The species of fungi thus far described have been confined to the two great orders of the Agarics and the Polyporei, which include the large majority of our edible mushrooms and toadstools.

The remainder of my selection in the present chapter comprises scattered examples from four other orders: Hydnei (Spine-bearers), Clavariei (Coral-fungi), and the Trichogastres (Puff-balls), all belonging to the first great division of the Sporifera. The remaining two species considered—Morel and Helvella, of the order Elvellacei—are my only representatives of the second grand cohort of the Sporidiifera, whose botanical characters are described on page 77.

In our previous examples the hymenium or spore-bearing surface has been disposed upon "gills," as in the Agarics, and on "tubes" in the Polypores. In the Hydnei group, which we will first consider, this disseminating surface is spread over spines or teeth.

SECTION OF A HYDNUM

The examples selected from this order are both in the typical genus Hydnum; and the object of this present book on fungi being especially the presentation of only such varieties as are conspicuously self-placarded by some distinctive marks for identification, these delicious spine-bearing or "hedgehog" mushrooms should of course be included—a genus which cannot be mistaken for any other, and which is instantly recognized by its own peculiar character, already mentioned, its spore surface being beset with soft, drooping spines instead of pores or gills. There are more than a score of species. The two more or less common with us are the Hydnum repandum, in outline suggesting an ordinary mushroom, and of which the above cut represents a section, and the H. caput-medusÆ, or Medusa-head Hydnum. None of the group is accounted poisonous, though some of them are too tough to be acceptable as food.

PLATE XXVII
THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM

Hydnum repandum

PLATE XXVII

Hydnum Repandum.

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THE HEDGEHOG MUSHROOM

Hydnum repandum

In this species, figured on Plate 27, bearing somewhat the contour of an Agaric, the spines are all confined to the lower surface of the expanded cap. The general color of the upper surface is buff, generally very pale, occasionally almost white. The spines being of similar hue, this color and the smoothness of texture have suggested the common popular English name of "doeskin mushroom." The flesh is firm and white or creamy, turning brownish when bruised. Its sweet but slightly pungent or peppery taste when raw disappears in cooking. It is quite frequent in our woods, and if fresh and free from insects may be eaten without the slightest hesitation. It is a species highly favored on the Continent, where the surplus yield is habitually dried and kept for winter use. The hot flavor of the raw Hydnum was formerly sufficient to brand it as poisonous, Roques, I believe, having been the first to demonstrate its edibility, and Dr. Badham to distinguish its mimetic flavor—"Hydna as good as oysters, which they somewhat resemble in taste."

Cooke and Berkeley describe a variety of this mushroom having a distinctly reddish pileus—H. rufescens—and Prof. Charles Peck gives the species quite a range in its color gamut. "Its color may be pale buff, rusty yellow, pale red, or sienna color." The "pale buff" will doubtless be found to be the most common. In the variety rufescens the size is smaller and the form more symmetrical, but the general shape and fringe-toothed spore surface are sufficient to identify the typical species under any disguise of color.

The cap is occasionally quite symmetrical, suggesting the outline of a Boletus in profile, but more commonly is irregular and eccentric, with stem attached towards its side, as indicated in section on previous page. It may reach the diameter of five inches in a fine specimen.

Its favorite haunt is the open woods, where it may be seen from the last of June until September, either singly or in clusters, lifting the dried leaves from their bed, or occasionally barely revealed beneath them.

But the most important and savory of the entire group of Hydnei is the species following:

THE MEDUSA HYDNUM

H. caput-medusÆ

While driving through the White Mountain Notch, many years ago, I chanced upon a mass of cream-colored, fringy fungus growing upon a fallen beech-log by the side of the road. The fungus was then entirely new to me, and I lost no time in making a sketch of it, with notes. The growth covered a space possibly eighteen inches wide by eight in height, and I estimated it would weigh fully five pounds, its most marked feature being the dense growth of drooping spines. In my limited knowledge of edible fungi at the time, I cautiously left the specimen in the woods, afterwards to learn from Dr. Harkness, the mycologist, that I had "thrown away five pounds of the most delicious fungus meat known to the epicure." I have since found minor specimens many times, and can readily understand the enthusiastic encomiums of my connoisseur friend as to its esculent qualities.

PLATE XXVIII
THE MEDUSA MUSHROOM

Hydnum caput-medusÆ

PLATE XXVIII

Hydnum Caput-MedusÆ.

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Plate XXIX.—HYDNUM CAPUT-MEDUSÆ

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This species (Plate 28) cannot be confounded with any other; it is of a dark creamy color, and usually grows sidewise upon dead beech wood (Plate 29), sometimes in great profusion, especially in the summer. The soft spines entirely cover the rounded branching protuberances of the fungus. The upper teeth are short and form a sort of "crown," falling from which the more and more elongated spines are firmly pendent beneath, somewhat suggesting as many heads of tiny skye-terriers in crowded convocation—or a tiny bleached "hedgehog," if you choose.

A fungus bearing such conspicuous characteristics may be gathered and eaten without fear, assuming the specimen to be fresh and free from grubs. It will be found an aromatic and savory morsel, though simply fried in butter and served on toast.

One other species may be mentioned briefly, the H. coralloides, or Moss-mushroom, which is unfamiliar to the writer, but which Curtis includes among his edible fungi. It may be found growing sidewise "on old trunks of living trees," at first white, then yellowish, resembling when young the chou-fleur (cauliflower). From its base, which is tender and fleshy, spring a large number of flexible branches, interlaced and assembled in tufts, bearing upon the summit of each of their divisions an expansion of long points or projections, at first straight, then pendent, and even curved under, and terminating in layers. Cordier says that it is "delicate food."

Professor Peck speaks enthusiastically of this species. "It is found in woods, especially in hilly and mountainous districts, and occurs during rainy or showery weather from August to October. It is a pretty fungus, and very attractive to those who are neither botanists nor fungus eaters, and it is as good as it is beautiful. In our botanical expeditions in the vast wilderness of the Adirondack region, we were often obliged to camp in the woods several nights in succession. On such occasions this fungus sometimes formed a luxurious addition to our ordinarily simple and sometimes limited bill of fare."

The Hydnei may be cooked in the same manner as employed for the ordinary mushroom, or gathered and dried for winter use, a very common custom on the Continent. Owing to the somewhat firm, compact substance of these mushrooms they should be cooked slowly, in order to preserve their tenderness. Berkeley recommends that they be "previously" steeped in hot water. Badham especially favors the Hydnum stew, which he claims is "an excellent dish with a flavor of oysters." According to the same authority it yields also a "very good purÉe." The "oyster" flavor is recognized in many of the epicurean encomiums on this species. Various hints as to its culinary treatment will be found in a later chapter.

THE CORAL OR CLUB FUNGUS

Clavaria

What frequenter of the summer and autumn woods has failed to observe that occasional dense cluster of creamy-colored, coral-like growth such as I have indicated at Plate 30, and who has thought to gather up its fragile, succulent mass with designs on the cook? I have seen clusters of this fungus so dense and ample as to strikingly suggest a huge cauliflower, and representing many pounds in weight. But in the absence of popular appreciation it must needs decay by "whole hundred-weights" in the woods.

This is the Clavaria, or coral fungus—more literally translated, though less appropriate to this particular species, "club fungus"—a representative of a genus containing many edible species.

The one presented in the Plate is Clavaria formosa, or the elegant Clavaria. It grows from four to six inches in height, is deep creamy yellow or pale orange buff in color, and slightly reddish at tips of branches. It has a sweet taste, a fragile, brittle consistency, and white substance; its spores are pale-ochre colored. Curtis gives thirteen edible native species. Among them are the following, which hardly call for severe technical description, as the entire group are doubtless edible:

THE WHITE CORAL FUNGUS

The true "coral fungus"—Clavaria coralloides—of our woods resembles C. formosa in general shape, but its color is white, or perhaps pale gray. Its thick stem is hollow, and its uneven, crowded branches are brittle and flesh-white. Its odor is like that of the Agaricus campestris, and it possesses a sweet, pleasant flavor. Cordier recommends it as eatable even when raw. This species is in great favor in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where it is desiccated for winter use.

PLATE XXX
THE CORAL FUNGUS

Clavaria formosa

Thickly branched from a stout pale base, the dense branchlets being tipped with two or three minute teeth.

PLATE XXX

Clavaria Formosa.

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[Pg 253]

Plate XXXI.—VARIOUS FORMS OF CLAVARIA.

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Clavaria fastigiata is a somewhat dwarf variety, usually found on lawns and pastures, seldom reaching a height of more than two inches. In general aspect it resembles Fig. 3 in Plate 31. It is of a yellow color, very densely branched from its short, slender stem close to the ground, the branches mostly terminating at the same height.

All of the above-mentioned species, except C. formosa, have white spores, and while none of the genus is considered poisonous, though some are so bitter and of such tough consistency as to make them unfit for food, it is generally conceded among the authorities that all white-spored Clavarias are certainly edible. The spores are easily obtained by simply laying the fungus upon a dark surface and excluding the air, as directed in a later chapter.

The various forms assumed by the Clavarei are indicated in Plate 31.

Fig. 1 is C. flava; 2. C. stricta; 3. C. umbrina; 4. C. rugosa; 5. C. amethystina. Any specimen bearing resemblance to any of these in form, and which is found to have white spores, may be eaten without fear.

The Clavaria forms a most inviting relish by the simple process of frying in butter, with seasoning to taste. They have the advantage of being quite free from "fungus-worms," and in the larger species are occasionally so plentiful that a half-bushel may be gathered in a few moments.

Another species bearing the general shape suggested in Plate 31, fig. 1, is the C. botrytis. It has a thick, fleshy trunk and swollen branches. Its substance is very brittle; color creamy-yellow, with red-tipped branchlets. It is found in woods.

THE MOREL

Morchella esculenta

In decided contrast to any of the foregoing fungi, and of unmistakable aspect, is the famous Morel, Morchella esculenta (Plate 32).

The Morel belongs to a cohort of fungi known as the Sporidiifera, in which the spores are enclosed in bag-like envelopes, in distinction to the Sporifera, in which the spores are naked and exposed, as shown in Plates 35 and 36. These cysts, or bags, or asci, which resemble the cystidium in Plate 35, and in the family of Ascomycetes, to which the Morel belongs, each contains about eight spores, which are finally liberated by the bursting of the tip of the bag, after the manner of a Puff-ball.

In the Morel the hymenium or spore-bearing surface is crowded with these cysts, and covers the entire exposed conical and pitted surface of the mushroom.

Description is hardly necessary with its portrait before us. No other fungus at all resembles it except those of the same genus, and inasmuch as they are all edible, we may safely add to our bill of fare any fungus which resembles our illustration. The Morel has long been considered as one of the rarest of delicacies, always at a fancy premium in the markets—a bon-mot for the rich, a prize for the peasant. I could fill all my allotted space with the delicate schemes of the chefs in its preparation for the table.

PLATE XXXII
THE MOREL

Morchella esculenta

PLATE XXXII

Morchella Esculenta.

[Pg 260]
[Pg 261]

Dr. Badham's recommendation, among my list of recipes, is worth a trial for the sake of novelty, if nothing more. The hollow shape of our Morel thus suggests a variation on the conventional methods of cooking.

The color of the Morel in its prime is grayish-green, occasionally brownish. It is most commonly found in orchards, and is said to favor spots where charcoal or cinders have been thrown.

HELVELLA

Helvella crispa

One of the most strikingly individual of all the mushrooms, and one which could not possibly be confounded with any other kind, is the example pictured in Plate 33. With this mere portrait as our guide, we might safely classify our specimen—at least, as to its genus; and inasmuch as no one of the group is poisonous, and all are edible with varying degrees of esculence, we can make no mistake even in our ventures as amateur mycophagists. When, therefore, we find a fungus with such a peculiar, irregularly fluted and hollowed stem, itself hollow within, or tubular, and surmounted with a rather thin, flexible, wavy cap, resembling our illustration, we may know that we have a specimen of Helvella. If this example happens to be creamy above and ochre-colored beneath, it is the Helvella crispa of our Plate. The specimen here shown is somewhat larger than in nature. Other species are differently formed and colored, one of them having the cap dark ash-colored or even black. There are three species occasionally met with, of which the first, H. crispa, is the most common and perhaps the most delectable.

The peculiar texture of these mushrooms permits of their ready desiccation, and in Britain and on the Continent they are commonly strung on strings and dried for future use, in which condition they have been compared to dried "wash-leather" in texture. The famous aristocratic Morel (Morchella esculenta), already described, so prized as food in Europe, and to which the Helvella is closely allied, has a similar irregular, pitted, hollowed, and netted surface over its entire conical or globular gray cap, and the same texture. Most competent judges claim that the delicious Morel possesses no advantages over the more plebeian Helvella as a delicacy for the table. The flavor is identical, and the other qualities of the two mushrooms make them equally desirable.

The readiness with which they may be dried, and thus kept indefinitely, is another distinct advantage which the Morels and Helvellas possess over the ordinary gilled Agarics, many of which must be gathered in their young prime and immediately eaten.

There are numerous ways of serving these fungi, among which is the common method of frying with butter or oil, and variously seasoning with onion, garlic, herbs, etc., according to taste, and serving on toast, or with crisped bread-crumbs. Our chapter on recipes will suggest other more elaborate methods.

PLATE XXXIII
THE WHITE HELVELLA

Helvella crispa

PLATE XXXIII

Helvella Crispa.

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PUFF-BALLS

LycoperdaceÆ

SECTION OF PUFF-BALL—Earlier and Later Stages

A detailed discrimination of the Puff-balls is hardly necessary here, and I will therefore omit it. While I am not inclined to go so far as to contend, as was the quaint habit of old Dr. Culpeper, in his Herbal, in which he was wont similarly to elude description of an herb, affirming that "he were a fool indeed who does not know this plant"—or words of similar import—it is perfectly safe to say that if there is one fungus more than another with which the populace is specifically familiar it is the Puff-ball.

In these fungi, of which there are many species, the spores are incased within the white or dingy peridium or more or less globular case—gasteromyceteÆ, from gaster, a stomach. The interior spore substance is at first white and firm in structure, at length peppered with gray, both conditions being indicated in accompanying cut, and ultimately black or brown, after which the outer case becomes dry and papery, and soon bursts at the summit, liberating its clouds of spores with the slightest zephyr, or, later, becoming dislodged from its slender anchorage to the soil, is whisked before the breeze enveloped in its spore-smoke. Fries, the eminent fungologist, has reckoned the number of these spores in a single Puff-ball at ten millions—presumably a conservative estimate.

But it will surprise most people to know that the plebeian Puff-ball of our pastures is good for something besides the kick of the small boy.

There are a number of species of the Puff-ball, and none of them is known to be poisonous.

I have indicated an arbitrary group in Plate 34 ranging in shape and size from the small white globular variety of an inch in diameter, L. saccatum, and the pear-shaped L. gemmatum, to the giant pasture species, which may frequently attain the dimensions of a football or a bushel basket. In its larger dimensions it is more spreading in shape, being somewhat wider than high. All the Puff-balls are edible if gathered at the white stage—i.e., white pulp; those of yellow or darker fracture being excluded, as the fungus in this later stage is not considered fit for food.

PLATE XXXIII
A GROUP OF PUFF-BALLS

LycoperdaceÆ

The group opposite represents three species. The largest, L. giganteum; the pear-shaped, L. gemmatum; and the small, round L. saccatum.

PLATE XXXIV

A Group of Puff-Balls.

LYCOPERDON GIGANTEUM. L. GEMMATUM. L. SACCATUM.

[Pg 272]
[Pg 273]

Of the esculent qualities of the larger species, Lycoperdon giganteum, we may judge from the statement of a connoisseur: "Sliced and seasoned in butter and salt, and fried in the pan, no French omelette is half as good in richness and delicacy of flavor." M. C. Cooke, the British authority, says of it: "In its young and pulpy condition it is excellent eating, and indeed has but few competitors for the place of honor at the table." Other epicurean suggestions will be found in a later page. Occasionally in its plenitude, especially during August and September, single clusters will be found which would afford a meal for a large family.

Other species, more or less frequent, are the L. separans, whose outer epidermis cracks off in flakes at maturity; L. cyathiforme, or cup-shaped Lycoperdon, a large species with distinctly purplish smoke so familiar to us all, the final cup-shaped remnant of its case having suggested its name. The larger specimens will be found the more fully flavored.

There is but one danger which would seem to be possible with reference to the use of the Puff-ball as food within the restrictions already given, and that is, the remote contingency—assumable only on the supposition of most careless observation—of confounding the white ball with the globular condition of the Amanita (see Plate 3, fig. 1), or other fungi of the same deadly group, which are similarly enclosed in a spherical volva in their early stages.

But inasmuch as this spherical period of the Amanita is usually spent underground and out of sight, and the merest glance at its contents would at once reveal the folded form of the enclosed mushroom, it would hardly seem necessary to warn the intelligent reader. But "once warned, twice armed;" and for absolute safety the tyro would do well to open every specimen, and be sure of its even, white, homogeneous substance before turning it over to the cook.

There are a number of other esculent species of fungi as easily available and enjoyable as those already described, but the scheme of the volume would hardly warrant their inclusion. Even though the element of danger is practically eliminated, so far as the identification of the foregoing fungi is concerned, it is still wise for the amateur to proceed with caution until he has absolutely learned the individual species in their various forms of development.

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