Mushrooms, Fungi or Toadstools

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XIV* Mushrooms^ Fttngi^ or Toadstools Abundance SUPPOSE that during the night a swarm of fairies were to enter our home woods and decorate it on ground and trunk, with the most strange and won- derful fruits, of new sorts, unheard of in shapes and colors, some Hke fans, with colored lacework, some like carrots, others like green and gold balloons, some Hke umbrellas, spring bonnets, birds' nests, barbers' poles, and Indian clubs, many hke starfish and skulls, others imitating corals and others liHes, bugles, oysters, beefsteaks, and wine cups, resplendent with every color of the rainbow, deHcious to eat, coming from nowhere, hanging on no plant and dis- appearing in a few days leaving no visible seed or remnant — we should think it very strange ; we might even doubt our eyesight and call it all a pure fairy tale. Yet this very miracle is what happens every year in our land. At least 2,000 different kinds of toadstools or mushrooms spring up in their own mysterious way. Of this 2,000 at least 1,000 are good to eat. But — and here is the dark and danger- ous fact — about a dozen of them are Amanitas, which are known to be deadly poison. And as ill-luck will have it these are the most widely diffused and the most like mushrooms. All the queer freaks, like clubs and corals, the cranks and tomfools, in droll shapes and satanic colors, the funny poisonous looking morels, ink-caps and boleti are good392 The Book of Woodcraft wholesome food but the deadly Amanitas are hke ordinary- mushrooms, except that they have grown a Httle thin, delicate and anaemic. DANGERS The New York papers have told of over twenty deaths this August (191 1) through toadstool poisoning. The explanation possibly Kes in a recorded conversation that took place between a field naturaKst and a little Italian who was indiscriminatingly collecting toadstools. "You are not going to eat those toadstools, I hope?" "No! me no eata de toad. My mudder she eata de toad and die; me no eata de toad; me sella de toad." All American boys are brought up with a horror of toad- stools that compares only with their horror of snakes and it is perhaps as well. I do not want to send our boys out heedlessly to gather toadstools for the table, but I want to safeguard those who are interested by laying down one or two general rules. This is the classification of toadstools that naturally occurs to the woodcrafter: Which are eatable and Which are not. , Those which are not fit for food, may be so, first, because too hard and woodlike, and, second, because poisonous. The great fact that every boy should know is which are the poisonous toadstools. Mark Twain is credited with suggesting a sure test: ^^ Eat them. If you live they are good, if you die they are poisonous. ^^ This is an example of a m.ethod that can be conclusive, without being satis- factory. What way can we suggest for general use? First, rem.ember that there is nothing at all in the popular idea that Doisonous mushrooms turn silver black.Mushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 393 Next, "not one of the fungi known to be deadly gives warning by appearance or flavor of the presence of poison." (Mcllvaine.) The color of the cap proves nothing. The color of the spores, however, does tell a great deal; which is unfortunate as one cannot get a spore print in less than several hours. But it is the first step in identification; therefore the Scout should learn to make a spore print of each species he would experiment with. To make spore prints. Cover some sheets of blue or dark gray paper with a weak solution of gum arabic — one tablespoonful of dry gum to one pint of water; let this dry. Unless you are in a hurry in which case use it at once. Take the cap of any full-grown toadstool, place it gill side down upon the gummed paper, cover tightly with a bowl or saucer and allow to stand undisturbed for eight or ten hours. The moisture in the plant will soften the gummed surface if it is dry; the spores will be shed and will adhere to it, making a perfect, permanent print. Write the name, date, etc., on it and keep for reference. Some of the papers should be black to show up the white spored kinds. It will be found most practical for the student to divide all mushrooms, not into two, but into three, groups. First. A very small group of about a dozen that are poisonous and must be let alone. Second. A very large group that are good wholesome food. Third. Another very large group that are probably good and worthy of trial if it is done judiciously, but have not yet been investigated. Scientists divide them into: Gilled toadstools Pore bearers394 The Book of Woodcraft Spiny toadstools Coral toadstools . Puffballs All the virulently poison ones as weU as the most delici- ous are in the first group. POISONOUS TOADSTOOLS The only deadly poisonous kinds are the Amanitas. Others may purge and nauseate or cause vomiting, but it is believed that every recorded death from toadstool poison- ing was caused by an Amanita, and unfortunately they are not only widespread and abundant, but they are much like the ordinary table mushrooms. They have, however, one or two strong marks : Their stalk always grows out of a ^^ poison cup,'" which shows either as a cup or as a hulh; they have white or yellow gills, a ring around the stalk, and white spores. First of these is the Deathcup, Destroying Angel, Sure-Death or Deadly Ama- nita {Amanita phalloides), one and one half to five inches across the cup; three to seven inches high; pure white, green, yellowish, olive, or grayish brown; smooth, but sticky when moist; gills below; spores white; on the stem is an annulus or ring just white the cap, and the long stalk arises out of a hollow bulb or cup ; usually it is solitary. A number of forms have been described as separate, but which are considered by Professor Mcllvaine as mere vari- eties of the phalloides — namely, the Virulent Amanita (virosa), shining white with a cap at first conical and acute; Spring Amanita (verna), like virosa, but showing a more persistent and closely sheathing remains of the wrapper at the base of the stem; Big-veiled Amanita {magnivelaris) , like verna, but has a large persistent annulus, and the bulbMushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 395 of the stem is elongated tapering downward; the Napkin Amanitas {map pa), volva circularly spUt; but all will be known by the four characters, poison-cup, ring, white or yellowish gills, and the form shown in the diagram — and all are deadly poison. Amanita phalloides. This wan demon of the woods is probably the deadliest of all vegetable growths. To this pale villain or its kin is traced the responsibility for all deaths on record from toad- stool poisoning. There have been cases of recovery when a strong man got but a Httle of the poison, but any one mak- ing a meal of this fungus, when beyond reach of medical aid, has but a poor chance of escape. Its poison is a subtle alkaloid akin to rattlesnake venom, it rarely begins to show396 The Book of Woodcraft its effects, until too late for treatment, the victim is beyond human help, and slowly succumbs. For centuries its nature has been a mystery; it has defied all remedies, only lately have we begun to win a little in the fight with this insidious assassin. There are thousands of tons of delicious food spread in our Fly amanita. woods and pastures every year, and allowed to go to waste because of the well-founded terror of the Deathcup. Every one should make a point of learning its looks and smash- ing all he can find, together with the half -formed young ones about it. We may not succeed in exterminating the pale fiend, but we can at least put that individual be- yond doing mischief or giving forth seeds. Hated Amanita (A. spreta). (Poisonous.) Four to six inches high, three to five inches across the cap, with a bump in the middle, whitish or pale or rich brown, gills white, aMushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 397 large loose yellowish poison cup; the stem tapers above the ring and at the base and is tinged reddish brown in the middle. Fly Amanita (A. muscaria). (Poisonous.) About the same size; mostly yellow but ranging from orange red to almost white usually with raised white spot sor scales on the top; gills white — or tinged yellow, spores white; flesh, white. Frost's Amanita {A. frostiana). (Poisonous.) This is another gorgeous demon, small but brilliant and deadly. It is two to three inches high, with the cap one to two inches broad. The cap is brilliant scarlet, orange or yellow and warty, fluted on the margin. The gills are white or tinged yellow, the spores white; the stem white or yellow and the bulb margined above with a smooth collar or ring. A woodland specimen, no doubt responsible, Mcllvaine thinks, for the bad reputation of the scarlet Russula which is harm- less but resembles this. Tall Deathcup {A. excelsa). (Poisonous.) This tall and lonely pirate of the beech woods is about four to six inches in stature as it stands in its cup, and four to five inches across the top which is brownish gray, fleshy and sticky, often wrinkled and covered with tiny warts, edge of cap fluted; gills white; stem covered with scales on its lower parts at least. There are about twenty more of the Amanitas, varying in size and color, but most have the general style of tall flat mushrooms, and the label marks of poison viz: White or yellow gills, a poison cup, and ■white spores. They are not known to be poisonous. Some of them are good eating. One of them, the King Cap or Royal Mushroom. {A. Caesarea), is said to be the finest of all mushrooms. This magnificent and fa- mous toadstool is three to eight inches across the cap which is smooth and of a gorgeous red orange or yellow color; gills39^ The Book of Woodcraft yellow, though the spores are white; stem yellow; the cap is very flat when fully expanded and always is finely grooved or fluted on the upper edge. This is not only eatable but famous, yet it is so much Uke certain poisonous forms that it is better let alone. Indeed it is best for the beginner to accept the emphatic warning given by Mcllvaine and Macadam, in their standard work "looo American Fungi" (p. XVII): "Any toadstool with white or lemon- yellow giUs, casting white spores when laid — gills downward — upon a sheet of paper, having remnants of a fugitive skin in the shape of scabs or warts upon the upper surface of its cap, with a veil or ring, or remnants or stains of one, having at the base of its stem — in the ground — a loose, skinlike sheath sur- rounding it, or remnants of one," should he considered deadly poison till the contrary is proved by good authority. This may make you reject some wholesome kinds, but will surely keep you from danger. If by ill chance any one has eaten a poisonous Amanita, the effects do not begin to show till sixteen or eighteen hours afterward — that is, long after the poison has passed through the stomach and begun its deadly work on the nerve centres. Symptoms. Vomiting and purging, "the discharge from the bowels being watery with small flakes suspended, and sometimes containing blood," cramps in the extremities. The pulse is very slow and strong at first, but later weak and rapid, sometimes sweat and saliva pour out. Dizziness, faintness, and bhndness, the skin clammy, cold and bluish or livid; temperature low with dreadful tetanic convul- sions, and finally stupor. (Mcllvaine and Macadam p. 627.) Remedy: "Take an emetic at once, and send for a phy- sician with instructions to bring hypodermic syringe andMushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 399 atropine sulphate. The dose is y-g^^ of a grain, and doses should be continued heroically until -^V of ^ grain is ad- ministered, or until, in the physician's opinion, a proper quantity has been injected. Where the victim is critically ill the -jV of a grain may be administered." (Mcllvaine and Macadam XVII.) Diteivina ClitoCjbi,

0tt.n(i. 

Unwholesome. UNWHOLESOME BUT NOT DEADLY TOADSTOOLS There is another group that are emetic or purgative or nauseating, but not deadly. These it is well to know. Morgan's Lepiota {Lepiota morgani), six to eight inches high and five to nine or even twelve inches across the cap:400 The Book of Woodcraft Cup, white dotted over with fragments of a brownish or yellowish skin; gills, white at first, then green; spores, green; flesh, white, but changing to a reddish then yellowish when cut or bruised. This immense toadstool is found in mead- ows all summer long, usually in rings of many individuals; it is poisonous to some and not to others, but is never deadly so far as known. Sulphur Tricholoma (Tricholoma suphureum), two to four inches high : cap one to four inches apart, dingy or red- dish sulphur yellow above; flesh, thick and yellow; spores, white; stem, yellow inside and out; has a bad smell and a worse taste ; is considered noxious if not actively poisonous. It is the only inedible Tricholoma known. Deceiving CHtocybe {Clitocybe illudens). This grows in clusters on rotten stumps or trees from August to Octo- ber. It is everywhere of a deep yellow or orange, often it is phosphorescent. Each plant is four to six inches across the cap and five to eight inches high. It is usually nauseating and emetic. Russula {Russula emetica). This is known at once by its exquisite rosy red cap, and its white gills, flesh and stalk. Sometimes the last is tinged rosy. It is a short stemmed mushroom two to four inches high; its cap pinkish when young, dark red or rosy red when older, fading to straw color in age; its gifls and spores, white. Its peppery taste when raw is a fairly safe identification. In most books it is classed as "sHghtly poisonous," but Mcllvaine maintains that it is perfectly wholesome. I know that I never yet saw one that was not more or less gnawed by the discrimi- nating little wood folk that know a good thing when they smell it. Woolly or Burning Marasmius (Marasmius urens), two to three inches high; cap two to three inches wide, pale yel- lowish, becoming paler; spores, white; gills, brown, palerMushrooms, Fungi or Toadstools 401 at first; stem, woolly pungent. Poisonous to some persons but never deadly. Puckery Panus (Panus stipticus). Cap one half to one inch across, cinnamon color; gills, ciimamon; spores, white; stem, under one inch long, paler than the gills; grows on stumps and in bunches: noted for its extreme acridity; said to be a purgative poison. Sticky Vol va {Volvaria gloiocephelus). Cap about three inches across; with a grayish bump in the middle, dark opaque brown and sticky and Uned at the edge; stem, six or more inches high and one half an inch thick, brownish, a few fibres on outside; gills, reddish; spores, pink; volva or poison cup, downy, spHtting into several unequal lobes. Said to be poisonous. The Entolomas or the Fringed Entolomas. .There are several of this genus that are poisonous or at least suspici- ous. They are of any size up to six or seven inches high and four or six inches broad, with pink spores and gills and sinuate gills. About twenty species are described and though some are edible they are better let alone, unlike most of the unwhole- some kinds their odor is agreeable. Pie-Shaped Hebeloma. (Hebelomacrustoliniforme). Cap, pale tan, yellow, or brick color, a bump in middle; gills, whitish, then clay color, variable in size; spores, yel- low. Smells strongly and unpleasantly of radish. This completes the list of gilled mushrooms given as unwholesome in Mcllvaine and Macadam. White Clavaria {Clavaria dichotoma). Of all the coral mushrooms this is the only one known to be poisonous. It is not deadly but very unwholesome. It grows on the ground under beeches and is fortunately very rare. It is known by its white color and its branches dividing regu- larly by pairs.402 The Book of Woodcraft WHOLESOME TOADSTOOLS With all these warnings and cautions about the poison- ous kinds before us, we shall now be able to approach in a proper spirit, the subject of Toadstool eating, and consider Oyster Mushrooms. the second of our groups. These are the good safe Toad- stools or Mushrooms — for it is the same tiling. The Common Mushroom (Agaricus campestris). Known at once by its general shape and smell, its pink or brown gills, white flesh, brown spores and solid stem. It grows in the open, never in the woods. Oyster Mushroom {Pleurotus ostreatus). Many of usMushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 403 have oyster beds in our woods without knowing it, and the oyster mushroom is a good example of valuable food going to waste. It is found growing in clusters on old dead wood, logs or standing trunks. Its cap is smooth, moist and white or tinged with ash or brown. The gills and spores are white. The flesh is white and tough. It measures two or six inches across. Sometimes it has no stem. It is a favorite for the table. It needs careful cleaning and long cooking. There is no poisonous species at all like it. Also, belonging to the Gilled or true mushroom family, are the Ink-caps of the Genus Coprinus. They grow on dung piles and rich ground. They spring up over night and per- ish in a day. In the last stage the gills turn into a black fluid, yes, into ink. At one time this was used for ink, a quantity of the black stuff being boiled and strained for the purpose. It is still a good scout dye for roots, quills, etc. The spores of Coprinus are black. It is strange that such poisonous looking things should be good food. Yet all the authorities agree that the Ink-caps are safe, delicious, easily identified and easily cooked. There is no poi- sonous mushroom with black spores at present known in North Amer- ica. Inky Coprinus (Co- prinus atramenlarius) . This is the species illus- trated. The example was from the woods; Inky coprinus. often it is much more404 The Book of Woodcraft tall and graceful. The cap is one to three inches in diam- eter, grayish or grayish brown, sometimes tinged lead color. Stew or bake from twenty to thirty minutes after thor- ough washing, is the recognized mode of cooking it. Beefsteak Mushroom {Fistulina hepatica). This juicy red mushroom grows chiefly on the chestnut stumps. In color it varies from strawberry red to liver brown, not unlike raw meat, paler below. When wounded it bleeds. Section, Beefsteak mushrooms. Note that it has tubes, not gills, below. "When properly prepared it is equal to any kind of meat. It is one of our best mushrooms." (M. E. Hard.) Sometimes sHced and served raw as a salad. All the Clavarias or Coral Mushrooms are good except Clavaria dichotoma which is white, and has its branches divided in pairs at each fork. It grows on the ground under beeches and is slightly poisonous and very rare. The edible ones are of the types illustrated. They are yellow, buff or dingy brown; two to four inches high.Mushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 405 Moose horn clavaria. Red tipped Golden coral clavaria. mushroom. To cook Clavarias, Wash thoroughly, but do not peel. Fry or stew without salt, on a slow fire for half an hour, then add salt and other seasoning. Morels. According to M. E. Hard the morels are easily known by their deeply pitted naked heads. All are yellow- ish brown when young; the stems are stout, hollow and whitish. Mcllvaine & Macadam in discussing dangerous mushrooms, say: Not one of the morels is even sus- picious." To cook morels: Thoroughly wash to remove all grit from the pits and crannies, slice and stew for an hour. Puffballs.4o6 The Book of Woodcraft lliijh Oxi / AC/"!' tr Puffballs. ,;:^:fP?^ii^, Puffballs (Ly- The next im- portant and safe group are the Puffballs be- fore they begin to puff. All our puffballs when young and solid white inside are good, wholesome food. Some of them, like the Brain Puffball or the Giant Pufball, are occasionally a foot in diameter, and yield flesh enough to feed a dozen persons. They are well known to all who live in the country, their smooth, rounded exterior without special features, except the roots, and their soHd white interior are easily remem- bered. But one must take great care in gathering the very small ones as the poisonous toadstools in the button stage resemble small puffballs externally. However, a sec- tion shows the cap, stem, etc., of the former, whereas puff- balls are soHd without any obvious inner structure. The principal kinds are these: Pear Puffball {Lycoperdon pyriforme). Usually found in masses on the ground or on old timber. It is pinkish brown, and rarely over one inch in diameter. Brain Puffball {Calvatia craniiformis) . On the ground in woods. Pale grayish often with a reddish tinge, some- times wrinkled on top, sometimes smooth. Commonly six to eight inches high. Giant Puffball {Calvatia gigantea). Eight to twenty inches in diameter. Mcllvaine found one weighing nineMushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 407 pounds and heard of one weighing forty. In color it is white becoming grayish, yellowish or brown. In shape nearly round with a strong root. It is found in grassy places. Mcllvaine says that we can cut slices from a growing one, day after day, and, if we do not disturb the root, it keeps on neither dying nor ripening for many days. Cuplike Puffball {Calvatia cyathiformis) . Three to six inches in diameter, dull pinkish or ashy brown, often covered with a network of white cracks. Common on open grassy places. To cook Puffballs: Wash clean, peel (other kinds are not peeled), cut out any discolored parts, slice and fry in lard or butter with seasoning. UNCERTAIN KINDS Now for the vast number of uncertain toadstools. Remembering always that any hannless-looking species, like a long-legged anaemic mushroom or like a pretty white parasol, is probably deadly Amanita or Sure-death, and that an odd poisonous-looking freak Uke a coral, a poker, a408 The Book of Woodcraft bugle, a bird's nest, a spring bonnet or an Indian club, is likely to be wholesome, we may follow the suggestions of the authors already cited (p. xxxii), as follows: There is but one way to determine the edibihty of a species. If it looks and smells inviting, and its species can- not be determined, taste a very small piece. Do not swal- low it. Note the effect on the tongue and mouth. But many species, delicious when cooked, are not inviting raw. Cook a small piece; do not season it. Taste again; if agreeable eat it (unless it is an Amanita). After several hours, no unpleasant effect arising, cook a larger piece, and increase the quantity until fully satisfied as to its qualities. Never vary from this system, no matter how much tempted. No possible danger can arise from adher- ing firmly to it." Safety Ues in the strict observance of two rules : "Never eat a toadstool found in the woods or shady places, beheving it to be the common m.ushroom: Never eat a white — or yellow-giiled toadstool in the same be- lief. The common mushroom does not grow in the woods, and its gills are at first pink, then purpKsh brown, or black." Also there are many mushrooms of the Genus Boletus that are like ordinary mushrooms of various pale and bright colors, but instead of gills they have tubes under- neath. Some are eatable, some are dangerous. Avoid all that change color as being wounded or that have red- mouthed tubes or that taste peppery or acrid. "There is no general rule by which one may know an edible species from a poisonous species. One must learn to know each kind by its appearance, and the edibility of each kind by experiment," says Nina L. Marshall in the "Mushroom Book" (page 151), and gives the following:Mushrooms, Fungi, or Toadstools 409 CAUTIONS FOR THE INEXPERIENCED Never use specimens which are decomposed in the slight- est degree. Never use those which are at all burrowed by insects. Never collect for food mushrooms in the button stage, as it is difficult for a novice to distinguish the buttons of poisonous species from buttons of harmless species. Never use fungi with swollen bases surrounded by sac- like or scaly envelopes. Never use fungi with milky juice or any juice unless it is the reddish. Never use fungi with caps thin in proportion to the width of the gills when the gills are nearly all of equal length, especially if the caps are bright colored. Never use for food tube-bearing fungi in which the flesh changes color when cut or broken, nor those with the tubes reddish. Be very cautious with all fleshy tube-bearing fungi. Never use for food fungi with web-Hke ring around the upper part of the stem. MUSHROOM GROWING Mushroom growing is a good way to make some money, provided one has a cellar or roothouse at one's disposal. To learn how, send to the United States Department of Agriculture, for Farmers^ Bulletin, No. 204, "The Culti- vation of Mushrooms." BOOKS RECOMMENDED The following are standard and beautifully illustrated works on mushrooms and toadstools; they have been freely used for guidance and illustrations in the preparation of the above :4IO The Book of Woodcraft "Edible and Poisonous Fungi of New York," by Char- les H. Peck. Published by New York State Museum, Albany, 1895. "Edible Fungi of New York." by Charles H. Peck. Published by New York State Museum, Albany, 1900. "The Mushroom Book." by Nina L. Marshall. Pub- lished 1902 at New York by Doubleday, Page & Co. $3.50. "One Thousand American Fungi," by Mcllvaine & Macadam. $5. Published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company of IndianapoHs, 1902; add 40 cents express. "Mushrooms," by G. F. Atkinson. Holt & Co. "The Mushroom," by M. E. Hard. The Ohio Library Company. Columbus, Ohio.