Chanterelles, King Boletes, Waxcaps, Cauliflower Corals, and Destroying Angels, oh my!
In the rain-logged woods around the Finger Lakes a mesmerizing viewscape has unfolded before our eyes: A bloom of fantastically shaped and richly hued (from alabaster white to deep purple, with various shades of orange, yellow & red in between) fungi. The conditions — hot, humid late summer weather and a prolonged (almost) daily dowsing of heavy rain in the early part of August — have been perfect for a spectacular, if ephemeral, show put on by subjects of the fungi kingdom in the hills and valleys around the Cornell University campus. We’re hoping that many of you are able to get out and take in this remarkable performance of nature sometime this fall—either here in upstate/south central NY or in your own corner of the woods — before colder, mushroom-killing temperatures, dry spells, and overly busy schedules get in the way. And by way of incentive—if you need it—we recommend a browse through a classic of American mycology, Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous: One Thousand American Fungi, by American mycology maverick Charles McIlvaine. First published in 1900 (with a 2nd ed, to follow in 1902), this 700+ page volume provided the United States with its first comprehensive textbook on the mushrooms found in American forests and fields. Mann is fortunate to own two copies of the 1900 edition, one of which is a signed author’s edition–the 194th of 300 printed.
A veteran of the Civil War, Charles McIlvaine found his calling as a self-taught mycologist passing through the woods near his West Virginia home one day. Intrigued by a fascinating bloom of fungi found on a horseback ride through a patch of recently burned Appalachian forest, McIlvaine stuffed his saddle bags full with samples to take home for some adventurous home cooking. Thrilled by the experience, McIlvaine was, from then on, hooked. As an avid mushroom taster he took on on the goal of meeting “[t]he need of the mycologists, mycophagist, and amateur toadstool students” for “a book giving the genus , names and descrriptions of the prominent American toadstools, whose edibility has been tested, or whose poisonous qualities have been discovered.” By the time his tome was published in 1900, he had recorded tasting over 600 mushrooms himself–where only a few years earlier the USDA had a mere 15 species to recommend as safely edible. McIlvaine relished the quest of introducing new forest delicacies to a wider public–but in the process also happened across many a species poisonous enough to produce, in his words, “unpleasant results.”
Modern mycology certainly cautions against McIlvaine’s “try it and see” zeal (there are, after all, mushroom species so toxic that hapless consumers face a 50 to 80% chance of death from failing organs within 24 hours of ingestion). For his undaunted derring-do style, McIlvaine earned himself the nickname Old Ironguts. Yet his passion for mushroom discovery and the care with which he took to compile a remarkably comprehensive tome earned the man a more venerable distinction too: the honor of having the North American Mycological Association’s journal, McIlvanea, bear his name.
McIvaine credits a number of contributors to his chef d'oeuvre, some eminent leaders in the botany field such as Missouri Botanical Museum Director William Trelease, others fellow amateur naturalists, such as Lawrence William Nuttall, who, like McIlvaine himself, helped make important contributions towards a better understanding of the natural world around us despite little formal training in science. In keeping with McIlvaine’s own personal interest, Toadstools also provides a 15 page section featuring tried and true mushroom recipes recommended by number of cooks familiar with the culinary possibilities to be found in the fungi kingdom. Among that contributor line-up: celebrity cookbook author and 19th century American home economist Emma P. Ewing–who in the 1890’s served as Dean of the famed Chatauqua Assembly (later renamed the Chatauqua Institution) in western New York., where McIlvaine himself was, for a time, also an honored member–until personal scandals involving alcohol and unorthodox romantic relationships led to his expulsion.
McIlvaine’s eccentricities aside, his remarkable book — replete with carefully collected observations, information on scientific nomenclature, fun prose, line drawn sketches, Black & white photographs, and some rather lovely full color plates (illustrators for the book included McIlvaine himself, along with Val Starnes and Frank D. Briscoe)—does much to convey not only a store of hard facts about mushrooms found across the American countryside, but also the anticipation of weird and wonderful things to be discovered with any good mushroom hunt. Mycology is known to be one of those fields of modern science where dedicated amateurs — today known as citizen scientists — have had and continue to play an important role in advancing the frontiers of knowledge. Certainly this side of the Atlantic, the late 19th century contributions of Charles McIlvaine and his collaborators, played an important part in shaping this lively, promising legacy.
An online copy of Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous: One Thousand American Fungi may be browsed through the Biodiversity Heritage Library @ bit.ly/BHLMcIlvaine.
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