A treatise on the esculent funguses of England / containing an account of their classical history, uses, characters, development, structure, nutritious properties, modes of cooking and preserving, etc.

by David Badham

AGARICUS NEBULARIS.

[Plate IV. Fig. 2.]

Subgenus Clitocybe. Section Dasyphylli, Fries.

Ag. pileolarius, Bulliard.

“Il est très-agréable au goût.”—Bulliard.

The following description was made from some among the more characteristic specimens of a large supply which I gathered this autumn (1847) near Hayes, from a spot where they are in the habit of re-appearing regularly in October.

Pileus from two and a half to five inches across; at first depresso-convex; when expanded nearly flat or broadly subumbonate, never depressed, margin at first involute and pruinose; occasionally somewhat waved and lobed, but generally regular in form; smooth, viscid when moist, so that dead leaves adhere to it; grey, brown at the centre, paler towards the circumference. Flesh thick, white, unchanging; gills cream-colour, narrow, decurrent, close, their margins waved, unequal, generally simple. Stem from two to four inches long, from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick; incurved at the base, not rooting, but attaching by means of a floccose down, round its lower portion and for one-third of its length, a large quantity of dead leaves, by which the plant is held erect; subequal, more or less marked with longitudinal pits, firm externally, within of a softer substance. The odour strong, like that of curd cheese.

This Agaric appears to be local in Italy; otherwise it could scarcely have been omitted in Vittadini’s work, nor by the author of the article “Fungo” in the Venice edition of the ‘Dizionario Classico di Medicina:’ add to which that I have never met with it myself either at Florence, Pisa, Naples, or Leghorn. That it grows in the neighbourhood of Rome is certain, since I find it admirably delineated in a curious collection of very old drawings which I purchased there. Moreover Professor Sanguinetti, of that city, writes in terms of high commendation of this mushroom, which, he says, may be discerned inter alia, “by its peculiar odour and grateful taste: when properly cooked it is equal to any of our funguses, rivalling not only the Ag. prunulus, but even the Cæsareus: as few are aware of its good qualities, it seldom finds its way into the Roman market.” The Ag. nebularis requires but little cooking; a few minutes’ broiling (à la Maintenon is best), with butter, pepper, and salt, is sufficient. It may also be delicately fried with bread crumbs, or stewed in white sauce. The flesh of this mushroom is perhaps lighter of digestion than that of any other.