Project Gutenberg's Identification of the Larger Fungi, by Roy Watling This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Identification of the Larger Fungi Author: Roy Watling Editor: Antony Kenney Release Date: August 24, 2019 [EBook #60159] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IDENTIFICATION OF THE LARGER FUNGI *** Produced by MFR, Eric Lehtonen, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. This file was produced from images generously made available by The British Mycological Society and special thanks and appreciation are extended to the Author and Editor of the book for granting permission to release it to the public domain. Please see the Transcriber’s Notes at the end of this text. cover IDENTIFICATION OF THE LARGER FUNGI DEDICATION To my parents who encouraged my interests in mushrooms and toadstools and my wife who, later, was sympathetic to my studies and assisted in the production of the manuscript. Hulton Group Keys IDENTIFICATION OF THE LARGER FUNGI by ROY WATLING, B.Sc., Ph.D., M.I.Biol. Principal Scientific Officer, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh Editor of series: Antony R. Kenney, M.A., B.Sc. © 1973 R. Watling A. R. Kenney ISBN 0 7175 0595 2 First published 1973 by Hulton Educational Publications Ltd., Raans Road, Amersham, Bucks. Reproduced and printed by photolithography and bound in Great Britain at The Pitman Press, Bath PREFACE This is one of a series of books intended to introduce field-biology to students, particularly the sixth form and early university student. The present work is ecologically biased in order to emphasise a rather neglected aspect of the higher fungi. Few books on fungi have ever been designed for students. This book is aimed primarily at this level, but if the interested amateur is assisted and encouraged by this same text my hopes will have been doubly achieved. Many amateurs interested in higher fungi wish only to name their collections, or know approximately what they are before sampling them as an addition to their diet. An understanding of our commoner species at an early age will allow the ‘budding’ mycologist to tackle the much needed study of the more critical forms. Mycology is still at a descriptive stage, but it is hoped this will soon be changed and fungi of all kinds will be studied as part and parcel of courses in ecology. It is of course quite impossible to cover all the species in such a small volume as this present one, but it is hoped that the examples which have been carefully chosen are sufficiently common throughout the country for any student to collect them in a single season. The examples, except for very few, in fact appear in the list of higher fungi found about the Kindrogan Field Centre, Perthshire, Scotland, compiled from the collections made by students attending my field course there. The present work is arranged in three parts: the agarics are dealt with first, the non-agarics next, both with particular reference to their major habitat preferences, and lastly a catalogue of those more specialised habitats which are frequently encountered. All parts are supported at the end by lists in tabular form of those species expected to be found in any one habitat. Keys to the major groups, families and genera, are included to widen the scope of the book and place the examples chosen and illustrated in the text in their position in classification. In the description the synonymy has been very severely pruned and only covers the commonly seen names; they are included as part of the general information under each species. In order for the student to expand unfamiliar names a list of references is added at the end of the work. The common names of the fungi, whenever possible, have been adopted from a list produced by Dr Large, the author of The Advance of the Fungi, an exciting tale of fungal parasites. The authorities for the names of the fungi described have been reduced to accord with the minimum requirements set out by the Code of Botanical Nomenclature. After each description a list of references to coloured plates is given and while some of these illustrations are not of the highest quality they are adequate, and, more important, they are widely available. Any technical terms appearing in the description are explained in the glossary, although they have been kept to a minimum; the difficulty of expressing colours has been overcome by consistently referring to one colour chart only, (a chart designed originally for the use of mycologists and available from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office). I have not indicated the edibility of a particular species unless there is no doubt as to the edibility of it, related species and those species with which it might be easily confused. Many fungi are notoriously difficult to identify and when one has approximately 3,000 species of larger fungi in the country the task is even more difficult. It would be folly therefore to indicate edibility for all the fungi described in a book such as this; the golden rule which should be adopted is not to eat any of the fungi one collects in the woods and fields. A fault of most popular treatments is that they are biased [5] [6] towards the human diet and selection of species is done on this basis; in the present work selection of examples within the 270 pages has been difficult and two factors have been particularly considered to ensure that (i) representatives of all the major groups of fungi and genera have been covered and (ii) a coverage has been attempted of all the common ecological niches. I am fully aware that the taste of a fungus may be distinctive to that species or to a group of closely related species, but it is only a spot character and the tasting of one’s finds is neither necessary nor advisable; indeed it is not used in this book. The odour, however, has been indicated whenever distinctive. CONTENTS Page Preface 5 Introduction 9 Where to look 9 Collecting 10 Examination 11 Microscopic examination 12 Key to major groups of Larger Fungi 21 A. Agarics and their relatives 22 Key to major genera 22 (i) Agarics of woodlands and copses 27 (a) Mycorrhizal formers 27 (b) Parasites 59 (c) Saprophytes—Wood-inhabiting or lignicolous agarics 64 (d) Saprophytes—Terrestrial agarics 78 (ii) Agarics of pastures and meadows 95 (a) Agarics of rough & hill-pastures 95 (b) Agarics of chalk-grassland & rich uplands 108 (c) Agarics of meadows and valley-bottom grasslands 114 (d) Fairy-ring formers 118 (e) Agarics of urban areas—lawn and parkland agarics 122 (f) Agarics of wasteland and hedgerows 126 B. Bracket fungi and their relatives 135 Key to major genera 135 (i) Pored and toothed fungi 140 (a) Colonisers of tree trunks, stumps and branches 140 (b) Destroyers of timber in buildings 154 (c) Colonisers of cones 158 (d) Terrestrial forms 160 (ii) Cantharelles and related fungi 162 (iii) Fairy-club fungi 166 (iv) Resupinate fungi 176 C. The Jelly fungi—Key to major groups with examples 179 D. The Stomach fungi; puff-balls and their relatives—Key to major groups with examples 186 E. Cup fungi and allies 198 F. Specialised Habitats 207 (i) Fungi of dung and straw heaps 207 (ii) Fungi of bonfire sites 216 (iii) Fungi of bogs and marshes 222 (a) Sphagnum bogs 222 (b) Alder-carrs 226 (iv) Fungi of beds of herbaceous plants 227 (v) Fungi of moss-cushions 230 (vi) Heath and mountain fungi 231 (a) Moorland fungi 231 (b) Mountain fungi & Basidiolichens 236 [7] [8] (vii) Sand-dune fungi 238 (viii) Subterranean fungi 243 (ix) Fungal parasites 246 G. Appendix 249 (i) Species lists of specialised habitats 249 (ii) Glossary 260 (iii) Simple experiments with Fairy-rings 264 (iv) Development of the Agaric fruit-body 266 (v) References 269 H. Index 271 Cover transparency supplied by John Markham, F. R. P. S., F. Z. S. INTRODUCTION The term larger fungus refers to any fungus whose study does not necessarily require more than a low-powered lens to see most of the important morphological features. Using such a term cuts across the existing scientific classification, for it includes the more obvious fungi bearing their spores on specialised reproductive cells called basidia, fig. 5, and a few of those whose spores are produced inside specialised reproductive cells called asci. The term is useful, however, even though it embraces a whole host of unrelated groups of fungi; it includes the polypores, fairy-clubs, hedgehog-fungi, puff-balls and elf-cups, as well as the more familiar mushrooms and toadstools—or puddockstools as they are often called in Scotland. Specimens of all these groups will find their way some time into the collecting baskets of the naturalist when he is out fungus-picking, along with probably a few jelly-fungi and less frequently one or two species of the rather more distantly related group, the morels. The biggest proportion of the finds, however, on any one collecting day in the autumn, when the larger fungi are in their greatest numbers, will be of the mushrooms and toadstools; these are, collectively, more correctly called the agarics. The early botanists and pioneer mycologists of the nineteenth century recognised the fact that the fungi both large and small are ecologically connected to the herbaceous plants and trees among which they grow, but many mycologists since have tended to neglect these early observations. Although the importance of the fungi in the economy of the woodland, copse, field and marsh is well-known, mycologists and ecologists alike have been rather slow to appreciate that the fungi can be just as good indicators of soil conditions, if not better, than many other plants. Perhaps it is rash to attempt such a treatment as you find here because we know so little of the reasons why a particular fungus prefers one habitat to another. However, it is envisaged and hoped that, if a framework is provided, accurate field-notes can gradually be accumulated and many of the secrets yet to be uncovered explained. Where to look Fungi can be found in most situations which are damp at some time of the year. Searching for fungi can begin as soon as the spring days become warm, although even in the colder periods of winter several finds can be made. In summer it gets very dry and this necessitates collecting in damper areas, such as marshes, alder-carrs, swamps and moorland bogs. After a heavy storm in summer, on the edges of paths and roadsides, woodland banks, in clearings in woods and in gardens, fungi can be collected within a few days of the rain, but collecting normally reaches a climax in August- September, the precise date depending on the locality and the individual character of the particular year. All woodlands are worth visiting, particularly well-established woods with a mixture of trees. Pure pine-woods do not seem to be as good as pine-woods with scattered birch; plantations are often disappointing except after heavy rain or late in the season, even well into November in mild years. Pure birch and beech, the latter particularly when on chalky soils, are excellent areas to visit. Oak is possibly not as good but areas with willow and alder have many unique species. The edge of woods, sides of paths or clearings are usually more productive areas to search in than is the depth of the wood, and a small plot of trees can be much more rewarding than a large expanse of woodland. After some time one is able to judge the sort of place which will yield fungi. Rotten and burnt wood are very suitable substrates for they retain the moisture necessary for growth of fungi even in dry conditions, so allowing fructification to take place. Grasslands including hill-pastures, established sand-dunes, etc., are often excellent, but of course they are much more dependent on the weather to produce favourable conditions for fungal development than woodland areas where the changes in the humidity and temperature are less extreme; prolonged mist or mild showery weather favour the fruiting of the grassland fungi. Dung in both woods and fields is an excellent although ephemeral substrate; many species of fungi characterise dung whilst others will grow in manured fields, on straw-heaps or where man has distributed the habitat. Collecting The collecting of larger fungi should not be considered a haphazard pursuit; careless collecting often results in many frustrating hours being spent on the identification of inadequate material, which is also not suitable after for preservation as reference material. A few good specimens are infinitely better than several poor ones; one is always tempted to collect too much and then collections are inevitably discarded. Always try to select specimens showing all the possible [9] [10] [11] stages of development from the smallest buttons to the expanded caps. Sometimes such a range is not possible and one must be satisfied with either a couple or only one fruit-body. Carefully dig up or cut from the substrate the entire fungus and handle it as little as possible. A strong pen-knife or fern-trowel is admirable for the job. The associated plants should be noted, especially trees, and if one is unable to identify the plants or woody debris retain a leaf or a piece of wood for later identification. One should note in a field- notebook any features which strike one as of interest, such as smell, colour, changes on bruising, presence of a hairy or viscid surface. For transporting home the specimens should be placed in tubes, tins or waxed paper which are themselves kept in a basket. The smallest specimen can go in the first, the intermediate-sized forms in the tins or waxed paper and the larger ones laid in the basket or placed in large paper bags; plastic bags are not suitable except for very woody fungi. Thus an assortment of tins, tubes and various sizes of pieces of waxed paper are essential before setting out on a collecting trip. The specimens should be placed in the waxed paper such that they can be wrapped once or twice and the ends twisted as if wrapping a sweet. Examination Once home always aim at examining the specimens methodically. The first necessity is to determine whether the fungus, which has been collected, has its spores borne inside a specialised reproductive cell (ascus) i.e. Ascomycete, or on a reproductive cell (basidium) i.e. Basidiomycete. By taking a small piece of the spore-bearing tissue, mounting in water, gently tapping it and examining under a low power of the microscope this can be easily ascertained. The tapping out is best done with the clean eraser of a rubber-topped pencil. There are several different shaped asci and basidia; the latter structures are more important in our study because the Ascomycetes are in the main composed of microscopic members. The following procedure is necessary for the examination of your find:— Select a mature cap of an agaric from each collection, cut off the stem and set the cap gills down on white paper, or if the specimen is small or is a woody or toothed fungus, or consists of a club or flattened irregular plate, place the spore-bearing surface (hymenium) face down on a microscope glass slide. The smaller specimens must be placed in tins with a drop of water on the cap to prevent drying out. Even with the larger specimens it is desirable to place a glass slide somewhere under the cap between the gills and the paper, and if possible to enclose the species carefully in waxed paper or in a tin. Whilst you are waiting for the spore-print to form, notes must be made on the more easily observable features; one is not required at this stage to examine the microscopic characters. All the characters which may change on drying must be noted immediately, and these include colour, stickiness, shape, smell and texture. A sketch, preferably in colour, however rough, can give much more information than many score words. Cut one fruit-body, longitudinally down with a razor or scalpel or a sharp knife if the fruit-body is woody, and sketch the cut surfaces, fig. 1A-B. These sketches and the rest of the collection notes should be made such that identification and future comparisons can be achieved. Thus always note the characters in the same order for each description. A table of the important characters is provided here, but this is meant as a guide not as a questionnaire. The attachment of the gills, pores or teeth to the fruit-bodies when once the fungus is in section should be always noted (see p. 20). The spore-print when complete should be allowed to dry under normal conditions and then the spore-mass scraped together into a small pile. A microscope cover-slip should be placed on the top of the pile and lightly pressed down. The colour of the spore-print (or deposit) can then be compared with a standard colour chart and the spores making up the print examined in water under a microscope. Microscopic examination When one is more experienced with fungi it will be found necessary to carry out many microscopic observations, but when commencing the study it is necessary only to have an ordinary microscope; a calibrated eyepiece-micrometer is an advantage as is an oil-immersion lens. An examination of the spores is always necessary; the examination of features such as the sterile cells on the gill and stem, etc., varies with the fungus under observation. Spores should if at all possible be taken from a spore-print and mounted on a microscope slide, either in water or in a dilute aqueous solution of household ammonia. Although for mycologists it is often necessary to measure spores to within a 1⁄2 micron (µm) this book has been so arranged that one only really has to distinguish between a spore which is small (up to 5 µm), medium (5-10 µm), long (10-15 µm), or large if globose and very long (if over 15 µm); this is not strictly accurate, but serves the purpose for an introductory text. It is important to describe the character of the spore, i.e. ornamentations, whether a hole (germ-pore) is present at one end and/or a beak (apiculus) at the other (fig. 5). With white or pale coloured spores it is useful to stain either the spore or the surrounding liquid with a dye—10% cotton blue solution is admirable, or a solution of 1·5 g iodine in 100 ml of an aqueous mixture containing 5 g of potassium iodine and 100 g of chloral hydrate. Both these dyes must be accurately made up if the study of the fungi is to be taken at all seriously; because some of the chemicals used above are not normally required by students, a chemist must make up the reagents for you. Often the spores turn entirely or partially blue-black or pale blue or purplish red in the iodine solution—a useful character. [11] [12] [13] Larger illustration Fig. 1. Dissection of a toadstool as recommended by the author. For explanation see text. Material in good condition is always required and one of the first things the student needs to do is train himself to collect sufficient material in good condition. The steps by which all the structures of the fungus used in the text can be observed are outlined below:— Fig. 1 shows the cuts required to furnish suitable sections in order to observe the various structures and patterns of tissue which are important. 1. Carefully place the longitudinal section (AB) of the fruit-body which has been sketched gill-face down under a low power or dissecting microscope. Hairs or gluten on the cap, if present, will be made visible by focusing up and down (figs. 2 and 3A) and/or those on the stem (fig. 3B). When any part of the cut fruit-body is not being examined retain it in a chamber containing damp paper or moist moss; this will assist the cells to retain their turgidity, for they frequently collapse on drying and are difficult to observe except after performing often lengthy and special techniques. If only one fruit-body is available, then cut along CD and mount in a tin box on a slide in order to obtain a spore-print (otherwise see paragraph 6). 2. Cut off a complete gill (E) and quickly mount on a dry slide. Under the low power of a microscope, the cystidia on the gill-margin will be visible (fig. 4); it will be seen whether the spores are arranged in a particular pattern (fig. 5) and whether the basidia are 2-spored or 4-spored. In white-spored toadstools it is difficult sometimes to determine whether the basidia are 2- or 4-spored so one must confirm the observations by other techniques. [14] [15] Larger illustration A section of the gill accompanied by a small piece of cap-tissue, as in E, will confirm the presence or absence of noticeable cystidia (or hairs) on the cap. Now mount the section bounded by FG and HI in a drop of water containing either a drop of washing-up liquid and/or glycerine; the soapy liquid helps to expel any water which may tend to cling to the gill-margin amongst the cystidia and the glycerine stops the mount from drying out whilst further sections for comparison are cut and examined. It is at this time that the structure of the outermost layer of the cap can be examined, e.g. whether it is made up of a turf-like structure; the presence or absence of cystidia on the cap can be also confirmed (fig. 7A-C). It is frequently necessary to tap the mount in order to spread the tissue slightly and expose the elements; this can be done very efficiently by light pressure from the end of a pencil to which an eraser is attached. Cut off along line JK to eliminate marginal cystidia from confusing the picture and mount both pieces separately. 3. Cut out a wedge of tissue from the fruit-body (L) so as to have several gills attached to some cap-tissue; until one is familiar with the variability of facial and marginal cystidia, carefully cut along the line PQ (note: the cut is made one-third of the distance from the cap margin, thus eliminating the possibility of large numbers of marginal cystidia being examined in error for facial cystidia). Now make a second cut along the line of RS so that finally a small block of tissue remains (M). Mount on a dry slide with the plane through PQ face down on the slide and observe under a low magnification, to assess whether cystidia on the gill-face are present or absent, and if present their general shape and whether numerous or infrequent (fig. 8). Mount in water/washing-up mixture as outlined above and tap gently with the rubber attached to the end of a pencil; evenly distributed pressure should be given. If the gills appear to be too close then rotate the rubber a little whilst pressing in order to spread the tissue. 4. Using a low power of a microscope and looking down into the plane RS of the unmodified block M or a similar block, one obtains by this simple technique a very accurate idea as to the structure of the trama of the gill (fig. 9). The organisation of this tissue is very important in classification, some groups of toadstools having what has been described as regular trama (fig. 9C), others irregular (fig. 9D), inverse (fig. 9B) or divergent (fig. 9A). This same tissue may be thick or sparse to wanting, coloured or not. Such sections are often better than attempts at very thin sections unless very specialised techniques are used. There are few satisfactory thicknesses between the two extremes; the thick sections you can do and the very thin requiring expert techniques. [16] [17] Larger illustration 5. Take out a small block of tissue T as indicated in the figure (fig. 1). Mount immediately and repeat as in 3. This will allow the outer layer of the cap to be more clearly seen (fig. 7A-C) and also the structure of the flesh (fig. 10). The latter may be composed of a mixture of filaments and ‘packets’ or ‘nests’ of rounded cells (i.e. heteromerous), or of filaments, only some of which may be inflated (i.e. homoiomerous); but when individual cells are swollen they never form distinct groups. By very similar techniques it is possible to show that the more woody fungi can have flesh composed of one of four types of cells (Corner, 1932): these types depend on whether distinctly thickened cells (plate 47) are present with the actively growing hyphae or not (pp. 140-150), whether hyphae are present which bind groups of hyphae together, etc. (plate 46). 6. Remove stem along line CD and cut out small blocks of tissue as indicated (U, V and W). Mount immediately and examine as in paragraph 3, for cystidia, etc. (see fig. 3). Whilst all these sections are being cut and processed a second fruit-body, if available, should be set to drop spores; this is done by cutting off the cap from the stem and placing it either entirely or in part, and with gill-edges down, on a slide in a tin. 7. Z is a ‘scalp’ of a cap; a thin sliver from the cap is placed on a slide in a drop of water (modified with washing-up liquid, etc. as above). After placing a cover-slip over the tissue it is tapped gently; this will show if the cap is composed of globose to elliptic elements or if it is composed of strictly filamentous units (figs. 6A & B). Care must be taken not to reverse the section when transferring it to the mountant, either by turning the scalpel or by allowing the surface tension of the liquid to pull the section upside down. The construction of any veil fragments will also be seen in this mount, and if a loose covering of veil is present this should be removed before observation so that it does not obscure the fundamental structures. 8. Examine the stipe of the fruit-body used above under a low power or with a dissecting microscope in order to ascertain whether there are any remains of veil and/or vegetative mycelium. If found, mount immediately in the solution containing iodine mentioned above and examine. Of course it is difficult to carry out the above system the first time and be successful in seeing everything, indeed in being able to cut all the sections 1-8. Practice makes perfect, so why not practise with a 1⁄4 lb of mushrooms from the grocer before the autumn season starts. In this way you will have overcome the difficulties without having to experiment with your collections. CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF HIGHER FUNGI WITH CAPS Locality G. Ref. Date Habitat notes soil type pH vegetational community [18] [19] [20] solitary; in troops or rings Draw or preferably paint exterior and vertical section of fruit-body MACROSCOPIC CHARACTERS CAP General characters: diameter shape consistency colour: when immature when mature when wet when dry Surface dry, moist, greasy, viscid, glutinous, peeling easily or not, smooth, matt, polished, irregularly roughened, downy, velvety, scaly, shaggy Margin regular, wavy incurved or not smooth, rough, furrowed striate or not Veil, if present colour abundance or scarcity distribution at margin, whether appendiculate or dentate consistency, whether filamentous, membranous GILLS, or pores or teeth etc. remote, free, adnate, adnexed, emarginate, subdecurrent, decurrent crowded or distant distinctly formed or not shape interveined or not easily separable from the cap-tissue or not consistency (whether brittle, pliable, fleshy or waxy) thickness width colour: when immature at maturity number of different lengths or number of layers obvious features of gill-edge, tube-edge, e.g. colour, consistency STEM central, eccentric or lacking shape dimensions: length thickness hollow or not colour: when immature when mature consistency (whether fleshy, stringy, cartilaginous, leathery or woody) surface characters (whether fibrillose, dry, viscid, scaly or smooth) characters of stem-base Veil, if present characters Volva, if present characters Ring, if present whether single or double whether membranous or filamentous whether persistent, fugacious or mobile whether thick or thin whether apical, median or basal FLESH colour in cap: when wet when dry colour in stem: when wet when dry colour changes if any when exposed to air presence or absence of milk-like or coloured fluid (note: colour when exuded on fruit-body immediately and after some time and when dabbed on to a clean cloth or paper handkerchief and exposed to the air). SMELL before and after cutting —relate to a common every day odour MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERS BASIDIOSPORES colour in mass colour under microscope. shape size type of ornamentation, if any size and shape of germ-pore, if present iodine reaction of spore-mass:—blue-black to dark violet (amyloid); red-purple (dextrinoid); yellow-brown or brown (non-amyloid) BASIDIA number of sterigmata CAP-FLESH type of constituent cells GILL-TISSUE type and arrangement of cells between adjacent hymenial faces CAP-SURFACE type of cells composing the outermost layer—whether filaments or rounded cells STERILE CELLS—CYSTIDIA presence or absence of sterile cells:— on gill-edge on gill-margin Basidiomycotina Ascomycotina 2 3 4 Agaricales (p. 22) Aphyllophorales (p. 135) 5 Dacrymycetales (p. 180) Auriculariales (p. 182) Tremellales (p. 184) Gasteromycetes 2 25 8 3 Claudopus (and some species of Clitopilus) 4 Volvariella 5 6 7 Pluteus Clitopilus (see also Eccilia p. 102) Entoloma Leptonia & Nolanea Crepidotus 9 10 18 11 16 12 13 Pholiota & related genera Cortinarius & Gymnopilus 14 15 Conocybe Galerina Bolbitius on cap on stem shape, estimation of size, thick or thin-walled, hyaline or not types of ornamentation, etc. Key to the major classes of Larger Fungi Spores borne externally on stalks on a clavate to cylindrical cell Spores produced within a clavate, cylindrical or subglobose cell Key to major groups based on character of basidium and fruit-body shape 1. Basidia either produced in a hymenium or in a mass, and until maturity contained within a closed fruit-body Basidia produced in a layer of cells (hymenium) and exposed to the air before the maturity of the spores (Hymenomycetes) 2. Basidia simple, a single cell (fig. 5) (Homobasidiae) Basidia usually septate, or if simple then fruit-body gelatinous and often collapsing to form a skin when dried (Heterobasidiae) 3. Fruit-body usually fleshy, soft and easily decaying (putrescent), hymenium spread over the surface of gills, ridges or within tubes Fruit-body with hymenium smooth or spread-out on teeth, ridges or plates or if within tubes then fruit-body tough and leathery 4. Basidia divided Basidia simple and apex drawn out into two long necks Plate 61 (p. 185) 5. Basidia divided transversely by one to three horizontal septae Plate 60 (p. 183) Basidia divided into two or four cells by vertical septae Plate 61 (p. 185) A. AGARICS AND THEIR RELATIVES Key to major genera 1. Spores distinctly coloured in mass and coloured individually under the microscope Spores not, or faintly, coloured in mass and hyaline under the microscope 2. Spores blackish or some shade of brown Spores pinkish 3. Stem laterally attached to the cap or absent Stem centrally attached to the cap 4. Stem with a cup-like structure enveloping the base Stem lacking any special structure at its base 5. Gills not attached to the stem (free), or with part attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent) Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem 6. Gills remote to free from the stem Gills distinctly attached and descending down the stem 7. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed) 8. Stem laterally attached to the cap Stem centrally attached to the cap 9. Spore-print some shade of brown Spore-print blackish to purplish black 10. Spore-print bright rust-brown Spore-print dull clay-brown or ochraceous 11. Stem with the veil girdling the stem (ring), or cobweb-like (cortina) Stem without the veil girdling the stem or when present then easily lost 12. Stem with distinct ring or ring-zone Stem with cobweb-like veil or faint filamentous ring-zone 13. Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem (adnexed to adnate) Gills free of the stem, or distinctly attached to and running down the stem (decurrent), and then often joined together at the apex of the stem or at their base 14. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells 15. Gills free of the stem and the whole fruit-body very fragile [21] [22] [23] Paxillus Inocybe 17 Agrocybe Naucoria & Hebeloma Coprinus 19 20 21 Gomphidius and Chroogomphus Agaricus Panaeolus 22 Stropharia 23 Hypholoma 24 Psilocybe Psathyrella 26 47 Nyctalis 27 28 29 Cantharellus Craterellus 30 31 Amanita Lepiota & related genera 32 33 Lactarius Russula 34 36 35 Laccaria Hygrophorus 37 38 Armillaria members of the ‘Pleurotaceae’ (p. 74) 39 42 40 41 Melanoleuca Tricholoma & related genera Leucopaxillus Tricholoma & related genera Cantharellula & Hygrophoropsis 43 Clitocybe & Omphalina Hygrocybe Gills attached to and running down the stem (decurrent), easily separable from the cap-tissue and frequently veined at apex of stem 16. Cap scaly, fibrillose and roughened Cap smooth, greasy or viscid 17. Cap-surface composed of rounded cells Cap-surface composed of filamentous cells 18. Gills or complete fruit-body becoming liquefied Neither the gills nor fruit-body collapsing into a slurry of cells 19. Gills free to remote from the stem or attached and descending down the stem (decurrent) Gills attached in some way to the stem but not descending down the stem (adnate to adnexed) 20. Gills decurrent; stem possessing a cobweb-like veil Gills remote or free; stem possessing a usually persistent ring 21. Gills distinctly spotted or distinctly mottled; stem stiff but breaking with a snap when bent; growing on dung or in richly manured areas Gills not spotted or distinctly mottled; stem cartilaginous or not, and fruit-body growing on dung or not 22. Gills broadly attached to the stem (adnate) and with a veil girdling the stem Gills narrowly attached to the stem (adnexed) or with concave dentation near the stem (sinuate), or if adnate then lacking a ring 23. Gills with concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) and cap and stem with a cobweb-like veil Gills attached to the stem but lacking a distinct concave indentation near the stem 24. Stem stiff but breaking with a snap when bent; edge of cap incurved at first and cap-surface composed of filamentous cells Stem fragile; edge of cap straight even when young and cap-surface composed of rounded cells 25. Fruit-body fleshy and readily decaying, often firm but never tough Fruit-body tough and not easily decaying 26. Parasitic on other agarics Not parasitic on other agarics 27. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like often forked gills or simply on irregularities Spore-bearing layer (hymenium), on distinct well-formed gills 28. Spore-bearing layer on fold-like gills Spore-bearing layer on surface of irregularities 29. Cap easily separable from the stem Cap not easily separable from the stem 30. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or with a persistent cup-like structure at the base (volva); cap usually with warts or scales distributed on its surface Stem with a ring but lacking a volva; cap surface powdery, hairy or scaly 31. Cap, stem and gills brittle; stem never stiff and either exuding a milk-like juice or not; spores with spines or warts which stain blue-black in solutions containing iodine Cap, stem and gills soft or if stem stiff then snapping when bent; gills never brittle 32. Fruit-body exuding a milk-like fluid Fruit-body not exuding milk-like fluid 33. Gills thick, watery and lustrous (waxy) or with a bloom as if powdered with talc; often brightly coloured Gills not waxy and rarely over 1·5 mm thick 34. Gills rather watery and lustrous (waxy); spores smooth Gills rigid not watery, with powdery bloom; spores with distinct spines 35. Fruit-body with a distinct veil and growing in woods; cap often viscid or pale coloured Fruit-body lacking a veil and usually growing in fields; cap usually brightly coloured and sometimes viscid 36. Stem with girdling veil (ring) and/or stem not attached to the centre of the cap (eccentric) Stem central and lacking a ring 37. Stem central and possessing a ring Stem not centrally attached to the cap 38. Stem fibrous Stem stiff only in the outer layers 39. Gills with a concave indentation near the stem (sinuate) Gills attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent) 40. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine 41. Spores with warts which darken in solutions containing iodine Spores not so colouring in solutions containing iodine 42. Gills thick and with rather blunt edges Gills thin and with distinct and sharp edges 43. Gills attached to and descending down the stem (decurrent); cap often depressed at the centre and sterile cells absent from the gills and the surface of the cap Gills attached to the stem but not descending down the stem (adnate to adnexed) or if descending then distinct [24] [25] 44 Mycena & related genera 45 46 Oudemansiella 48 49 50 Lentinellus Panellus Schizophyllum 51 Lentinus Panus 53 56 54 55 Gyroporus Tylopilus Porphyrellus Strobilomyces 57 Leccinum Boletus & related genera Flammulina Collybia & related genera Marasmius & related genera Suillus Birch rough stalks or Brown birch-bolete. Leccinum scabrum (Fries) S. F. Gray sterile cells on the gills, cap and stem 44. Cap-edge straight and usually striate when young; cap thin and somewhat conical and gills descending down the stem or not Cap-edge incurved, non-striate and cap rather fleshy; gills not descending down the stem 45. Stem dark and woolly at least in the lower half and the cap viscid; fruit-bodies growing in clusters on tree-trunks Stem not dark and woolly 46. Cap viscid and stem usually rooting; fruit-body growing directly on wood or attached to wood by long strands or cords of mycelium (rhizomorphs) If cap viscid then fruit-body neither attached to wood by cords of mycelium nor stem with a rooting base 47. Stem central and gills often interconnected by veins; cap can be dried and later revived, purely by moistening Stem not attached to the centre of the cap and fruit-body although persistent not easily revived to natural shape after once being dried 48. Spore-print blue-black with solutions containing iodine Spore-print yellowish in solutions containing iodine 49. Gills toothed or notched along the edges Gills even along their edges and not toothed 50. Gills appearing as if split down their middles Gills not splitting 51. Gills notched or toothed along their edges Gills even along their edges and not toothed 52. Spore print yellowish, purplish, black or pink Spore-print some shade of brown, but without purplish flush 53. Spore-print yellowish or pinkish Spore-print purplish brown or blackish 54. Spore-print yellowish Spore-print pinkish 55. Spore-print purplish brown Spore-print blackish and spores ornamented 56. Cap glutinous and stem with or without girdling veil (ring); within the tubes the sterile cells (cystidia) cluster together Cap at most viscid and then only in wet weather and sterile cells within the tubes individually placed 57. Stem-surface covered with distinct black or dark brown or white then darkening scales; spore-print clay-brown with or without a flush of cinnamon-pinkish brown Stem-surface covered completely or in part with a network or pattern of faint lines or pale yellow or red-rust but never black dots; spore-print olivaceous buff (i) Agarics of woodlands and copses (a) Mycorrhizal formers Cap: width 45-150 mm. Stem: length 70-200 mm; width 20-30 mm. Description: Plate 1. Cap: convex and becoming only slightly expanded at maturity, pale brown, tan or buff, soft, surface dry, but in wet weather becoming quite tacky, smooth or streaky-wrinkled and cap-margin not overhanging the tubes. Stem: white, buff or greyish, roughened by scurfy scales which are minute, pale and arranged in irregular lines at the stem-apex, and enlarged and dark brown to blackish towards the base. Tubes: depressed about the stem, white becoming yellowish brown at maturity, with small, white pores which become buff at maturity and bruise distinctly yellow-brown or pale pinkish brown when touched. Flesh: watery, very soft in the cap lacking distinctive smell and either not changing on exposure to the air or only faintly becoming pinkish or pale peach-colour. Spore-print: brown with flush of pinkish brown when freshly prepared. Spores: very long, spindle-shaped, smooth, pale honey-coloured under the microscope and more than 14 µm in length (14-20 µm long × 5-6 µm broad). Marginal cystidia: numerous and flask-shaped. Facial cystidia: sparse, similar to marginal cystidia. Habitat & Distribution: Found in copses and woods containing birch trees, or even accompanying solitary birches. General Information: This fungus is recognised by the pale brown cap, the white, unchanging or hardly changing flesh and the cap-margin not overhanging the tubes. There are several closely related fungi which also grow with birch trees but they need some experience in order to distinguish them. This fungus was formerly placed in the genus Boletus, indeed it will be found in many books under this name. Species of Leccinum are edible and considered delicacies in continental Europe. The majority can be separated from the other fleshy fungi with pores beneath the cap, i.e. boletes, by the black to brown scaly stem and rather long, elongate spores. The scales on the stem give rise [26] [27] [28] Larch-bolete Suillus grevillei (Klotzsch) Singer to the common name ‘Rough stalks’ which is applied to this whole group of fungi. Illustrations: F 39C; Hvass 253; LH 122; NB 1556; WD 891. Cap: width 30-100 mm. Stem: width 15-20 mm; length 50-70 mm. Description: Plate 2. Cap: convex or umbonate at first, later expanding and then becoming plano-convex, golden-yellow or rich orange- brown, very slimy because of the presence of a pale yellow sticky fluid. Stem: apex reddish and dotted or ornamented with a fine network, cream-coloured about the centre because of the presence of a ring which soon collapses, ultimately appearing only as a pale yellow zone; below the ring the stem is yellowish or rusty brown, particularly when roughly handled. Tubes: adnate to decurrent, deep yellow but becoming flushed wine-coloured on exposure to the air, with angular and small sulphur-yellow pores which become pale pinkish brown to lilaceous or pale wine-coloured when handled. Flesh: with no distinctive smell, pale yellow immediately flushing lilaceous when exposed to the air, but finally becoming dingy red-brown, sometimes blue or green in the stem-base. Spore-print: brown with distinct yellowish tint when freshly prepared. Spores: long, ellipsoid, smooth and pale honey when under the microscope, less than 12 µm in length (8-11 µm long × 3-4 µm broad). Marginal cystidia: in bundles and encrusted with amorphous brown, oily material. Facial cystidia: similar in shape and morphology to marginal cystidia. Habitat & Distribution: Found on the ground accompanying larch trees either singly or more often in rings or troops. General Information: This fungus is easily recognised by the poorly developed ring, overall golden-yellow colour and pale yellow viscidness on the cap which comes off on to the fingers when the fruit-body is handled. There are several closely related fungi which also grow with coniferous trees, e.g. Suillus luteus Fries, ‘Slippery jack’, but many need experience in order to identify them. All these fungi were formerly placed in the genus Boletus, because of the fleshy fruit-body with pores beneath the cap. The larch-bolete receives its common name from the close relationship of the fungus with the larch. On drying S. luteus and S. grevillei may strongly resemble one another but the former can be distinguished when fresh by the chocolate brown, sepia, or purplish brown cap and the large whitish, lilac-tinted ring. Plate 1. Fleshy fungi: Spores borne within tubes Larger illustration Plate 2. Fleshy fungi: Spores borne within tubes [29] [30] Bay-coloured bolete Boletus badius Fries Larger illustration Species of Suillus are edible and rank highly in continental cook-books, although they have disagreeably gelatinous-slimy caps, a character, in fact, which helps to separate them from other fleshy pore-fungi. Illustrations: F 41a; Hvass 257; ML 187; NB 1044; WD 842. Cap: width 70-130 mm. Stem: width 34-37 mm; length 110-125 mm. (36-40 mm at base). Description: Plate 3. Cap: hemispherical, minutely velvety, but soon becoming smooth and distinctly viscid in wet weather, red-brown flushed with date-brown and darkening even more with age and in moist weather to become bay-brown. Stem: similarly coloured to the cap but paler particularly at the apex, smooth or with faint, longitudinal furrows which are often powdered with minute, dark brown dots. Tubes: adnate or depressed about the stem, lemon-yellow but immediately blue-green when exposed to the air and with angular, rather large similarly coloured, pores which equally rapidly turn blue-green when touched. Flesh: strongly smelling earthy, pale yellow but becoming pinkish in centre of the cap, and blue in the stem and above the tubes when exposed to the air, but finally becoming dirty yellow throughout. Spore-print: brown with a distinct olivaceous flush. Spores: long, spindle-shaped, smooth, honey-coloured under the microscope and greater than 12 µm in length (13-15 µm long × 5 µm broad). Marginal cystidia: numerous, flask-shaped and slightly yellowish. Facial cystidia: scattered and infrequent and similar to marginal cystidia in shape. Habitat & Distribution: Found in woods, especially accompanying pine trees, but often found fruiting on the site of former coniferous trees, even years after the trunks or the stumps have been removed. General Information: This fungus is recognised by the rounded, red-brown cap, coupled with the pale yellow flesh and greenish yellow tubes, both of which become greenish blue when exposed to the air. There are several species in the genus Boletus which stain blue at the slightest touch or when the flesh is exposed to the air, e.g. B. erythropus (Fries) Secretan, a common bolete with a dark olivaceous cap, orange pores and red-dotted stem. The flesh of some species of Boletus, e.g. B. edulis Fries, however, remains unchanged or at most becomes flushed slightly pinkish. Although many people say they recognise B. edulis, the ‘Penny-bun’ bolete—a name derived from the colour of the cap, there is some doubt as to whether the true B. edulis is common in Britain as we are led to believe. B. edulis and its relatives are highly recommended as edible (see p. 35). B. badius is also edible, but it is ill- advised to eat any bolete which turns blue when cut open. Illustrations: B. badius—F 38c; Hvass 248 (not very good); LH 191; NB 1095; WD 851. B. edulis: F 42a; Hvass 246; LH 191; NB 1433. [31] [32]