View A43-1112-1979-eng.pdf

EDIBLE AND POISONOUS MUSHROOMS OF CANADA
According to Smith (1949) there are about 75 species of Coprinus known
in North America. Many of these are small delicate fungi that are httle known
and difficult to identify. The four species described here are the best known and
are fairly common and frequently used for food. The stipes are tough and
cartilaginous and should be discarded.
When Coprinus species are gathered for food, it is important to pick
young specimens and use them immediately because of this characteristic of
the lamellae and flesh dissolving at maturity. Specimens kept for any length of
time will Hkely be found to be a revolting inky mess. The appearance of these
fungi in various stages of decomposition is, at first sight, likely to create a feel-
ing of disgust and revulsion. To the imaginative they may suggest scenes of
horror and it is undoubtedly a Coprinus species that inspired the following hnes
by the poet Shelley
:
"Their moss rotted off* them flake by flake
Till the thick stalk stuck hke a murderer's stake
Where rags of loose flesh yet tremble on high,
Infecting the winds that wander by."
However, when the process is understood it is found to be a remarkable
and fascinating adaptation for spore dissemination. In most mushrooms, the
lamellae are more or less wedge-shaped, the broad edge of the wedge being
attached to the pileus. The spores mature evenly over the entire surface of the
lamellae from where they fall down and are carried away by air currents. In
Coprinus, however, the lamellae are not wedge-shaped, but are parallel-sided
and are frequently very crowded. Consequently, if spores were matured and
discharged in the usual way, they would be shot onto the surface of the neigh-
boring lamella and their passage into the air would be interfered with. In
Coprinus the spores do not mature simultaneously over the surface of the
lamellae but in a relatively narrow zone beginning first at the outer edge of the
pileus and progressing gradually back toward the stipe. As the spores mature,
a process of autodigestion sets in by which the lamellae and flesh are trans-
formed to fluid and the edge of the pileus curls back, spreading the lamellae
apart (Figure 392, p. 287), thus enabling the mature spores to be discharged
into the air. The spores are disseminated by air currents as in other mush-
rooms, and not by the drops of fluid, although if the fluid is examined under
the microscope it will be found to contain many spores that have been acci-
dentally trapped there.
From time to time reports have appeared in the literature suggesting that
mild poisoning may result from eating Coprinus in conjunction with alcohol
consumption. Recent experiments conducted by Child (1952) have given no
support to this contention. It seems probable that such reports have been
based upon misidentifications of Panaeolus sphinctrinus or perhaps other
Panaeolus species eaten by mistake for a Coprinus. However, other mycologists
claim that there are well-authenticated cases of poisoning by Coprinus where
there has been no possibility of misidentification.
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