Mushrooms With the Cap Brown and Various Shades of Brown
Cortinarius Cinnamomeus = Cinnamon — The Cinnamon-colored Cortinarius
Cap a golden brown or bright cinnamon color, 1½ to 4 inches broad, umbonate, silky, shining, squamulose, with yellowish fibrils, and then smooth. Stem 2 inches long, stuffed and then hollow, thin, equal, tapering toward the base, yellowish color, as also are the flesh and the veil. Gills adnate, broad, crowded, shining reddish-brown color. Our specimen had beautiful reddish-colored gills, Var. semisanguineus (Peck). It grows in woods from August to November.
Collybia Acervata = a Heap — The Tufted Collybia
The name of the species is derived from a Latin word meaning a heap, so called from the habit of growth. (Stevenson.) Cap tan brown color, 2 to 3 inches broad, flesh color when moist, whitish when dry, convex, then flattened, obtuse or gibbous, margin at first involute, then flattened and slightly striate. Stem 2 to 4 inches long, 1 to 2 lines thick, very hollow (fistulose), rigid, fragile, slightly tapering upward, rarely compressed, very smooth, except the base, even, color brown or reddish-brown. Gills are at first adnexed, soon free, crowded, linear, narrow, plane, flesh color and then whitish. It grows in tufts (cæspitose). The stems are sometimes white, tomentose at the base. Stevenson says the cap is flesh color, but our specimen was of a pale or tan brown color, less than 2 inches broad; when moist it was much paler. Found in mixed woods in September.
Psathyrella Disseminata = Scattered — The Widely-spread Psathyrella
Cap a light-colored yellowish-brown, changing into an ash color; the disc with a yellowish shade; of an oval shape, then bell-shaped, and marked with lines, almost sulcate. The margin does not extend beyond the gills. It is a small mushroom, measuring from 2 or 3 lines across the cap to 1 inch. Stem about 1 inch long or more, fragile, hollow, sometimes curved and bending, smooth and light-colored. Gills adnate, rather broad, slightly narrowed at both ends, at first whitish and then turning a brownish color. The plants vary greatly in height and size, are sometimes cæspitose and at other times scattered. The disc in some specimens was slightly raised in the middle, almost umbonate. It was found about stumps and on the ground, at the end of May, in mixed woods. It soon withers, but does not melt into fluid.
Hypholoma Capnoides = Smoke — The Gray-gilled Mushroom
Cap is reddish-brown, 1 to 3 inches broad, fleshy, convex, then flattened, obtuse, dry, smooth. The margin in our specimen was slightly revolute. Flesh white. Stem 2 to 3 inches long, 2 to 4 lines thick, growing together at the base (connate), hollow, equal, often curved, becoming silky, even, whitish at apex, and here and there striate. Gills gray color, adnate, easily separating, rather broad, waxy. The name is given on account of the smoke-colored gills. It is not common, and is generally found on or about stumps in the autumn.
Hypholoma Perplexum = Perplexing — The Perplexing Hypholoma
Cap brownish and turning to yellow, 1 to 3 inches broad and slightly umbonate, flesh whitish. Stem nearly equal, 2 to 3 inches long, 2 to 4 lines thick, firm, hollow, slightly fibrillose, whitish or yellowish above, reddish-brown below. Gills thin, close, slightly rounded at inner end, at first pale yellow, then tinged with green, finally purplish-brown. Taste mild. It grows in clusters. We found it both on and around old stumps, in the woods. It is sometimes solitary. (Edible.)
Collybia Dryophila = Oak-Loving — The Oak-loving Collybia
Cap tan color, often varying in color, ½ inch broad, thin, convex, nearly plane, sometimes with margin elevated, irregular, smooth, flesh white. Stem equal or thickened at base, 1 to 2 inches long, 1 to 2 lines broad, cartilaginous, smooth, hollow, yellowish, or reddish like the cap. Gills narrow, crowded, adnexed or nearly free, whitish. This little mushroom we found in a thick woods late in September, growing among dead leaves. There were oak trees all around and a great many pines. The weather had been rainy, and it was pale-colored and looked water-soaked.
Tricholoma Imbricata = a Tile — The Imbricated Tricholoma
Cap reddish-brown, 3 inches broad, thick, fleshy, broadly convex, and then flattened, obtuse, dry, continuous at disc, but torn into scales and fibrillose toward the margin; flesh firm, white. Stem solid, stout, sometimes short, and conico-bulbous, 1½ to 2 inches long, and as much as 1 inch thick, sometimes longer and almost equal; white at apex. Gills slightly emarginate, almost adnate, somewhat crowded, about 3 inches broad, wholly white when young, at length reddish. It grows either scattered or in groups. It is found in pine woods in September and November.
Boletus Ornatipes = Ornate and Foot — The Ornate-stemmed Boletus
Cap 2 to 5 inches broad, yellowish-brown, convex, dry, firm, glabrous or minutely tomentose, flesh yellow or pale yellow. Tubes adnate, plane or concave, the mouths small or middle size, a clear yellow. Stem 2 to 4 inches long, 4 to 6 lines broad, subequal, distinctly and beautifully reticulated, yellow without and within. In woods and open places.
Boletus Brevipes = Short and Foot — The Short-stemmed Boletus
Cap dark chestnut color, 1½ to 2½ inches broad, thick, convex, covered with a tough gluten, margin inflexed, flesh white or yellowish. Tubes short, nearly plane, adnate, or slightly depressed around the stem, small, white and afterward dingy ochraceous. Stem ½ to 1 inch long, 3 to 5 lines thick, whitish, very short, not dotted, or rarely with a few inconspicuous dots at the edge. This plant was found in October, and looked as if it rested upon the ground, the stem was so short; the cap was covered with gluten.
Lepiota Procera = Tall — The Tall Lepiota
Cap reddish-brown, 3 to 6 inches broad, fleshy; when young egg-shaped, and then campanulate, and flattening out with a broad, obtuse umbo. The cuticle breaks up into brownish scales, close near the centre, but sometimes wanting at the margin. The centre or umbo is darker colored; flesh dry, tough and white. Stem ½ inch thick, and 5 to 10 inches long; it is straight or a little bent, swollen or bulbous at base, sometimes variegated with brownish scales; deeply sunk at apex into the cup of the pileus; hollow or stuffed. Ring distinct from the stem, continuous with cuticle of pileus when young. It becomes free when the cap is expanded, and is then movable and persistent. Gills far remote from the stem, with a broad plano-depressed cartilaginous collar, crowded, ventricose, broader in front, soft, whitish, sometimes becoming dusky at the edge. The gills vary in color. This mushroom is a handsome species and is quite common in woods and pastures. (Edible.)
Boletus Edulis = Edible — The Edible Boletus
Cap varies sometimes in color (our specimen was brown). It is often a tawny light brown, paler at the margin, 4 to 6 inches broad, flesh white or yellowish, tinged with red under the cuticle. Tubes convex, nearly free, long, minute, round, white, then yellow and greenish. Stem 2 to 6 inches long, 6 to 18 lines thick, straight or bending, subequal or bulbous, short, more or less reticulated, especially above, whitish, pale reddish or brown. Found in August. Our specimen was small, the stem only 1½ inch long. (Edible.)
Boletus Scaber = Rough — The Scabrous-stemmed Boletus
Cap varies in color, 1 to 5 inches broad, yellowish tan color, smooth, viscid when moist, at length rivulose. Tubes free, convex, white, then dingy color, mouths of tubes very small and round. Stem 3 to 5 inches long, 3 to 8 lines thick, solid, tapering above, roughened with fibrous scales. We found two or three varieties of this Boletus, which seems to grow everywhere in great abundance, in summer and autumn, in woods and in open places. One variety was of a yellowish tan color, Var. alutaceus, in another the flesh changed slightly to pinkish when wounded, Var. mutabilis (Peck). (Edible.)
Boletus Castaneus = Chestnut — The Chestnut Boletus
Cap a chestnut color, brown or reddish brown, 1½ to 3 inches broad, convex, nearly plane or depressed, firm, even, dry, minutely velvety (tomentose), flesh white. Tubes free, short, small, white, becoming yellow. Stem 1 to 2½ inches long, 3 to 5 lines thick, equal or tapering upward, even, stuffed or hollow, colored like the cap. This is one of the prettiest of the Boleti. The bright chestnut color of the pileus forms a contrast with the white tubes, and makes it striking in appearance. We found it on several occasions, as it is common in woods. There are differences of opinion in regard to its being edible.
Boletus Chrysenteron = Golden — The Golden Flesh Boletus
Cap dark brown or reddish-brown, 1 to 3 inches broad, convex or plane, soft, covered with woolly scales, sometimes marked with lines, flesh yellow, red beneath the cuticle, often slowly changing to blue when wounded, mouths large, angular, unequal. Stem 1 to 3 inches long, 3 to 6 lines thick, rigid, fibrous, striate, equal, reddish or pale yellow. This species is variable. We found one where the flesh was white, another where the tubes changed finally to green, and one that had an olive tint in the pileus.
Boletus Illudens = Deceiving — The Deceiving Boletus
Cap yellow or olive brown, 3 inches broad, plane, dry, marked with areoles, that is, the surface is broken up into little areas or patches. Flesh thick, white, red under cuticle. Tubes greenish-yellow, turning dark green, adnato-decurrent, that is, broadly attached to the stem and running down it, ⅛ inch long. Stem 2½ inches long, stuffed with brownish fibres, reticulated near apex, paler color than cap, curved.
Boletus Pachypus = Thick — The Thick-stemmed Boletus
Cap tan color, 4 to 8 inches broad, convex, somewhat covered with long, soft hairs pressed closely to surface, subtomentose; flesh thick, whitish, changing slightly to blue. Tubes rather long, depressed around the stem, mouths round, pale yellow, at length tinged with green. Stem 2 to 4 inches long, thick, firm, reticulated, at first ovate, bulbous, then lengthened, equal, tinted pale yellow and red. The stem in the specimen was ¼ inch thick, swelling from apex downward, but it often measures 2 inches in thickness. This Boletus is considered poisonous.
Boletus Subtomentosus = Almost Velvety — The Yellow-cracked Boletus
Cap dark brown, 1 to 4 inches broad, convex or nearly plane, soft, dry, covered with soft, weak, appressed hairs, almost olivaceous, of the same color beneath the cuticle, often marked with cracks and divided into little patches; flesh white or pallid. Tubes adnate, or depressed around the stem, yellow, mouths large, angular. Stem 1 to 2½ inches long, 2 to 5 lines thick, stout, somewhat ribbed, or scurfy, with minute dots. The cap varies in color, it may be yellowish-brown. We found the dark brown species growing on decaying wood, in pine woods, during the month of September.
Boletus Piperatus = Peppery — The Peppery Boletus
Cap reddish-brown or ochraceous, 1 to 3 inches broad, convex or nearly plane, smooth, slightly viscid when moist, flesh white or yellowish, taste acrid, peppery. Tubes long, large, unequal, plane or convex, adnate or nearly decurrent, reddish, ferruginous. Stem 1½ to 3 inches long, 2 to 4 lines thick, slender, almost equal, tawny yellow; at the base a bright yellow. The cap in our specimen was marked with cracks and patches, and the margin obtuse. The stem was rather curved, and the same color as the cap. Flesh yellow. Tubes a dark-reddish, decided color, which makes it a striking-looking mushroom. Taste peppery.
Boletus Sordidus = Dingy — The Dingy-colored Boletus
Cap a dingy, dark brown, about 2 inches broad, flesh white, tinged with red. Tubes long, nearly free, ⅜ inch long, white, turning a dark bluish-green. Stem tapering toward apex, 2½ inches long, curved, solid, ½ inch thick, brownish, marked with darker streaks. The mouths of tubes were angular, and the stem striate in our specimen. Found in the woods in August.
Boletus Subluteus = Almost, and Yellow — The Small Yellow Boletus
Cap brownish yellow, 1½ to 3 inches broad, convex or nearly plane, viscid or glutinous when moist, often obscurely streaked (virgate). Flesh whitish or dull yellowish. Tubes plane or convex, adnate, small, nearly round, yellow, becoming ochraceous. Stem 1½ to 2½ inches long, 2 to 4 lines thick, equal, slender, pale or yellowish, dotted above and below the ring with reddish, brownish, moist, or sticky dots (glandules). Ring almost soft, glutinous, at first concealing the tubes, then collapsing and forming a narrow whitish or brownish band around the stem. Our Boletus had a brownish ring. The cap was covered with a sticky, skin-like layer, called the pellicle or cuticle, both terms having the same meaning.
Boletus Affinis = Related — The Related Boletus
Cap reddish-brown, fading to yellow, 2 to 4 inches broad, convex above and almost plane, nearly smooth, flesh white. Tubes plane or convex, adnate or slightly compressed around the stem, at first white and stuffed, then yellowish, turning to rusty ochraceous when wounded. Stem 1½ to 3 inches long, 4 to 8 lines thick, nearly equal, even, smooth, paler than the cap. Our specimen had a few yellowish spots on the cap, and is called Var. maculosus. (Edible.)
Paxillus Leptopus = Thin and a Foot — The Thin-stemmed Paxillus
This is the only specimen of the genus Paxillus that we have found. There is another species, P. involutus, which Professor Peck says is edible. Stevenson says that P. leptopus is a remarkable species, that it is distinguished from P. involutus by having the gills simple at the base, not united by interlacing or transverse veins (anastomosing). Cap was a light brownish-yellow; it varies from 1½ to 3 inches in breadth, eccentric or lateral, depressed in the middle, dry, covered with dense down, soon torn into scales, which are a dingy yellow. Flesh yellow. Stem short, scarcely 1 inch, tapering downward, yellow inside. Gills decurrent, tense and straight, crowded, narrow, yellowish, then darker in color. It was growing on the ground in September.
2. Hypholoma perplexum.
3. Marasmius rotula.
4. Calostoma cinnebarinus.