemblance to the _Lactars_, their nearest allies, but are at once distinguished from them by their want of milk.

They are very abundant in the forests and open woods. The genus is cited by some authors as the most natural of the agarics, but, as many of the species very closely resemble each other, it requires careful analysis to determine them. The plants of this genus are not volvate, and have neither veil nor ring. The hymenophore is not separate from the trama of the gills. Although some are pure white, the caps are usually brilliant in coloring, but the color is very susceptible to atmospheric changes, and after heavy rains the bright hues fade, sometimes only leaving a slight trace of the original coloring in the central depression of the cap.

The cap in youth is somewhat hemispherical, afterwards expanding, becoming slightly depressed in the centre, somewhat brittle in texture; gills rigid, fragile, with acute edge; stem thick, blunt, and polished, usually short. The spores are globose, or nearly so, slightly rough, white or yellowish, according to the species. In R. virescens the spores are white, while in R. alutacea the spores are an ochraceous yellow in tint.

A number of the species are of pleasant flavor, others peppery or acrid. Out of seventy-two described by Cooke, twenty-four are recorded as acrid. With some of these the acridity is said to disappear in cooking, and a few mycophagists claim to have eaten all varieties with impunity. We have recorded, however, some well authenticated cases of serious gastric disturbance, accompanied by acute inflammation of the mucous membrane, caused by the more acrid of these, notably _R. emetica_ and _R. foetens_, and in view of this fact it would seem a wise precaution for the _amateur_ collector to discard or at least to use very sparingly all those which have an acrid or peppery taste, until well assured as to their wholesomeness.

The _genus Russula_ has been divided into the following tribes or groups:--Compactae, Furcatae, Rigidae, Heterophylla, and Fragiles. The species _Russula (Rigidae) virescens_, illustrated in Plate I, belongs to the tribe Rigidae. In the plants of this group, the cap is absolutely dry and rigid, destitute of a viscid pellicle; the cuticle commonly breaking up into flocci or granules; the flesh thick, compact, and firm, vanishing near the margin, which is never involute, and shows no striations. The gills are irregular in length, some few reaching half way to the stem, the others divided, dilated, and extending into a broad rounded end, stem solid.

PLATE I.

=Russula virescens= Fries. "_The Verdette_" _or_ "_Greenish Russula_."

EDIBLE.

The cap of this species is fleshy and dry, the skin breaking into thin patches. The margin is usually even, but specimens occur which show striations. The color varies from a light green to a grayish or moldy green, sometimes tinged with yellow; gills white, free from the stem or nearly so, unequal, rather crowded; stem white, stout, solid, smooth, at first hard, then spongy; spores white, nearly globose.

One writer speaks of the "warts" of the cap, but the term warts, used in this connection, refers merely to the patches resulting from the splitting or breaking up of the epidermis of the cap, and not to such excrescences called warts, as are commonly observed on the cap of Amanita muscaria, for instance, which are remnants of the volva.

The _R. virescens_ is not as common as some others of the Russulae, in some localities, and hitherto seems to have attracted but little attention as an edible species in this country, although highly esteemed in Europe. It has been found growing in thin woods in Maryland and in Virginia from June to November, and we have had reports of its growth from New York and Massachusetts. The peasants in Italy are in the habit of toasting these mushrooms over wood embers, eating them afterwards with a little salt. Vittadini, Roques, and Cordier speak highly of its esculent qualities and good flavor. We have eaten quantities of the virescens gathered in Washington, D. C., and its suburbs, and found it juicy and of good flavor when cooked.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

Plate I exhibits four views of this mushroom (_R. virescens_) drawn and colored from nature. Fig. 1, the immature plant; Fig. 2, advanced stage of growth, cap expanded or plane; Fig. 3, section showing the unequal length of the gills and manner of their attachment to the stem; Fig. 4, surface view of the cap showing the epidermis split in characteristic irregular patches; Fig. 5, spores, white.

AGARICINI.

COPRINARII (SPORES BLACK OR NEARLY SO).

Genus _Coprinus_ Fries. Hymenophore distinct from the stem. Gills membranaceous, at first coherent from the pressure, then dissolving into a black fluid. Trama obsolete. Spores, oval, even, black. M. C. Cooke.

The plants of this genus have been divided into two tribes, viz., _Pelliculosi_ and _Veliformis_. In the _Pelliculosi_ the gills of the mushrooms are covered with a fleshy or membranaceous cuticle, hence the cap is not furrowed along the lines of the gills, but is torn and revolute. In this tribe are included the _Comati_, _Atramentarii_, _Picacei_, _Tomentosi_, _Micacio_ and _Glabrati_. In the tribe _Veliformis_ the plants are generally very small, and the cap much thinner than in those of the _Pelliculosi_, soon showing distinct furrows along the back of the gills, which quickly melt into very thin lines. The stem is thin and fistulose.

Cordier states that all the species of _Coprinus_ are edible when young and fresh. This is probably true, but most of them have so little substance and are so ephemeral as to be of small value for food purposes. _C. comatus_, _C. atramentarius_, _C. micaceus_, and _C. ovatus_ have the preference with most mycophagists, but even these soon melt, and should be gathered promptly and cooked immediately to be of use for the table.

PLATE II.

=Coprinus comatus= Fries. _Maned or Shaggy Coprinus_.

EDIBLE.

Cap at first oblong or cylindrical, then campanulate, the cuticle breaking into shaggy fibrous scales, color whitish, the scales generally yellow or yellowish, margin revolute and lacerated, soon becoming black. Gills linear, free, and close together, at first white, then pink or purplish, turning to black. Stem hollow or slightly stuffed, nearly equal, somewhat fibrillose, with bulb solid; the ring movable or very slightly adherent, generally disappearing as the plant matures. Spores oval, black, .0005 to .0007 in. long.

This species is found in abundance in different parts of the United States, generally in rich soil, in pastures, by roadsides, in dumping lots, etc. Of late years quantities have been gathered in the lawn surrounding the Capitol grounds, and in the parks of the District of Columbia, as well as in the debris of the wooden block pavements used for surface soiling gardens in vicinity of the capital. They have been offered for sale in open market as low as 25 cents per pound.

A correspondent from Rochester, New York, states that in a patch of his grounds which had been quarried out and filled with street sweepings the Coprinus comatus appeared in such quantities as to make it impossible to walk over the space without stepping upon them, and that he was able to gather from this small space from one to two bushels at a time in the spring and the fall. In flavor the C. comatus resembles the cultivated mushroom, though perhaps more delicate.

The _Coprinus ovatus_, "_Oval Coprinus_," a closely allied species, is similar to the comatus, but smaller, more ovate in shape and delicate in flavor, less deliquescent; stem usually 3/4 of an inch long. The _Coprinus atramentarius_ has a mouse-gray or brownish cap with irregular margin, slightly striated. It is not shaggy, but is spotted with minute, innate punctate scales. The stem is hollow, somewhat ringed when young. Spores elliptical, black.

_Coprinus micaceus_ is a very common species, and is found generally in clusters on old tree stumps or on decaying wood. The cap is thin and of a reddish buff or ochraceous tint, often showing a sprinkling of glistening micaceous scales or granules; gills crowded, whitish. It is at first ovate or bell-shaped, then expanding; striated. The stem is white, slender, and hollow, not ringed. The spores in this species are a very dark brown, which is unusual in the genus _Coprinus_.

It is generally found in decaying wood or old tree-stumps, growing in dense clusters.

Prof. Peck says: "European writers do not record the '_Glistening coprinus_' among the edible species, perhaps because of its small size. But it compensates for its lack of size by its frequency and abundance. In tenderness and delicacy it does not appear to be at all inferior to the '_Shaggy coprinus_.'"

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.

=Coprinus comatus= Fr. _The Shaggy Maned Mushroom_.

Fig. 1. A young plant.

Fig. 2. A plant partly expanded, exposing the tender pink of the gills.

Fig. 3. A mature plant, bell-shaped and shaggy, with movable ring detached from the cap, and with stem unequal and rooting.

Fig. 4. A sectional view, showing hollow stem, thin cap, and broad, free, linear gill.

Fig. 5. Spores black.

AGARICINI.

LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE, OR YELLOWISH.)

Genus _Marasmius_ Fries.--Tough dry shrivelling fungi--not putrescent, reviving when moistened; veil none. Stem cartilaginous or horny. Gills tough, rather distant, edge acute and entire. M. C. Cooke.

A characteristic of the species of this genus is their tendency to wither with drought and revive with moisture. This biological characteristic is of great importance in determining the true Marasmii. The plants are usually small and of little substance.

Cooke divides the Marasmii into three tribes, and these again into several subdivisions. In the division Scortei of this genus are classed three species which are described in the works of most of the Continental writers; the Marasmius oreades, which has recognized value as an esculent, Marasmius urens and Marasmius peronatus, which have the reputation of being acrid and unwholesome.

PLATE III.

=Marasmius oreades= Fries. "_Fairy Ring Mushroom_."

EDIBLE.

Cap fleshy, convex at first, then nearly plane, pale yellowish red, or tawny red when young, fading to yellow or buff as the plant matures, slightly umbonate, flesh white; gills broad, wide apart, rounded or deeply notched at the inner extremity, slightly attached to or at length free from the stem, unequal in length, whitish or creamy yellow in color; stem slender, solid and tough, whitish, generally one to two inches in length and one-fourth of an inch in thickness, showing a whitish down, easily removed, not strigose or villose, as in the Marasmius urens. Spores white.

This species is usually found in open grassy places, sometimes in rings, or in parts of rings, often in clusters, and writers generally agree as to its agreeable taste and odor. When properly cooked its toughness disappears.

Prof. Peck describes two mushrooms which are somewhat similar in appearance to the "_Fairy Ring_," and which might be taken for it by careless observers, viz., the Naucoria semi-orbicularis, sometimes growing in company with it, and the _Collybia dryophila_, a wood variety which is sometimes found in open places.

The first of these may be distinguished from the _oreades_, by the rusty brown color of the gills, its smooth stem and rusty colored spores. In the second the gills are much narrower and the stem is very smooth and hollow.

The _Marasmius urens_ as described by European authors has a pale buff cap, not umbonate but flat, and at length depressed in the centre, from one to two inches across. The gills are unequal, free, very crowded; cream color, becoming brownish. The stem is solid and fibrous, densely covered with white down at the base. It is very acrid to the taste. In habit of growth it is subcaespitose; sometimes found growing in company with the M. oreades.

Prof. Peck says of _M. urens_ that he has not yet seen an American specimen which he could refer to that species with satisfaction. Our experience, so far, is the same as that of Prof. Peck.

_Marasmius peronatus_ has a reddish buff cap, with crowded thin gills, creamy, turning to reddish brown; the stem solid and fibrous, with yellowish filaments at the base. It is acrid in taste and is usually found among fallen leaves in woods.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE III.

In Plate III, Fig. 1 represents an immature plant; Fig. 2, cap expanding with growth; Fig. 3, cap further expanded and slightly umbonate; Fig. 4, mature specimen, cap plane or fully expanded, margin irregular and smooth, stem equal, smooth and ringless; Fig. 5, section showing gills broad, free, ventricose, unequal, and flesh white; Fig. 6, spores white.