Among the Mushrooms: A Guide For Beginners

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME FAMILIAR MUSHROOMS WITHOUT REGARD TO COLOR.

Here follows a list of fungi that we constantly see, but which cannot be classified by the color of the cap.

POLYPOREI, PORE-BEARING FUNGI.

FISTULINA HEPATICA = liver.
The Beefsteak Fungus.

This species grows on trees, oaks or chestnuts, in hot weather. Cap is of a dark-red color, which probably suggested the name. It is generally 2 to 6 inches broad, but often grows to an immense size. The surface is rough, the flesh thick, viscid above, soft when young, when old tough, covered with tenacious fibres. Stem short and thick. Pores at first pallid or yellowish-pink when young; they become brownish ochraceous when old. It is changeable in form, is sometimes sessile (without a stem), or it has a short lateral stem.

The genus Fistulina, to which this mushroom belongs, has the under surface of the cap covered with minute hollow pores, which are separate from one another and stand side by side. The shape varies. It is sometimes long, shaped like a tongue, or roundish. It is peculiar-looking. It is considered good for food and nourishing, but the taste is said to be rather acid. The specimens we found varied from 2 to 5 inches in diameter. They were of a dark-red color, and were tough and old. They grew upon a tree in a large forest, and were not found anywhere else.

POLYPORUS BETULINUS = birch.
The Birch Polyporus.

We shall meet a great many fungi on our walks that belong to the genus Polyporus. They are generally leathery (coriaceous) fungi, and many grow on wood. A few are edible, but are not recommended as food. The species P. betulinus is found on living and dead birch trees. The specimens we found grew in great quantities, of all sizes, from 1½ to 6 inches broad. They were at first pure white, and then assumed a brownish tinge. The edges were obtuse, the caps fleshy, then corky, smooth, the upper ends not regular, oblique in the form of an umbo or little knob, the pellicles or outside layers thin and easily separated. Pores short, small, unequal, at length separating. The shape of the fungus is peculiar, a sort of semi-circular outline that may be called dimidiate. The margins were involute. They protruded from a split in the bark of a dead birch tree which lay prostrate on the ground, several feet in length, and it was literally covered with the fungi, some an inch wide and snow white, and the largest 5 or 6 inches in width, and of a brownish-gray tinge. These specimens became as hard as wood after they had been kept for some time. The thin skin peeled off easily and disclosed the snowy flesh beneath.

POLYPORUS PERENNIS = perennial.
The Perennial Polyporus.

Cap is cinnamon-colored, then of a date brown, leathery, tough, funnel-shaped, becoming smooth, zoned. Pores minute, angular, acute, at first sprinkled with a white bloom, then naked and torn. Stem slightly firm, thickened downward, velvety. This is a common species, and one meets with it everywhere on the ground, and on stumps, from July to January. The cap is 1½ to 2 inches broad, and the stem 1 inch long.

POLYPORUS PICIPES = pitch and foot.
The Black-stemmed Polyporus.

Cap pallid color, then turning chestnut, often a pale yellowish livid color, with the disc chestnut, fleshy, leathery, rigid, tough, even, smooth, depressed at disc or behind. Flesh white. Stem eccentric and lateral, equal, firm, at first velvety, then naked, and dotted black up to the pores. Pores decurrent, round, very small, rather slender, white, then slightly pale and yellowish. This fungus grows on the trunks of trees, and is found as late as the middle of winter.

POLYPORUS SULPHUREUS = brimstone.
The Sulphury Polyporus.

This mushroom gains its name from the color of its pores, which are of a bright sulphur color. It grows in tufted layers (cæspitose), sometimes 1 to 2 feet long, and it cannot be mistaken. Cap may measure 8 inches in breadth, and is of a reddish-yellow color, overlapping like the shingles of a roof (imbricated). It is wavy and rather smooth. Flesh light yellowish, then white, splitting open. Pores are minute, even, sulphur yellow. They retain their color much better than the pileus. The plants are generally without a stem, but there may be a short stem, which is lateral. They grow in clusters, all fastened together and one above the other, and of all sizes. We saw this fungus first in a dense woods, where its bright color at once attracted our notice. It was growing in a large cluster, closely packed one over the other. It is said to be good for food when young and tender.

POLYPORUS LUCIDUS = bright.
The Shining Polyporus.

One can never mistake this fungus. Its surface looks as if covered with varnish, rather wrinkled, a bright dark-red color, and its shape is varied and singular. We have seen it sometimes shaped like a fan, and like a lady’s high comb, or in some fantastic form. Stevenson says it is a light yellow color and then becomes blood red chestnut. It is first corky, then woody. Stem lateral, equal, varnished, shining, of the same color as cap. Pores are long, very small, white and then cinnamon color. It grows on and about stumps during the summer. Cap is from 2 to 6 inches broad, and the stem 6 to 10 inches long, and 1 or more thick.

POLYPORUS VERSICOLOR = changeable.
The Changeable Polyporus.

This species is also common. It is found on dead wood, in all forms and colors. Cap variegated with different-colored zones; leathery, thin, rigid, depressed behind, becoming velvety. Pores minute, round, acute and torn, white, turning pale or yellow.

POLYPORUS ELEGANS = elegant.
The Elegant Polyporus.

Cap 2 to 4 inches broad, of one color, pallid, ochraceous or orange, shining, equally fleshy, and then hardened, becoming woody, flattened, even, smooth. Flesh white. Stem eccentric or lateral, even, smooth, pallid at first, abruptly black and rooting at the base. Pores plane, minute, somewhat round, yellowish-white, pallid. The cap differs in shape from others that have been described; it is not funnel-shaped nor streaked, and is scarcely depressed, and the flesh is thick to the margin. It grows on trunks of trees from July to November.

CLAVARIEI, OR CLUB-SHAPED FUNGI.

We now come to another order, Clavariei, of which the first genus is Clavaria, from a word meaning a club. They are fleshy fungi, not coriaceous. They have no distinct stem and generally grow on the ground. We will mention a few of those we often see. They somewhat resemble coral in growth but not in color.

CLAVARIA STRICTA = to draw tight.
The Constricted Clavaria.

This Clavaria grows on trunks of trees. It is of a pale yellowish color, becoming a dusky brown (fuscous) when bruised. The base is about 3 lines long, thick and much branched. The branches and branchlets are tense and straight, crowded, adpressed and acute. Stevenson says that this species is uncommon in Great Britain.

CLAVARIA FLAVA = yellow.
The Pale Yellow Clavaria.

Stevenson does not mention this species, so it may be peculiar to this country. Stem is short and stout, thick, and abruptly dissolves into a dense mass of erect branches nearly parallel. The tips are yellow but fade when old. It branches below and the stems are whitish. Flesh white. It is recommended as well flavored and edible.

CLAVARIA PISTILLARIS = a pestle.
The Large Club Clavaria.

This species belongs to the largest of the unbranched kind. It is generally 3 to 5 inches high, and ½ to ⅔ of an inch thick at top. Light yellow color, then reddish, and dingy brown in decay. It is smooth and the flesh soft and white. It is rounded at the top and club-shaped. It tapers downward toward the base. Stevenson gives the height from 6 to 12 inches, but Professor Peck says he has not seen it as large in this country. It is found in open grassy places. It was late in the autumn when we discovered it. (Edible.)

CLAVARIA INEQUALIS = unequal.
The Unequal Clavaria.

This fungus is yellow and fragile. The clubs are alike in color, simple or forked, and variable. It is common in woods and pastures. We found it in September in the woods, rather wrinkled in appearance. It is not classed among the edible species.

TYPHULA = reed mace.

One may sometimes see among the dead leaves in the woods, minute slender bodies with thread-like stems, springing up from the ground, 2 to 3 inches high, of a white color and cylindrical in shape. They look like slender stems from which the blossoms have been plucked. They are called Typhula. They grow on dead leaves, on mosses, or on dead herbaceous stems. The name is taken from the Cat Tail family, the Typhaceae, which they somewhat resemble in miniature.

SCHIZOPHYLLUM COMMUNE = to split, a leaf and common.
The Common Schizophyllum.

There is but one species given by Stevenson of this genus, and, as the name demonstrates, it is common, at least in this country. In Great Britain it is rare. It grows on dead wood and logs. It has zones, either of gray or white color, and it is turned up at the edge (revolute). There is no flesh, and the pileus is dry. The gills are branched fan-wise. It is not a typical Agaric, but is more like some Polyporei. The gills are split longitudinally at the edge, and the two lips commonly turn backward (revolute).

HIRNEOLA AURICULA JUDAE.
The Jew’s Ear.

There is one species belonging to the order Tremellodon that is quite common. It is called the Jew’s ear. It is a very peculiar-looking fungus, shaped somewhat like the human ear, of all sizes, and grows in great quantities in the same place. It looks as if it were composed of a thick jelly, and becomes soft and tremulous when damp. Its color is dark, sometimes almost black. It is tough and cup-shaped, with ridges across it like an ear. The generic name, Hirneola, means a jug, and the specific name, Auricula Judae, a Jew’s ear.

GASTEROMYCETES, OR STOMACH FUNGI.

SCLERODERMA VULGARE = hard, skin, common.
The Common Hard-skinned Mushroom.

This species closely resembles the common potato in shape and color. It generally measures 2 to 3 inches across, and is of a pale brown color. It grows close on the earth, is folded toward the base, and firm in texture. The cuticle is covered with warts or scales.

CRUCIBULUM VULGARE = crucible, common.
The Common Crucible.

This little fungus is about ¼ of an inch across. It resembles a tiny bird’s-nest with eggs in it. At first it looks like a cottony knot, closely covered; its apex is closed by a membrane, then its covering is thrown off, and the apparent tiny eggs are merely smaller envelopes, called the peridiola. These are lentil-shaped and pale, and are fastened to the inside of the covering by a long cord, which can be seen only through a strong lens.

CYATHUS VERNICOSUS = varnished.
The Varnished Cup.

This differs from the crucible in color, form and habitat. It is about ½ an inch high. It is bell-shaped, becoming broadly open like a trumpet, and of a slate or ash color. The mouth and lining shine as if varnished, and hence its name. The plants grow on the ground, on wood and on leaves.

LYCOPERDON CYATHIFORME = cup-shape.
The Cup-shaped Puff-ball.

This species of puff-ball is round with a contracted base. It is 4 to 10 inches across, a white or pinkish-brown color, afterward becoming a darker brown and covered with small patches. When the spores mature the upper part of the covering (peridium) becomes torn and only the lower part remains. It looks like a dark-colored cup with a ragged margin, and may be seen by the excursionist in the spring on the roadside. It has survived the winter frosts and storms. It is split and shabby looking. In August it is a whitish puff-ball, in the spring only a torn, brown cup.

LYCOPERDON PYRIFORME = pear-shape.
The Pear-shaped Puff-ball.

This species is shaped like a pear. It is from 1 to 4 inches high and is covered with persistent warts so small as to look like scales to the naked eye. It is of a dingy white or brownish-yellow. Its shape separates it from the puff-balls, especially from the warted puff-ball, L. gemmatum, which is nearly round with a base like a stem, an ashy-gray color, and the surface is also warty, but unequally so, and as the warts fall off they leave the puff-ball dotted. The pear-shaped puff-ball has little fibrous rootlets, and the plants grow in crowds on decaying trees.

GEASTER HYGROMETRICUS = moisture, measure.
The Wandering Earth Star.

This earth star is from 2 to 3½ inches wide. It is sessile, of a brownish color, and changes its form accordingly as the weather is moist or dry, hence the name. It is contracted and round in dry weather, and star-like in damp atmosphere, with its lobes stretched out on the earth. The covering consists of three layers, the two outermost split from the top into several acute divisions, which spread out like the points of a star. The innermost layer is round and attached by the base. There are one or more openings at the top for the escape of the spores.

PHALLUS IMPUDICUS = disgusting.
The Fetid Wood Witch.

In the first stages the plant is white, soft and heavy, in shape and size like a hen’s egg. It is covered by three layers, the outer one firm, the middle one gelatinous, the third and inner one consists of a thin membrane. This phallus develops under the ground until its spores are mature. At length the apex is ruptured by the growth of the spore receptacle, and the stem expands and elongates, escaping through the top, and elevates the cap into the air. The stem at the early stage is composed of cells filled with a gluten. The stem afterward becomes open and spongy, owing to the drying of the gelatinous matter. The spores are immersed in a strong-smelling, olive-green gluten. They are on the outside of the cap and embedded in its ridges. A part of the volva remains as a sheath at the base of the stem. This plant develops so rapidly as to attain in a few hours the height of seven inches, the stem is of lace-like structure, pure white, and its appearance suggests the silicious sponge so ornamental in collections, commonly known as Venus’ basket. The drooping cap is also lacey with a network, and the spores drip mucus and then dry up, in the meantime spreading around a carrion-like, fetid smell. The Phallus, therefore, differs greatly in appearance from the other genera of the order when it is seen above ground, but if one is successful in finding it at an early stage, under the surface of the earth, he will realize its relationship to the general group, and find it an interesting subject of study.

ASCOMYCETES, OR SPORE-SAC FUNGI.

PEZIZA AUKANTIA = golden.
The Golden Peziza.

This species is 2 to 3 inches in diameter, its disc is bright orange color, while its exterior is pale and downy, owing to the presence of short, stout hairs. It is sessile or nearly so, and grows in tufts on the ground near stumps of trees. At first the disc is thin and brittle, with a raised margin, much waved, becoming incised, and finally spreads flat on the ground.

MORCHELLA ESCULENTA = food.
The Edible or Common Morel.

This is 2 to 4 inches high, stem about ½ inch in diameter. The cap is of a dull yellow color, olivaceous, darkening with age to a brownish tinge. It is oval-shaped, with dark hollows.

HELVELLA INFULA = name of a woollen head-dress.
The Cap-like Helvella.

This species is named Infula, because it is supposed to resemble in shape the sacred woollen head-dress worn by priests of Rome, by supplicants and victims, tied around the head by a ribbon or bandage, which hangs down on both sides. The stem is surmounted with a lobed cap, with two to four irregularly drooping lobes of reddish or cinnamon-brown color, and is about 3 inches in diameter. The stem is 2 or 3 inches high, usually smooth, but sometimes pitted. We found our specimen in the woods in August.

Cortinarius distans.
Photographed by C. G. Lloyd.

DIRECTIONS FOR USING KEYS.

Let us suppose that the beginner finds a mushroom and wishes to name it. He has learned its component parts. He has remarked the names of the classes into which mushrooms are divided. How then shall he make use of the Keys? We will imagine that he has found a Cantharellus. The cap is yellow color, so let him turn to the list of fungi described under the section “Yellow and Orange,” and see if it agrees in appearance with anyone of these. (It is necessary before consulting a key to find the color of the spores. This is done by cutting off the cap, and placing it, gills downward, on paper, and leaving it there for two or three hours. Having followed these directions in this case it will have been seen that the spores are white.)

After consulting the list of “Yellow and Orange” he will find that the first one mentioned is Cantharellus cibarius, the Chantarelle. The description resembles that of the mushroom found in every particular.

Now let the beginner go further, and prove the correctness of the name in another way. Turning to the section called “General Helps to the Memory,” on page 68, and reading the names of the different genera under the headings until he comes to the name Cantharellus, he will find it in the table called “Mushrooms with gills running down the stems (decurrent).” This distinction is apparent in the specimen found. Again, let him turn to the list of white-spored Agarics, page 73, and he will find the name of the genus Cantharellus there. Now, as an additional test, let him turn to the key at the end of this work, the key to Hymenomycetes. He must have learned enough by this time to know that his mushroom belongs to this class, namely, the one that has spores produced upon the lower part of the cap, and, also, that it is an Agaric, from its having gills on the under side. Let him begin with Section A, “with cap.” 1. Mushrooms with radiating gills beneath caps (Agarics). The key then follows: 1. Plants fleshy, soon decaying. 2. Turn to number 2. There are two descriptions, juice milky and juice watery; he will choose the second one, which is followed by the number 3. Then follows, stem central or nearly so; this agrees with the plant, and leads to 4. The first line reads “white spores,” which is correct; then comes 5. There are four lines with descriptions, the last one, “no ring and no volva,” is right, which leads to 7. There are here two lines belonging to 7, the second one, “gills in the form of folds, obtuse edge,” is correct, and points to 10. This reads, “Gills decurrent, plant terrestrial, Cantharellus.” The Key gives the name of the genus only. In the list of descriptions an attempt is made to mention some of the commonest species. These directions apply to all the keys alike.

DIVISION I.

DIVISION II.