Part 19

LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE OR YELLOWISH).

Genus Lactarius Fries. The plants of this genus have neither veil nor volva. They somewhat resemble the Russulae, but can be readily distinguished from them by the greater fleshiness of the stem and by the milky juice which exudes from the flesh. The latter is a characteristic feature of the Lactars, giving to the group its name.

The species were originally arranged by Fries into groups according to the color and quality of the milk, and of the naked or pruinose character of the gills. Prof. Peck, however, considering the latter character not sufficiently constant or obvious to be satisfactory, in his early reports makes the color of the milk alone the basis of the primary grouping of the American species.

Saccardo, in his Sylloge, follows Fries in his classification of the species of the genus Lactarius.

In some species the milk is at first bright colored and continues unchanged; in others it is always white or whitish, and in others again it is at first white, changing to different hues on exposure to the air, becoming pinkish, pale violet, or yellow. In one species (C. indigo) both plant and milk are of indigo blue. The taste of the milk varies, as does that of the flesh, according to species. Sometimes it is mild or very slightly acrid, and again it resembles Cayenne pepper in its hot, biting acridity. It is somewhat viscid or sticky in character, and permeates to some extent the whole flesh of the mushroom, but is most profuse in the gills, where in fresh young specimens it is seen exuding on the slightest pressure. In old or wilted specimens it does not flow so freely, but may be found by breaking off portions of the cap.

The plants usually present a fleshy cap, the flesh quite brittle, and breaking in clean, even fractures. In a number of the species the upper surface of the cap shows bands or zones of warm coloring, not found in any of the species of the allied genus Russula. The gills are sometimes even, more often forked, acute on the edge, color white or whitish, but changing to yellowish or reddish tints as the plants mature, or when cut or bruised. While they are at first adnate they become, with the expansion of the cap, somewhat decurrent, showing in this particular a resemblance to the plants of the genus Clitocybe. The stem is central, except in a few species, where it is eccentric or lateral, notably the latter in L. obliquus; spores white or yellowish, according to species; Cooke says, "rarely turning yellow." They are globose, or nearly so, and slightly rough.

This genus is a large one, and contains many acrid species. Out of fifty-three described and figured by Cooke, more than half are given as having the milk more or less acrid. More than forty species have been recorded as growing in this country, and many of these are extremely acrid in taste.

A number of the species are edible, while others have been recorded as deleterious, poisonous, etc. L. torminosus, L. piperatus, and L. insulsus are species about which there seems to be difference of opinion among authors as to their wholesomeness or edibility, some contending that, in spite of their extreme acridity, they are edible when cooked, and others that they are deleterious in their effects. L. deliciosus and L. volemus have a good reputation in this country as well as abroad, and are quite abundant in some localities. They are more frequent in temperate climates than in northern latitudes or in the tropics.

PLATE V.

=Lactarius deliciosus= Fries. "Delicious Lactarius" or "Orange Milk Mushroom."

EDIBLE.

Cap fleshy, viscid, at first convex, then nearly plane, becoming much depressed in the centre, funnel-shaped, marked in the adult plant with rings or rust-colored zones. Color of the cap dull orange, turning paler, and grayish or greenish yellow when old or dried; margin at first turned inwards; flesh whitish or tinged with yellow; gills decurrent, crowded rather thick, sometimes slightly forked at the base, pale yellow, sometimes a saffron yellow, exuding when bruised a saffron-red or orange-colored liquid, hence the popular name of "Orange Milk Mushroom;" stem smooth, somewhat spotted, stout, stuffed with a yellowish pith, eventually becoming hollow; color about the same as that of the cap. Spores subglobose, yellowish. Taste mild or very slightly acrid when raw.

Mycophagists generally concur in the opinion that it is of very pleasant flavor when cooked, and some speak very enthusiastically of its esculent qualities.

Over-cooking is apt to make it tough. I find steaming in the oven with butter, pepper, and salt, and a very small quantity of water, as oysters are steamed, a very good method of preserving the juices and flavor.

It is found in Maryland, under the pines and sometimes in mossy and swampy places. Prof. Underwood, President of the New York Mycological Club, reports it as fairly abundant in Connecticut.

Lactarius volemus Fries, the "Orange-Brown Lactar," somewhat resembles the L. deliciosus in shape and size, but the cap is dry and glabrous and the skin is apt to crack in patches in somewhat the same manner as does that of the Russula virescens. It is a warm orange-brown in color, varying slightly with age, and is not zoned. The gills are white or yellowish and crowded, adnate in the young specimens, and decurrent in the mature, exuding a white milk when bruised. The spores are globose, and white. It is found in open woods. The flavor is much like that of L. deliciosus, although perhaps not so rich.

One author states it as his experience that the Lactars which have bright-colored milk, unchanging, are usually edible and have a mild taste. L. indigo Schwein has been recorded as less abundant than some other species, but edible. The plant is a deep blue throughout, the milk of the same color and unchanging. The taste of both flesh and milk is mild. Specimens of this species were sent to me from western New York several years ago by a correspondent who found it growing in quantities in a corn field. He had cooked several dishes of it, and reported its flavor as very agreeable.

L. vellereus and L. piperatus are very common in fir woods. The plants are large and stout, white throughout, the milk white and excessively acrid; gills decurrent, unequal and narrow. The milk in vellereus is apt to be scanty but copious in piperatus.

Of L. piperatus, Worthington Smith says: "So strongly acrid is the milk that if it be allowed to trickle over tender hands it will sting like the contact of nettles; and if a drop be placed on the lips or tongue the sensation will be like the scalding of boiling water." He records it as "poisonous." Fries and Curtis say that, "notwithstanding its intense acridity, it is edible when cooked." Cordier, while recording it as edible, says that the milk, and butter made from the milk of cows fed with it, are bitter and nauseous, although cows eat it with avidity. Gibson, while quoting one or two authors as to its edibility when cooked, says: "Its decidedly ardent tang warns me not to dwell too enthusiastically upon its merits in a limited selection of desirable esculents." The Secretary of the Boston Mycological Club, writing in the Club bulletin, says "it has been eaten as a sort of duty after the acridity was cooked out," but does not commend it. It is spoken of as "an unattractive fungus which usurps in the woods the place that might well be occupied by something better." In this opinion I fully concur.

L. torminosus, "Wooly Lactarius," sometimes called the "Colic Lactarius," has been termed acrid and poisonous by Badham. Cordier and Letellier, on the other hand, say that it can be eaten with impunity when cooked. Gillet declares it deleterious and even dangerous in the raw state, constituting a very strong and drastic purgative. One author states that, although it does not constitute an agreeable article of food, it is eaten in some parts of France and in Russia. Considering the differences of opinion which exist with regard to this and other extremely acrid species, it would seem the part of prudence for persons with delicate stomachs to avoid the use of very acrid species, for, though the acridity may be expelled by cooking, there would seem to be no necessity for risking unpleasant or dangerous results while the range of unquestionably wholesome and agreeable species is sufficiently wide to satisfy the most enthusiastic mycophagist.

AGARICINI.

LEUCOSPORI (SPORES WHITE OR YELLOWISH).

Armillaria Fries. Cooke places Armillaria in the order Agaricini, genus Agaricus, making of it a sub-genus. Saccardo, in taking it out of Agaricus, elevates it to the position of a separate genus. The name Armillaria is derived from a Greek word, meaning a ring or bracelet, referring to its ringed stem.

In the plants of the Armillaria the veil is partial in infancy, attaching the edge of the cap to the upper part of the stem; the stem furnished with a ring. Below the ring the veil is concrete with the stem, forming scurfy scales upon it. The gills are broadly adnexed. In abnormal specimens the ring is sometimes absent, or appearing only in scales, running down the stem. Spores white. The species are few; eight are recorded as growing in the United States. Cooke describes twelve species found in Great Britain.

PLATE VI.

=Ag. (Armillaria) melleus= Vahl. "Honey-Colored Armillaria."

EDIBLE.

Cap fleshy, rather thin at the margin, at first subconical, then slightly rounded, or nearly plane, clothed with minute hairy tufts; margin sometimes striate, color varying, usually a pale-yellowish or honey color or light reddish brown; flesh whitish. Gills whitish or paler than the cap, growing mealy with the shedding of the profuse white spores, and often spotted with reddish-brown stains, adnate, ending with decurrent tooth. Stem fibrillose, elastic, stuffed or hollow, ringed, and adorned with floccose scales which often disappear with age; in some varieties distinctly bulbous at the base, in others showing tapering root. Specimens occur in which the ring is wanting or only traces of it appear in the form of scales encircling the stem. Veil usually firm, membraneous, and encircling the stem in a well-pronounced ring or collar, but sometimes filmy as a spider's web, in very young specimens hiding the gills, but breaking apart as the cap expands.