It is found from July until after hard frosts. It was first reported edible by Professor Peck in 1875, under the name of Agaricus naucinus.
The L. naucinoides is rewarding the favor with which it has been received as an esculent, it being equal to the common mushroom and quite free from insects. Large crops of it are reported from all over the country, and from many sections it is told of as a stranger. During 1897–98 the author has found it in plenty upon ground familiar to him for years, upon which it had not previously shown itself. The common mushroom must look to its laurels.
Its cultivation as a marketable crop is possible and probable.
L. cepæsti´pes Sow.—cepa, an onion; stipes, stem. (Plate [XII], fig. 3, p. 32.) Pileus thin, at first ovate, then bell-shaped or expanded, umbonate, soon adorned with numerous minute brownish scales, which are often granular or mealy, folded into lines on the margin, white or yellow, the umbo darker. Gills thin, close, free, white, becoming dingy with age or in drying. Stem rather long, tapering toward the apex, generally enlarged in the middle or near the base, hollow. Ring thin, subpersistent. Spores subelliptical, with a single nucleus, 8–10×5–8µ.
Plant often cespitose, 2–4 in. high. Pileus 1–2 in. broad. Stem 2–3 lines thick.
Rich ground and decomposing vegetable matter. Also in graperies and conservatories. Buffalo, G.W. Clinton; Albany, A.F. Chatfield. Peck, 35th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Spores elliptical, 7–8×4µ Massee; 8×4µ W.G.S.; 8–10×5–8µ Peck.
Haddonfield, N.J., Pennsylvania, McIlvaine; New York, Mrs. E. C. Anthony; Indiana, H.I. Miller. July to October.
Whoever has seen the seed-stalks of an onion knows the shape from which this fungus takes its name. The dense clusters are graceful, dainty, and contain many individuals of all ages—from the very young with egg-shaped heads, like pigmy C. comatus, to the fluff-capped eldest, willowy and fair to look upon. The out-door kind soon droops when matured; the young plants of a cluster will remain fresh for several days after taken from their habitat. Stems in these tufts are often quill-shaped, and the striations on the cap margins are shorter than those on their indoor cousins. These grow in hot-houses and stables. One of the two forms has a yellow cap, the other is white and fair.
These forms have often come to my table as a pleasant winter surprise. Children in the hot-houses of Haddonfield, N.J., watched for its appearance among the bedded plants, sure of a present when they brought me a meal of it. Both the white and yellow varieties were equally enjoyed.