View A43-1112-1979-eng.pdf

ADDENDUM
S. A. Redhead
Biosystematics Research Institute
Research Branch
Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of Canada was first published in 1962. At
that time there were many generic names that were new or had recently been
restricted by using microscopic features. Their acceptance by mycologists in
general was not guaranteed. For these reasons Dr. Groves chose well-established
generic names and used them in broad, traditional ways. However, many
of the new or restricted genera mentioned in the 1962 edition have since gained
worldwide acceptance and a few additional names have been proposed. Now
that some of these genera are being used in popular guides, an update of the
names is appropriate. Unavoidably many genera are defined by using micro-
scopic features, and this makes their recognition difficult for amateurs.
Only the species whose names have been changed are listed and these are
in alphabetical order as they appear in the index. The updated name follows
the former name as do any qualifying statements about the changes. These
changes are not the last for the species treated here. Many of the genera are not
universally recognized and the limits of some of them are still uncertain. How-
ever, all the names used are currently being applied in the National Mycologi-
cal Herbarium, Ottawa. For the most part, Singer's (1975) The Agaricales in
Modern Taxonomy, 3rd. ed., has been used as a standard.
The current edition of Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of Canada also
contains additional references, which have been published since 1975 when Dr.
David Malloch enlarged the bibliography. Some of the theses mentioned in the
enlarged bibliography have been replaced by their published counterparts.
Since 1974 possession of Canadian or foreign mushrooms containing the
restricted drugs psilocin and psilocybin has been illegal in Canada. A number
of species known from Canada in the genera Psilocybe, Panaeolus, and
Conocybe contain these hallucinogens. Some of these species are poorly char-
acterized and their distribution is not well known. In all cases the species are
small, usually inconspicuous fungi not normally collected by persons interested
in edible mushrooms. The most commonly encountered species is described
below.
PSILOCYBE SEMILANCEATA (Fr.) ex Kummer Poisonous
Figure 431, page 307 .
PiLEUS 1/2-214 in. broad, at first obtusely conical to conico-campanulate,
often becoming acutely umbonate with age, dark greenish to vinaceous brown,
hygrophanous, fading to ocherous over the center and beige elsewhere, striate
and viscid when moist, often slightly incurved and more conspicuously striate
on the margins from heavy spore deposits between the lamellae, flesh thin,
321