Common Edible Mushrooms

COMMON EDIBLE MUSHROOMS
raises the cap up into the air, the cap expanding as it is raised.
Evidence that mushrooms have been formed below the surface
of the ground can be seen in the pieces of dirt and debris that
cling to the tops of freshly expanded specimens. These soft and
delicate mushrooms can exert a surprising force when expanding
in this way; they sometimes raise up rocks of several pounds'
weight and have been known to force paving blocks up out of
the street.
Young mushrooms of some species are entirely enclosed in a
protecting sheath of mycelium, which is broken as the mushroom
expands. If this sheath remains as a cup-like structure around the
base of the stem it is called a cup or volva. The patches or warts
of mycelium scattered over the caps of some species of Amanita
are the remains of this enclosing sheath. In many species a veil is
formed by another sheath of mycelium extending from the edge
of the cap to the stem, just beneath the gills. If this breaks at the
margin of the cap when the cap expands, it may remain on the
stem as a ring. If it breaks at the stem, remnants of it may hang
from the margin of the cap for a short time, until they wither
and disappear. Many species, however, lack cup or ring, or both.
The spores of mushrooms and of the molds related to them are
among the most persistent and numerous of our uninvited guests.
Borne by the wind, they literally fill the air we breathe, fall unseen
upon the food we eat, and even settle into our morning
coffee as we drink it. Unnoticed and usually harmless, they are
nevertheless omnipresent. When mushroom spores land in a favorable
spot, they germinate, produce mycelium, and eventually
give rise to another crop of mushrooms and spores. Since most
mushrooms live on decaying vegetable matter they are likely to
be abundant on various kinds of plant debris. Grassy places and
forests are favorite environments. A few have very special tastes
and grow only on the dung of certain kinds of animals, on specific
kinds of trees, on the cones of certain evergreens, around
the roots of certain grasses, on the caps of certain other mushrooms,
and even on so unnourishing a thing as plaster!
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