LEPIOTA Fr.
The genus Lepiota lacks a volva, but the veil is present forming a ring on the stem. The genus is closely related to Amanita, from which it differs in the absence of the volva, or perhaps more properly speaking in the fact that the universal veil is firmly connected (concrete with) with the pileus, and with the base of the stem, so that a volva is not formed. The gills are usually free from the stem, some being simply adnexed, but in some species connected with a collar near the stem. The stem is fleshy and is easily separable from the cap. A number of the species are edible. Peck, 35th Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 150–164, describes 18 species. Lloyd, Mycol. Notes, November, 1898, describes 9 species.
Lepiota naucina Fr. (Lepiota naucinoides Pk., Annularia lævis Krombh.) Edible.—The smooth lepiota, L. naucina, grows in lawns, in pastures and by roadsides, etc. It occurs during the latter part of summer and during autumn, being more abundant in September and early October. It is entirely white, or the cap is sometimes buff, and in age the gills become dirty pink in color. It is from 8–12 cm. high, the cap 5–10 cm. broad, and the stem 8–15 mm. in thickness.
The pileus is very fleshy, nearly globose, then convex to nearly expanded, smooth, or rarely the surface is broken into minute scales. The gills are first white, free from the stem, and in age assume a dull pink tinge. The spores are usually white in mass, but rarely when caught on white paper they show a faint pink tinge. The spores are elliptical to oval. The stem is nearly cylindrical, gradually enlarging below so that it is clavate, nearly hollow or stuffed with loose threads.
Figure 80.—Lepiota naucina.—Section of three plants, different ages.
Since the plant occurs in the same situations as the Agaricus campestris it might be mistaken for it, especially for white forms. But of course no harm could come by eating it by mistake for the common mushroom, for it is valued just as highly for food by some who have eaten it. If one should look at the gills, however, they would not likely mistake it for the common mushroom because the gills become pink only when the plant is well expanded and quite old. There is much more danger in mistaking it for the white amanitas, A. phalloides, A. verna, or A. virosa, since the gills of these deadly plants are white, and they do sometimes grow in lawns and other grassy places where the smooth lepiota and the common mushroom grow. For this reason one should study the descriptions and illustrations of these amanitas given on preceding pages, and especially should the suggestions given there about care in collecting plants be followed, until one is so certainly familiar with the characters that the plants would be known "on sight."
Plate 25, Figure 81.—Lepiota procera. Grayish brown to reddish brown, gills and flesh white (3/4 natural size). Copyright.
The pink color of the gills of this lepiota has led certain students of the fungi into mistakes of another kind. This pink color of the gills has led some to place the plant among the rosy spored agarics in the genus Annularia, where it was named Annularia lævis by Krombholtz (vide Bresadola Funghi Mangerecci e velenosi, p. 29, 1899). It fits the description of that plant exactly. The pink color of the gills, as well as the fact that the gills turn brownish when dry, has led to a confusion in some cases of the Lepiota naucina with the chalky agaric, Agaricus cretaceus. The external resemblance of the plants, as shown in various illustrations, is very striking, and in the chalky agaric the gills remain pink very late, only becoming brown when very old.
Lepiota procera Scop. Edible.—The parasol mushroom, Lepiota procera, grows in pastures, lawns, gardens, along roadsides, or in thin woods, or in gardens. It is a large and handsome plant and when expanded seems not inappropriately named. It is from 12–20 cm. or more high, the cap expands from 5–12 cm., while the stem is 4–7 mm. in thickness. It occurs during summer and in early autumn.
The pileus is oval, then bell-shaped, convex and nearly expanded, with usually a more or less prominent elevation (umbo) at the center. Sometimes it is depressed at the center. It is grayish brown or reddish brown in color on the surface and the flesh is whitish. As the cap expands the surface layer ceases to grow and is therefore cracked, first narrow chinks appearing, showing white or grayish threads underneath. As the cap becomes more expanded the brown surface is torn into scales, which give the cap a more or less shaggy appearance except on the umbo, where the color is more uniform. The torn surface of the pileus shows numerous radiating fibres, and it is soft and yielding to the touch. The gills are remote from the stem, broad and crowded. The spores are long, elliptical, 12–17 µ long. The stem is cylindrical, hollow, or stuffed, even, enlarged below into a prominent bulb, of the same color as the pileus, though paler, especially above the annulus. The surface is usually cracked into numerous small scales, the chinks between showing the white inner portion of the stem. The ring is stout, narrow, usually quite free from the stem, so that it can be moved up and down on the stem, and is called a movable ring.
Figure [81] is from plants (No. 3842, C. U. herbarium) collected in a garden at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
A closely related plant, Lepiota rachodes Vitt., has smaller spores, 9–12 × 7–9 µ. It is also edible, and by some considered only a variety of L. procera. It is rare in this country, but appears about Boston in considerable quantities "in or near greenhouses or in enriched soil out of doors," where it has the appearance of an introduced plant (Webster, Rhodora, 1: 226, 1899). It is a much stouter plant than L. procera, the pileus usually depressed, much more coarsely scaly, and usually grows in dense clusters, while L. procera usually occurs singly or scattered, is more slender, often umbonate. L. rachodes has a veil with a double edge, the edges more or less fringed. The veil is fixed to the stem until the plant is quite mature, when it becomes movable. The flesh of the plant on exposure to the air becomes a brownish orange tint.
Figure 82.—Lepiota americana. Scales and center of cap reddish or reddish brown. Entire plant turns reddish on drying (natural size). Copyright.
Lepiota morgani Pk.—This plant occurs from Ohio, southward and west. It grows in grassy places, especially in wet pastures. It is one of the largest of the lepiotas, ranging from 20–40 cm. high, the cap 20–30 cm. broad, and the stem about 2 cm. in thickness. The pileus, when fully expanded, is whitish, with large dark scales, especially toward the center. The ring is large, sometimes movable, and the gills and spores are greenish. Some report the plant as edible, while others say illness results from eating it.
Lepiota americana Pk. Edible.—This plant is widely distributed in the United States. The plants occur singly or are clustered, 6–12 cm. high, the cap 4–10 cm. broad, and the stem 4–10 mm. in thickness. The cap is adorned with reddish or reddish brown scales except on the center, where the color is uniform because the surface is not broken up into scales. The flesh is white, but changes to reddish when cut or bruised, and the whole plant becomes reddish on drying.
Figure [82] is from plants (No. 2718, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca.
The European plant, L. badhami, also reported in this country, changes to a brownish red. It is believed by some to be identical with L. americana.
Figure 83.—Lepiota cristata. Entirely white, but scales grayish or pinkish brown, stem often flesh color (natural size). Copyright.
Lepiota acutesquamosa Weinm.—This is a medium or small sized plant with a floccose pileus adorned with small, acute, erect scales, and has a loose, hairy or wooly veil which is often torn irregularly. The erect scales fall away from the pileus and leave little scars where they were attached.
Lepiota cristata A. & S. Edible.—The crested lepiota, Lepiota cristata, occurs in grassy places and borders of woods, in groves, etc., from May to September, and is widely distributed. The plant is small, 3–5 cm. high, the cap 1–4 cm. broad, and the stem 2–5 mm. in thickness. It grows in clusters or is scattered.
The pileus is ovate, bell-shaped, then convex and expanded, and thin. The surface is at first entirely dull reddish or reddish brown, but soon cracks into numerous scales of the same color arranged in a crested manner, more numerous between the margin and the center, and often arranged in a concentric manner. The center of the cap often preserves the uniform reddish brown color because the pileus at this point does not expand so much and therefore the surface does not crack, while the margin often becomes white because of the disappearance of the brown covering here. The gills are free from the stem, narrow, crowded, and close to the stem. The spores are more or less angular, elongated, more narrowed at one end, and measure 5–8 × 3–4 µ. The stem is slender, cylindrical, hollow, whitish, smooth. The ring is small, white, and easily breaks up and disappears.
The characters of the plant are well shown in Fig. [83] from plants collected at Ithaca. Lepiota angustana Britz. is identical, and according to Morgan L. miamensis Morgan is a white form of L. angustana.
Lepiota asperula Atkinson.—This lepiota resembles A. asper in some respects, but it is smaller and the spores are much smaller, being very minute. The plant is 5–8 cm. high, the pileus 2–4 cm. broad, and the stem 4–6 mm. in thickness. It grows in leaf mould in the woods and has been found at Ithaca, N. Y., twice during July and September, 1897.
The pileus is convex and bell-shaped, becoming nearly or quite expanded. It is hair brown to olive brown in color. The surface is dry, made up of interwoven threads, and is adorned with numerous small, erect, pointed scales resembling in this respect A. asper Fr. The gills are white or yellowish, free, but rather close to the stem, narrow, often eroded on the edge, sometimes forked near the stem, and some of them arranged in pairs. The spores are oblong, smooth, and very minute, measuring 5 × 2 µ. The stem is the same color as the pileus, cylindrical, hollow, with loose threads in the cavity, enlarged into a rounded bulb below, minutely downy to pubescent. The outer portion of the bulb is formed of intricately interwoven threads, among which are entangled soil and humus particles. The veil is white, silky, hairy, separating from the stem like a dense cortina, the threads stretched both above and below as shown in Fig. [84] from plants (No. 3157 C. U. herbarium), collected at Ithaca.
In some specimens, as the pileus expands, the spaces between the pointed scales are torn, thus forming quite coarse scales which are often arranged in more or less concentric rows, showing the yellow-tinged flesh in the cracks, and the coarse scales bearing the fine point at the center. A layer connecting the margin of the pileus with the base of the stem and covered with fine brown points, sometimes separates from the edge of the cap and the base of the stem, and clings partly to the cortina and partly to the stem in much the same way that portions of the volva cling to the stem of certain species of Amanita, as seen in A. velatipes (Fig. [66]). Sometimes this is left on the base of the stem and then resembles a short, free limb of a volva, and suggests a species of Amanita. The scales, however, are concrete with the pileus, and the species appears to show a closer relationship with Lepiota.
Plate 26, Figure 84.—Lepiota asperula. Cap hair-brown to olive-brown, scales minute, pointed, gills and stem white (natural size). Copyright.