Edible fungus

“ Even the most wholesome mushroom will occasionally require to be discriminated against, as certain individuals find it necessary to exclude cabbage, milk, onions, and other common food from their diet. When we reflect, moreover, that in its essential chemical affinities the fungus simulates animal flesh, and many of the larger and more solid varieties are similarly subject to speedy decomposition, it is obviously important that [Pg 31] all fungi procured for the table should be collected in their prime, and prepared and served as quickly as possible. ”

“ No general test can be given by which a poisonous mushroom may be distinguished from an edible mushroom. But each species of fungus has certain marks of identity, either in appearance, quality, or condition of growth, which are its own, and never radically varied; none can contain a venomous element at one time, and yet be harmless under other conditions. ”

“ Polyporus sulphureus has long been known as an edible fungus, but from its rather firm and fibrous texture it requires a different preparation from the fleshy fungi to prepare it for the table, and this may be one reason why it is not employed more frequently as an article of food. It is common enough during the summer and especially during the autumn to provide this kind of food in considerable quantities. ”

“ Fungus food always available The knowledge of their identities once acquired, it is perfectly reasonable to assert that in average weather conditions the fungus-hunter may confine himself to these varieties and still be confronted with an embarrassment of riches, availing himself of three meals a day, with the mere trouble of a ramble through the woods or pastures. ”

“ Indeed, fungi have an advantage in this respect, since one or two general cautions can be given, when none such are applicable for higher plants. For instance, it may be said truly that all fungi that exhibit a rapid change to blue when bruised or broken should be avoided; that all Agarics are open to suspicion which possess an acrid taste; that fungi found growing on wood should not be eaten unless the species is well known; that no species of edible fungus has a strong, unpleasant odour, and similar cautions, which, after all, are insufficient. ”

“ Experiments in these varieties of fungi are highly dangerous, as many of the most poisonous so closely resemble the edible species that they can with difficulty be distinguished. There is one kind of fungus that I have met with in the forests which, from its offensive odor and disgusting appearance, should be something superlatively bad. It grows about four inches high; the top is round, with a fleshy and inflamed appearance; the stalk is out of all proportion in its thickness, being about two inches in diameter and of a livid white color ”

“ Popular distrust of fungi But in America the fungus is under the ban, its great majority of harmless or even wholesome edible species having been brought into popular disrepute through the contamination, mostly, of a single small genus. ”

“ It is, also, usually the persons who think they know the mushroom, and can not be deceived, that get poisoned. If two rules are observed danger can be avoided. (1) Never eat a fungus gathered in the woods believing it to be the mushroom. The typical A. campester does not grow in the woods; species of Agaricus somewhat resembling it do. (2) Look at the gills; those of the mushroom are at first a light-pink which rapidly, as the plant matures, darken to a dark-brown, purplish-brown, or purplish-black. This is due to the ripening of the spores. Those of the Amanita are constantly white. ”

“ But if any misadventure occurs from eating fungi, the whole race are scouted and branded as the harbingers of death. In this country fungus-eating is reserved for the few; but it by no means follows these few are experimentalists, far from it; for the species they eat have been known to be edible, and have been eaten, by the initiated, from time immemorial, in other lands if not in this. ”

“ They are very small, as fine as dust, and invisible to the naked eye, except as they are seen in masses on the grass, on the ground, or on logs, or in a spore print. It is the object of every fungus to produce spores. Some fall on the parent host or upon the ground. Others are wafted away by every rise of the wind and carried for days and finally settle down, it may be, in other states and continents from those in which they started. Millions perish because of not finding a suitable resting place. ”

“ Experiments made by the writer in West Virginia where the species grows luxuriantly and is of much higher flavor than any he has found elsewhere, prove that it is easy to transplant within congenial habitats, either by the mycelium or spores. Nature, there, resorts to washing masses of leaves containing the propagating parts of the fungus along the depressions of the water-sheds, and it is found growing plentifully where the wind has drifted forest leaves against trees, brush, and fence-corners. ”

“ The plants of this species are very irregular in form, rootless, epiphytal, often stemless, and sometimes attached to the matrix by a very short stem. This fungus is frequently found upon old oak, chestnut, and ash trees, developing in the rotting bark. It appears first as a rosy pimple, or in a series of red granules. In a very short time it becomes tongue-shaped, sometimes kidney shaped, assuming the color of a beet root. As it increases in size it changes form again, becoming broad in proportion to its length, and changing in color to a deep blood red, and finally to a dull liver tint. ”

“ Their flavour commends them to most palates, and their value as food is quite on a par with many other vegetables. Few of the other varieties of edible funguses are approved of by English people, partly through ignorance and prejudice. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is true that imperfect conditions of fungi exert a very important influence on fermentation, and thus become useful; but, unfortunately, fungi have the reputation of being more destructive and offensive than valuable or useful. Notwithstanding that a large number of species have from time to time been enumerated as edible, yet those commonly employed and recognized are very few in number, prejudice in many cases, and fear in others, militating strongly against additions to the number. ”

“ A plentiful crop of wild mushrooms proves a great help to us now, and we are glad to remind ourselves of different ways of using them. For instance, with bacon or eggs at breakfast, au gratin at dinner, on toast at all times, they are acceptable. With field mushrooms we have need to be very careful lest we inadvertently give ourselves some that are poisonous and unfit for food. Dr. Badham, author of the Esculent Funguses of England, enumerates no less than forty-eight species of edible fungi, all of which are good to eat. ”

“ Both in England and Scotland, however, far less use is made of the edible fungi than in France, Italy, Germany, and other continental countries, where they form a not inconsiderable part of the food of the people during summer and autumn; whilst with us, through ignorance and prejudice, they are allowed to rot and go to waste. It is proper to add, that of the larger kinds of fungi, many of the poisonous species are of the very group to which the common mushroom belongs ”

“ By taking no risks in eating those not perfectly recognized, there is no danger of being poisoned. It is not thought difficult to learn varieties of the rose, nor to discriminate between the poison and the innocuous ivy. The form, color, and habitat of mushrooms make them equally easy to recognize. Care should be taken, however, to avoid any mushroom which is old or partly decayed, as its condition then is analogous to that of putrid meat. In their season the edible fungi grow in great profusion ”

“ A thousand and one tests have been given in writing from time to time whereby our ordinary mushroom is to be distinguished from species which resemble it—and one species is to be distinguished from another; but we fear that practically they are not to be depended upon. Fungi differ in appearance according to the localities in which they grow, and according to their age. The common belief that the edible species never change colour when cut or bruised is untenable, for three varieties at least are perfectly edible, and yet assume different tints when injured in any way. ”

“ Roques, an eminent writer on fungi, gives the following excellent suggestions: "After selecting good mushrooms, remove the skin or epidermis, cutting away the gills, and in some cases the stem, which is usually of not so fine a texture.
"It is important to collect for use only young and well-preserved specimens, because a mushroom of excellent quality may, nevertheless, when overmature or near its decline, become dangerous for food. It then acts as does every other food substance which incipient decomposition has rendered acrid, irritating and indigestible. ”

“ Although many experiments have been made in the culture of different species of edible Fungi, "only one has yet been generally introduced into the garden, though there can be no doubt the whole would finally submit to and probably be improved by cultivation. Many of them are natives of this country, abounding in our woods and pastures; and may be gathered wild, and freely enjoyed by those who have not the means of raising them artificially. In Poland and Russia, there are about thirty sorts of edible Fungi in common use among the peasantry. ”

“ Some excuse is therefore to be made for the general aversion prevalent in Great Britain to all kinds of fungi; and as long as we remain ignorant of the difference between the edible and the poisonous species, this aversion will naturally survive. But a wider diffusion of knowledge concerning the edible fungi is very desirable, and would enable many often to enjoy a cheap and agreeable repast.
The superstitions connected with plants seem also to have possessed less vitality than those connected with animals. In fact, they have mostly quite died out. ”

“ One species, when pounded, forms their snuff, while auother, the Fly Agaric, which is utilized in Europe as a fly killer, and is regarded as one of the most poisonous forms, is used by them as a substitute for ardent spirits. One large specimen is sufficient "to produce a pleasant intoxication for a whole day," the alcohol being obtained by the usual method of fermentation. In many parts of Europe fungi are a favorite food, being eaten fresh, and also preserved in vinegar for winter use. ”

“ Hills, plains, valleys, fields and pastures all over the world are alive with these nutritious fungi. Millions of tons of them are allowed annually to rot where they spring up, simply because ignorance or fear prevents their utilization as food. It is true that the distinctions between the edible mushroom and some of its unpleasant cousins cannot be easily understood by any but botanists, and yet this difficulty might be materially obviated if botanical writers would describe the distinctions in words that could be popularly understood, or that, at least, may be found in dictionaries. ”

“ And before we come to the mushrooms, which you know so well, we must look at the smaller forms, which do all their work above ground, so that we can observe them. For the fungi are to be found almost everywhere. The film growing over manure-heaps, the yeast plant, the wine fungus, and the vinegar plant; the moulds and mildews covering our cellar-walls and cupboards, or growing on decayed leaves and wood, on stale fruit, [Pg 61] bread, or jam, or making black spots on the leaves of the rose, the hop, or the vine; the potato fungus, eating into the potato in the dark ground and producing disease ”

“ With respect to the plants of the mushroom tribe, it ought to be observed that, though several of them are edible, many are extremely poisonous. Instances of the fatal effects arising from an indiscriminate adoption of them are innumerable. Great caution, therefore, is requisite that such only shall be used as are ascertained to be wholesome, particularly as, in many instances, the poisonous species can scarcely be distinguished by the eye from such as are innoxious. In cases of injury arising from poisonous funguses, the best remedy that can be administered is an emetic. ”

“ There are no single tests by which one can distinguish edible from poisonous fungi, such as taste, odor, the blackening of a silver spoon, etc., although contrary statements have been made. Even when the proper mushrooms have been eaten, ill effects, death itself, may follow if the mushrooms have been kept too long, have been insufficiently cooked, have been eaten in too large a quantity (especially by children) , or if the consumer is the possessor of an unhappy idiosyncrasy toward mushrooms. ”

“ In all spraying operations it is especially important that the applications be made the very moment the insect or disease is discovered, or in the case of fungous diseases, if one is expecting an attack, it is well to make an application of bordeaux mixture even before the disease appears. When the fungus once gets inside the plant tissue, it is very difficult to destroy it, inasmuch as fungicides act on these deep-seated fungi very largely by preventing their fruiting and their further spread on the surface of the leaf. ”