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EDIBLE AND POISONOUS MUSHROOMS OF CANADA
STROPHARIA
Stropharia includes the species that have purple-brown spores, an annulus,
and the lamellae attached to the stipe. Usually the pileus is viscid. It differs
from Naematoloma in possessing an annulus and might be confused with that
genus if the annulus has disappeared.
It is not a large genus. About 35 species are known from North America
but only a few are common, and the species are sometimes difficult to identify.
Some are suspected of causing poisoning and the genus should be avoided by
amateurs.
Key
1. Pileus bright green, fading to yellow S. aeruginosa
1. Pileus never green 2
2. Growing on dung; pileus yellow, hemispherical S. semiglobata
2. Not on dung 3
3. Pileus mostly more than 2 in. broad, brownish or smoky purplish;
stipe squarrose-scaly S. hornemannii
3. Pileus less than 2 in. broad, yellowish; stipe smooth or
slightly fibrillose S. coronilla
STROPHARIA AERUGINOSA (Curt, ex Fr.) Quel. Reported poisonous
Figures 386, 387, page 283
PILEUS %-2 in. broad, fleshy, campanulate-convex, becoming plane,
slightly umbonate, viscid, at first bright green from the thick gluten, fading
slowly to yellowish, sometimes with white scales near the margin, becoming
glabrous, flesh whitish to bluish, soft, lamellae adnate, close, broad, at first
whitish, then grayish, finally chocolate-brown, slightly purplish, the edges
white and minutely flocculose. stipe 1 54-3 in. long, J/g-yg in. thick, equal,
viscid, scaly to fibrillose below the annulus, bluish green, hollow, annulus
evanescent, spores dark brown, sHghtly purplish, eUipsoid, smooth, 7-9.5 X
4-5 M.
It occurs in the woods or sometimes in gardens. Sept.-Oct.
This is a striking and beautiful species when it is young and fresh but the
bright green color fades with age. It is said to be common in Europe but has
only been collected occasionally in the Ottawa district.
STROPHARIA CORONILLA (Bull, ex Fr.) Quel. Suspected
Figure 294, page 195
pileus %-2 in. broad, convex to nearly plane, pale yellow to whitish or
buff to pale ochre-yellow, glabrous, moist to slightly sticky, flesh white, soft,
fairly thick, odor shghtly unpleasant, lamellae adnate, rounded behind, Hlac-
204