Miron Elisha Hard

There is, perhaps, no family in mycology that has a greater variety in form, size, and consistency than this. Some species are very large, some are small, some fleshy, and some are corky or woody. The fruiting surface is the special characteristic marking the family. This surface is covered with spines or teeth which nearly always point to the earth.

Many of the HydnaceÆ are shelving, growing on trees or logs; some grow on the ground on central, but usually eccentric, stems. The genera of HydnaceÆ are distinguished by the size, shape, and attachment of the teeth. The following genera are included:

• Hydnum—Spines discrete at the base.
• Irpex—Resupinate; with gill-like teeth concrete with the pileus.
• Mucronella—Plants with teeth only and no basal membrane.
• Radulum—Hymenium with thick, blunt, irregular spines.
• Sistotrema—Fleshy plants with caps and flattened teeth, on ground.
• Phlebia—Plants spread over the host with crowded folds or wrinkles.
• Grandinia—Covered with granules, more or less smooth, and excavated.
• Odontium—Covered with crested granules.

Hydnum. Linn.

Hydnum is from a Greek word meaning an eatable fungus. The genus is characterized by awl-shaped spines which are distant at the base. These spines are at first papilliform, then elongated and round. They form the fruiting surface and take the place of the gills in the family AgaricaceÆ and of the pores in the family of PolyporaceÆ. The spines are simple or in some cases the tips are more or less branched.

This is the greatest genus in the family and it includes many important edible species. It may be divided into two groups: one, those species having a cap and a central or lateral stem; the other, the species growing with or without a distinct cap, in large imbricated masses. Some imitate coral in structure and some seem to be a mass of spines. Many of these plants grow to be very large and massive, frequently weighing over ten pounds.

Hydnum repandum. Linn.

The Spreading Hydnum. Edible.

Figure 362.

Figure 362.—Hydnum repandum. Two-thirds natural size.

Repandum, bent backward, referring to the position of the stem and the cap. The pileus is two to four inches broad, generally irregular, with the stem eccentric; fleshy, brittle, convex or nearly plane, compact, more or less repand, nearly smooth; color varying from a pale buff—the typical hue—to a distinct brick-red; flesh creamy-white, inclining to turn brown when bruised; taste slightly aromatic, margin often wavy.

The spines are beneath the cap, one-quarter to one-third of an inch long, irregular, entire, pointed, rather easily detached, leaving small cavities in the fleshy cap, soft, creamy, becoming darker in older specimens.

The stem is short, thick, solid in young specimens, hollow in older specimens; paler than the pileus, rather rough, often set eccentrically into the cap; one to three inches long, sometimes thickened at the base, sometimes at the top. The spores are globose or a broad oval, with a small papilla at one end.

The usual color of the cap is buff, sometimes very pale, almost white. The color and smoothness of the cap have given rise to the name of "doe-skin mushroom." I found this plant occasionally in the woods about Salem, Ohio. It is very variable in size and color, and is quite fragile, growing alone or in clusters. It is one of our best mushrooms if properly cooked, and may be dried and kept for winter use. Found in woods and open places from July to October, sometimes earlier. Specimens in Figure 362 were found in Poke Hollow.

Hydnum imbricatum. Linn.

The Imbricated Hydnum. Edible.

Imbricatum is from imbrex, a tile, referring to the surface of the cap being torn into triangular scales, seeming to overlap one another like shingles on a roof.

The pileus is fleshy, plane, slightly depressed, tessellated scaly, downy, not zoned, umber in color or brownish as if scorched, flesh dingy-white, taste slightly bitter when raw, margin round.

The spines are decurrent, entire, numerous, short, ashy-white, generally equal in length.

The stem is firm, short, thick, even, whitish. The spores are pale yellow-brown, rough.

The bitter taste entirely leaves the plant when well cooked. It seems to delight in pine or chestnut woods. I found it in Emmanuel Thomas' woods, east of Salem, Ohio. It is found from September to November.

Hydnum erinaceum. Bull.

The Hedgehog Hydnum. Edible.

Figure 363.

Plate XLVIII. Figure 363.—Hydnum Erinaceum.
Two-thirds natural size. The plant is entirely white when fresh.

Erinaceum, a hedgehog. Two to eight inches or more across. Tufts pendulous. White and yellowish-white becoming yellowish-brown; fleshy, elastic, tough, sometimes emarginate (broadly attached as if tuft were cut in two or sliced off where attached), a mass of latticed branches and fibrils. Spines one and a half inches to four inches long, crowded, straight, equal, pendulous. The stem is sometimes rudimentary. The spores are subglobose, white, plain, 5–6µ. Peck, 22 N. Y. Report.

The spines when just starting are like small papillÆ, as will be seen in Figure 364. Figure 363 represents a very fine specimen found on the end of a beech log, on the Huntington Hills, near Chillicothe. It made a meal for three families. I have found several basketfuls of this species on this same log, within the past few years. I have also found on the same log large specimens of Hydnum corralloides.

The photograph at the beginning of the book represents the largest specimen I ever saw of this species. It measured eighteen inches one way and thirteen the other, and was found on a maple tree on top of Mount Logan. It grew from a central stem, while the one in Figure 363 grew from a crack in a log, apparently without a stem. Plate I, Figure 1 was photographed after it was dried. The specimen can be seen in the Lloyd Library in Cincinnati. Found from July to October.

Figure 364.

Figure 364.—Hydnum erinaceum. Young state.

Hydnum caput-ursi. Fr.

The Bear's Head Hydnum. Edible.

Figure 365.

Figure 365.—Hydnum caput-ursi.

Caput-ursi means the head of a bear.

This is a very beautiful plant but not as common as some other species of Hydnum. It grows in very large pendulous tufts, as Figure 365 will indicate. It is found frequently on standing oak and maple trees, sometimes quite high up in the trees. It is more frequently found on logs and stumps, as are its kindred species. The plant arises out of the wood by a single stout stem which branches into many divisions, all of which are covered by long pendant spines. When it grows on top of a log or stump the spines are frequently erect. It is white, becoming in age yellow and brownish. It has a wide distribution through the states. As an esculent it is fine. The specimen in Figure 365 was found near Akron, Ohio, and was photographed by Mr. G. D. Smith. It is found from July to October.

Hydnum caput-MedusÆ. Bull.

The Medusa's Head Hydnum. Edible.

Figure 366.—Hydnum caput-MedusÆ. One-third natural size.

Caput-MedusÆ, head of Medusa. This is a very striking plant when seen in the woods. The tufts are pendulous. The long wavy spines resemble the wavy locks of Medusa, hence the name. The long soft spines cover the entire surface of the fungus, which is divided into fleshy branches or divisions, each terminating in a crown of shorter drooping teeth.

The color at first is white, changing in age to a buff or a dark cream, which distinguishes it from H. caput-ursi. The taste is sweet and aromatic, sometimes slightly pungent. The stem is short and concealed beneath the growth.

I found this plant growing on a hickory log, on Lee's hill, near Chillicothe, from which came the specimen in Figure 366. I have also found it on elm and beech. Found from July to October.

It is both attractive and palatable.

Hydnum coralloides. Scop.

The Coral-like Hydnum. Edible.

This species grows in large, beautiful tufts on decaying logs, in damp woods. It grows from a common stem, dividing into many branches and then sub-dividing into many long and coral-like shoots, composed wholly of attenuated interlacing[Pg 439]
[Pg 440] branches tapering to a point. The spines grow from one side of the flattened branches. It only needs to be seen once to be recognized as a coral-like mushroom. It is pure white at first, becoming creamy or dingy-white with age. It seems to delight in damp, hilly places, yet I found it to be abundant at Sidney, and to some extent about Bowling Green, Ohio, where it was very level. It is plentiful around Chillicothe. One hickory log, from which the specimen in the figure was taken, furnished me several basketfuls of this plant during three seasons, but at the end of the third season the log crumbled away, mycelium having literally consumed it. It is one of the most beautiful fungi that Dame Nature has been able to fashion. It is said that Elias Fries, when a mere boy, was so impressed with the sight of this beautiful fungus, which grew abundantly in his native woods in Sweden, that he resolved when he grew up to pursue the study of Mycology, which he did; and became one of the greatest authorities of the world in that part of Botany. In fact, he laid the foundation for the study of Basidiomycetes, and this beautiful little coral-like fungus was his inspiration.

It is found principally on beech, maple and hickory in damp woods, from July to frost. I have eaten it for years and esteem it among the best.

Hydnum septentrionale. Fr.

The Northern Hydnum.

Septentrionale, northern. This is a very large, fleshy, fibrous plant, growing usually upon logs and stumps.

There are many pilei growing one above the other, plane, margin straight, whole. The spines are crowded, slender and equal.

I have found a number of specimens about Chillicothe that would weigh from eight to ten pounds each. The plant is too woody to eat. Besides, it seems to have but little flavor. I have always found it on beech logs, from September to October.

A very large plant grows every year on a living beech tree on Cemetery Hill.

Hydnum spongiosipes. Pk.

Spongiosipes means a sponge-like foot. Pileus convex, soft, spongy-tomentose, but tough in texture, rusty-brown, the lower stratum firmer and more fibrous, but concolorous.

The spines are slender, one to two lines long, rusty-brown, becoming darker with age.

The stem is hard and corky within, externally spongy-tomentose; colored like the pileus, the central substance often transversely zoned, especially near the top. Spores globose, nodulose, purplish-brown, 4–6 broad. Pileus one and a half to four inches broad. Stem one and a half to three inches long, and four to eight lines thick. Peck, 50th Rep.

It is found in the woods, quite plentifully, about Chillicothe. I referred it to H. ferrugineum for a long time, but not being satisfied, sent some specimens to Dr. Peck, who classified it as H. spongiosipes. It is edible but very tough. Found from July to October.

Hydnum zonatum. Batsch.

The Zoned Hydnum.

Zonatum, zoned. Ferruginous; pileus equally coriaceous, thin, expanded, subinfundibuliform, zoned, becoming smooth; tough, almost leathery in texture, having a surface of beautiful brown, silky lustre, and with radiating striÆ; margin paler; sterile.

The stem is slender, nearly equal, floccose, bulbous at the base.

The spines are slender, pallid, then of the same color as the pileus, equal. The spores are rough, globose, pale, 4µ.

The spore-bearing spines are shown in the upper plants in Figure 370. Two of them show coalesced caps, though the stems are separate. This is the case with H. scrobiculatum and H. spongiosipes. The plants in Figure 370 were collected by the roadside in woods on the State Farm, near Lancaster, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

Hydnum scrobiculatum. Fr.

Scrobiculatum means marked with a ditch or trench; so called from the rough condition of the cap. The pileus is from one to three inches broad, corky, convex, then plane, sometimes slightly depressed; tough in texture, rusty-brown; the surface of the cap usually quite rough, marked with ridges or trenches, flesh ferruginous.

The spines are short, rusty-brown, becoming dark with age.

The stem is firm, one to two inches long, unequal, rusty-brown, often covered with a dense tomentum.

This species is very plentiful in our woods, among the leaves under beech trees. They grow in lines for some distance, the caps so close together that they are very frequently confluent. I found the plant at Salem, and in several other localities in the state, although I have never seen a description of it. Any one will be able to recognize it from Figure 371. It grows in the woods in August and September.

Hydnum BlackfordÆ. Pk.

The pileus is fleshy, convex, glabrous, grayish or greenish-gray, flesh whitish with reddish stains, slowly becoming darker on exposure; aculei subulate, 2–5 mm. long, yellowish-gray, becoming brown with age or drying; stem equal or stuffed, becoming hollow in drying; glabrous, colored like the pileus; spores brown, globose, verrucose, 8–10µ broad.

The pileus is 2.5–6 cm. broad; stem 2.5–4 cm. long, 3–4 mm. thick.

Mossy ground in low springy places in damp mixed woods. August. Peck.

This species was found at Ellis, Mass., and was sent to me through courtesy of the collector, Mrs. E. B. Blackford, Boston, for whom it was named.

Hydnum fennicum. Karst.

Pileus fleshy, fragile, unequal; at first scaly, at length breaking up; reddish-brick color becoming darker; margin undulately lobed, two to four inches broad. Flesh white.

The teeth decurrent, equal, pointed, from white to dusky, about 4 mm. long.

The stem is sufficiently stout, unequal below, attenuated, flexuous or curved, smooth, of the same color as the cap, base acute, white tomentum outside, inside light pale-blue, or dark-gray.

The spores are ellipso-spheroidical or subspheroidical, rough, dusky, 4–6µ long, 3–5µ broad.

The plants in Figures 372 and 373 were found in Haynes' Hollow.

The plant is quite bitter and no amount of cooking will make it edible.

Found in woods from August to September.

Hydnum adustum. Fr.

Adustum means scorched, burned. The pileus is two to three inches broad, yellowish-white, blackish around the margin, coriaceous, slightly zoned; plane at first, then slightly depressed; tomentose, thin; frequently a plant will be found growing on the top of another plant. The spines are at first white, adnate, short, turning flesh-color and when dried almost black.

The stem is short, solid, tapering upward.

The plant is found growing in the woods on trunks and sticks after a rain in July, August, and September. It is not as plentiful as Hydnum spongiosipes and H. scrobiculatum. It is an attractive plant when seen in the woods.

Hydnum ochraceum. P.

Ochrey Hydnum.

Small, at first entirely resupinate, gradually reflexed, and somewhat repand, at first sparingly clothed with dirty-white down, at length rugose; one to three inches broad. The spines are short, entire, becoming pale. Fries.

It is occasionally found on decayed sticks in the woods.

Hydnum pulcherrimum. B. & C.

Most Beautiful Hydnum.

Pulcherrimum is the superlative of pulcher, beautiful.

The pileus is fleshy, somewhat fibrous, alutaceus, hirsute; the margin thin, entire, incurved.

The aculei short, crowded, equal.

It is found on beech wood, frequently imbricated and laterally confluent; a single pileus two to five inches in breadth and projecting two to four inches. The spines are rather short, not exceeding a quarter of an inch.

The entire plant is quite fibrous and has a hirsute surface. The color varies from whitish to alutaceous and yellowish. It is not common with us. Figure 375 represents one of the pilei showing the spines.

Hydnum graveolens. Del.

Fragrant Hydnum.

Graveolens means sweet-scented.

The pileus is coriaceous, thin, soft, not zoned, rugose, dark-brown, brown within, margin becoming whitish. The stem is slender and the spines are decurrent. The spines are short, gray.

The whole plant smells of melilot; even after it has been dried and kept for years it does not lose this scent.

I found two specimens in Haynes's Hollow.

Irpex. Fr.

Irpex, a harrow, so called from a fancied resemblance of its teeth to the teeth of a harrow. It grows on wood; toothed from the first, the teeth are connected at the base, firm, somewhat coriaceous, concrete with the pileus, arranged in rows or like net-work. Irpex differs from Hydnum in having the spines connected at the base and more blunt.

Irpex carneus. Fr.

This plant, as its specific name indicates, resembles the color of flesh. Reddish, effused, one to three inches long, cartilaginous-gelatinous, membranaceous, adnate. Teeth obtuse and awl-shaped, entire, united at the base. Fries.

Found on the tulip-tree, hickory, and elm. September and October.

Irpex lacteus. Fr.

Growing on wood, membranaceous, clothed with stiff hair, more or less furrowed, milk-white, as its specific name indicates.

The spines are compressed, radiate, margin porus. Found on hickory and beech logs and stumps.

Irpex tulipifera. Schw.

Coriaceous-membranaceous, effused; hymenium inferior, at first toothed, teeth springing from a porus base, somewhat coriaceous, entirely concrete with the pileus, netted and connected at the base, white or whitish, turning yellowish with age.

This plant is very abundant here on fallen tulip trees. I have seen entire tree tops and trunks covered with this plant. The branches after they have been penetrated with the mycelial threads become very light and brittle.

Phlebia. Fr.

Lignatile, resupinate, hymenium soft and waxy, covered with folds or wrinkles, edges entire or corrugated.

Phlebia radiata. Fr.

Somewhat round, then dilated, confluent, fleshy and membranaceous, reddish or flesh-red, the circumference peculiarly radiately marked. The folds in rows radiating from the center.

The spores are cylindric-oblong, curved, 4–5×1–1.5µ.

This is quite common on beech bark in the woods. Its bright color and mode of growth will attract attention.

Grandinia. Fr.

Lignatile, effused, waxy, granulated, granules globular, entire, permanent.

Grandinia granulosa. Fr.

Effused, rather thin, waxy, somewhat ochraceous, circumference determinate, granules globular, equal, crowded.

Found on decayed wood. Quite common in our woods.