“5th.—Reject very brittle fungi with gills nearly all of equal length where the flesh of the cap is thin, especially those with bright caps.
“6th.—Reject all Boleti in which the flesh changes color where bruised or cut, or those in which the tubes have reddish mouths, also those the taste of which is bitter. Strobilomyces strobilaceus (Scop.) Berk. changes color when cut, and is edible.
“7th.—Reject fungi which have a cobwebby veil or ring when young, and those with slimy caps and clay-colored spores.
“In addition, proceed cautiously in all cases, and make it a point to become very familiar with a few species first, and gradually extend the range of species rather than attempt the first season to eat a large number of different kinds. All puff-balls are edible so long as they are white inside, though some are better than others. All coral-like or club fungi are edible.”
Popular Distinction between Toadstools and Mushrooms.
—There is a general opinion that the toadstool is poisonous and the mushroom is not. There is, however, no scientific distinction between the two kinds of fungi, popularly known as toadstools and mushrooms. The distinction is purely an arbitrary one. The small toadstools are often as delicious and as harmless as the small mushroom. The small mushroom, on the other hand, may be as deadly and as undesirable as the worst specimen of toadstool. There is danger especially to two classes of people in the discrimination between the poisonous and edible varieties of mushrooms and toadstools. The first class is composed of those who are practically unaware of the existence of poisonous varieties and the second class of persons are those who claim to be able to tell an edible mushroom from a certain number of tests or claims which they regard as infallible. Both of these classes of persons are apt to be deceived or injured by dangerous varieties.
The following popular signs of distinguishing between the poisonous and non-poisonous varieties are pronounced worthless by Gibson (“Our Edible Toadstools and Mushrooms and How to Distinguish Them”):
“Favorable Signs.
1. Pleasant taste and odor.
2. Peeling of the skin of the cap from rim to center.