Figure 473.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 473.—Bovistella Ohiensis. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 473.—Bovistella Ohiensis. Natural size.
Peridium globe-like or broadly obovoid, sometimes much depressed, with small plications or wrinkles underneath, and a thick cord-like base or root, as will be seen in Figure 473. The outer coat is dense, floccose, or with soft warts or spines, white or grayish, drying to a buff color, and in time falling away; the inner coat is smooth, shining, with a pale brown or yellowish surface. The subgleba is large, occupying half of the peridium, extending up on the walls of the peridium, making it cup-shaped, and quite persistent. The spores and capillitium are rather loose, friable, clay-color to pale-brown. The threads, originating within the spore mass, and having no connection with the inner coat, are free,short, three to five times branching; branches tapering to the end. The spores are round to oval, with long translucent pedicels.
This can be readily distinguished from the species of Bovista because it has a sterile base; and from Lycoperdon because its threads are separate and free, while those of the Lycoperdon are attached both to the tissues of the inner peridium and to the columella or sterile base.
They are found growing on the ground in old pastures, or in open woods.
Scleroderma is from two Greek words:scleros, hard;derma, skin.
The peridium is firm, single, generally thick, usually bursting irregularly, and exposing the gleba, which is of uniform texture and consistency. There is no capillitium, but yellow flocci are found interspersed with the spores. The spores are globose, rough, usually mixed with the hyphæ tissue.
The Common Scleroderma. Edible.
Figure 474.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Plate LXIV. Figure 474.—Scleroderma aurantium.Natural size, showing a section of a young specimen.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Plate LXIV. Figure 474.—Scleroderma aurantium.Natural size, showing a section of a young specimen.
Figure 475.Figure 475.—Scleroderma aurantium.
Figure 475.—Scleroderma aurantium.
Aurantium means colored like an orange. This is usually called S. vulgare. The peridiumis rough, warty, depressed, globose, corky and hard, yellowish, opening by irregular fissures to scatter the spores; inner mass bluish-black, spores dingy. The plant remains solid until it is quite old. It is sessile, with a rooting base which is never sterile.
I have followed Mr. Lloyd's classification in separating the species, calling the rough-surfaced one S. aurantium, and the smooth-surfaced S. cepa.
In labeling it edible I wish only to indicate that it is not poisonous, as it is generally thought to be; however, it cannot be claimed as a very good article of food.
It has a wide distribution over the states. The plants in Figure 475 were found on Cemetery Hill, Chillicothe, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Found from August to November.
Figure 476.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 476.—Scleroderma tenerum.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 476.—Scleroderma tenerum.
This species is often regarded as a small form of S. verrucosum, but it always seemed strange to me that this rather smooth plant should be called "verrucosum" when its frequently near neighbor, S. aurantium, is very verrucose.
S. tenerum is a very widely distributed species in the United States, somewhat constant as to form and quite frequent in occurrence. Mr. Lloyd, in his Mycological Notes, gives a very clear photograph of a plant that is quite local in this country and which he thinks should be called S. verrucosum of Europe.
The plant differs very widely from the one we find so commonly which by many authors has been called S. verrucosum. Some have even called it Scleroderma bovista.
The plant is nearly sessile, somewhat irregular, peridiumthin, soft, yellowish, densely marked with small scales, dehiscence irregular, flocci yellow and spores dingy olive.
The species may be known by the thin and comparatively smooth peridium and yellow flocci. It is quite common in the United States, while the typical plant, S. verrucosum, is confined to a few localities along the Atlantic coast.
Cepa meaning an onion; having very much the appearance of an onion.
The peridium is thick, smooth, reddish-yellow to reddish-brown, opening by an irregular mouth. The plant is sessile and quite strongly rooted with fine rootlets. Its habitat, with us, is along the banks of small brooks in the woods. It has been classed heretofore as S. vulgare, smooth variety. I sent some to Prof. Peck, who quite agrees that they should be separated from S. vulgare. Found from August to November.
Figure 477.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Plate LXV. Figure 477.—Scleroderma geaster.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Plate LXV. Figure 477.—Scleroderma geaster.
Geaster, so called because it has a star-like opening somewhat similar to the genus Geaster.
Peridium subglobose, thick, with a very short stem, or almost—sometimes entirely—sessile; hard, rough, splitting into irregular stellate limbs; frequently well buried in the ground. Inner mass dark-brown or blackish, sometimes with rather a purplish tinge. Some grow quite large with the peridium very thick. My attention was first attracted by some of the peridium shells upon the ground on Cemetery Hill. The plant is quite abundant there from September to December.
This is a small puffball-like plant, growing just beneath the ground and attached to its bed by very small threads which issue from every part of the cortex, which is quite thick. Breaking away at maturity in a circumscissile manner, the lower part is held fast to the ground, while the upper part remains attached to the inner peridium as a kind of cup. The inner peridium, with the top part of the outer peridium attached, becomes loose and tumbles over the ground, the mouth being in the base of the plant as it grew.
Figure 478.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 478.—Catastoma circumscissum.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 478.—Catastoma circumscissum.
Circumscissum means divided into halves.
The peridium is usually round, more or less depressed, commonly rough because of the soil attached; the larger part of the plant remaining in the soil as a cup; the upper part with the inner peridium, depressed-globose, thin, pallid, becoming gray, with branny scales, with a small basal mouth. A thin spongy layer will frequently be seen between the outer and inner peridium. The mass of the spores is olivaceous, changing to pale-brown. The spores are round, minutely warted, 4–5µ. in diameter, often with very short pedicels.
The plants are usually found in pastures along paths. I have seen them in several parts of Ohio. They are found from Maine to the western mountains. This is called Bovista circumscissa by Berkeley.
There is a species of a western range called C. subterraneum. This differs mainly in having larger spores. It seems to be confined to the middle west. However, it does not grow under the ground, as its name would suggest.
There is also another species called C. pedicellatum. This species seems to be confined to the southern states and differs mainly in the spores having marked pedicels and closely warted.
This tribe is characterized by having a stalk continuous with the apex of the peridium, forming an axis. Some of the plants are short stalked, some long stalked. The tribe forms a natural connecting link between the Gastromycetes and the Agarics. Thus: Podaxon is a true Gastromycetes, with capillitia mixed with spores; Caulogossum, with its permanent gleba chambers, is close to the Hymenogasters; Secotium is only a step from Caulogossum, the tramal plates being more sinuate-lamellate; and Montagnites, which is usually placed with the Agarics, is only a Gyrophragmium with the plates truly lamellate.
KEY TO THE GENERA.
Gleba with irregular, persistent chambers—Peridium, elongated club-shapedCauloglossum.Peridium, round or conical, and dehiscing by breaking away at the baseSecotium.Gleba with sinuate-lamellate platesGyrophragmium.Walls of gleba chambers not persistentPodaxon.
—Lloyd.
This is a very interesting genus. When I found my first specimen I was much in doubt whether it was an Agaric or a puffball, as it seemed to be a sort of connecting link between the two classes. The genus is divided into smooth-spored and rough-spored species, both having a stalk continuing, as an axis, to the apex of the plant. The peridium is round or conical and it dehisces by breaking away at the base. Secotium is from a Greek word meaning chamber.
Figure 479.Figure 479.—Secotium acuminatum. Life size of small specimens.
Figure 479.—Secotium acuminatum. Life size of small specimens.
This is an exceedingly variable species, as found about Chillicothe, yet the variability extends only to the outward appearance of the plant; some are almost round, slightly depressed, some (and a large majority) are inclined to be irregularly cone-shaped.
The peridium is light-colored, of a soft texture, not brittle; it slowly expels its spores by breaking away at the base; the stalk is usually short, but distinct and prolonged to the apex of the peridium, forming an axis for the gleba. Thesurface of the peridium is smooth, dingy-white or ash-colored, with minute white spots, due to scales. It is of various shapes; acute-ovate, sometimes obtuse, nearly spherical, sometimes slightly depressed and irregular cone-shaped. The gleba is composed of semi-persistent cells, plainly seen with a glass or even with the naked eye. It has no capillitium. The spores are globose and smooth, often apiculate. This plant is quite abundant about Chillicothe, and I have found it from the first of May to the last of October.
This species is widely distributed in America, and occurs in Northern Africa and Eastern Europe.
Polysaccum is frompolus, many, andsaccus, a sack. Peridium irregularly globose, thick, attenuated downward into a stem-like base, opening by disintegration of its upper portion; internal mass or gleba divided into distinct sac-like cells.
Allied to Scleroderma and distinguished by the cavities of the gleba containing distinct peridioles.Massee.
Figure 480.Figure 480.—Polysaccum pisocarpium.
Figure 480.—Polysaccum pisocarpium.
Pisocarpium is from two Greek words meaning pea and fruited.
Peridium irregularly globose, indistinctly nodulose, passing downward into a stout stem-like base, peridioles irregularly angular, 4–5×3µ, yellow. Spores globose, warted, coffee-color, 9–13µ.Massee.
I have found this plant only a few times about Chillicothe. Mr. Lloyd identified it for me. It has very much the shape of a pear. The skin is quite hard, smooth, olivaceous-black with yellow mottling patches not unlike the skin of a rattlesnake. The peridioles, which are small ovate sacs bearing the spores within, are very distinct. The interior of the plant when mature is dark, and it breaks and disintegrates from the upper part very like C. cyathiformis. This is a very interesting plant whose ovate sac-like cells will easily distinguish it. Found from August to October, it delights in sandy soil, in pine or mixed woods.
Mitremyces is made up of two words:mitre, a cap;myces, a mushroom. It is a small genus, there being but three species found in this country. The spore-mass or gleba, in its young state, is surrounded by four layers. The outer layer is gelatinous and behaves itself somewhat differently in each species. This outer layer is known as the volva or volva-like peridium, which soon disappears.The next layer is called the exoperidium and is composed of two layers, the inner one quite thin and cartilaginous—in M. cinnabarinus it is a bright red; this is attached to a rather thick, gelatinous, outer layer which soon falls away, exposing the endoperidium, which is the layer seen in older specimens. Within the endoperidium are the spores, which are pale ochraceous or sulphur color, globose or elliptical in shape. They are contained in a separate membrane or sac; when they mature the sac contracts and forces the spores out into the air. The mycelium of this plant is especially peculiar, being composed of a bundle of root-like strands, translucent and jelly-like when young and fresh, but becoming tough and hard. This genus is called by some authors Calostoma, meaning a beautiful mouth, a very appropriate name, as the mouths of all American species are red and quite beautiful.
Figure 481.Figure 481.—Mitremyces cinnabarinus. Natural size.
Figure 481.—Mitremyces cinnabarinus. Natural size.
The rooting strands are long, compact, dark when dry. Exporidium bright red, smooth internally; the outer layer thick, gelatinous when fresh, finally breaking into areas and curling inward. The separation is caused by the fact that the cells of the thick gelatinous portion expand by the absorption of water, while those of the inner layer do not, hence the rupture occurs. The endoperidiumand rayed mouth are bright red when fresh, partially fading in old specimens.
The spores are elliptical-oblong, punctate-sculptured, varying much as to size in specimens from different localities; 6–8×10–14 in West Virginia specimens. Massachusetts specimens, 6–8×12–20.Lloyd.
I have seen these specimens growing in the mountains in West Virginia. They quickly arrest the attention because of their bright red caps. They seem not, as yet, to have crossed the Alleghenies—at least I have not found it in Ohio. It has a number of synonyms: Scleroderma calostoma, Calostoma cinnabarinum, Lycoperdon heterogeneum, L. calostoma.
The plants in Figure 481 were photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Mr. Geo. E. Morris of Waltham, Mass., sent me some specimens early in August, 1907.
Geaster, an earth-star; so called because at maturity the outer coat breaks its connection with the mycelium in the ground and bursts open like the petals of a flower; then, becoming reflexed, those petals lift the inner ball from the ground and it remains in the center of the expanded, star-like coat. The coat of the inner ball is thin and papery, and opens by an apical mouth. The threads, or capillitium, which bear the spores proceed from the walls of the peridium and form the central columella. The threads are simple, long, slender, thickest in the middle and tapering towards the ends, fixed at one end and free at the other.
The Geaster is a picturesque little plant which will arrest the attention of the most careless observer. It is abundant and is frequently found in the late summer and fall in woods and pastures.
Figure 482.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 482.—Geaster minimus. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 482.—Geaster minimus. Natural size.
The outer coat or exoperidium recurved, segments acute at the apex, eight to twelve segments divided to about the middle. Mycelial layer usually attached,generally shaggy with fragments of leaves or grass, sometimes partly or entirely separating. Fleshy layer closely attached, very light in color, usually smooth on the limb of the exoperidium but cracked on the segments. Pedicel short but distinct. The inner peridium ovoid, one-fourth to one-half inch in diameter; white to pale-brown, sometimes almost black. Mouth lifted on a slight cone, lip bordered with a hair-like fringe; columella slender, as are also the threads. Spores brown, globe-shaped, and minutely warted. Found in the summer and early fall.
Nature seems to give it the power to lift up the spore-bearing body, the better to eject its spores to the wind. It is very frequently found in pastures all over the state. I have found it in many localities about Chillicothe. It is called "minimus" because it is the smallest Earth-star.
Water-Measuring Earth-Star.
Figure 483.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 483.—Geaster hygrometricus. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 483.—Geaster hygrometricus. Natural size.
The unexpanded plant is nearly spherical. The mycelial layer is thin, tearing away as the plant expands, the bark or skin falling with the mycelium. The outer coat is deeply parted, the segments, acute at the apex, four to twenty; strongly hygrometric, becoming reflexed when the plant is moist, strongly incurved when the plant is dry. The inner coating is nearly spherical, thin, sessile, opening by simply a torn aperture. There is no columella. The threads are transparent, much branched, and interwoven. The spores are large, globose, and rough.
The plant ripens in the fall and the thick outer peridium divides into segments, the number varying from four to twenty. When the weather is wet the lining of the points of the segments become gelatinous and recurve, and the pointsrest upon the ground, holding the inner ball from the ground. In dry weather the soft gelatinous lining becomes hard and the segments curve in and clasp the inner ball. Hence its name, "hygrometricus," a measurer of moisture. The plant is quite general.
Figure 484.Figure 484.—Geaster Archeri.
Figure 484.—Geaster Archeri.
Young plant acute. Exoperidium cut beyond the middle into seven to nine acute segments. In herbarium specimens usually saccate but sometimes revolute. Mycelial layer closely adherent, compared to previous species relatively smooth. As in the previous species the mycelium covers the young plant but is not so strongly developed, so that the adhering dirt is not so evident on the mature plant. Fleshy layer when dry, thin and closely adherent. Endoperidium globose, sessile. Mouth sulcate, indefinite. Columella globose-clavate. Capillitium thicker than the spores. Spores small, 4 mc. almost smooth.Lloyd.
I first found the plant in the young state. The acute point, which will be seen in the photograph, puzzled me. I marked the place where it grew and in a few days found the developed Geaster. The plant is reddish-brown and it differs from other species "with sulcate mouths, in its closely sessile endoperidium." I have found the plant several times in Hayne's Hollow, near Chillicothe. I found it in the tracks of decayed logs.
The plant has been called Geaster Morganii in this country but had previously been named from Australia.
Figure 485.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 485.—Geaster asper. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 485.—Geaster asper. Natural size.
Exoperidium revolute, cut to about the middle in eight to ten segments. Both mycelial and fleshy layers are more closely adherent than in most species. Pedicelshortandthick. Inner peridium subglobose,verrucose. Mouth conical, beaked, strongly sulcate, seated on a depressed zone. Columella prominent, persistent. Capillitium threads simple, long tapering. Spores globose, rough.
The characteristic of this plant is the verrucose inner peridium. Under a glass of low power it appears as though the peridium were densely covered with grains of sharp sand. This plant alone has this characteristic, to our knowledge; and although it is indicated in the figures of G. cornatus of both Schaeffer andSchmidel, we think that there it is only an exaggeration of the veryminutegranular appearance cornatus has. The word "asper" is the first descriptive adjective applied by Michelius. Fries included it in his complex striatus.Lloyd.
I have found the plant frequently about Chillicothe. The plants represented were photographed by Mr. Lloyd.
Figure 486.Plate LXVI. Figure 486.—Geaster triplex.
Plate LXVI. Figure 486.—Geaster triplex.
The unexpanded plant acute. Exoperidium recurved (or, when not fully expanded, somewhat saccate at base), cut to the middle (or usually two-thirds) in five to eight segments. Mycelial layer adnate. Fleshy layer generally peeling off from the segments of the fibrillose layer but usually remaining partially free, as a cup at base of inner peridium. Inner peridium subglobose, closely sessile. Mouth definite, fibrillose, broadly conical. Columella prominent, elongated. Threads thicker than spores. Spores globose, roughened, 3–6 mc.Lloyd, in Mycological Notes.
The color of Geaster triplex is reddish-brown. Notice the remains of a fleshy layer forming a cup at base of inner peridium, a point which distinguishes this species and which gives name to the species—triplex, three folds or apparently three layers. The photograph was made by Dr. Kellerman.
Figure 487.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 487.—Geaster saccatus. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 487.—Geaster saccatus. Natural size.
The unexpanded plant is globose. Mycelium is universal. Exoperidium cut in six to ten segments about half way, the limb deeply saccate. Mycelial layer adnate to fibrillose. Fleshy layer, when dry, thin, adnate. Inner peridium sessile, globose, with a determinate fibrillose mouth.
The spores are globose, almost smooth.Lloyd.
Mr. Lloyd thinks this plant is practically the same as the G. fimbriatus of Europe, differing from it in being more deeply saccate and having a determinate mouth. This plant is very common on all the wooded hillsides about Chillicothe. I have seen the ground on the top of Mt. Logan almost completely covered with them. They are identified by Mr. Lloyd, Prof. Atkinson, and Dr. Peck. The plants in Figure 487 were photographed by Mr. Lloyd from typical specimens.
Figure 488.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 488.—Geaster mammosus.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 488.—Geaster mammosus.
Exporidium thin, rigid, hygroscopic, smooth, divided almost to the base into about ten linear segments, often umbilicate at the base; inner peridium globose, smooth, sessile, furnished with a conical, even, protruding mouth, seated on a definite area.
Columella short, globose, evident (though distinct in mature plants).
Capillitium simple, tapering, hyaline, often flattened, slightly thinner than the spores. Spores globose, roughened, 3–7 mc.Lloyd.
This plant is found in the woods from July till late in the fall. It differs from G. hygrometricus by its even, conical mouth. I found specimens several times in Haynes's Hollow.
Figure 489.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 489.—Geaster velutinus.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 489.—Geaster velutinus.
Unexpanded plants globose, sometimes slightly pointed at apex. Mycelium basal. Outer layer rigid, membranaceous, firm, light colored in the American plant. The surface is covered with short, dense, appressed velumen, so that to the eye the surface appears simply dull and rough, but its true nature is readily seen under a glass of low power.
The outer surface separates from the inner as the plant expands, and in mature specimens is usually partly free. The thickness and texture of the two layers are about the same. The fleshy layer is dark reddish-brown when dry, a thin adnate layer. Inner peridium sessile, dark colored, globose, with a broad base and pointed mouth. Mouth even, marked with a definite circular light-colored basal zone. Columella elongated, clavate. Spores globose, almost smooth, small, 2½—3½ mc.Lloyd.
Figure 490.Figure 490.—Myriostoma coliformis. Natural size.
Figure 490.—Myriostoma coliformis. Natural size.
Exporidium usually recurved, cut to about the middle into six to ten lobes; if collected and dried when first open, rather firm and rigid; when exposed to weather becoming like parchment paper by the peeling off of the inner and outer layers. Inner peridium, subglobose, supported on several more or less confluent pedicels. Surface minutely roughened; mouths several, appressed fibrillose, round, plain or slightly elevated; columellæ several, filiform, probably the same in number as the pedicels; spores globose, roughened, 3–6 mc.; capillitium simple, unbranched, long, tapering, about half diameter of spores.
The inner peridium with its several mouths can be, not inaptly, compared to a "pepper-box." The specific name is derived from the Latincolum, a strainer, and the old English name we find in Berkeley "Cullender puffball" refers to a cullender (or colander more modern form) now almost obsolete in English, but meaning a kind of strainer.Lloyd.
Found in sandy soil. It is quite rare. Both the generic and specific names refer to its many mouths. The specimens in Figure 490 were found on Green Island, Lake Erie, one of the points where this rare species is found. It is found at Cedar Point, Ohio, also. The plant was photographed by Prof. Schaffner of the Ohio State University.
Perithecia carbonaceous or membranaceous, sometimes confluent with the stroma, pierced at the apex, and mostly papillate; hymenium diffluent.—Berkeley Outlines.
There are four tribes in this family, viz:
Under Nectriæi we have the following genera:
Stipitate—Clavate or capitateCordyceps.Head globose, base sclerotioidClaviceps.Parasitic on grass—Stroma myceloidEpichlœ.Variable—Sporidia double, finally separatingHypocrea.Sporidia double, ejected in tendrils, parasitic on fungiHypomyces.Stroma definite, perithecia free, clustered or scatteredNectria.Perithecia erect, in a polished and colored sacOomyces.Under Xylariæi we have:Stipitate—Stroma corky, subelavateXylaria.Stroma somewhat corky, discoidPoronia.
Cordyceps is from a Greek word meaning a club and a Latin word meaning a head. It is a genus of Pyrenomycetous fungi of which a few grow upon other fungi, but by far the greater number are parasitic upon insects or their larva, as will be seen in Figure 491.
The spores enter the breathing openings along the sides of the larva and the mycelium grows until it fills the interior of the larva and kills it.
In fructification a stalk rises from the body of the insect or larva and in the enlarged extremity of this the perithecia are grouped. The stroma is vertical and fleshy, head distinct, hyaline or colored; sporidia repeatedly divided and sub-moniliform.
Figure 491.Figure 491.—Cordyceps herculea. Showing the grub upon which this species grows.
Figure 491.—Cordyceps herculea. Showing the grub upon which this species grows.
Herculea is so called from its large size. The halftone will readily identify this species. The plant is quite large, clavate in form, the head oblong, round, slightly tapering upward with a decided protuberance at the apex, as will be seen in Figure 491. The head is a light yellow in all specimens I found, not alutaceous as Schw. states, nor is the head obtuse. I found several specimens on a sidehill in Haynes's Hollow in August and September, all growing from bodies of the large white grubs which are found about rotten wood. They were found during wet weather. They were identified by both Dr. Peck and Dr. Herbst.
Figure 492.Figure 492.—Cordyceps militaris.
Figure 492.—Cordyceps militaris.
This is much smaller and more common than C. Herculea. Conidia—Subcæspitose, white; stem distinct, simple, becoming smooth; clubs incrassated, mealy; Conidia globose. Ascophore—Fleshy, orange-red; head clavate, tuberculose; stem equal; sporidia long, breaking up into joints. This is frequently called Torrubia militaris.
It is known as the caterpillar fungus. Its spores are cylindrical and are produced upon orange-red fruiting bodies in the fall. As soon as the spore falls on the caterpillar it sends out germ-threads which penetrate the caterpillar. Here the threads form long narrow spores which break off and form other spores untilthe body-cavity is entirely filled. The caterpillar soon becomes sluggish and dies. The fungus continues to grow until it has completely appropriated all of the insect's soft parts, externally a perfect caterpillar but internally completely filled with mycelial threads. Under favorable conditions this mycelial caterpillar, which has become a storage organ, will send up an orange-red club-shaped body, as will be seen in Figure 492, and will produce the kind of spores described above. Under some conditions this mycelial caterpillar may be made to produce a dense growth of threads from its entire surface, looking like a small white ball, and from these threads another kind of spore is formed. These spores are pinched off in great numbers and will germinate in the larva the same as the sac spore. The specimens were found by Mrs. E. B. Blackford near Boston, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.
Figure 493.Photo by C. G. Lloyd.Figure 493.—Cordyceps capitata. Natural size.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 493.—Cordyceps capitata. Natural size.
This plant is fleshy, capitate, head ovate, bay-brown, stem yellow, then blackish.
This plant is parasitic on Elaphomyces granulatus. It is shown at the base of the stem of the plant. It grows two or three inches under the surface and somewhat resembles a truffle in appearance.
Both are very interesting plants. The plant in Figure 493 was found near Boston, Mass. They are usually found in pine woods, often in tufts. The stems are from one to four inches long, nearly equal, smooth, lemon-colored, at length fibroso-strigose and blackish.
It is sometimes called Torrubia capitata.
The plants under this head belong to the slime-moulds and at first are wholly gelatinous. All the species and genera are small and easily overlooked, yet they are intensely interesting when carefully observed. In the morning you may see a mass of gelatinous matter and in the evening a beautiful net work of threads and spores, the transformation being so rapid. This gelatinous mass is known as protoplasm or plasmodium, and the motive power of the plasmodium has suggested to many that they should be placed in the animal kingdom, or called fungus animals. The same is true of Schizomycetes, to which all the bacteria, bacillus, spirillum, and vibrio, and a number of other groups belong. I have only a few Myxomycetes to present. I have watched the development of a number of plants of this group, but because of the scarcity of literature upon the subject I have been unable to identify them satisfactorily.
Figure 494.Figure 494.—Lycogala epidendrum.
Figure 494.—Lycogala epidendrum.
This is called the Stump Lycogala. It is quite common, seeming in a certain stage to be a small puffball. The peridium has a double membrane, papery, persistent, bursting irregularly at the apex; externally minutely warty, nearly round, blood-red or pinkish, then brownish; mouth irregular; spores becoming pale, or violet.
This is quite common on partially decayed logs. The peridium is very thin, tuberculose, effused, delicate, olivaceous-brown; spores olive, echinulate or spiny.
These are very small yellow-stemmed plants, found on oak leaves in wet weather. The sporangium has an inner membranaceous peridium; the whole is round, brown, whitish. The stem is elongated, even, yellow. The columella is stipitate into the sporangia.
Sporangia sessile, round, whitish, covered with an ashy-gray scurf. Spores black. Very small. On fallen oak leaves. Easily overlooked.
Xylaria means pertaining to wood. It is usually vertical, more or less stipitate. The stroma is between fleshy and corky, covered with a black or rufous bark.
Figure 495.Figure 495.—Xylaria polymorpha. Natural size.
Figure 495.—Xylaria polymorpha. Natural size.
Polymorpha means many forms. It is nearly fleshy, a number usually growing together, or gregarious; thickened as if swollen, irregular; dirty-white, then black; the receptacle bearing perithecia in every part.
This plant is quite common in our woods, growing about old stumps or on decayed sticks or pieces of wood. The spore-openings can be seen with an ordinary hand-glass.
Figure 496.Figure 496.—Xylaria polymorpha var. spathularia. Natural size.
Figure 496.—Xylaria polymorpha var. spathularia. Natural size.
Spathularia means in the form of a spathula or spatula. It is vertical and stipitate, the stem being more definite than in the X. polymorpha, the stroma beingbetween fleshy and corky, frequently growing in numbers or gregarious, turgid, fairly regular, dirty-white, then brownish-red, finally black. An ordinary hand glass will show how it bears perithecia in all its parts. This will be clearly seen in the section on the right.
These plants are not as common as the X. polymorpha, but are found in habitats similar to those of the other plant, particularly around maple stumps or upon decayed maple branches.
Stemonitis is from a Greek word which means stamen, one of the essential organs of a flower. This is a genus of myxomycetous fungi, giving name to the family Stemonitaceæ, which has a single sporangium or æthalium; without the peculiar deposits of lime carbonate which characterize the fructification of other orders, and the spores, capillitium, and columella are usually uniformly black, or brownish.
Figure 497.Figure 497.—Stemonitis fusca. Natural size.
Figure 497.—Stemonitis fusca. Natural size.
Fusca means dark-brown, smoky. The sporangia are cylindrical and pointed at the apex, peridia fugacious, exposing the beautiful net-work of the capillitium. The reticulate capillitium springs from the dark, penetrating stem.
This is a very beautiful plant when studied with an ordinary hand-glass. I have frequently seen an entire log covered with this plant.
Ferruginea means rust color. The sporangia is very similar to that of S. fusca, cylindrical, peridium fugacious, exposing the reticulate capillitium, but instead of being dark-brown it is a yellowish or rusty-brown color.
Choose them as nearly as possible of uniform size and free from insects. Drop them in salt water for five minutes to free them from any insects that may be hidden in the gills; drain them and wipe dry and clean with a rather rough cloth; cut off the stems close to the cap. Put them into a granite or porcelain saucepan, cover closely and stew gently fifteen minutes. Salt to taste. Rub a tablespoonful of butter into about a tablespoonful of flour, and stir this into the mushrooms, letting boil three or four minutes; stir in three tablespoonfuls of cream, mixed with a well-beaten egg, and stir the whole for two minutes without letting it boil, and serve either on toast or as a vegetable.
Clean mushrooms as directed above and stew in water ten minutes; then drain off part of the water and put in as much warm milk as you have poured off water; let this stew for five to ten minutes; then add some drawn butter, or veal or chicken gravy, and salt and pepper to taste. Thicken with a little corn starch wet in cold milk. Serve hot.
In cooking mushrooms they should always be kept as closely covered as possible in order the better to retain the flavor, and they should never be subjected to too great heat.
Be sure your mushrooms are fresh and free from insects; cut off the stems close to the caps and wipe the tops with a wet cloth. Arrange them in a pie dish with the gills uppermost, laying a little bit of butter on each; sprinkle pepper, salt, and a very little mace upon them. Put them into a hot oven and bake from fifteen minutes to half an hour, according to the tenderness of the mushrooms; if they are in danger of getting too dry baste them occasionally with butter and water. Pour over them somemaitre d'hotelsauce and send to the table in the dish in which they were baked.
Select the finest and freshest you can get and prepare as for baking; put into a deep dish and pour over them some melted butter, turning them over and over in it. Salt and pepper and let them lie for an hour and a half in the butter. Put them, gills uppermost, on an oyster gridiron over a clear hot fire, turning them over as one side browns. Put them on a hot dish, having them well seasoned with butter, pepper, and salt and with a few drops of lemon juice squeezed upon each, if liked.
Take equal quantities of cold veal steak or roast veal and small puffballs or other mushrooms, and mince all fine; mince a small onion and put with the mushrooms and meat into a pan with some cold veal gravy, if you have it, and water enough to cover the mixture. Add a tablespoonful of butter, pepper and salt well, and let the mixture cook until it is almost dry, stirring it frequently to keep it from scorching; it should cook fully half an hour. When almost done, add a large tablespoonful of good catsup, or Worcestershire sauce if preferred. Serve hot.
Wash mushrooms well, cut them into small pieces and drop them in salt water for five minutes. Have ready in a pan upon the stove about two ounces of butter to each pint of mushrooms, having pan and butter very hot but not scorching; dip the mushrooms from the salt water with a skimmer and drop them into the hot butter; cover them closely to retain the flavor, shaking the pan or stirring them over to keep them from scorching or sticking. Let them cook with moderate heat from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to the tenderness of the mushrooms. Remove the cover from the pan, draw the mushrooms to one side and lift the pan on one side so that the gravy will run down to the opposite side; stir into the gravy a level tablespoonful of sifted flour, and rub this smooth with the gravy; then add a half a pint of rich milk or cream; stir the mushrooms into this and allow it to boil for a minute. Have ready in the oven some paté shells, fill them with the mushrooms, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, and set back in the oven for a few minutes to heat before serving. These are especially fine when made of Tricholoma personatum or Pleurotus ostreatus, but many other varieties will answer well.
Have your sirloin steak cut an inch or more thick, put into an exceedingly hot baking pan on top of the stove, in one minute turn steak over so that both sides will be seared. Put the pan into an exceedingly hot oven and allow it to remain for twenty minutes.
Have ready in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, heat well andadd two cupfuls of fresh, clean mushrooms which have been allowed to stand in salt water for a period of five minutes; cover closely and cook briskly without burning for ten minutes; set on the back of the stove (after having seasoned them properly with salt and pepper) to keep hot until ready to use. Place the steak upon a hot dish, pour the mushrooms over it and send to the table at once. It is a dish fit for a king.
Choose the freshest and best morels; cleanse them thoroughly by allowing the water from the faucet to run on them; open the stalk at the bottom; fill with veal stuffing, anchovy or any rich forcemeat you choose, securing the ends and dressing between slices of bacon; bake for a half an hour, basting with butter and water, and serve with the gravy which comes from them.
Wash a dozen morels carefully and cut off the ends of the stems. Split the mushrooms and put them into a pan in which two tablespoonfuls of butter have been melted. Cover closely and cook with a moderate heat for fifteen minutes. Mix two teaspoonfuls of corn starch in a half a pint of fresh milk and pour into the pan with the mushrooms, allowing it to boil for a minute or two; salt and pepper to taste and serve hot, upon toast if liked.
Cut off the stems, and remove the spore-tubes, after having wiped the caps clean with a damp cloth. They may be broiled in a hot buttered pan, turning them frequently until done, which will be about fifteen minutes. Dust with salt and pepper and put bits of butter over them as you would on broiled beefsteak.
They may be stewed in a little water in a covered saucepan, after being cut into pieces of equal size. Stew for twenty minutes and when done add pepper, salt, butter or cream.
Or they may be fried, after being sliced as you would egg plant, and dipped in batter or rolled in egg and cracker crumbs.
In preparing Boleti the spore tube should be removed unless very young, as they will make the dish slimy.
To two quarts of mushrooms allow a quarter of a pound of salt. The full grown mushrooms are better in making this as they afford more juice. Put a layer of mushrooms in the bottom of a stone jar, sprinkle with salt; then another layer of mushrooms till you have used all; let them lie thus for six hours, then break them into bits. Set in a cool place for three days, stirring thoroughly every morning. Strain the juice from them, and to every quart allow half an ounce of allspice, the same quantity of ginger, half a teaspoonful of powdered mace andhalf a teaspoonful of cayenne. Put it into a stone jar, cover it closely, set it in a saucepan of water over the fire, and boil hard for five hours. Take it off, empty it into a porcelain kettle and let it boil slowly for half an hour longer. Set it in a cool place and let it stand all night until settled and clear, then pour off carefully from the sediment, into small bottles, filling them to the mouth. Cork tightly and seal carefully. Keep in a dry, cool, dark closet.
Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry it in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In the cooking they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.
The Hydnums are sometimes slightly bitter and it is well to boil them for a few minutes and then throw away the water. Drain the mushrooms carefully; add pepper and salt, butter, and milk; cook in a covered saucepan slowly for twenty or twenty-five minutes; have ready some slices of toast, pour the mushrooms over these and serve at once.
One of the best ways to cook an Oyster mushroom is to fry it as you fry an oyster. Use the tender part of the Oyster mushroom; clean thoroughly; add pepper and salt; dip in beaten egg and then bread crumbs and fry in fat or butter. Or parboil them for forty-five minutes, drain, roll in flour and fry.
The Oyster mushroom is also excellent when stewed.
Clean the caps with a damp cloth and cut off the stem close to the caps; broil lightly on both sides over a clear fire or in a very hot pan, turning the mushrooms carefully three or four times; have ready some freshly-made, well-buttered toast; arrange the mushrooms on the toast and put a small piece of butter on each and sprinkle with pepper and salt; set in the oven or before a brisk fire to melt the butter, then serve quickly.
Some persons think that slices of bacon toasted over the mushrooms improve the flavor.
Have ready a sufficient quantity of full-grown mushrooms, carefully cleaned; cut them in pieces and put into a baking pan with a tablespoonful of butter to two cupfuls of mushrooms, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and bake in a moderate oven forty-five minutes. Broil your steak until it is almost done; then put it into the pan with a part of the mushrooms under and the remainder over the steak; put it into the oven again and allow it to remain for ten minutes; turn out upon a hot dish and serve quickly.
Agaricus, Lepiota, Coprinus, Lactarius, Tricholoma, and Russula are especially fine for this method of preparation.
BY PROF. LAMBERT,
The American Spawn Co., St. Paul, Minn.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Commercially, and in a restricted sense, the term "mushroom" is generally used indiscriminately to designate the species of fungi which are edible and susceptible of cultivation. The varieties which have been successfully cultivated for the market are nearly all derived fromAgaricus campestris,Agaricus villaticus,and Agaricus Arvensis. They may be white, cream or creamy-white, or brown; but the color is not always a permanent characteristic, it is often influenced by surrounding conditions.
Mushrooms are grown for the market on a large scale in France and in England. It is estimated that nearly twelve million pounds of fresh mushrooms are sold every year at the Central Market of Paris. A large quantity of mushrooms are canned and exported from France to every civilized country. This industry has recently made remarkable progress in the United States, and fresh mushrooms are now regularly quoted on the markets of our large cities. They are sold at prices ranging from twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents per pound, according to season, demand and supply.