STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI, MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE, POISONOUS, ETC. by GEORGE FRANCIS ATKINSON Professor of Botany in Cornell University, and Botanist of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station Recipes for Cooking Mushrooms, by Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer Chemistry and Toxicology of Mushrooms, by J. F. Clark With 230 Illustrations from Photographs by the Author, and Colored Plates by F. R. Rathbun SECOND EDITION [Illustration: PLATE 1. FIG. 1 Amanita muscaria. FIG. 2 A. frostiana. Copyright 1900.] [Illustration: Printer's logo.] New York Henry Holt and Company 1903 Copyright, 1900, 1901, by Geo. F. Atkinson. INTRODUCTION. Since the issue of my "Studies and Illustrations of Mushrooms," as Bulletins 138 and 168 of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, there have been so many inquiries for them and for literature dealing with a larger number of species, it seemed desirable to publish in book form a selection from the number of illustrations of these plants which I have accumulated during the past six or seven years. The selection has been made of those species representing the more important genera, and also for the purpose of illustrating, as far as possible, all the genera of agarics found in the United States. This has been accomplished except in a few cases of the more unimportant ones. There have been added, also, illustrative genera and species of all the other orders of the higher fungi, in which are included many of the edible forms. The photographs have been made with great care after considerable experience in determining the best means for reproducing individual, specific, and generic characters, so important and difficult to preserve in these plants, and so impossible in many cases to accurately portray by former methods of illustration. One is often asked the question: "How do you tell the mushrooms from the toadstools?" This implies that mushrooms are edible and that toadstools are poisonous, and this belief is very widespread in the public mind. The fact is that many of the toadstools are edible, the common belief that all of them are poisonous being due to unfamiliarity with the plants or their characteristics. Some apply the term mushroom to a single species, the one in cultivation, and which grows also in fields (_Agaricus campestris_), and call all others toadstools. It is becoming customary with some students to apply the term mushroom to the entire group of higher fungi to which the mushroom belongs (_Basidiomycetes_), and toadstool is regarded as a synonymous term, since there is, strictly speaking, no distinction between a mushroom and a toadstool. There are, then, edible and poisonous mushrooms, or edible and poisonous toadstools, as one chooses to employ the word. A more pertinent question to ask is how to distinguish the edible from the poisonous mushrooms. There is no single test or criterion, like the "silver spoon" test, or the criterion of a scaly cap, or the presence of a "poison cup" or "death cup," which will serve in all cases to distinguish the edible from the poisonous. Two plants may possess identical characters in this respect, i. e., each may have the "death cup," and one is edible while the other is poisonous, as in _Amanita cæsarea_, edible, and _A. phalloides_, poisonous. There are additional characters, however, in these two plants which show that the two differ, and we recognize them as two different species. To know several different kinds of edible mushrooms, which occur in greater or less quantity through the different seasons, would enable those interested in these plants to provide a palatable food at the expense only of the time required to collect them. To know several of the poisonous ones also is important, in order certainly to avoid them. The purpose of this book is to present the important characters which it is necessary to observe, in an interesting and intelligible way, to present life-size photographic reproductions accompanied with plain and accurate descriptions. By careful observation of the plant, and comparison with the illustrations and text, one will be able to add many species to the list of edible ones, where now perhaps is collected "only the one which is pink underneath." The chapters 17 to 21 should also be carefully read. The number of people in America who interest themselves in the collection of mushrooms for the table is small compared to those in some European countries. The number, however, is increasing, and if a little more attention were given to the observation of these plants and the discrimination of the more common kinds, many persons could add greatly to the variety of their foods and relishes with comparatively no cost. The quest for these plants in the fields and woods would also afford a most delightful and needed recreation to many, and there is no subject in nature more fascinating to engage one's interest and powers of observation. There are also many important problems for the student in this group of plants. Many of our species and the names of the plants are still in great confusion, owing to the very careless way in which these plants have usually been preserved, and the meagerness of recorded observations on the characters of the fresh plants, or of the different stages of development. The study has also an important relation to agriculture and forestry, for there are numerous species which cause decay of valuable timber, or by causing "heart rot" entail immense losses through the annual decretion occurring in standing timber. If this book contributes to the general interest in these plants as objects of nature worthy of observation, if it succeeds in aiding those who are seeking information of the edible kinds, and stimulates some students to undertake the advancement of our knowledge of this group, it will serve the purpose the author had in mind in its preparation. I wish here to express my sincere thanks to Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer for her kindness in writing a chapter on recipes for cooking mushrooms, especially for this book; to Professor I. P. Roberts, Director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, for permission to use certain of the illustrations (Figs. 1 7, 12 14, 31 43) from Bulletins 138 and 168, Studies and Illustrations of Mushrooms; to Mr. F. R. Rathbun, for the charts from which the colored plates were made; to Mr. J. F. Clark and Mr. H. Hasselbring, for the Chapters on Chemistry and Toxicology of Mushrooms, and Characters of Mushrooms, to which their names are appended, and also to Dr. Chas. Peck, of Albany, N. Y., and Dr. G. Bresadola, of Austria-Hungary, to whom some of the specimens have been submitted. GEO. F. ATKINSON, Ithaca, N. Y., October, 1900. Cornell University. SECOND EDITION. In this edition have been added 10 plates of mushrooms of which I did not have photographs when the first edition was printed. It was possible to accomplish this without changing the paging of any of the descriptive part, so that references to all of the plants in either edition will be the same. There are also added a chapter on the "Uses of Mushrooms," and an extended chapter on the "Cultivation of Mushrooms." This subject I have been giving some attention to for several years, and in view of the call for information since the appearance of the first edition, it seemed well to add this chapter, illustrated by several flashlight photographs. G. F. A. September, 1901. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter I. Form and Characters of the Mushrooms, 1 Chapter II. Development of the Mushroom, 5 Chapter III. Gill Bearing Fungi; Agaricaceæ, 17 Chapter IV. The Purple-Brown-Spored Agarics, 18 Chapter V. The Black-Spored Agarics, 32 Chapter VI. The White-Spored Agarics, 52 Chapter VII. The Rosy-Spored Agarics, 138 Chapter VIII. The Ochre-Spored Agarics, 150 Chapter IX. The Tube Bearing Fungi; Polyporaceæ, 171 Chapter X. Hedgehog Fungi; Hydnaceæ, 195 Chapter XI. Coral Fungi; Clavariaceæ, 200 Chapter XII. The Trembling Fungi; Tremellineæ, 204 Chapter XIII. Thelephoraceæ, 208 Chapter XIV. Puff-Balls; Lycoperdaceæ, 209 Chapter XV. Stinkhorn Fungi; Phalloideæ, 213 Chapter XVI. Morels, Cup-Fungi, Helvellas, etc., Discomycetes, 216 Chapter XVII. Collection and Preservation of the Fleshy Fungi, 222 Chapter XVIII. Selection and Preparation of Mushrooms for the Table, 229 Chapter XIX. Uses of Mushrooms, 231 Fungi in the Arts, 234 Chapter XX. Cultivation of Mushrooms, 237 The Cave Culture of Mushrooms in America, 239 The House Culture of Mushrooms, 241 Curing the Manure, 247 Making up the Beds, 250 What Spawn Is, 255 Spawning the Beds, 263 Chapter XXI. Recipes for Cooking Mushrooms (Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer), 277 Chapter XXII. Chemistry and Toxicology of the Fungi (J. F. 288 Clark), Chapter XXIII. Description of Terms applied to Certain Structural Characters of Mushrooms (H. Hasselbring), 298 APPENDIX. Analytical Keys (The Author), 307 Glossary of Technical Terms (The Author), 313 Index to Genera and Illustrations, 315 Index to Species, 321 CORRECTIONS. Page 33, 10th line, for [Greek: _kornos_] read [Greek: _kopros_]. Page 220, lines 6 and 9, for _Gyromytra_ read Gyromitra. CHAPTER I. FORM AND CHARACTERS OF THE MUSHROOM. =Value of Form and Characters.= The different kinds of mushrooms vary in form. Some are quite strikingly different from others, so that no one would have difficulty in recognizing the difference in shape. For example, an umbrella-shaped mushroom like the one shown in Fig. 1 or 81 is easily distinguished from a shelving one like that in Fig. 9 or 188. But in many cases different species vary only slightly in form, so that it becomes a more or less difficult matter to distinguish them. In those plants (for the mushroom is a plant) where the different kinds are nearly alike in form, there are other characters than mere general form which enable one to tell them apart. These, it is true, require close observation on our part, as well as some experience in judging of the value of such characters; the same habit of observation and discrimination we apply to everyday affairs and to all departments of knowledge. But so few people give their attention to the discrimination of these plants that few know the value of their characters, or can even recognize them. It is by a study of these especial characters of form peculiar to the mushrooms that one acquires the power of discrimination among the different kinds. For this reason one should become familiar with the parts of the mushroom, as well as those characters and markings peculiar to them which have been found to stamp them specifically. =Parts of the Mushroom.= To serve as a means of comparison, the common pasture mushroom, or cultivated form (_Agaricus campestris_), is first [...]... side of the button, and from the side of the button down toward the stem to meet them This covers the gills up at an early period [Illustration: FIGURE 6. Agaricus campestris Under view of two plants just after rupture of the veil, fragments of the latter clinging both to margin of the pileus and to stem (Natural size.)] =From the Button Stage to the Mushroom.= If we split several of the buttons of different... the mycelium grows profusely on the surface of doors and wood props Figure 11 is from a flashlight photograph, taken by the writer, of a beautiful growth on the surface of one of the doors in an abandoned coal mine at Wilkesbarre, Pa., during September, 1896 The specimen covered an area eight by ten feet on the surface of the door The illustration shows very well the habit of growth of the mycelium At... piece of white paper It should now be covered securely with a small bell jar, or other vessel, so that no currents of air can get underneath In the course of a few hours myriads of the brown spores will have fallen from the surface of the gills, where they are borne They will pile up in long lines along on either side of all the gills and so give us an impression, or spore print, of the arrangement of. .. from the woods The cause of this turning of the stem from the horizontal position, so that the pileus will be brought parallel with the surface of the earth, is the stimulus from the force of gravity, which has been well demonstrated in the case of the higher plants That is, the force which causes the stems of the higher plants to grow upward also regulates the position of the cap of the pileated fungi... the right for position of the plant after the tree fell (1/6 natural size.)] In the woods, especially in the case of the perennial shelving fungi, interesting cases are met with Figure 15 illustrates one of these peculiar forms of _Polyporus (Fomes) applanatus_ This is the species so often collected as a "curio," and on account of its very white under surface is much used for etching various figures... and double, so that it often appears as two distinct rings on the middle or lower part of the stem as shown in Fig 17 This form of the annulus is probably due to the fact that the thick part of the margin of the pileus during the young stage rests between the lower and upper part of the annulus, i e., the thick veil is attached both to the inner and outer surface of the margin of the cap, and when it... fashion The mycelium in this condition is very soft and perishable It disappears almost at touch On the posts or wood props used to support the rock roof above, the mycelium grows in great profusion also, often covering them with a thick white mantle, or draping them with a fabric of elegant texture From the upper ends of the props it spreads out over the rock roof above for several feet in circumference,... trunk, or other object of support on which it grows Where there is such uniformity in the position of a member or part of a plant under a variety of conditions, it is an indication that there is some underlying cause, and also, what is more important, that this position serves some useful purpose in the life and well being of the plant We may cut the stem of a mushroom, say of the _Agaricus campestris_,... white strands are often clinging to the lower end These strands are often seen by removing some of the earth from the young plant, as shown in Fig 2 This is known among gardeners as "spawn." It is through the growth and increase of this spawn that gardeners propagate the cultivated mushroom Fine specimens of the spawn of the cultivated mushroom can be seen by digging up from a bed a group of very young... [Illustration: FIGURE 7. Agaricus campestris Plant in natural position just after rupture of veil, showing tendency to double annulus on the stem Portions of the veil also dripping from margin of pileus (Natural size.)] =The Color of the Gills.= The color of the gills of the common mushroom varies in different stages of development When very young the gills are white But very soon the gills become pink . STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI, MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE, POISONOUS, ETC. by GEORGE FRANCIS ATKINSON Professor of Botany in Cornell University, and Botanist of. Toxicology of Mushrooms, and Characters of Mushrooms, to which their names are appended, and also to Dr. Chas. Peck, of Albany, N. Y., and Dr. G. Bresadola, of