Pileus

“ Pileus up to 2 in. long and 1 in. broad, sessile, at first resupinate then expanded and horizontal, often lobed, upper stratum of pileus gelatinous, brown, bristling with squarrose or erect squamules. Flesh thickish. Gills radiating from the point of attachment, broad, rather distant, grayish-white.
On old trunks. Imbricated. Readily distinguished by the brown, squarrosely scaly pileus. Massee.
Spores oblong, oblique, 8×5μ Morgan.
In June, 1886, the writer found this species in oak woods near Philadelphia. It grew on fallen trunks and on decaying spots of living timber. ”

“ The tawny-color, spoon-shaped pileus, pale floccose scales, short lateral stem and decurrent lamellæ ascribed to that species are not well shown by our plant. The substance of the pileus, though rather tenacious and persistent, can scarcely be called leathery. The flesh is white or pale yellow. The hairy down of the pileus is often matted in small tufts and intermingled with coarse hairs, especially toward the margin. This gives a scaly or pointed-hairy appearance. The color of the pileus is often paler toward the base than it is on the margin. ”

“ Pileus symmetrical, generally fleshy, never truly umbilicate, seldom umbonate. Veil absent or appearing only as fibrils or down on the margin of the pileus. Gills sinuate (the small sudden curve near the stem always apparent in the young plant) , sometimes with a slightly decurrent tooth. Stem central, usually stout, fleshy-fibrous, without a bark-like skin. Flesh continuous with that of the pileus. Ring and Volva absent. Spores white or dingy.
But one is known to be poisonous. Some are acrid or unpleasant in flavor. ”

“ The pileus is some shade of yellow, convex, inflexed, smooth, flocculent or scaly. The gills are attached to the stem, sometimes nearly free, never decurrent. The stem is cartilaginous, confluent with the cap but of a different texture, hollow or stuffed. The veil is absent or sometimes small traces may be seen attached to the rim of the pileus, in young plants in the form of flakes. The spores are of various shades of brown, dull or bright. They grow on the ground on lawns and rich pastures. ”

“ Pileus without a viscid pellicle, absolutely dry, rigid, the cuticle commonly breaking up into flocci or granules. Flesh thick, compact, firm, vanishing away short of the margin which is straight (never involute) , soon spreading, and always without striæ. Stem solid, at first hard, then softer and spongy. Gills, a few dimidiate, others divided, rigid, dilated in front and running out with a very broad, rounded apex, whence the margin of the pileus becomes obtuse and is not inflexed. Exceedingly handsome, but rather rare. ”

“ The pileus is corky, coriaceous, convex, then plane, hairy with rigid bristles, zoned with concentric furrows; of one color, whitish, sometimes these zones are quite marked as in Figure 342.
The pore surface is at first white, or whitish, becoming dark or brownish in age. The pores are round, the walls rather thick. It is found on logs and stumps in the woods. It is a very common plant and widely distributed. ”

“ The veil is reticulate, frequently surrounding the whole of the stem from the pileus to the volva, often torn. The pileus is pitted, deliquescent, six to eight inches high, apex acute. Spores elliptic-oblong.
I am sure I never saw finer lace-work than I have seen on this plant. A few years ago one of these plants insisted upon growing near my house, where a fence post had formerly been, with the effect of almost driving the family from home. One can hardly imagine so beautiful a plant giving off such an odor. It is not a common plant in our state. ”

“ The Pileus.—By far the larger number of funguses mentioned in this work have a pileus, or cap; all such belong to the first great tribe Pileati; they include the genera Agaricus, Boletus, Cantharellus, Morchella, Hydnum, Fistulina, and [69] Polyporus, each of which furnishes its quota of alimentary species, together with many others not esculent. The form of the pileus, like that of the stalk, is various in these different genera, besides being variable in the different species of the same genus ”

“ The pileus often rests upon its back and is attached by a point when young, but it becomes turned backward with age. The species are few and infrequent. All inhabit decaying wood.
267C. ni ́dulans Pers.—nidus, a nest. Pileus 1–3 in. broad, stemless, attached by the pileus or rarely narrowed behind into a short stem-like base, caps often overlapping one another, suborbicular or kidney-shaped, downy, somewhat pointed-hairy or scaly-hairy toward the margin, yellow or buff color, the margin at first turned inward. Lamellæ rather broad, moderately close or subdistant, orange-yellow. ”

“ Pileus more or less rosy, flesh compact, margin striate, epidermis adherent; gills very brittle, arched in front, attenuated towards the stalk, connected below by transverse plaits, generally simple, a few forked, the imperfect gills rounded off behind; the stalk, which is compact, of equal dimensions, and white, is generally more or less stained with red spots of the same hue as the pileus; in the growing fungus, where the epidermis has been removed and the flesh eaten by insects, this soon acquires a tint as lively as that of the skin itself ”

“ Spores 5–6μ Massee.
Distinguished by the grooved stem and crowded gills, which are adnate when the pileus is expanded. Often growing in rings.
North Carolina, Curtis. Not reported elsewhere. Esculent. Cooke. Much eaten in Europe.
T. bre ́vipes Bull.—brevis, short; pes, a foot. Pileus about 2 in. broad, umber then becoming pale, fleshy, soft, convex then becoming plane, even, smooth, moist (opaque when dry) ; flesh of the pileus becoming brownish when moist, becoming white when dry. Stem solid, very rigid, at length fibrous, pruinate at the apex, externally and internally fuscous ”

“ The pileus is three to five inches broad, compact, at first convex, and umbilicate, then expanded and centrally depressed or subinfundibuliform, obsoletely tomentose or glabrous except on the margin, white or whitish, often varied with yellowish or sordid strains, the margin at first involute and clothed with a dense, soft cottony tomentum, then spreading or elevated and more or less fibrillose. ”

“ The pileus is said to become greenish very late in the season. The stem, in the typical form, is described as sulphur-yellow in color, but with us it is more often white. The scales of the disk are sometimes wanting. In our plant the taste is slightly farinaceous at first, but it is soon unpleasant.
Var. pinastreti A. and S. is a slender form having a thin, even pileus, thinner and more narrow gills and a more slender stem. A. crassus Scop., A. aureus Schaeff., and A. flavovirens Pers. are recorded as synonyms of this species. Peck, 44th Rep. ”

“ In most of the species the pileus is at first resupinate, but it generally becomes reflexed as it enlarges. It is generally sessile or attached by a mass of white fibrils or tomentum. For this reason it is usually somewhat tomentose or villose about the point of attachment, even in species that are otherwise glabrous. In several species the pileus is moist or hygrophanous and then the thin margin is commonly striatulate. ”

“ It is a beautiful plant. The color and size are quite variable. I found it on Ralston's Run and in Baird's woods on Frankfort Pike. It is found from September to January.
Pleurotus applicatus. Batsch. Little Gray Pleurotus.
Figure 125.—Pleurotus applicatus. Natural size.
Applicatus means lying upon or close to; so named from the sessile pileus. The pileus is one-third of an inch across, when young cup-shaped, dark cinereous, somewhat membranaceous, quite firm, resupinate, then reflexed, somewhat striate, slightly pruinose, villous at the base. ”

“ The species grow on the ground, in spring. Massee.
V. digitalifor ́mis Pers.—digitus, a finger. Pileus at first nearly even, olivaceous-umber, dark at the apex. Stem obese, furnished at the base with a few reddish radicles, white with a slight rufous tinge, marked with transverse reddish spots; smooth to the naked eye, but under a lens clothed with fine adpressed flocci, the rupture of which gives rise to the spots, which are, in fact, minute scales. In the mature plant the pileus is 3⁄4 in. ”