AGARICUS MELLEUS.
Subgenus 3. Amillaria.
This is a nauseous, disagreeable fungus, however cooked, and merely finds mention here, as its omission in a work on the esculent funguses of England might seem strange to those unacquainted with its demerits; it is really extraordinary how some Continental writers, speaking from their own experience, should ever have recommended it for the table. Pliny’s general apage against all funguses really finds an application to this, which is so repugnant to our notions of the savoury, that few would make a second attempt, or get dangerously far in a first dish. Not to be poisonous is its only recommendation; for as to the inviting epithet melleus, or honeyed, by which it is designated, this alludes only to the colour, and by no means to the taste, which is both harsh and styptic.
Bot. Char. In tufts, near or upon stumps of trees, or posts. Pileus dirty-yellow, more or less hairy; stem fibrous, varying greatly in length, from one inch to nine or ten; enlarged above and below, thinner in the middle; ring thick, spreading, rough or leathery; gills somewhat decurrent, deeper than the pileus; spores white, appearing like fine dust on the gills.
AGARICUS ULMARIUS, Bull.
Subgenus Pleuropus. Subdivision Ægeritaria.
“Fungo mangiativo sommamente ricercato e di ottima qualità.”—Vitt.
Bot. Char. Solitary or connected to others by a common root; the pileus presenting a dirty-white surface, turning afterwards to a pale rust-colour, and sometimes tessellated; varying like all parasitical funguses in shape, but generally more or less orbicular; flesh continuous with the stalk, white, compact; stalk very thick, solid, elastic, smooth towards the summit, tomentose at the base; gills of a yellowish tint, broad, thick, ventricose, emarginate, i. e. terminating upon the surface of the stem in a receding angle; the imperfect gills few; taste and smell agreeable; spores white.
This Agaric which takes its name from the tree where it is most commonly found, grows also, though less frequently, on the Poplar and Beech. Mr. Berkeley reports it rare; perhaps, however, as it is eminently local, it may here, as in Italy, be common in some places though of unfrequent general occurrence. No country being so rich in Elm-trees as our own, we should probably find A. ulmarius more often if the height at which it grows among the branches did not frequently screen it from observation.[193] Though registered in the Flora of Tunbridge Wells, I have not met with a single specimen of it this autumn.
This Agaric dries well and may be kept (not, however, without losing some of its aroma) for a long time without spoiling; the gills, after a time, assume the same hue as the pileus.
AGARICUS FUSIPES, Bull.
Subgenus Clytocybe. Subdivision Chondropodes.
“Il a le même goût quo le Champignon de Couche, quoique un peu plus prononcé.”—Persoon.
Bot. Char. Gregarious; pileus fleshy, loose, of a uniform brown colour, sometimes marked with dark blotches, as if burnt; gills nearly free, serrated, at first dirty-white, afterwards a clear bistre; easily separable from the stalk; stalk hollow, ventricose, sulcate, rooting, spindle-shaped, slightly grooved, tapering at the base, sometimes cracked transversely, varying singularly both in length and breadth.
This excellent fungus is very abundant throughout summer and autumn, coming up in tufts at the roots of old Oak-trees after rain. It may be easily recognized by its peculiar spindle-shaped stalk.
Vittadini does not mention it, nor does its name occur in the list of esculent funguses in the Diz. di Med. Class.; notwithstanding which the young plants make an excellent pickle; while the full-grown ones may be stewed or dressed in any of the usual modes adopted for the common mushroom.
AGARICUS VAGINATUS, Bull.
Series 1. Leucosporus. Subgenus 1. Amanita.
“La Coucoumèle grise (Ag. vag.) est une des espèces les plus délicates et les plus sûres à manger.”—De Candolle.
Bot. Char. “Margin of the pileus sulcate, gills white, stuffed with cottony pith, fistulose, attenuated upwards, almost smooth; volva like a sheath. Woods and pastures, August and October; not uncommon. Pileus four inches or more broad, plane, slightly depressed in the centre, scarcely umbonate, fleshy, but not at the extreme margin, which is elegantly grooved in consequence, viscid when moist, beautifully glossy when dry; epidermis easily detached, more or less studded with brown scales, the remnants of the volva, not persistent; gills free, ventricose, broadest in front, often imbricated, white; sporules white, round; stem six inches or more high, from half to an inch thick, attenuated upwards, obtuse at the base, furnished with a volva, this adnate below to the extent of an inch, with the base of the stem, closely surrounding it above as in a sheath, but with the margin sometimes expanded; within and at the base marked with the groovings of the pileus, brittle, sericeo-squamulose, scarcely fibrillose, but splitting with ease longitudinally, hollow, or rather stuffed with fine cottony fibres; the very base solid, not acrid, insipid. Smell scarcely any. It occurs of various colours, the more general one is a mouse-grey” (Berkeley).
The perfect accuracy of the above description will strike every one familiar with this species. Vittadini speaks of it as a solitary fungus, but I have found it on more than one occasion in rings. Its flesh, being very delicate and tender, must not be over-dressed. When properly fried in butter or oil, and as soon after gathering as possible, the Ag. vaginatus will be found inferior to but few Agarics in its flavour.
AGARICUS VIOLACEUS, Linn.
Subgenus 18. Inoloma.
Bot. Char. Pileus from four to six inches broad, obtuse, expanded, covered with soft hairs, colour deep violet; stem spongy, grey, tinged with violet, minutely downy, about four inches high; veil fugacious, composed of fine threads; gills deep violet when young, but turning tawny in age; flesh thick, juicy.
This is a handsome fungus, not very common, but plentiful where it occurs; it grows in woods, particularly under Pine and Fir trees, and may be dressed either with a white or a brown sauce.
AGARICUS CASTANEUS, Bull.
Subgenus 19. Dermocybe.
Bot. Char. Pileus slightly fleshy, convex when young, at length umbonate, chestnut colour, from one to three inches broad, glabrous; gills rather broad, easily detached from the stem, ventricose, changing from light-purple to a ferruginous hue; stem rather thin, from one and a half to three inches long, hollow, silvery, light-lilac or white; veil delicate, composed of floccose threads; in taste, when raw, it somewhat resembles the Ag. oreades, but it has no smell.
This Agaric may be distinguished from others by its chestnut or bistre colour; it is probably not uncommon; growing all the summer and autumn in woods, and under trees in meadows. Mr. Berkeley reports it esculent; I have no experience of it.
AGARICUS PIPERATUS, Scop.
Subgenus 7. Galorrheus.
“Ed è veramente commestibile e saporoso quando se ne levi il latte.”—Bendiscioli.
Bot. Char. “Pileus infundibuliform, rigid, smooth, white; gills very narrow, close; milk, and the solid blunt stem, white. In woods, July and August. Pileus 3-7 inches broad, slightly rugulose, quite smooth, white, a little clouded with umber, or stained with yellow where scratched or bruised, convex, more or less depressed, often quite infundibuliform, more or less waved, fleshy, thick, firm but brittle; margin involute at first, sometimes excentric, milk-white, hot. Gills generally very narrow (1/20 of an inch broad), but sometimes much broader, cream-colour, repeatedly dichotomous, very close, ‘like the teeth of an ivory comb,’ decurrent from the shape of the pileus, when bruised changing to umber. Stem 1-3 inches high, 1½-2 inches thick, often compressed, minutely pruinose, solid, but spongy within, the substance breaking up into transverse cavities.”[194]
Though very acrid when raw, it loses its bad qualities entirely by cooking, and is extensively used on the Continent, prepared in various ways. It is preserved for winter use by drying or pickling in a mixture of salt and vinegar (Berkeley).
I have frequently eaten this fungus at Lucca, where it is very abundant, but as it resembles the Ag. vellereus in appearance, with the properties of which we are unacquainted, too much caution cannot be exercised in learning to discriminate it from this and neighbouring species.
AGARICUS VIRGINEUS, Wullf.
Subgenus 8. Clitocybe. Subdivision Camarophylli.
White Field-Agaric.
Bot. Char. Pileus from one to two inches broad, margin involute when young, then expanded, depressed in the centre. Gills deep, connected with veins, sometimes forked, broadly adnate, but breaking away from the stem as the pileus becomes depressed. Stem six lines broad at the top, tapering downwards, not more than two at the base; at first stuffed with fibres, then hollow, excentric; the whole plant white, with occasionally a tinge of pink. Taste pleasant, odour disagreeable.
These graceful little Agarics grow in pastures, and are extremely common in the autumn. They are so small that it requires a great many of them to make a dish, but as they occur frequently in the same fields with puff-balls, and may be dressed in the same manner, it is not unusual when the supply is scarce to serve them together, with the same sauce. The flavour of Ag. virgineus is not unlike that of Ag. oreades.
TUBER ÆSTIVUM, Vitt.
Peridium warty, of a blackish-brown colour, the warts polygonal and striate, flesh traversed by numerous veins; asci 4-6-spored; spores elliptical, reticulated.
This plant, the common truffle of our markets, is abundant in Wiltshire and some other parts of England, and probably occurs in many places where it escapes observation, from its subterranean habit.