Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous

Family III — Hydna´ceæ

Hymenium inferior or amphigenous (not confined to one surface), from the first definitely protuberant, spread over persistent spines, bristles, teeth, tubercles or papilla. Fries.

While the highest members of this family possess the general form of the mushroom, others, lacking a stem, recline on the back (resupinate); the lowest, without even the appearance of a distinct pileus, seem to be simply spread over the supporting body (effused). In the highest class the spines or other spore-bearing surface are inferior, i. e., below the pileus; in the others they are of course superior, i. e., above the pileus.

Of the eleven genera but two contain species of food value. Hydnum, characterized by its acute spines, embraces species which are eaten as delicacies, and Irpex, distinguished by its somewhat acute teeth growing from a ridgy hymenium, contains those which may furnish sustenance in time of need. In Caldesia, bearing spines, the texture is floccose not fleshy. Sistotrema has a pileus and a central stem, but instead of spines bears irregular flattened teeth. The remaining genera are separated by the tubercles, granules, folds, etc., which take the place of spines or teeth.

Several species of Hydnum are common to earth and wood, others are distinct in their habitats.

SYNOPSIS OF THE GENERA.

Hydnum. Page 494.

Sporophore fleshy, with a central stem or entirely resupinate, texture compact, spines acute, distinct at the base.

Caldesiella.

Resupinate; texture floccose, spines acute; spores muriculate. (No edible species reported.)

Sistotrema.

Pileate; fleshy, central-stemmed, teeth flattened, irregular, inferior. (No edible species reported.)

Irpex. Page 504.

Resupinate; teeth rather acute, springing from folds or ridges that often anastomose irregularly.

Radulum.

Resupinate; tubercles coarse, deformed, subcylindrical, obtuse. (No edible species reported.)

Phlebia.

Resupinate; hymenium covered with folds or wrinkles, having the edge entire or corrugated. (No edible species reported.)

Grandinia.

Resupinate; hymenium with crowded, globose, persistent, hemispherical, minute granules, having their apices more or less excavated. (No edible species reported.)

Porothelium.

Resupinate; hymenium with scattered wart-like granules, which become more or less elongated and excavated at the apices. (No edible species reported.)

Odontia.

Resupinate; hymenium densely covered with small granules that are divided at the apices in a penicillate manner. (No edible species reported.)

Kneiffia.

Resupinate; hymenium covered with very minute, barren, acute spinules. (No edible species reported.)

Mucronella.

Spines slender, elongated, acute, not springing from a sporophore or subiculum. (No edible species reported.)

Hyd´num

Gr—name for some edible fungus.

Hymenium inferior, bearing awl-shaped Spines, distinct at the base. Fries.

In this genus the spines proceed from an even surface, not folded or wrinkled, and are covered with the spore-bearing surface.

The forms are extremely variable, the type of the first section, H. repandum, being easily mistaken for one of the Agaricaceæ until examined, the stem being nearly central and upright, while in other forms it is lateral or absent. Some are dimidiate (as if part of the pileus had been removed and the plant attached by the remaining portion); the lower forms are resupinate.

ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.

Mesopus (Gr—middle, a foot). Page 495.

Entire, simple, stem central.
On the ground, mostly in pine woods.

Pleuropus (Gr—the side; a foot).

Stem lateral.
None known to be edible.

Merisma (Gr—to divide). Page 501.

Very much branched or of an irregular form without a distinct margin.

Apus (Gr—without; a foot). Page 503.

Stemless, dimidiate, margin distinct.

Resupinati (resupino, to throw on the back).

Without stem or distinct pileus.
None known to be edible.

Mes´opus. Gr — Middle; a Foot

(Entire, simple, stem central. On the ground, mostly in pine woods.)

H. imbrica´tum L.—imbrex, a tile. Pileus about 2–5 in. broad, umber, zoneless, fleshy, rather plane, somewhat umbilicate, floccose, tessulato-scaly. Flesh dingy whitish. Stem curt, 1–3 in. long, 1–2 in. thick, even. Spines 4–6 lines long, decurrent, ashy-white.

There are two forms; one with the pileus plane and with thick persistent scales, another with the pileus somewhat infundibuliform, and with thinner, at length separating scales. Stevenson.

Spores pale yellow brown, rough, 6–7×5µ Massee; 6×5µ W.G.S.

Fleshy. The numerous scales over lapping toward the center. The surface of the cap often cracks in a tesselated manner. Flesh dingy, buffish or reddish. Spines short, blunt, grayish-white and mostly of equal length.

In pine and mixed woods. Autumn.

Of delicate taste. Cordier. Edible. Curtis.

Fine specimens grew at Mt. Gretna, Pa., from September to November. Until closely examined the cap may be mistaken for that of H. zonatum. The zones of the latter and the pervading rust-color will distinguish it. Both are edible, though H. zonatum is much tougher. H. imbricatum is slightly bitter, raw. It must be sliced thin and well cooked.

H. læviga´tum Swartz—lævis, smooth. Pileus 4–6 in. broad, umber, fleshy, compact, firm, regular, plane, even, very smooth, margin circinate (not repand). Flesh whitish, compact, but by no means fibrous, soft when fresh, pliant when dry. Stem short, thick, even, pallid-brown. Spines thin, pallid-brown.

Its size is that of H. imbricatum, but it occurs twice as large, with the pileus minutely rimuloso-rivulose, by no means scaly. The stem varies curt and unequal or longer and equal. Quite distinct from H. fragile. Stevenson.

Spores 10–15µ long, Massee; globose, warted, pale lemon-yellow, 7µ Q.

In pine woods. August to October.

Edible, Curtis; edible, Leuba. “Eaten in Alpine districts.” Barla.

H. scabro´sum Fr.—scabrosus, rough. Pileus about 1½-4 in. broad, brownish-yellow, compactly fleshy, at first top-shaped, then plane above, very convex beneath, at first tomentose, then rough with flocci which are fasciculate in the form of minute crowded squamules, slightly repand at the margin. Flesh very thick, white, descending into the stem. Stem very curt, 1 in. long, and equally thick, round or compressed, dotted with the rudiments of spines decurrent upon it, ash-color, attenuated downward, roundish and blackish at the base. Spines 4 lines long, equal, awl-shaped, dingy-rust color, whitish at the apex, at first sight grayish-brown. Fries.

Spores 4–5µ diameter. Massee.

Hydnum scabrosum is frequently found in Pennsylvania, among pines and in mixed woods where pines grow. It occurs at Mt. Gretna, Pa., and on Springton Hills under hemlocks.

The caps are soft, fleshy, and equal to H. repandum in quality.

H. squamo´sum Schaeff.—squama, a scale. Pileus 1½-3 in. across, reddish-brown, fleshy, irregular, depressed, smooth, breaking up into irregular scales. Flesh whitish. Stem curt, attenuated downward, white. Spines grayish-brown, whitish at the apex. Stevenson.

Spores subglobose, 5–6µ diameter. Massee.

Pileus smooth and even when young. Flesh whitish. Spores grayish-brown. Spines whitish, giving the lower surface a much lighter appearance than the upper.

Under hemlock and spruce in West Virginia, 1884. McIlvaine.

Caps are good when sliced thin and well cooked.

H. subsquamo´sum Batsch. Pileus fleshy, somewhat convex, subumbilicate, brownish-rust color, superficial scales soon dropping off; spotted with brown. Stem stout, unequal, smooth. Spines whitish, becoming brown, apex remaining whitish. North Carolina, Curtis; Alabama, Peters; Massachusetts, Sprague. Edible. Curtis. Edible. Cordier.

H. repan´dum L.—repandus, bent backward (of the cap, upward). Pileus 2–6 in. broad, pallid, etc., fleshy, fragile, somewhat repand, rather smooth. Stem 2–5 in. long, ½-1½ in. thick, irregularly shaped, pallid. Spines 4 lines long, unequal, of the same color. Stevenson.

Spores pointed, 5–8µ Massee.

Pileus sometimes depressed, often turned upward at margin, often waved, sometimes tomentose. Color variable—light-buff, brown, pinkish, reddish. Flesh whitish, compact, fragile. Spines conical, up to ¼ in. in length, whitish but rich creamy shades, mostly pointed, but sometimes appearing to be hollow. Stem central or eccentric, sometimes covered with white down, thick, uneven, usually crooked, solid, fleshy, light in color.

July to November.

Edible. Curtis.

Common to most countries, and, although given as a ground-growing species, it is rather indiscriminate in its habitats. Woods, fields, leaf-covered or bare places, much decayed wood and stumps are its living places. Dr. Cooke thinks it irreproachable. Popularly it goes by the name of the Hedgehog mushroom.

H. repandum varies greatly in shape, color and texture. In the open it is usually symmetrical and tough; when clustered it is irregular, often fanciful and quite brittle—tender.

When sliced thin an hour’s slow cooking is sufficient. All writers commend it, and properly.

H. rufes´cens Pers.—rufus, red. Pileus 2–3 in. across, thin, fragile, usually regular, pubescent, reddish. Spines 1–3 lines long, regular. Stem 1–3 in. long, commonly thin, nearly equal, reddish.

The whole plant is reddish. In all other respects it resembles H. repandum. Usually more regular.

Commonly found in woods. New York, Peck; North Carolina, Curtis, Schweinitz.

Edible, Curtis. Edible, Leuba.

Fries considered H. rufescens a variety of H. repandum, and the writer agrees with him. It is given distinct place here because Massee and Stevenson—books in the hands of many students of fungi—give it importance.

It is quite as good as H. repandum.

H. ferrugi´neum Fr. Pileus 1–4 in. across, corky, soft, convex, then plane or depressed, irregularly pitted, ferruginous, at first with whitish tomentum. Flesh ferruginous. Spines thin, acute, about 2 lines long, rusty-brown. Stem firm, 2–3 in. long, unequal, rusty-brown. Spores subglobose, 4µ diameter.

In fir woods. Often gregarious; soft when young, corky and dry at maturity. Massee.

Mt. Gretna, Pa. November to December, 1898. Among pine leaves.

Taste mild, mealy. Tough, but when young it cooks tender.

H. zona´tum Batsch. Ferruginous. Pileus 1–2 in. broad, equally coriaceous, thin, expanded, somewhat infundibuliform, zoned, becoming smooth, radiately-wrinkled, the paler margin sterile beneath. Stem ½-¾ in. long, 2–3 lines thick, slender, somewhat equal, floccose, base tuberous. Spines 1–1½ lines long, slender, pallid, then rust-color. Stevenson.

Spores rough, globose, pale watery brown, 4µ diameter Massee.

New York, Peck, 24th Rep. Mt. Gretna, Pa. Abundant among hemlocks; West Virginia. McIlvaine.

Coriaceous. Edible. It will not cook tender, but yields a pleasant flavor to a gravy made of its juices.

H. albo´nigrum Pk. Pileus convex or nearly plane, broadly obconical, tough but soft and densely tomentose on the upper surface, buff-brown or smoky brown, often wholly covered with a whitish downy tomentum, sometimes on the margin only, substance within soft tomentose and buff-brown in the upper stratum, the lower half hard and black. Spines short, at first white, then whitish or grayish. Stem short, often irregular, compressed or growing together, blackish when moist, buff-brown when dry, covered with a thick dense tomentum, which is frequently more abundant toward the base, hard and black within. Spores white, globose, 4–5µ.

Pileus 1–3 in. broad, sometimes 2 or 3 confluent. Stem 1–2 in. long.

Ground in mixed woods. Gansevoort. August. Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Specimens from pine woods New Jersey, T.J. Collins, September, 1897. 1½ in. across. Frequent at Mt. Gretna, Pa.

Edible. Good flavor, but tough.

H. velle´reum Pk. This species appears to be very much like the preceding one (H. albonigrum Pk.) from which it is separated by its smaller size and the paler brownish or rusty-brown substance of its pileus and stem. Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

At Mt. Gretna, Pa., the species grows with H. albonigrum. In quality it is the same.

H. al´bidum Pk. Pileus fleshy, thin, broadly convex or nearly plane, subpruinose, white. Flesh white. Spines short, white. Stem short, solid, central or eccentric, white. Spores subglobose, 4–5µ broad.

The whitish Hydnum is uniformly colored in all parts. It grows in groups or in clusters. In the latter case the caps are sometimes irregular because of the crowded mode of growth and the stems are occasionally eccentric. It is a small species not liable to be mistaken for any other except possibly for very small pale forms of the spreading Hydnum. But wholly white examples of this species have never been seen by me.

The caps are 1–2 in. broad and the stems are generally about 1 in. long and 3–5 lines thick.

The plants grow in thin woods or in open bushy places and appear in June and July. It is not a common species, and though well flavored it is not of very great importance as an edible mushroom, because of its scarcity and small size. Peck, 51st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Port Jefferson. July. This fungus has been tested and found to be edible. Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Mt. Gretna, Pa., 1897. Specimens identified by Professor Peck. McIlvaine.

The caps are edible and superior to H. repandum.

H. fen´nicum Karst. Cap fleshy, fragile, unequal, at first scaly, at length breaking up, reddish-brick color becoming darker, margin undulately lobed, 2–4 in. broad. Flesh white. Stem sufficiently stout, unequal below, attenuated, flexuous or curved, smooth, of the same color as the cap, base acute, light white tomentum outside, inside light pale-blue or dark-gray (wood-ash), 1–3 in. long,.4–1 in. thick. Teeth decurrent, equal, pointed, from white dusky, about 4 mm. long. Spores ellipso-spheroidical or sub-spheroidical, rough, dusky, 4–6µ long, 3–5µ broad.

Found in gravelly or sandy soil in woods.

Found at Angora near Philadelphia. Top cracked. Identified by Professor Peck.

Occurs frequently at Mt. Gretna, Pa., ground in mixed woods. August to September. The taste and smell are at first inviting, but the extreme bitter which develops destroys all desire to eat it.

H. spongio´sipes Pk. Pileus convex, soft, spongy-tomentose, but tough in texture, rusty-brown, the lower stratum more firm and fibrous. but concolorous. Spines slender, 1–2 lines long, rusty-brown, becoming darker with age. Stem hard and corky within, externally spongy-tomentose, colored like the pileus, the central substance often transversely zoned especially near the top. Spores subglobose, nodulose, purplish-brown, 4–6µ broad.

Pileus 1.5–4 in. broad. Stem 1.5–3 in. long, 4–8 lines thick.

Woods. Rensselaer and Saratoga counties. August.

This plant was formerly referred to Hydnum ferrugineum Fr. Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Found in pine woods, near Haddonfield, N.J., by T.J. Collins, September, 1897. Cap and stem dark brown. Spines darker. Stem swelling toward base, which then tapers in a long rooting way. Cap umbilicate. Specimens identified by Professor Peck.

Edible but tough and uninviting. Yields a good fungoid flavor to the water in which it is boiled.

H. gelatino´sum Scop. Transferred to Tremelledon as T. gelatinosum, under which heading it is described and its edible qualities noted.

Meris´ma. Gr — A Division

(Very much branched or of an irregular form without a distinct margin.)

H. coralloi´des Scop. (Plate CXXXIV.) 6–18 in. across. Tufts on wood. Pure shining white growing yellow with age, composed wholly of attenuated interlacing branches ½ in. at base, tapering to a point. Spines growing from one side of the branches, 3–4 lines in length, awl-shaped.

Spores globose, 4–6µ diameter Massee.

Peck, Rep. 22; Indiana, H.I. Miller; Massachusetts, Sprague; California; West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, McIlvaine.

Edible. Curtis.

Grows upon standing and fallen timber which is attacked by decay. Fir, oak, beech, ash, birch, hickory and other trees are inhabited by it. August to frost.

This beautiful species can not be mistaken for any other. Its name is the best guide to its identification. Dame Nature has made many exquisite decorations for herself and this is one of them.

It is generally eaten, but is rare. Professor Peck speaks affectionately of it as a gratuitous adjunct to his bill of fare when on botanical tramps in the Adirondacks.

H. caput-ur´si Fr.—bear-head. 6–8 in. high, 6–8 in. across. Tufts usually pendulous, compact, white, becoming yellow and brownish. Spines up to 1 in. long, round, pointed. Branches in every direction, short.

Closely resembling H. coralloides and in small forms with shorter spines easily mistaken for it. Position of growth has much to do with its shape and appearance. On fallen timber the branchlets and spines may be erect.

New York, Peck, 44th Rep.; North Carolina, Curtis; West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, McIlvaine.

Edible. Curtis. Edible. Peck.

Hydnum caput-ursi is common in West Virginia forests. It is conspicuous on standing oaks, and at a distance a puzzling object to one not familiar with such excrescences. It grows on standing oaks near Haddonfield, N.J., and sparsely at Mt. Gretna, Pa.

It is more compact, and is tougher than H. coralloides and H. Medusæ, but cooks tender and is very good.

H. caput-Medu´sæ Bull.—head of Medusæ. (Plate CXXXV.) 3–18 in. across, 2–8 in. high. Tufts pendulous. White then grayish. Body compact, tapering to a solid base, more or less stem-like. Spines covering entire surface. Those upon top are long, thin, straight or distorted, growing shorter around and to the under side where they are short and straight. The wavy appearance of the slender spines remind of the snaky locks of Medusa, hence the name.

Edible. Curtis. Edible. Leuba.

On elms at Haddonfield, N.J.; on oaks at Mt. Gretna, Pa., and in Woodland Cemetery, and on elms in Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pa. McIlvaine.

Commonly eaten in Italy and parts of Austria; rare elsewhere in Europe. Occurring over the United States. Specimens eighteen inches across were seen by the writer in the West Virginia mountains.

Mr. H.I. Miller, Terre Haute, Ind., sent me a fine specimen weighing 10½ pounds.

The American species, as far as seen by the writer, changes to a light yellow when ageing. The entire fungus is edible and excellent, but the tender spines and more delicate parts make a dish equaled by few fungi.

H. erina´ceum Bull.—erinaceus, a hedgehog. 2–8 in. and more across. Tufts pendulous. White and yellowish-white becoming yellow-brownish, fleshy, elastic, tough, sometimes emarginate (broadly attached as if tuft was cut in two, sliced off where attached), a mass of latticed branches and fibrils. Spines 1½-4 in. long, crowded, straight, equal, pendulous. Stem sometimes rudimentary.

On trunks of oak, beech, etc. July to October.

Spores subglobose, 5–6µ diameter Massee; white, plain, 5×6µ W.G.S.

Alabama, Miss K. Skehan; Pennsylvania, McIlvaine; Massachusetts, Sprague; New York, Peck, Rep. 22.

Eaten in Germany and France. Cooke.

A dead beech trunk at Eagle’s Mere, Pa., in August, 1898, bore at least fifty pounds of it. It draped one side of the tree from root to top with yellowish, pendulous tufts, with spines up to 3 in. long, which waved in the wind. The spines and tender parts were stewed, and enjoyed by many. It shrinks very much in drying, becoming sour.

A´pus. Gr — Without; a Foot

(Stemless, dimidiate, margin distinct.)

H. septentriona´le Fr.—Northern. Fleshy-fibrous, becoming pale, imbricated. Pilei not numerous, growing one above the other, plane, behind thick, consolidated, margin straight, whole. Spines very crowded, slender, equal.

The largest known Hydnum.

Received from E.B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J., September, 1897. The specimens formed part of a dense fasciculate mass weighing over 20 pounds, growing on a beech stump. Edges of the young plant are edible, but have little taste.

Ir´pex Fr

A harrow.

Hymenium inferior, toothed from the first. Teeth firm, somewhat coriaceous, acute, concrete with the pileus, arranged in rows or like network, connected at the base by folds, which are gill-like (in sessile species) or resemble honeycomb (in resupinate ones). Sporophores 4-spored. Growing on wood, somewhat growing from the side or upon the back, approaching Lenzites and Dædaleæ.

Irpex differs from Hydnum in having the spines connected at the base, and in their being less awl-shaped and pointed.

It is reported as found well up in the northern States, but its species prefer warm climates. Irpex contains no choice species, but all I have tested can be eaten.

I. obli´quus Fr.—oblique. White, inclining to pale, effused (spread), forming an adnate crust, circumference flaxy. Teeth extended from a base resembling honeycomb, compressed, unequal, incised, oblique, 2–3 lines long.

At first abundantly porous, but toothed from the first, at length quite as in Hydna.

On stumps and dead branches. November to February. Stevenson.

This spreads in irregular patches on the surface of decaying wood. The pores for a small space round the margin are round and distinct, but toward the center are greatly lengthened out, lying one upon another in an imbricated manner. The color is white at first, when old it changes to a yellow-brown, and at last to a dirty fuscous black. Bolton.

At first it looks more like a small white orbicular resupinate Polyporus than an Irpex. Peck.

The species is common and can be collected at most times of the year. When fresh and moist it can be shaved from its host plant. Goodly quantities can thus be obtained. It stews to a firm gelatinous mass of pleasant flavor. The lost hunter need not die of starvation in any woods if he will but study the tree-growing fungi, and especially the small species, hitherto insignificant in food circles.

I. car´neus Fr.—resembling the color of flesh. Reddish, effused, 1–3 in. long, cartilaginous-gelatinous, membranaceous, adnate. Teeth obtuse and awl-shaped, entire, united at the base.

It inclines to Radula and Phlebia. Stevenson.

On tulip poplar, Haddonfield, N.J., September, 1892; on hickory, Angora, Philadelphia, September, 1897. McIlvaine.

The entire fungus is good, cooking like a Hydnum.

I. defor´mis Fr.—deformed. White, effused, crustaceous, thin, circumference pubescent, somewhat flaxy. Teeth extended in awl-shape from a minutely porous base, thin, somewhat digitato-incised (cut in finger-shape), 1–2 lines long. Fries.

It approaches the Polypori. Grows on wood. Stevenson.

North Carolina, Schweinitz, Curtis; Massachusetts, Frost.

Common on stumps and trees. The awl-shaped teeth, which have the appearance of shreds, can be scraped from the fresh plant, or if dried plants are moistened, the teeth are detachable, and are food-giving.

I. fusco-vioia´ceus Fr.—fuscus, brown; violaceous, violet. Pileus 2 in. long, more than 1 in. broad, white inclining to hoary, effuso-reflexed, coriaceous, silky, zoned. Teeth in rows in the form of plates, brownish-violet, incised at the apex. Fries.

On pine trunks. Stevenson.

Decaying trunks of spruce, abies nigra. Adirondack mountains. July.

Our specimens are not “silky,” as required by the description, but villose or tomentose-villose as in Polyporus hirsutus and P. abietinus, the latter of which this species closely resembles. The hymenium, however, is coarser, more highly colored and lamellated to such an extent that young specimens might easily be taken for a Lenzites. Peck, 30th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Found in West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. McIlvaine.

Very common on logs of coniferous trees. It is difficult to collect it entirely free from resin, which as a seasoning is not recommended.