(ii) Agarics of Pastures and Meadows
(a) Agarics of rough and hill pastures
Hygrocybe pratensis (Fries) Donk Butter mushroom
Cap: width 20-80 mm. Stem: width 5-12 mm; length 30-70 mm.
Description:
Cap: convex then expanding to become plano-convex with a broad low umbo, tan, pale russet or even yellowish buff throughout or slightly darker at the centre.
Stem: gradually thickened upwards, similarly coloured to the cap or paler if the cap is dark russet.
Gills: pale buff, deeply decurrent and often connected up at their bases by veins.
Flesh: buff or pale tan, thick and soft in the cap, slightly fibrous in the stem.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium-sized, ellipsoid to egg-shaped, hyaline under the microscope, 7-8 × 5 µm in size and not becoming bluish grey in solutions containing iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Common in pastures or on heaths from early summer to late autumn.
General Information: A fungus easily recognised by the uniform buff-colour of the stem, cap and gills. As one might expect from the common name it is edible; it is held in high regard by many mushroom-pickers.
Although ‘pratensis’ specifically means fields, reflecting the habitat of the fungus, this and related species can also be found on heaths and pastures often intermixed and forming a most interesting flora. The following are perhaps the most commonly seen:
H. lacma (Fries) Orton & Watling and H. cinerea (Fries) Orton & Watling are similar in stature, but metallic grey in colour except for the persistently yellow stem-base in H. lacma.
H. subradiata (Secretan) Orton & Watling is flesh-coloured or brownish and H. virginea (Fries) Orton & Watling is white.
H. nivea (Fries) Orton & Watling and H. russocoriacea (Berkeley & Miller) Orton & Watling are much smaller, the former white and odourless and the latter off-white with a very strong smell of incense.
Illustrations: F 12b; Hvass 95; LH 77; NB 332; WD 333.
Plate 26. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on thick, waxy gills
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Hygrocybe psittacina (Fries) Wunsche Parrot hygrophorus
Cap: width 12-25 mm. Stem: width 3-8 mm; length 30-60 mm.
Description:
Cap: very slimy with colourless sticky fluid, deep bluish green when fresh, but becoming more and more ochraceous-orange with age or completely fading out to a yellow ochre, bell-shaped at first then expanded except for central umbo.
Stem: like the cap very slimy, apple-green or bluish green throughout but becoming ochraceous like the cap except at the apex which is persistently green.
Gills: adnate yellow or apricot-coloured, greenish towards their base, broad, distant and rather tough.
Flesh: whitish, tinged green in the cap and yellow or apricot-colour in the stem.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium-sized, hyaline, ellipsoid, not blue-grey in solutions containing iodine and 8-9 × 4-5 µm in size.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Common in grassland and hill-pastures, but it also occurs in copses and woodlands.
General Information: This fungus is easily recognised by the distinctive colours, but it is rather deceptive for the cap and the stem soon become faded; however, the green colouration persists at the apex of the stem and it is by this that in the faded state the fungus can still be identified. H. laeta (Fries) Kummer fades to similar colours but the cap is flesh-colour at first or sordid brown and the gills are flesh-coloured or greyish; it prefers upland pastures and heathland: its spores are smaller, being 5-7 × 4 µm.
Illustrations: F 12a; Hvass 92; LH 79; NB 336; WD 345.
General notes on Hygrophori
Hygrophori are some of our most colourful groups of agarics, many are brightly coloured with caps in reds, greens, yellows, oranges, etc., the colour often accentuated by the usually slimy aspect. Traditionally the genus Hygrophorus has been split into three groups as follows:—
Limacium with slimy cap, adnate to decurrent gills and slimy or tacky stem which may also often be ornamented with dots, especially towards the top.
Camarophyllus with dry cap, smooth and fibrous stem and decurrent gills.
Hygrocybe with thin, fragile, sticky or moist cap, smooth fibrillose stem and gills varying from free to decurrent.
The last two sections have been joined together into the single genus Hygrocybe and all the members seem to be saprophytic or intimately associated with grassland communities. The first section Limacium now makes up the genus Hygrophorus and its members are thought to be mycorrhizal with trees, e.g. H. hypothejus (Fries) Fries with pine, the ‘Herald of the winter’ because it occurs at the end of the fungus season and H. chrysaspis Métrod, a whitish, sickly-smelling fungus under beech. Results from examining the anatomy of the gills appears to confirm these divisions. All the Hygrophori have a homogeneous flesh, white spores, central, fleshy stem and thick, waxy gills; microscopically this group of fungi can be recognised by the very long basidia.
The following are common examples of the genus Hygrocybe:—
H. calyptraeformis (Berkeley & Broome)
Fayod has a rose-pink, conical cap which expands to become upturned at the edge with age.
H. coccinea (Fries) Kummer
has a bright scarlet cap which becomes yellow-ochre on drying and a yellow base to a scarlet stem.
H. conica (Fries) Kummer
has an orange to red stem and sharply conical cap which turns blackish with age and whose gills when cut exude a clear watery liquid.
H. flavescens (Kauffman) Singer
has a slimy, golden yellow cap and similarly coloured stem.
H. chlorophana
is similar, but has a lemon-yellow cap and stem.
H. punicea (Fries) Kummer
is a large and robust species, similar in colour to H. coccinea but with a white base to the stem.
H. unguinosa (Fries) Karsten
has a smoky grey, very slimy cap and stem.
H. nitrata (Persoon) Wunsche
is as dull coloured as H. unguinosa, but is not slimy, and in addition strongly smells of cleaning fluid or bleaching-powder. It is one of three dull coloured, strong bleaching-powder-smelling species found in Britain. H. ovina is another, but is darker than H. nitrata and becomes red when bruised or cut.
Plate 27. Fleshy brightly coloured fungi: Spores white and borne on thick, waxy gills
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H. metapodia (Fries) Moser
has a sooty brown fibrillose-streaky cap and stem. The gills are distant and grey, and the fruit-body may reach up to 100 mm across. It is probably the biggest of our native species of Hygrocybe.
For completion examples of Hygrophorus include:
H. bresadolae Quélet
has a slimy orange-yellow cap, yellow gills and yellow, slimy, smooth stem. It is found under larch trees.
H. chrysaspis Métrod
has ivory white cap, stem and gills which soon become flushed with rust-brown and finally the whole fruit-body becomes red-brown. The stem is slimy and white dotted at the apex. It grows in beech woods.
H. hedrychii Velenovsky
has a slimy cream-coloured cap flushed with pale peach colour. The gills and stem are cream and the latter slimy and dotted at the top. It is found in pine woods.
H. hypothejus (Fries) Fries
has an olive-brown slimy cap, yellow stem and gills; the stem is slimy and smooth. It is found in pine woods and under pines on heaths.
H. pustulatus (Persoon) Fries
has an ash-grey cap brownish towards its centre, viscid white stem with dark grey dots at the apex and white gills. H. agathosmus (Secretan) Fries is similar, but smells strongly of bitter almonds. Both species are found in plantations.
Species of the genus Hygrophorus are infrequently encountered in Britain, although twenty species are recorded for the British Isles. They are ecologically distinct from members of the genus Hygrocybe in preferring woodland communities to grassland areas; they are probably mycorrhizal. The anatomy of the fruit-body is also rather different to that found in Hygrocybe; the gill-trama is bilateral as in Leccinum ([p. 27]), Suillus ([p. 28]), Boletus ([p. 31]), Chroogomphus ([p. 36]), Paxillus ([p. 38]) and Amanita ([p. 54]). Members of the genus Hygrocybe have regular to irregular gill-tramas. In fact, although both genera are united into a single family, the Hygrophoraceae is based on one character common to both, i.e. the long basidium; there is every indication that the genus Hygrocybe has greater affinity to Omphalina in the Tricholomataceae ([p. 232]).
Surprisingly enough in North America many of our familiar grassland species including H. pratensis are to be found in deep shaded woodland!
Angular, pink-spored agarics—Rhodophyllaceae
The name of the family refers to the pink gills and it unites all those fungi with a salmon-pinkish buff spore-print and whose spores are angular in all optical sections. There are a few agarics, e.g. Clitopilus prunulus (Fries) Kummer with ridged spores which appear angular in end-on view, but which are ellipsoid in both side and face views and so are considered less related.
The family Rhodophyllaceae by some authorities contains one genus Rhodophyllus, more correctly called Entoloma; in the British Isles five constituent genera are recognised, but they will have to be more critically defined to make a more meaningful classification. At the moment, many of the species are poorly documented and it would appear that anatomical studies will assist in the future in the recognition of species-groups.
If one selects the eight most distinctive shaped spore-types exhibited in members of this family, then when their spores are examined side-on a feature is available for correlation with the traditional field characters, such as cap scaliness and gill-attachment. The most distinctive spore-shape is Type G, found in Nolanea staurospora Bresadola, which is probably the most common and widespread species of the family. It grows in woodlands, grassland and on lawns and will be dealt with later ([p. 122]). The other spore types are illustrated and range from irregularly rhomboid to elongate angular.
The majority of the members of this group grow in grassland, hill-pastures and meadows and distinct communities containing members of this family and of the Hygrophoraceae can be recognised. It is not proposed to deal in detail with any individual members because they can be so easily confused with each other by the specialist let alone by the amateur.
However, the genera as at present accepted are as follows:—
1. Entoloma
in its original sense contains agarics with fleshy caps, fibrous stems and sinuate or adnexed gills, e.g. Ent. clypeatum (Fries) Kummer with grey to yellow-brown cap, found growing with members of the apple and rose-family in the summer and early autumn. This genus corresponds to Calocybe in the white-spored agarics ([p. 110]).
2. Leptonia
contains those agarics with rather thin caps whose margin is incurved, cartilaginous stems and adnate to adnexed, rarely decurrent, gills and whose cap flesh is indistinct from that of the stem, e.g. Lept. serrulata (Fries) Kummer with dark blue to violet-blue cap and dark blue edge to the gills. This genus approaches the tough-shanks (Collybia) in the white-spored genera ([p. 90]).
3. Nolanea
is characterised by agarics with delicate caps, whose flesh is distinct from that of the stem and whose edge is straight and pressed against the fragile stem when young, and the adnexed or adnate, rarely decurrent, gills, e.g. N. staurospora (see [p. 122]). N. cetrata (Fries) Kummer with yellow-brown to tan-coloured cap is found from spring to autumn in conifer woodland, especially plantations. The genus corresponds to Mycena in the white-spored agaric genera ([p. 68]).
4. Eccilia
is a small genus containing agarics with thin, membranous caps and distinctly decurrent gills, e.g. E. sericeonitida P. D. Orton with convex, then umbilicate, silky greyish brown cap. This genus corresponds to Omphalina in the white-spored agarics ([p. 232]).
5. Claudopus
has three British representatives, all of which have a very small stem which may even be absent, e.g. C. depluens (Fries) Gillet grows on soil and C. parasiticus (Quélet) Ricken grows on old decaying fruit-bodies of woody fungi. This genus corresponds to Pleurotellus in the white-spored genera and to Crepidotus in the brown-spored genera ([p. 77]).
Plate 28. Fleshy fungi: Spores pinkish and angular and borne on gills - Rhodophyllaceae
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Cystoderma amianthinum (Fries) Fayod
Cap: width 15-35 mm. Stem: width 4-8 mm; length 15-30 mm.
Description:
Cap: pale ochraceous yellow to sand-colour, convex then expanded, with central umbo and often radially wrinkled-reticulate, covered completely in powdery granules when fresh but these gradually disappear with age or on excessive handling.
Stem: slender, white above a narrow, easily lost ring which is composed of floccose, ochraceous yellow granules which also clothe the lower part of the stem.
Gills: adnate, cream-coloured and crowded.
Flesh: yellowish with a strong smell of new-mown hay.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: small to medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, smooth, ellipsoid, 5-7 × 3-4 µm and becoming blue-grey when mounted in solutions containing iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Frequently found amongst grass on heaths, in hill-pastures and in woodlands from summer to autumn.
General Information: This fungus is recognised by the gill-attachment and the powdery-scurfy cap formed by the breaking up of an enveloping veil composed of thick-walled, rounded cells, similar to those on the surface of the stem.
This fungus was formerly placed in the genus Lepiota because of the ring but the veil in Cystoderma amianthinum is formed in quite a different way to the ring in the true parasol mushrooms. The gills are also adnate and not free as in the true species of Lepiota (see [p. 112]). C. carcharias (Secretan) Fayod is found under similar conditions, but is white or flesh-coloured. C. cinnabarinum (Secretan) Fayod is also found in short grass and moss, but has a cinnabar-red, floccose cap and C. granulosum (Fries) Fayod is yellowish brown with non-amyloid spores and adnexed gills.
Many authorities prefer to connect this small group of closely related species more to members of the Tricholomataceae (i.e. the family which contains the Wood Blewits ([p. 131]), Mycena ([p. 68], etc.) than to the parasol mushrooms—Lepiota ([p. 112]).
Illustrations: Hvass 23; LH 129; NB 1037; WD 84.
Plate 29. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills
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Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca (Fries) Maire False chanterelle
Cap: width 25-70 mm. Stem: width 4-7 mm; length 25-50 mm.
Description:
Cap: bright orange-yellow or apricot, fleshy, soft, depressed at centre and with wavy, incurved, slightly downy margin.
Stem: yellow at apex, rich red-brown or orange about the middle and sometimes dark brown at the very base.
Gills: decurrent, deep orange, thin, crowded, repeatedly forked and easily separable from the cap-tissue.
Flesh: yellowish, pale in the cap, darker in the stem.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline under the microscope, ellipsoid or pip-shaped, smooth, 7-8 × 4 µm and red-brown when mounted in solutions of iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Common in woodlands, particularly with pines, and on heaths or in rough hill-pastures.
General Information: This fungus is recognisable by the orange or yellow cap and stem and the decurrent gills. It was formerly placed in Cantharellus because of the colours, white spores and the decurrent gills, but it really differs in many other respects. It is true, however, that it is frequently confused with the true Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius Fries, [p. 162]) by those who do not inspect their specimens carefully. The gills are thin, plate-like as in other agarics and not fold-like as in Cantharellus (see [p. 162]). The Chanterelle is edible and sought after as a delicacy, but there are varying reports as to the edibility of Hygrophoropsis. Certainly it is not of the best quality and there is evidence for it causing upsets: therefore it is best to take the name ‘False Chanterelle’ at face value and treat this fungus as truely false; ‘aurantiaca’ means orange-coloured and refers to the colour of the fungus.
A pale form is frequently collected, particularly in hill-pastures, and is probably worthy of specific recognition. The cap is ochraceous yellow to cream and the stem distinctly dark in the lower half.
There is some confusion as to the true position in classification of this fungus. The anatomical details of the fruit-body parallel those of Paxillus involutus (Fries) Fries (see [p. 38]) although the spore-print is white. There is little doubt that future research will answer this problem.
Illustrations: Hvass 183; LH 185; NB 1031; WD 163.
Plate 30. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills
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(b) Agarics of chalk-grassland and rich uplands
Agaricus campestris Fries Field mushroom
Cap: width 40-100 mm. Stem: width 12-20 mm; length 40-80 mm.
Description:
Cap: rounded then expanding to become plano-convex, fleshy with the margin incurved at first, initially pure white, but soon becoming cream-colour and at maturity streaked brownish particularly at the centre.
Stem: white with a simple, very thin, white ring which becomes brownish on rubbing and is easily lost with age or by handling.
Gills: free, pink but finally umber-brown at maturity.
Flesh: white, flushed reddish when cut especially in the stem.
Spore-print: cigar-brown, with hint of purple.
Spores: medium sized, ellipsoid or egg-shaped, smooth, small, 7-8 × 4-5 µm and dark brown under the microscope.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent. Basidia 4-spored.
Habitat & Distribution: The field-mushroom grows amongst grass in pastures, etc., and also on old lawns where it may form fairy-rings.
General Information: This is the common wild, edible mushroom for which many people have in the past unwisely substituted many quite unrelated species. Deaths have often been caused by lack of careful observation when selecting wild fungi for the table; this only emphasises why white mushrooms found in fields should not be casually eaten.
A. arvensis
Secretan the Horse-mushroom is also edible, but is much bigger (up to 180 mm), creamy white and bruises slightly yellowish on handling; it also has larger spores (7-10 × 5 µm), club-shaped cells on the gill-edge, gills commencing white and not pink, and the presence of a complex ring.
A. xanthodermus
Genevier the ‘Yellow-staining mushroom’ has even smaller spores than the field mushroom, i.e. 5-6 × 4 µm and a rather strong, unpleasant smell; if eaten many people subsequently suffer from stomach-pains and this shows that even amongst those fungi which the scientist would call true mushrooms, i.e. those fungi in the genus Agaricus, there are some poisonous members. Thus it is always necessary to have wide experience before one collects fungi for eating and until this is achieved all specimens should be discarded.
Illustrations: Field mushroom—Hvass 163; LH 133; NB 316; WD 712. Horse mushroom—Hvass 160; LH 135; WD 721. Yellow-staining mushroom—Hvass 159; WD 713.
Plate 31. Fleshy fungi: Spores purple-brown and borne on gills
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Calocybe gambosum (Fries) Singer. St George’s mushroom
Cap: width 70-100 mm. Stem: width 15-25 mm; length 50-70 mm.
Description:
Cap: creamy white, ivory or light buff, slightly darker at the centre with age, fleshy, rounded and with wavy margin, finally expanding to become plane-convex; the margin is incurved and slightly downy at first.
Stem: firm, rather thick, white at the top, creamy or buff below and slightly downy when fresh.
Gills: sinuate to adnexed with a slight decurrent tooth, white to pale buff.
Flesh: with a very strong smell of meal, white and thick.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: small, ellipsoid, smooth, hyaline under the microscope, 5-6 × 3-4 µm and not becoming blue-grey with solutions containing iodine.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Found amongst grass in base rich pastures, often in fairly large rings from April to June and on golf-courses particularly those near the sea.
General Information: The common name refers to the early appearance of this agaric; St George’s Day is April 23rd, and this mushroom is found about this time in favourable years, its fruiting often extending into early June, particularly if the fruiting is retarded by a cold and wet spring. It is easily recognised by the pale colour of the cap, strong mealy smell, but particularly by its appearance in spring. In each new year it is probably the first of the larger agarics to appear. This species will be found in most books under the genus Tricholoma, but differs from typical members of this group in the anatomy and chemistry of the gill-tissues.
The Latin name ‘gambosum’ is derived from ‘gamba’ meaning a hoof and this reflects the shape of the fleshy cap as it pushes up through the grass. Another much older name is Tricholoma georgii (Fries) Quélet which was used by Clusius and is derived from the legend of St George.
Illustrations: Hvass 28; LH 83; WD 92.
Plate 32. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills
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Lepiota procera (Fries) S. F. Gray Parasol mushroom
Cap: width 70-200 mm. Stem: width 12-20 mm; length 100-250 mm.
Description:
Cap: dull brown or greyish brown, oval or rounded at first, but later becoming bell-shaped, finally expanding but for the central umbo and the surface breaking up into shaggy scales.
Stem: straight, tapering upwards from a slightly bulbous base, felty at first but then the surface breaking up into small patches which finally resemble the pattern of a snake-skin; there is also a large, thick, white ring which is brown below and becomes loose on the stem.
Gills: remote, white, crowded and fairly broad.
Flesh: white, thin, soft.
Spore-print: white.
Spores: very long, ellipsoid with a germ-pore, hyaline under the microscope about 16 × 10 µm (14-17 × 9-12 µm), and becoming reddish brown in solutions containing iodine.
Marginal cystidia: variable, elongate balloon-shaped and hyaline.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Found from summer until mid-autumn, on the outskirts of copses, in fields, at edges of woodland or in woodland clearings; it is sometimes found in very large rings.
General Information: When this fungus first appears through the soil it resembles a drum-stick with the margin of the unexpanded cap tightly hugging the stem. It is an easily recognised fungus because of its straight and graceful stature with large cap and tall stem. It is one of our best edible fungi and cannot be confused with any other agaric. L. rhacodes (Vittadini) Quélet is not as elegant and has much smaller spores.
Illustrations: F 26a; Hvass 15; LH 125; NB 311; WD 51.
Plate 33. Fleshy fungi: Spores white and borne on gills
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(c) Agarics of meadows and valley-bottom grasslands
Psilocybe semilanceata (Secretan) Kummer Liberty caps
Cap: width 8-14 mm; height up to 18 mm. Stem: width 4-6 mm; length 50-70 mm.
Description:
Cap: sharply conical, in fact often with a very distinct apical point, never or very rarely becoming expanded, often fluted and puckered at the incurved margin, smooth, viscid, pale buff or clay colour, but soon flushed with greyish green at maturity and becoming free of the fibrils of veil which ornament the margin when young.
Stem: slender, tough and smooth, similarly coloured to the cap and sometimes blueing at the base when picked.
Gills: adnate to adnexed, crowded, purplish black except for white edge.
Flesh: white or pallid.
Spore-print: purple-brown.
Spores: long, ellipsoid, slightly lemon-shaped, smooth and with a distinct germ-pore at one end and 12-14 × 7 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: bottle-shaped with an elongate tapering neck, with thin walls which at most become pale honey in solutions containing ammonia, unlike the cystidia of Hypholoma ([p. 64]).
Habitat & Distribution: Commonly growing amongst grass in fields near farm-yards, on heaths and by roadsides; often it occurs in small troops.
General Information: Psilocybe semilanceata is recognised by the uniquely shaped cap; ‘semilanceata’ means half spear-shaped, from the papilla at the top of the cap, giving it a pointed aspect. However, the common name is more descriptive and comes from the fact that these caps resemble the helmets worn by French soldiers in the early part of the century.
This fungus was once very isolated amongst British agarics, but now it has been united with a group of small purplish brown-spored fungi formerly placed in the genus Deconica. What is of more interest is the fact that unlike many British agarics the cap often does not expand fully in order to release the spores. In this way it allows mycologists to hypothesise on how certain of the enclosed, stalked Gastromycetes evolved in some of the desert regions of the world.
Illustrations: LH 149; NB 3311; WD 787.
Plate 34. Fleshy fungi: Spores purple-brown and borne on gills
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Conocybe tenera (Fries) Fayod Brown cone-cap
Cap: width 10-20 mm. Stem: width 3-6 mm; length 70-100 mm.
Description:
Cap: very hygrophanous, sand colour, orange-yellow or ochraceous brown tinted cinnamon when fresh but drying uniformly yellow-ochre, thin, fragile, striate when moist, but soon non-striate as water is lost from the cap.
Stem: tall, slender and similarly coloured to the cap, straight, fragile, minutely striate from the top to bottom with what appears to be minute powdery granules.
Gills: adnate then becoming free, crowded, ochraceous and finally cinnamon-rust in colour.
Flesh: russet when moist but rapidly becoming yellowish as the fruit-body dries.
Spore-print: rust-brown.
Spores: long, ellipsoid, with thick, bright yellow-brown walls and distinct germ-pores at their ends when seen under the microscope, and over 10 µm in length (11-12 × 6 µm.)
Marginal cystidia: pinheaded or skittle-shaped.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: This fungus grows in ones and twos, more rarely in troops amongst grass.
General Information: This is one member of a whole complex group of ochraceous, brown, tawny or cinnamon-brown capped agarics which superficially appear to be the same, but on closer examination the expert can split them into several distinct species. The use of microscopic characters is essential and outside the scope of this book or the ordinary mushroom-picker’s manual. However, the closely related C. lactea (J. Lange) Métrod can be more easily distinguished for it has a white or cream-coloured cap and stem. It also has larger broadly ellipsoid spores, measuring 12-14 × 6-9 µm, but the same shaped cells on the gill-edge.
Illustrations: LH 153; NB 354; WD 682.
Plate 35. Fleshy fungi: Spores brown and borne on gills
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(d) Fairy-ring formers
Many agarics grow in circles, but not all of them produce zones in the vegetation. It is the distinct zonation caused by the ‘fairy-ring champignon’ Marasmius oreades (Fries) Fries and related fungi which have given rise to the name of Fairy-ring and which resulted in the foundation of many folk tales.
A fairy-ring can be divided into four distinct zones, a central zone of fairly normally developed vegetation on the outside of which is a green, actively growing zone of grass; outside this is a zone composed of brown or dead vegetation. The outermost zone again appears to be far more lush than the normal grass in the vicinity and it is in this last zone that the fruit-bodies of the fungus causing the pattern appear.
A generalised explanation of the zoning appears to be as follows:—
In the outermost zone the actively growing mycelium decomposes soil constituents and liberates nitrogenous material which is in turn taken up by the plant roots nearby and utilised for their growth. In the penultimate zone the grass is dead, probably not caused by a direct parasitic attack but by the mycelial threads filling the air-spaces in the soil and so inhibiting water flow. This destruction of the delicate balance of water and air found in any soil induces drying out and gradual death of the plants whose roots permeate the soil. Behind the dead-zone is vegetation which shows increased vigour apparently due to plant-nutrients being released by the decaying mycelium and plant-material, whose death has been caused by the presence of the fungus. The innermost zone is not so stimulated.
With nothing more than graph and tracing paper, a tape-measure, note-book and pencil, pieces of cane about four inches long, and coloured dye or indian ink, it is exciting to assess the annual radial growth of fairy-rings and to correlate these with environmental conditions. This can be carried out on a school lawn or on a home lawn; the method and further experiments are given in [Appendix iii].
Plate 36. Fairy-ring fungus—Marasmius oreades
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Marasmius oreades (Fries) Fries Fairy-ring champignon
Cap: width 25-60 mm. Stem: width 5-9 mm; length 30-80 mm.
Description:
Cap: pinkish tan with slight flush of brown at centre, hygrophanous and drying out buff-coloured or clay-coloured, convex at first then expanding to become plane, but for an obtuse umbo which is retained at the centre.
Stem: pale buff, tough, flexible and smooth.
Gills: adnexed, pale cream colour or pinkish buff and fairly distant.
Flesh: whitish or pinkish tan, smelling of cherry laurel (cyanic).
Spore-print: white.
Spores: medium sized, hyaline, pip-shaped, smooth, not staining bluish grey when mounted in solutions containing iodine and about 10 × 6 µm in size (9-11 × 5-6 µm).
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: This agaric is very common from May to October on lawns and grass-verges.
General Information: M. oreades forms well developed fairy-rings, and is easily recognised by its tough nature, pale colours and ability to revive after having been dried. This ability to revive in moist weather even after the fruit-body has been dried by the sun or wind is a character which was used to distinguish members of the genus Marasmius. However, this is a very subjective character and since microscopic techniques were introduced and used widely in the study of agarics the genus has been delimited rather more critically. Marasmius is close to Collybia ([p. 90]), in fact many species appear in one book in one genus and in another book in the second genus; M. oreades itself is not a typical member of the genus. Marasmius seems to be a much more important genus in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world; we have already mentioned how some of the small species of Marasmius in Europe grow only on leaves of a particular plant (see [p. 92]). M. androsaceus (Fries) Fries (see [p. 231]) is the horse-hair fungus.
Illustrations: F 19a; Hvass 81; LH 115; NB 351; WD 2410 (not very good).
Plate 37. Fleshy fungi reviving when moistened even after drying: Spores white and borne on gills
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(e) Agarics of urban areas—lawn and parkland agarics
Nolanea staurospora Bresadola
Cap: width 20-40 mm. Stem: width 3-5 mm; length 45-70 mm.
Description:
Cap: bell-shaped at first then expanded, hygrophanous, date-brown, striate when moist but pale fawn or tan and non-striate when dry, and usually becoming quite silky-shiny.
Stem: slender, fragile, greyish brown, silky fibrillose-striate and shiny.
Gills: almost free, crowded and pale greyish brown when young, but finally flesh coloured.
Flesh: brownish and smelling very strongly of meal when cut or broken between the fingers.
Spore-print: salmon-pink with flush of cinnamon.
Spores: medium sized, fawn under the microscope, star-shaped with 4-6 prominent angles, 9-10 × 7-9 µm, smooth and with no germ-pore.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Nolanea sericea (Mérat) P. D. Orton Silky nolanea
Cap: width 25-40 mm. Stem: width 5-9 mm; length 25-50 mm.
Description:
Cap: convex then flattened or with slight umbo, umber-brown with a greyish cast which becomes accentuated as the cap dries out and finally becoming silky-shiny; the margin is incurved and striate at first but on expanding it becomes non-striate with time.
Stem: short, fibrillose, greyish brown, shining and white at the base, very fragile and often snaps just above the soil-level when collected.
Gills: crowded, adnate and pale greyish brown then pinkish brown.
Flesh: with a strong smell of new meal, brownish becoming paler as it dries out.
Spore-print: salmon-pink.
Spores: medium sized, smooth, pale fawn under the microscope, angular almost cubic and 10-13 × 8-9 µm in size.
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
General Information: Nolanea staurospora is very common amongst grass, in many habitats such as on heaths, and in woodlands and copses, but it is particularly common in pastures and on lawns. It is difficult to separate from close relatives on field-characters, except for the strong mealy smell; however, it is recognised immediately by the spore-shape, in fact stauro—means a cross and spora—spore!
Plate 38. Fleshy fungi: Spores pinkish and angular, and borne on gills
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Because of the flattened cap and gill-shape N. sericea (Mérat) P. D. Orton was first placed in Entoloma, but for a long time it was one of the smallest members of that genus. The European species of Nolanea have recently been critically analysed, and now that closely related species to the silky Nolanea have been found, it appears better placed in Nolanea although it is still found under Entoloma in many books. The Latin word ‘sericeum’ means silky and refers to the silky cap and stem of this fungus which is a very noticeable feature when the fungus is collected in the dry state. The common name which has been given to this fungus also refers to the silky nature of the fruit-body.
Illustrations: N. staurospora—LH 181; ND 312; WD 522. N. sericea—LH 181; WD 525.
Panaeolus foenisecii (Fries) Schroeter Brown hay-cap
Cap: width 12-28 mm. Stem: width 3-6 mm; length 40-60 mm.
Description:
Cap: semiglobate to convex and hardly expanding even with age, smooth, expallent, dull cinnamon-brown or dark tan-colour, becoming clay-colour or pale cinnamon-colour from centre outwards on drying and so sometimes appearing as if it is zoned.
Stem: slender, fragile, smooth and pale cinnamon-brown, except at apex where it is dotted with white; it is usually more brownish below.
Gills: adnate, crowded, pale brown and mottled, but becoming more uniformly umber-brown except for whitish margin.
Flesh: whitish or pale cinnamon colour.
Spore-print: purple-brown.
Spores: long, lemon-shaped under the microscope, dull brown, warted all over but for the distinct germ-pore; 12-15 × 7-8 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: variable spindle-shaped with flexuous neck and subcapitate apex, about 5-6 µm wide.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Common amongst short grass on lawns, in pastures, on grass-verges, etc., from May until October.
Plate 39. Fleshy fungi: Spores purple-brown and born on gills
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General Information: P. foenisecii is recognised under the microscope by the ornamented spores; this character was used to separate this fungus in the new genus Panaeolina. However, although the spore-print is not exactly black the stature, mottled gills and anatomy conform closely with Panaeolus sphinctrinus (Fries) Quélet and P. rickenii Hora (see [p. 210] and below respectively). The same fungus has been placed in Psilocybe (see [p. 114]), but it has little in common with members of that genus. The word ‘foenisecii’ means hay-harvest, reflecting the habitat of growing in fields. This fungus is variable in colour depending on its state of turgidity; it can be easily confused with other species of Panaeolus when moist and with certain species of Conocybe when dry. P. rickenii is an equally common agaric growing on similar or slightly less base-rich soil-types. It has a distinctly bell-shaped reddish brown cap with a pale incurved margin which in wet weather is, like the entire stem, beaded with droplets of liquid. This gives the fungus a glistening appearance when seen fresh and as it dries these droplets are lost and the cap becomes slightly zoned. The stem is pale reddish-brown with a strong frosted appearance because of the minute hairs which cover it. I have no doubt that the classification of these fungi will be assisted by careful analysis of the shapes of the hairs found in the different species.
Illustrations: Panaeolina foenisecii—LH 145; WD 784. Panaeolus rickenii—LH 145.
(f) Agarics of wasteland and hedgerows
Coprinus comatus (Fries) S. F. Gray Lawyer’s wig
Cap: width 30-60 mm; height 80-200 mm. Stem: width 10-20 mm; length 80-250 mm.
Description: [Plate 40].
Cap: at first cylindrical or oval then bell-shaped, fleshy, fragile, white and covered with woolly, whitish, shaggy scales which have brown tips; the centre of the cap is smooth and yellow to ochraceous whilst the margin becomes striate and lilaceous and finally black as the tissue liquefies (autodigests) and the margin rolls up to expose new areas of spore-bearing tissue.
Stem: tall, white, smooth and tapered towards the apex, with a white ring which can easily move up and down the stem with handling, and which soon disappears with age.
Plate 40. Fleshy fungi becoming reduced to an inky mass: Spores black and borne on gills
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Gills: free at first, white then pink and finally black, becoming gradually dissolved into a black fluid from the base of the cap upwards.
Flesh: white, thin, except immediately in the central area of the cap.
Spore-print: blackish-purple.
Spores: long, elongate-ellipsoid, large and about 13 × 5-8 µm in size, (12-15 × 7-9 µm).
Marginal cystidia: elongate club-shaped to balloon-shaped, hyaline and thin-walled.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Grows in clusters on rich ground, in gardens, on sides of newly prepared roads and central reservations of motor-ways, on path-sides, in cultivated fields and on rubbish dumps; it grows from spring to autumn and sometimes occurs in huge troops.
General Information: Easily recognised by its size, the shape of the cap with its scaly surface and from its resemblance to a ‘judge’s wig’; it is frequently called the ‘lawyer’s wig’ and whereas some common names are not very descriptive and one has to use a lot of imagination to conjure up what the common name implies, in this case it is not so. It is also known as the ‘shaggy cap’ or ‘shaggy ink-cap’. Ink or inky cap is, however, a common name for many species of the genus Coprinus (see [p. 211-4]).
The unrelated Lyophyllum decastes (Fries) Singer and L. connatum (Fries) Singer are also common fungi growing on roadsides, on soil and compost-heaps. They too break through embankments, soil, paths, etc., producing large craters and mounds of debris.
Illustrations: Coprinus comatus—F 34b; Hvass 172; LH 137; NB 355; WD 822. Lyophyllum decastes—LH 81; WD 142.
Lacrymaria velutina (Fries) Konrad & Maublanc Weeping widow
Cap: width 45-90 mm. Stem: width 8-14 mm; length 50-125 mm.
Description: [Plate 41].
Cap: convex then expanded with obtuse central umbo, dull clay-brown or date-brown and at first covered with flattened, woolly fibrils which are gradually lost with age; the margin is incurved and fringed with remnants of the veil.
Stem: fragile, pale dingy-coloured or clay-coloured at apex, dull brown below the ring-zone which consists of white fibrils; later in development these fibrils catch the spores and the stem becomes black and fibrillose-scaly, particularly below the ring-zone.
Plate 41. Fleshy fungi: Spores blackish and borne on gills
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Gills: sinuate, crowded and very dark brown or almost black with distinct white margin which is covered in tiny beads of liquid in moist weather.
Flesh: pale buff.
Spore-print: almost black.
Spores: long, dark brown, lemon-shaped and warted with distinct and prominent germ-pore and 10-12 × 6-7 µm in size.
Marginal cystidia: club-shaped or with a distinctly rounded head.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Common on the ground near newly built houses, on roadsides, tips and paths in woods, either solitary or in groups; it is also found in pastures.
General Information: The fibrillose scaly cap and stem and the almost black gills which frequently have liquid droplets at their edge separate this species from all other agarics and microscopically it can be easily recognised by the warted spores. ‘Velutina’ means velvety and refers to the texture of the cap-surface, of the young fruit-body. The genus name Lacrymaria refers to this peculiar, but certainly not unique, phenomenon, of exuding liquid from cells on the gill-edge. This has been compared with weeping and ‘lacrymans’ means weeping; the common name reflects this also—weeping widow (cf. [p. 154]).
This fungus has had a chequered history, for it is also known in some books as Hypholoma lacrymabunda (again meaning weeping) or H. velutina; the anatomy of the fungus, however, is quite different to Hypholoma (e.g. H. fasciculare [p. 64]). More recently it has found a place in Psathyrella, but it seems unsatisfactorily placed there because of the warty spores, black spore-print and fibrillose cap-surface; it warrants a separate genus, i.e., Lacrymaria. L. pyrotricha (Fries) Konrad & Maublanc is the only other British species of this genus but it has a bright orange cap colour; it is rare.
Illustrations: Hvass 180; LH 141; WD 863.
Lepista nuda (Fries) Cooke Wood blewits
Cap: width 70-100 mm. Stem: width 10-15 mm; length 70-100 mm.
Description: [Plate 42].
Cap: rounded then flattened or slightly depressed in the centre, smooth, bluish lilac, or violaceous when young but gradually with age becoming reddish-brown, with or without a flush of wine colour.
Stem: similarly coloured to the cap, equal, fleshy, elastic, fibrillose and streaky.
Gills: adnate with or without a decurrent tooth, crowded, lilac and easily separable from the cap-tissue by the fingers.
Flesh: bluish violaceous, but drying out dirty buff in the base of the stem.
Spore-print: flesh-coloured.
Spores: medium-sized, ellipsoid appearing smooth but very minutely roughened under the microscope, although it is very difficult to see except with a good instrument (6-8 × 4-5 µm in size).
Marginal and facial cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: Widespread in troops or small groups in copses and under hedgerows and not uncommon in flower-beds in gardens in late autumn and early winter especially on compost heaps and in rhubarb patches which have been mulched with piles of moribund leaves.
General Information: This fungus was originally placed in Tricholoma, but due to differences in anatomy and the distinctly coloured and ornamented spores it has been placed along with ‘common blewits’ T. personatum (Fries) Kummer (or better L. saeva (Fries) P. D. Orton), in the genus Lepista. This genus which is also called Rhodopaxillus, again referring to the pinkish spore-print, is not found in many of the easily obtainable books. One should look for the fungus under Tricholoma, from which it can be separated easily by the beautiful colour.
Both the ‘wood blewits’ and ‘common blewits’ have been regularly sold in markets in England within the last fifty years. They are edible and considered of high quality. In their fresh state they are easily recognised, but as they age they become browned and so resemble many other less desirable fungi.
Illustrations: F 17d; Hvass 49; LH 91; NB 1252; WD 123 (a bit too pastel).
Plate 42. Fleshy fungi: Spores pale pinkish and borne on gills
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Agaricus bisporus (J. Lange) Pilát Common mushroom
Cap: width 40-100 mm. Stem: width 15-25 mm; length 50-75 mm.
Description: [Plate 43].
Cap: rounded gradually expanding to become plane, whitish with numerous brown radiating fibrils and with the margin irregular because of fragments from the ring which are left there after expansion of the cap.
Stem: short, cylindrical, smooth, bruising reddish-brown when handled and with a narrow ring which soon collapses and disappears.
Gills: free, pink at first then purple-brown, narrow and crowded.
Flesh: solid, thick, firm and slowly flushing brownish on cutting.
Spore-print: purple-brown.
Spores: medium-sized, broadly ellipsoid, purple-brown under the microscope, less than 10 µm long, (6-8 × 5-6 µm).
Marginal cystidia: club-shaped, 10-12 µm at apex.
Facial cystidia: absent.
Basidia: 2-spored.
Habitat & Distribution: Frequent on manure heaps, straw heaps, on road scrapings and around garden plants.
General Information: This fungus is recognised by the dark fibrils on the cap, the 2-spored basidia easily seen with the low power of a microscope, and the pink gills when young. Much confusion has existed over this fungus and its nearest relatives. It is similar to the ‘Cultivated mushroom’, A. hortensis (Cooke) Pilát, which is offered for sale in shops. However, it differs in several minor details and it may be that A. bisporus is the fungus from which the cultivated mushroom developed, very probably unconsciously by man, but the history of the cultivated mushroom is very obscure. The cultivated mushroom when bought in British shops is white but in the United States two varieties are sold, one with the brownish fibrils predominating and a snow-white one where the fibrils do not darken; the former is frequently found in Europe. The white form is sometimes found in gardens where spent-mushroom spawn is used as mulching around fruit-trees but it has a rounder cap than A. bisporus. The cultivated mushroom accounts for an annual income of £14 million in the British Isles.
Illustrations: A. hortensis—LH 133 (as the forma albida); NB 317; WD 711. A. bisporus—Hvass 161; LH 133.
Plate 43. Fleshy fungi: Spores purple-brown and borne on gills
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