A variety, perhaps a variation of var. bulbosa was sent to me by E. B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J., and afterward found by myself at Mt. Gretna, Pa. The Cap purplish-brown, convex, striate and light on margin, edge irregular with parts of veil attached. Flesh white, very thin. Gills decurrent, arcuate, pinkish-gray. Stem stuffed, fibrous, white above, dense floccose veil, same color as cap below, swollen toward base which is pointed, sulcate, white inside, closely clustered and some of the stems distinctly bulbous. Taste decidedly unpleasant. An intense acridity develops and increases when the juices of raw pieces are swallowed, and the salivary glands are much excited. The acridity is not lost in cooking. It simply can not be eaten. Specimens were sent by me to Professor Peck who referred it to A. mellea.
I have never seen the abortive form of Clitopilus abortivus, though found in many places and in great quantity, showing any part or trace of the original plant. But that a similar monstrosity occurs upon A. mellea is shown by individuals and parts of individuals of a cluster being aborted. Without such positive proof, no one would suspect either of these odd formations to be abortive of either C. abortivus or A. mellea, or any other fungus. I consider the abortive form of A. mellea far superior in substance and flavor to it or any of its varieties.
The Armillaria can not be ranked among the tender or high-flavored toadstools, yet their abundance, meaty caps and nourishing qualities place them among our most valuable food species.
The caps when chopped into small pieces make good patties and croquettes. They have an impressive flavor of their own, and offer an esculent medium for seasoning and the gravies of various meats.
A. nardos´mia Ellis—nardosmius, of the odor of nardus. (A name applied by the ancients to several plants, especially spica nardi—spikenard.) Pileus fleshy, firm, thick and compact on the disk, thin toward the margin, whitish, variegated with brown spots, with a thick, tough and separable cuticle. Flesh white. Gills crowded, subventricose, slightly emarginate, whitish. Stem solid, fibrous, not bulbous, sheathed below by the brown velvety veil, the ring narrow, spreading, uneven on the edge. Spores subglobose, 6µ in diameter.
Pileus about 3 in. broad. Stem 1.5–3 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Ground in woods, Suffolk county. September. Peck, 43d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Several specimens from sandy grounds in pine woods, Haddonfield, N.J., were sent by me to Professor Peck and were identified by him. Plentiful at Mt. Gretna, Pa., September to frost, 1898. In mixed woods, on gravelly ground. Eaten in quantity by several persons. McIlvaine.
Cuticle of caps when dry breaking up into brownish, squamulose scales, margin involute. Gills subdecurrent. Veil thick, persistent. Stem short, subbulbous, solid. Flesh white. Very much resembles a short-stemmed Lepiota. Smell and taste strong, like almonds. Disappears in cooking.
III.—Collybiæ. Gills adnate, stem somewhat cartilaginous.