Agaricus prunulus (Plum Mushroom).
Pileus fleshy, compact, at first convex, then expanded, becoming depressed in the centre, irregularly waved, and slightly pruinose; from two to five inches broad; surface dry, soft, white, or sometimes grey. The flesh thick, white, and unchangeable. Gills crowded, deeply decurrent, at first white, then a pale dull flesh-colour, or yellowish brown. Spores pale brown. Stem white, solid, firm, slightly ventricose, an inch or more long, and half an inch thick; naked, often striate, and villose at the base; often eccentric. Odour like that of new meal, but usually too strong to be agreeable.
There has been considerable confusion, writes Dr. Bull, between the two Agarics orcella and prunulus; some thinking that we have only orcella in England (Dr. Badham); and others only prunulus (the Rev. M. J. Berkeley), and others again that they are both the same fungus, differing only in size. Dr. Badham and some others again confuse prunulus with gambosus, the fungus of early spring, and this has arisen from the French term mousseron being often applied to both these funguses; but they are so essentially different as not to be liable in any way to be mistaken for each other. Agaricus orcella and A. prunulus are both placed on the same page in the [illustration], so that their close alliance may be seen at a glance. Fries treats them as separate funguses, “in deference to ancient authority, since their differences are chiefly in degree.” These differences are, nevertheless, so well marked, that they are kept separate here. Orcella is a smaller and more delicate fungus than prunulus. It is thinner and less fleshy, more undulated in its borders, and has a lighter and more agreeable odour. Orcella grows in more open glades than prunulus; it is usually much whiter in colour, sometimes in high situations white and glazed as an egg-shell, or even pottery. Orcella grows more solitary than prunulus, in light, scattered groups, showing an inclination for the neighbourhood of oak-trees, and where it does grow it may be found year after year in the same place, but seldom more than two or three in a spot. Last year, 1869, when orcella was pretty plentiful, prunulus was not to be found in the situations where it grows usually most abundantly. Prunulus is the reverse of all this. It prefers more shaded places, is larger, more fleshy, and with a strong odour rather heavy and overpowering. It grows in greater quantities together, and not unfrequently in crowded rings from four to six feet in diameter.
As edible funguses they should certainly be kept distinct. Orcella is light and pleasant in odour, and excellent in flavour: it is so tender and delicate as to be termed, not inaptly, “vegetable sweetbread.” Prunulus, on the other hand, though always good, is to many people too strong in odour, and more coarse in taste.
Opinions on the Merits of Agaricus orcella and A. prunulus.—“A very delicate mushroom.”—Dr. Badham. “The flavour of orcella is very delicate, and equal to anything amongst fungi, or rather superior to the majority. The same remarks apply to prunulus, which I think is the same thing. It belongs to the first rank of edible fungi.”—Edwin Lees.
Modes of Cooking Agaricus orcella and Agaricus prunulus.—Orcella being usually found in small quantities, is best, perhaps, when broiled and served on hot toast. Prunulus will yield an abundance for broiling or stewing, or both. “Orcella should be eaten the day it is gathered, either stewed, broiled, or fried with egg and bread-crumbs like cutlets.”—Dr. Badham. “However prepared, it is most excellent; the flesh is firm and juicy, and full of flavour, and whether broiled or stewed, it is a most delicious morsel.”—Worthington G. Smith. “Orcella will dry, and may be preserved in this way. It loses much of its volume, but it acquires un aroma suavissimo.”—Vittadini. From the Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club.
Edible Fungi in America.—To give an idea of the rich stores of fungi that spring up in some distant parts of the earth, and in climes so different to ours that one would at first sight suppose such fragile and fugacious bodies as fungi would not abound in them, the following interesting communication from Dr. Curtis, of South Carolina, to the Rev. W. Berkeley is here given. It will prove well worthy the attention of American readers:—
“You have asked me to give you my ‘experience with the eatable mushrooms of America.’ This will be most satisfactorily done, I presume, in pretty much the same style in which I would narrate it to you at your own fireside. My experience runs back only about twelve or fifteen years. You may remember that previous to this period I expressed a fear of these edibles, as I had grown up with the common prejudices against them entertained by most people in this country. Having occasionally read of fearful accidents from their use, and there being abundance of other and wholesome food obtainable, I felt no inclination to run any risks in needlessly enlarging my bill of fare. Thus I had passed middle life without having once even tasted a mushroom.
“But as under your guidance and assistance my knowledge of fungi increased, a confidence in my ability to discriminate species grew up with it, and a curiosity to test the qualities of these much-lauded articles got the better of timidity; and now, I suppose, I can safely say, that I have eaten a greater variety of mushrooms than anyone on the American continent. I have even introduced several species before untried and unknown. From the beginning of my experiments, however, I have exercised great caution, even with species long recognised as safe and wholesome. In every case I began with only a single mouthful. No ill effect following, I made a second essay upon two or three mouthfuls, and so on gradually until I made a full meal of them. Fortunately, I have never blundered upon any kind that was mischievous, although I have eaten freely of forty species. This is due, perhaps, to my general acquaintance with species that have been long used in Europe, and hence I have made no experiments upon new species which had not some affinity or analogy with them.
“For instance, A. campestris and A. arvensis being wholesome, I did not doubt but that A. amygdalinus (a new species closely allied to A. arvensis) might be safely attempted, and it has proved equally safe and palatable. Indeed, this may be regarded as the safest of all species for gathering, as it can be discriminated from all others even by a child or a blind person. Its taste and odour are so very like those of peach kernels or bitter almonds, that almost invariably the resemblance is immediately mentioned by those who taste it crude for the first time. This flavour is lost by cooking, unless the mushroom be underdone. When thoroughly cooked I cannot myself distinguish it from A. campestris. One or two persons have expressed the opinion that they can distinguish it, and that it is not quite so good. Others, again, are equally positive that it is better. In the crude state I deem it the most palatable of all mushrooms, as it leaves a very agreeable aftertaste upon the palate, fully equal to that of almonds. This is the thing I sent you some years since for cultivation, but which failed to grow. I very much wish it might be propagated in England, so that we might ascertain whether it would undergo any change of qualities in a different soil and climate. I have for some time been entertaining the suspicion that such is the case with many of our species. Thus, in European books the Morel is described as possessing a peculiar flavour, that has given its name to the Morello cherry. I can detect nothing of the sort in our morel. You speak of A. Cæsareus (in Introd. Crypt. Bot.) as being ‘perhaps the most delicious of all fungi.’ This grows in great quantities in our oak-forests, and may be obtained by the cartload in its season; but to my taste, and that of all my family, it is the most unpalatable of all our fungi, nor can I find many of our most passionate mycophagists who will avow that they like it. I have tried it in almost every mode of cookery, but without success. There is a disagreeable saline flavour that we cannot remove nor overlay.