Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi

_Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. =B. variega´tus= Swartz. =Pileus= at first convex, then plane, obtuse, moist, sprinkled with _superficial bundled hairy squamules, dark-yellow_, the acute margin at first flocculose. =Flesh= yellow, here and there becoming blue. =Tubes= adnate, unequal, minute, _brown then cinnamon_. =Stem= firm, equal, even, dark-yellow, sometimes reddish. =Spores= oblong-ellipsoid, hyaline or very pale-yellowish, 7.5–10×3–4µ. =Pileus= 2–5 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 6 lines thick. Woods, especially of pine. North Carolina, _Curtis_, _Schweinitz_; California, _Harkness_, _Moore_; Rhode Island, _Bennett_. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. West Virginia mountains, 1882–1885. Haddonfield, N.J., _McIlvaine_; Doylestown, Pa., _Paschall_. Quite common on flat benches where hemlocks and spruces have grown. When the caps are cooked they are sweet, nutty, excellent. =B. Roxa´næ= Frost. =Pileus= broadly convex, at first subtomentose, then covered with red hairs in bundles, _yellowish-brown_. =Flesh= yellowish-white. =Tubes= at first _whitish, then light-yellow_, arcuate-adnate or slightly depressed around the stem, the mouths small. =Stem= enlarged toward the base, striate at the apex, yellowish or pale-cinnamon. =Spores= 10×4µ. Var. _auri´color_. =Pileus= and subequal stem bright-yellow, the tomentum of the pileus yellow. =Pileus= 1.5–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 3–5 lines thick. Borders of woods. New England, _Frost_; New York, _Peck_. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. =B. striæ´pes= Secr.—striate stem. =Pileus= convex or plane, soft, silky, _olivaceous, the cuticle rust-color within_. =Flesh= white, yellow next the tubes, sparingly changing to blue. =Tubes= adnate, greenish, their mouths minute, angular, yellow. =Stem= firm, curved, marked with _brownish-black striations_, yellow, velvety and brownish-rufescent at the base. =Spores= 10–13×4µ. Pine and oak woods. Minnesota, _Johnson_. I have seen no specimens of this species, which is recorded from but one locality in our country. The character—flesh sparingly changing to blue—is given on the authority of Rev. M.J. Berkeley. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. =B. chrysen´teron= Fr.—golden within. =Pileus= convex or plane, soft, floccose-squamulose, often cracked in areas, brown or brick-red. =Flesh= _yellow, red beneath the cuticle_, often slightly changing to blue where wounded. =Tubes= subadnate; greenish-yellow, _changing to blue where wounded_; their mouths rather large, angular, unequal. =Stem= subequal, rigid, fibrous-striate, red or pale-yellow. =Spores= fusiform, pale-brown, 11–12.5×4–5µ. =Pileus= 1–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1–3 in. long, 3–6 lines thick. Woods and mossy banks. The species is common and very variable. The color of the pileus may be yellowish-brown, reddish-brown, brick-red, tawny or olivaceous. The subcutaneous reddish tint and the reddish chinks of the cracked pileus are distinguishing features. Wounds of the tubes sometimes become blue then greenish. Authors disagree concerning the edible qualities of this Boletus. Stevenson gives it as edible, but Cordier and Gillet say that it is regarded with suspicion. In one strongly marked form the tubes are decidedly depressed around the stem, in another the flesh is whitish tinged with red. It may be doubted whether these are varieties or distinct species. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. I have found, and eaten plentifully of this species in West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, from July until October. I have no hesitancy in recommending it in all of its varieties. Excepting from very young specimens the tubes and stems should be removed. The flesh is sweet, delicate and toothsome. =B. fumo´sipes= Pk. =Pileus= convex or nearly plane, minutely tomentose, sometimes minutely rivulose, dark olive-brown. =Flesh= whitish. =Tubes= at first nearly plane, becoming convex with age, their mouths whitish when young, becoming yellowish-brown, changing to bluish-black where bruised. =Stem= equal, solid, smoky-brown, minutely scurfy under a lens. =Spores= purplish-brown, 12.5–15×5–6µ. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 3–4 lines thick. Woods. Port Jefferson. July. This species resembles small dark-colored forms of B. chrysenteron, and this resemblance is still more noticeable in those specimens in which the pileus cracks in areas, for in these the chinks become red as in that species. The different color of the stem and tubes will at once separate these species. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =B. ru´beus= Frost—red. =Pileus= broadly convex, very finely appressed subtomentose, bright brick-red when young, becoming mottled with red and yellow, _yellow under the cuticle_, the thin margin at first inflexed, then horizontal, curved upward when old. =Flesh= pale-yellow, changing to blue where wounded. =Tubes= adnate or slightly depressed around the stem, lemon-yellow and _stuffed when young_, becoming yellow and sometimes red at the mouths. =Stem= small, often flexuous, colored like the pileus, reddish within, white-tomentose at the base. =Spores= 9–12.5×4–5µ. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 1–3 in. long, 3–5 lines thick. Deep woods. Rare. New England, _Frost_. This is apparently too closely related to B. chrysenteron, and it also resembles B. bicolor. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. =B. frater´nus= Pk. =Pileus= convex, becoming plane or depressed, slightly tomentose, deep red when young, becoming dull red with age. =Flesh= yellow, slowly changing to greenish-blue where wounded. =Tubes= rather long, becoming ventricose, slightly depressed about the stem, their walls sometimes slightly decurrent, the mouths large, angular or irregular, sometimes compound, bright yellow, quickly changing to blue where wounded. =Stem= short, cespitose, often irregular, solid, subtomentose, slightly velvety at the base, pale reddish-yellow, paler above and below, yellow within, quickly changing to dark green where wounded. =Spores= 12.5×6µ. =Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1–1.5 in. long, 3–6 lines thick. Shaded streets. Auburn, Alabama. July. Underwood. The species is apparently allied to B. rubeus, but is very distinct by its small size, cespitose habit, color of the flesh of the stem and by the peculiar hues assumed where wounded. When the pileus cracks the chinks become yellow as in B. subtomentosus. The species belongs to the tribe Subtomentosi. _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, Vol. 24, No. 3. =B. subtomento´sus= L.—_sub_; _tomentosus_, downy. =Pileus= convex or nearly plane, soft, dry, _villoso-tomentose, subolivaceous, concolorous beneath the cuticle_, often cracked in areas. =Flesh= white or pallid. =Tubes= adnate or somewhat depressed around the stem, yellow, their mouths large, angular. =Stem= stout, somewhat ribbed-sulcate, scabrous or scurfy with minute dots. =Spores= 10–12.5×4–5µ. =Pileus= 1–4 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2.5 in. long, 2–5 lines thick. Common and variable. The pileus is usually olivaceous or yellowish-brown, but it may be reddish-brown or tawny-red. When it cracks the chinks become yellow. The species, as I understand it, may be distinguished from its near relative, B. chrysenteron, by its paler flesh, the clearer yellow tubes not changing to blue where wounded, and by the chinks of the pileus becoming yellow. The species is recorded edible by Cordier, Curtis and Palmer. Gillet says it is only medium in quality. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. Found and eaten in West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Specimens received from Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama. I have not seen any change of color in flesh or tubes. It is common in Woodland Cemetery and Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. If the tubes are not removed the dish is slimy. The B. chrysenteron also makes such a dish when stewed, but fried, and well done, both species are decidedly good. =B. cæspito´sus= Pk.—cespitose. =Pileus= broadly convex or nearly plane, sometimes slightly concave by the elevation of the margin, even, brown or blackish-brown, the margin often a little paler or reddish-brown. =Flesh= slightly tinged with red. =Tubes= adnate or slightly decurrent, yellow, their mouths rather large, angular, concolorous. =Stem= short, even, solid, glabrous, tapering upward, brown or reddish-brown. =Spores= oblong-elliptic, 10µ long, 5µ broad. =Pileus= 1–2.5 cm. broad. =Stem= 2–2.5 cm. long, 4–6 mm. thick. Cespitose. Virginia. August. _R.S. Phifer._ A small species growing in tufts and referable to the tribe Subtomentosi. The tubes retain their bright yellow color in the dried specimens. _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, January 27, 1900. Edible qualities not stated. =B. spadi´ceus= Schaeff.—nut brown. =Pileus= convex or plane, moderately compact, dry, tomentose, opaque, _date-brown_, irregularly cracked. =Flesh= white, unchangeable, brownish-red above. =Tubes= adnate, yellow, their mouths minute, subrotund. =Stem= firm, clavate, even, _woolly-scaled_, yellow or brownish, yellowish-white within. =Spores= 12×4µ. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. Woods. New England, _Frost_. This species is admitted on the authority of Mr. Frost who alone has recorded it in this country. But specimens received from him under this name do not in my opinion belong to it, and its occurrence here is somewhat doubtful. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. In oak woods near Bartram’s Garden, West Philadelphia, in 1887–1888, I found several Boleti answering the description, exactly, of B. spadiceus. They proved to be good eating. =B. radi´cans= Pers.—_radix_, a root. =Pileus= convex, dry, subtomentose, olivaceous-cinereus, becoming pale-yellowish, the margin thin, involute. =Flesh= pale-yellow, instantly changing to dark blue, taste bitterish. =Tubes= adnate, their mouths large, unequal, lemon-yellow. =Stem= even, _tapering downward and radicating, flocculose with a reddish bloom_, pale-yellow, becoming naked and dark with a touch. =Pileus= 2–3 in. broad. =Stem= 2 in. long, 6 lines thick. Woods. Ohio, _Morgan_. Of the American plant Mr. Morgan says that the pileus is quite firm and dry, becomes reddish or brownish-yellow and nearly glabrous, that the flesh is pale-yellow, but that he has not observed any bluish tinge, and that the spores are olive, fusiform, 10–12.5×5µ. Those of the European plant have been described as very pale ocher, almost white, 6µ long, 3µ broad. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. Near Bryn Mawr, Pa. _W.C. Alderson_, 1894. Several specimens brought to me were eaten. The change in color of flesh was instantaneous upon exposure to the air. Taste strong and raw rather than bitterish. The caps alone were cooked, and dish marked “fine.” =B. muta´bilis= Morg.—changeable. Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Sci., Vol. VII. =Pileus= convex, then plane or depressed, compact, dry, subtomentose, _brown_. =Flesh= bright-yellow, _promptly changing to blue where wounded_. =Tubes= adnate or subdecurrent, their mouths large, angular, unequal, some of them compound, yellow changing to greenish yellow and _quickly becoming blue where wounded_. =Stem= stout, solid, flexuous, subsulcate, yellowish beneath the _brown dot-like scales_, bright yellow within. =Spores= olive, fusiform, 12–13×5µ. =Pileus= 2.5–4 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 6 lines thick. Thick woods. Ohio, _Morgan_. A shade of yellow sometimes appears beneath the brown of the pileus, and as the plants grow old the pileus becomes blackish, glabrous and shining. The stem increases in thickness above and downward. _Peck_, Boleti of the U.S. =B. badi´ceps= Pk.—_badius_, bay and head. (Plate CXVI, p. 420.) =Pileus= firm, convex or somewhat centrally depressed when mature, dry, velvety, obliquely truncate on the margin, bay-red or dark-maroon color. =Flesh= white unchangeable, taste and odor mild, sweet, suggestive of molasses. =Tubes= plane, adnate, white or whitish, becoming dingy with age, the mouths minute. =Stem= equal or slightly swollen in the middle, radicating, glabrous, solid, brownish. =Pileus= 4–8 cm. broad. =Stem= 4–5 cm. long, 1.5–3 cm. thick. Oak woods. West Philadelphia, Pa. August and September. _Charles McIlvaine._ The truncate or beveled margin of the pileus is a striking feature in this species. It is about 4 mm. broad and as even as if cut with a knife. Sometimes the surface of the stem ruptures transversely just below the top, the liberated shreds above curling upward against the tubes and those below curving outward and downward. In mature plants brownish spots appear in the flesh of the pileus. “When cooked it is of high flavor and tender as kidney,” _C. McIlvaine._ _Peck_, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, January 27, 1900. [Illustration: Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine. PLATE CXVIII.] FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.