leurotus salignus. Fr._

THE WILLOW PLEUROTUS. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: 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.