George Francis Atkinson

“ The genus Clavaria is one of the most common ones in the family, and is one of the most attractive from the variety and beauty of several of the species. All of the plants are more or less erect, and at least stand out from the substratum on which they grow. They are either long and simple and more or less club-shaped, as the name implies, or they are branched, some but a few times, while others are very profusely branched. The plants vary in color, some are white, some yellow, some red, and some are red-tipped, while others are brownish in color. ”

“ The mushrooms are nature's most active agents in the disposal of the forest's waste material. Forests that have developed without the guidance of man have been absolutely dependent upon them for their continued existence. Where the species of mushrooms are comparatively few which attack living trees, there are hundreds of kinds ready to strike into fallen timber. There is a degree of moisture present on the forest floor exactly suited to the rapid growth of the mycelium of numbers of species in the bark, sap wood, and heart wood of the fallen trees or shrubs. ”

“ The bulb of the deadly amanita is usually inserted quite deep in the soil or leaf mold, and specimens are often picked leaving the very important character of the volva in the ground, and then the plant might easily be taken for the common mushroom, or more likely for the smooth lepiota, Lepiota naucina, which is entirely white, the gills only in age showing a faint pink tinge. It is very important, therefore, that, until one has such familiarity with these plants that they are easily recognized in the absence of some of these characters, the stem should be carefully dug from the soil. ”

“ In some places in America it is collected on a large scale and relied on as the chief source of spawn for planting beds. In such cases the natural or virgin spawn is used directly and is of the first and most vigorous generation. It is believed by growers who employ it in this way that the results in the quality and quantity of the crop exceed those produced from the market spawn. But even these growers would not always depend on the natural spawn, for the reason, that collecting it under these conditions, the quantity is certain to vary from year to year. ”

“ The genus Cortinarius is chiefly distinguished from the other genera of the ochre-spored agarics by the presence of a spider-web-like (arachnoid) veil which is separate from the cuticle of the pileus, that is, superficial. The gills are powdered by the spores, that is, the spores fall away with difficulty and thus give the gills a pulverulent appearance. The plants are fleshy and decay easily. It is necessary to have plants in the young as well as the old state to properly get at the characters, and the character of the veil is only seen in young or half developed specimens. ”

“ After one has become familiar with the habit of the different kinds the trowel will not be necessary in all cases. For example, most species of Russula, Lactarius, Tricholoma, Boletus, etc., are not deeply seated in the soil, and careful hand-picking will in most cases secure specimens properly, especially if one does not object to digging in the soil with the fingers. But in the case of most species of Amanita, certain species of Lepiota, Collybia, etc., a trowel is necessary to get up the base of the plant in such a way as to preserve essential characters. ”

“ Nature of Mushroom Spawn.—This spawn, it should be clearly understood, is not spawn in the sense in which that word is used in fish culture; though it may be employed so readily in propagation of mushrooms. The spawn is nothing more than the vegetative portion of the plant. It is made up of countless numbers of delicate, tiny, white, jointed threads, the mycelium. ”

“ There are many useful as well as interesting lessons taught by mushrooms to those who stop to read their stories. The long growth period of the spawn in the ground, or in the tree trunk, where it may sometimes be imprisoned for years, sometimes a century, or more, before the mushroom appears, is calculated to dispel the popular notion that the mushroom "grows in a night." ”

“ The flesh is firm, whitish, and in age becoming somewhat yellowish. The gills are adnate, sometimes decurrent by a little tooth, rather crowded, narrow, whitish, then dull yellow, and becoming dark from the spores, purplish to olivaceous. The stem usually tapers downward, is firm, stuffed, smooth, or with remnants of the veil giving it a floccose scaly appearance, usually ascending because of the crowded growth. The veil is thin and only manifested in the young stage of the plant as a loose weft of threads. As the cap expands the veil is torn and adheres to the margin, but soon disappears. ”

“ The elm pleurotus has been long known as an edible fungus, and is regarded as an excellent one for food on account of its flavor and because of its large size. It occurs abundantly during the late autumn, and at this season of the year is usually well protected from the attacks of insects. It occurs in the woods, or fields, more frequently on dead trees. On shade trees which have been severely pruned, and are nearly or quite dead, it sometimes appears at the wounds, where limbs have been removed, in great abundance. ”

“ So soon as a bed has been exhausted the material is cleaned out, and new beds are made as fast as the fresh manure is obtained. In houses where the mushrooms cannot be grown during the summer, the crops are grown at quite regular periods, the first crop during fall and early winter, and the second crop during spring. Some obtain the manure and ferment it during August and September, spawning the beds in September and October. Others begin work on the fermentation of the manure in June or July, make up the beds in July and August, spawn, and begin to draw off the crop somewhat earlier. ”

“ The brick spawn is sometimes manufactured in this country by growers for their own use, but at present it is manufactured on such a large scale in England that little or no saving is effected by an attempt to manufacture one's own brick spawn in this country.
Flake Spawn.—The flake spawn, or "flakes," is commonly known as the French spawn, because it is so extensively manufactured in France. It is made by breaking down beds through which the mycelium has run, and before the crop of mushrooms appears. That is, the bed is spawned in the ordinary way. ”

“ 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 [Pg iv] 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. ”

“ Were it not for the action of the mushroom mycelium in causing the decay of fallen timber in the forest, in time it would be piled so high as to allow only a miserable existence to a few choked individuals. The action of the mushrooms in thus disposing of the fallen timber in the forests, and in converting dead trees and fallen leaves into available food for the living ones, is probably the most important role in the existence of these plants. Mushrooms, then, are to be given very high rank among the natural agencies which have contributed to the good of the world. ”

“ The pileus is first convex, then slightly depressed in the center, becoming more expanded, and finally more or less funnel-shaped by the elevation of the margin. It is usually more or less orange in color or mottled with varying shades, and with concentric bands of a deeper color. The gills are yellowish orange often with darker spots. The stem is of the same color as the pileus but paler, sometimes with darker spots. The flesh of the plant is white, shaded with orange. In old plants the color fades out somewhat and becomes unevenly tinged with green, and bruised places become green. ”

“ The cap is convex, then plane, and sometimes depressed at the center or umbilicate. When young it is somewhat fleshy and pliant, then it becomes tough, coriaceous, and hard when dry. During wet weather it becomes pliant again. Being hard and firm, and tough, it preserves long after mature, so that it may be found at any season of the year. The cap is smoky in color, varying in shade, sometimes very dark, almost black, and other specimens being quite light in color. The surface is hairy and the margin is often fimbriate with coarse hairs. The stem is lighter, hairy or strigose. ”

“ The morels are all edible and they are usually easy to recognize. The plant consists of two distinct, prominent parts, the cap and the stem. The cap varies in form from rounded, ovate, conic or cylindrical, or bell-shaped, but it is always marked by rather broad pits, covering the entire outer surface, which are separated from each other by ridges forming a network. The color of the plants does not differ to any perceptible extent in our species. The cap is usually buff or light ochre yellow, becoming darker with age and in drying. ”