It is found on old leaves, sticks, and old acorns and hickory-nuts. When dry, the stem loses its black color and the gills become flesh-color. It is quite common in thin and open woods. The spores are hyaline and stellate, 3-5-rayed. Found from July to October.

This is called Heliomyces nigripes by some authors.

_Pleurotus. Fr._

Pleurotus is from two Greek words meaning side and ear, alluding to its manner of growth on a log. This genus is very common everywhere in Ohio, and is easily determined by its eccentric, lateral, or even absent stem, but it must have white spores, and the characteristics of the Agaricini.

Pileus fleshy in the larger species and membranaceous in the smaller forms, but never becoming woody. Stem mostly lateral or wanting; when present, continuous with cap. Gills with sinus or broadly decurrent, toothed.

Grows in woods.

_Pleurotus ostreatus. Jacq._

THE OYSTER MUSHROOM. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 116.--Pleurotus ostreatus. Two-thirds natural size. Often growing very large.]

Pileus two to six inches broad, soft, fleshy, convex, or slightly depressed behind, subordinate, often cespitosely imbricated, moist, smooth, margin involute; whitish, cinereous or brownish; flesh white, the whole surface shining and satiny when dry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XVIII. Figure 117.--Pleurotus ostreatus.

Two-thirds natural size.]

Gills broad, decurrent, subdistant, branching at the base, white or whitish. The stem when present is very short, firm, lateral, sometimes rough with stiff hair, hairy at the base. Spores oblong, white, .0003 to .0004 inch long, .00016 inch broad.

This is one of our most abundant mushrooms, and the easiest for the beginner to identify. In Figures 116 and 117, you will see the plant growing in imbricated form apparently without any stem. In Figure 118 is a variety that has a p.r.o.nounced stem, showing how the stems grow together at the base, the slight grooving on the stems, also the decurrent gills. In most of these plants the stems are plainly lateral, but a few will appear to be central. It will be difficult to distinguish it from the Sapid mushroom and for table purposes there is little need to separate them. In Ohio the Oyster mushroom is very common everywhere.

I have seen trees sixty to seventy feet high simply loaded with this mushroom. If one will locate a few logs or stumps upon which the Oyster mushroom grows, he can find there an abundant supply (when conditions are right for fungus growth) during the entire season. It is almost universally a favorite among mushroom eaters, but it must be carefully and thoroughly cooked. It grows very large and frequently in great ma.s.ses. I have often found specimens whose caps were eight to ten inches broad. It is found from May to December.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 118.--Pleurotus ostreatus. One-half natural size, showing gills and stems.]

_Pleurotus salignus. Fr._

THE WILLOW PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 119.--Pleurotus ulmarius. One-third natural size.]

Salignus, from _salix_, a willow. Pileus is compact, nearly halved, horizontal, at first cushion-shaped, even, then with the disk depressed, substrigose, white or fuliginous. The stem, eccentric or lateral, sometimes obsolete, short, white-tomentose. The gills are decurrent, somewhat branched, eroded, distinct at the base, nearly of the same color. Spores .00036 by .00015 inch. Fries.

I found this species near Bowling Green on willow stumps. About every ten days the stumps offered me a very excellent dish, better than any meat market could afford. September to November.

_Pleurotus ulmarius. Bull._

THE ELM PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.

Ulmarius, from _ulmus_, an elm. It takes its name from its habit of growing on elm trees and logs. It appears in the fall and may be found in company with the Oyster mushroom, late in December, frozen solid.

This species is frequently seen on elm trees, both dead and alive, on live trees where they have been trimmed or injured in some way. It is often seen on elms in the cities, where the elm is a common shade tree.

Its cap is large, thick and firm, smooth and broadly convex, sometimes pale yellow or buff. Frequently the epidermis in the center of the cap cracks, giving the surface a tessellated appearance as in Figure 119.

The flesh is very white and quite compact. The gills are white or often becoming tawny at maturity, broad, rounded or notched, not closely placed, sometimes nearly decurrent. The stem is firm and solid, various in length, occasionally very short, inclined to be thick at the base and curved so that the plant will be upright, as will be seen in Figure 119.

The cap is from three to six inches broad. A specimen that measured over ten inches across the cap, was found some thirty feet high in a tree.

While it was very large, it was quite tender and made several meals for two families. But this species is not limited entirely to the elm. I found it on hickory, about Chillicothe. There are a few elm logs along my rambles that afford me fine specimens with great regularity. Insects do not seem to infest it as they do the ostreatus and the sapidus.

Sometimes, when the plant grows from the top of a log or the cut surface of a stump, the stem will be longer, straight, and in the center of the cap. This form is called by some authors var. verticalis.

For my own use I think the Elm mushroom, when properly prepared, very delicious. Like all tree mushrooms it should be eaten when young. It is easily dried and kept for winter use. Found from September to November.

_Pleurotus petaloides. Bull._

THE PETALOID PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 120.--Pleurotus petaloides.]

This species is so called from its likeness to the petals of a flower.

Pileus fleshy, spathulate, entire; margin at first involute, finally fully expanded; villous, depressed. The stem is compressed and villous, often channelled, nearly erect. The gills are strongly decurrent, crowded, narrow, and white or whitish. Spores minutely globose, .0003 by .00015.

The plant varies very greatly in form and size. Its chief characteristic is the presence of numerous short white cystidia in the hymenium, which dot the surface of the hymenium, and under an ordinary pocket lens give to the gills a sort of fuzzy appearance. Frequently it will have the appearance of growing from the ground, but a careful examination will reveal a piece of wood of some kind, which serves as a host for the mycelium. I have found this plant but a few times, It seems to be quite rare in our state, especially in the southern part of the state. The plants in Figure 120 were photographed by Prof. G. D. Smith of Akron, Ohio.

_Pleurotus sapidus. Kalchb._

THE SAPID PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 121.--Pleurotus sapidus. One-third natural size, showing imbricated growth. Spores lilac.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 122.--Pleurotus sapidus.]

Sapidus, savory. This plant grows in cl.u.s.ters whose stems are more or less united at the base as in Figure 121. The caps when densely crowded are often irregular. They are smooth and vary much in color, being whitish, ash-gray, brownish, yellowish-gray.

The flesh is thick and white. The gills are white or whitish, rather broad, running down on the stem, and slightly connected, at times, by oblique or transverse branches. The stem is generally short, solid, several usually springing from a thickened base, white or whitish and either laterally or eccentrically connected with the cap.

This plant is cla.s.sed with the white-spored species, yet its spores, after a short exposure to the air, really exhibit a pale lilac tint.

This can only be seen when the spores are in sufficient quant.i.ty and resting on a suitable surface.

The size of the plant varies, the cap being commonly from two to five inches long. It grows in woods and open places, on stumps and logs of various kinds. Its edible quality is quite as good as the Oyster mushroom. The only way by which it can be distinguished from the P.

ostreatus is by its lilac-tinted spores. It is found from June to November.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._

Plate XX. Figure 123.--pleurotus Sapidus.]

_Pleurotus serotinoides. Pk._

THE YELLOWISH PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.