Mild Flavor Research Articles

Illustrations of Fungi—II

Pileus 5-9 cm. broad, convex to expanded, dry, silky and whitish or floccose-squamulose and light reddish-brown, the color being chiefly in the scales; flesh white, thick, solid, of mild flavor, sometimes becoming reddish when broken; gills free, rounded behind, ventricose, crowded, white when young, becoming salmon-pink, and finally purplish-brown or blackish; spores ellipsoid, smooth, dark-brown, 10-I2 K long; ring delicate, inconspicuous, formed from a thin, white veil, which covers the gills in their younger stages; stem smooth, white, cylindrical, nearly equal, stuffed within, 3-6 cm. long, 1.5-2 cm. thick. The common mushroom occurs in low grass on meadows or on rich, moist upland pastures, being common after rains from August to October in this latitude. The spawn, or vegetative portion, is hidden in the soil and feeds upon the dead organic matter found therein. In the cultivation of this species, bricks of spawn are planted in suitable soil and the conditions of growth attended to with great care. This is the mushroom usually found in market, either in the fresh stage or in cans. Most persons

Illustrations of Fungi—I

Pileus 5-8 cm., convex to nearly plane, smooth, glabrous, dry, slightly umbonate at times, latericeous to bay, the margin creamcolored to ochraceous; flesh of mild flavor, white or nearly so, becoming yellowish with age; gills adnate, somewhat rounded, sometimes slightly decurrent, thin, narrow, crowded, pale yellow, becoming greenish, and finally purplish-brown from the ripening spores, which are ellipsoid, smooth, purplish-brown, 7-8 X 4 4; stipe 6-Io cm. long, 5-7 mm. thick, subequal, firm, hollow, slightly fibrillose, stramineous above, ochraceous or reddish below, ornamented with an arachnoid ring when young, which becomes conspicuous by reason of the spores which collect upon it. This species occurs abundantly on stumps and roots of deciduous trees in autumn, appearing in conspicuous reddish clusters of considerable size. It is edible, but not very good in quality, being useful because of its very late appearance. Peck separated it in 1872 from H. sublateritium chiefly because it lacked the bitter taste ascribed to that species, of which it may be only a form.