Common Edible Mushrooms

COMMON EDIBLE MUSHROOMS
GENUS Collybia
The name Collybia, derived from a Greek word meaning a small
coin, probably refers to the regular, disc-shaped cap of some of the
species. The genus may be distinguished by (i) white spores, (2)
gills that vary from being almost free to being attached to the stem
but do not descend the stem at all, (3) the rather tough stem, and
(4) the inrolled margin of the cap of young specimens. Of the
comparatively large number of species only four will be described.
Many of the species are difficult to identify, and few are especially
good to eat.
Edible: COLLYBIA CONFLUENS
The species name means growing together and is descriptive of
the habits of the plant (Figure 18). A regular inhabitant of the
northern forests, this species has usurped the so-called reviving
habit of the genus Marasmius; that is, in dry weather the fruit
bodies wilt and shrivel but do not collapse, and with the advent of
rain they again expand, as is shown in the before-and-after study
on the following page.
The whole plant is pale brown when moist and light tan when
dry, the gills being almost the same color as the cap. The stems,
covered with a frosty bloom of hair, are very tough and fibrous
and in older specimens are hollow. Unfortunately the flesh tends
to retain this toughness when cooked. The caps average only
about i inch in diameter, although many are smaller, and the stems
are 3 or 4 inches long. However, this diminutive mushroom can be
collected in quantities since it grows in clumps that are often scattered
rather thickly over the forest floor.
Edible: COLLYBIA PLATYPHYLLA (Broad-giiied Collybia)
The unusually wide gills of this fungus, the thick, tough, twisted
white stem, combined with its habit of growing on wood, set it
apart from most other species (Figure 20 and Plate 2C). It is a
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