Chapter 11

THE OCHRE-SPORED AGARICS.

The spores are ochre yellow, rusty, rusty-brown, or some shade of yellow. For analytical keys to the genera see Chapter XXIV.

PHOLIOTA Fr.

The genus _Pholiota_ has ferruginous or ferruginous brown spores. It lacks a volva, but has an annulus; the gills are attached to the stem. It then corresponds to _Armillaria_ among white-spored agarics, and _Stropharia_ among the purple-brown-spored ones. There is one genus in the ochre or yellow-spored plants with which it is liable to be confused on account of the veil, namely _Cortinarius_, but in the latter the veil is in the form of loose threads, and is called an arachnoid veil, that is, the veil is spider-web-like. Many of the species of _Pholiota_ grow on trunks, stumps, and branches of trees, some grow on the ground.

=Pholiota præcox= Pers. =Edible.=--_Agaricus candicans_ Bull. T. 217, 1770: _Pholiota candicans_ Schroeter, Krypt, Flora, Schlesien, p. 608, 1889. This plant occurs during late spring and in the summer, in pastures, lawns and grassy places, roadsides, open woods, etc. Sometimes it is very common, especially during or after prolonged or heavy rains. The plants are 6--10 cm. high, the cap from 5--8 cm. broad, and the stem 3--5 mm. in thickness. The plants are scattered or a few sometimes clustered.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, whitish to cream color or yellowish, then leather color, fleshy, the margin at first incurved, moist, not viscid. Sometimes the pileus is umbonate. The surface is sometimes uneven from numerous crowded shallow pits, giving it a frothy appearance. In age the margin often becomes upturned and fluted. The =gills= are adnate or slightly decurrent by a tooth, 3--4 mm. broad, a little broader at or near the middle, crowded, white, then ferruginous brown, edge sometimes whitish. There is often a prominent angle in the gills at their broadest diameter, not far from the stem, which gives to them, when the plants are young or middle age, a sinuate appearance. The =spores= are ferruginous brown, elliptical. =Cystidia= abruptly club-shaped, with a broad apiculus. The =stem= is stuffed, later fistulose, even, fragile, striate often above the annulus. The stem is whitish or sometimes flesh color. The veil is whitish, large, frail, and sometimes breaks away from the stem and clings in shreds to the margin of the cap.

Figure 145 is from plants (No. 2362, C. U. herbarium) collected on the campus of Cornell University, June, 1898. The taste is often slightly bitter.

=Pholiota marginata= Batsch.--This is one of the very common species, a small one, occurring all during the autumn, on decaying trunks, etc., in the woods. The plants are usually clustered, though appearing also singly. They are from 4--10 cm. high, the cap 3--4 cm. broad, and the stem 3--5 µ in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex, then plane, tan or leather colored, darker when dry. It has a watery appearance (hygrophanous), somewhat fleshy, smooth, striate on the margin. The =gills= are joined squarely to the stem, crowded, at maturity dark reddish brown from the spores.

The =stem= is cylindrical, equal, smooth, fistulose, of the same color as the pileus, becoming darker, and often with whitish fibrils at the base. The =annulus= is distant from the apex of the stem, and often disappears soon after the expansion of the pileus. Figure 147 is from plants (No. 2743, C. U. herbarium) collected near Ithaca.

=Pholiota unicolor= Vahl, is a smaller plant which grows in similar situations. The plants are usually clustered, 3--5 cm. high, and the caps 6--12 mm. in diameter, the annulus is thin but entire and persistent. The entire plant is bay brown, becoming ochraceous in color, and the margin of the cap in age is striate, first bell-shaped, then convex and somewhat umbonate. The gills are lightly adnexed.

=Pholiota adiposa= Fr.--The fatty pholiota usually forms large clusters during the autumn, on the trunks of trees, stumps, etc. It is sometimes of large size, measuring up to 15 cm. and the pileus up to 17 cm. broad. Specimens collected at Ithaca during October, 1899, were 8--10 cm. high, the pileus 4--8 cm. broad, and the stems 5--9 mm. in thickness. The plants grew eight to ten in a cluster and the bases of the stems were closely crowded and loosely joined.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, the margin more or less inrolled, then incurved, prominently umbonate, very viscid when moist, the ground color a saffron yellow or in the center burnt umber to wood brown. The cuticle of the pileus is plain or torn into scales which are wood brown, or when close together they are often darker, sometimes nearly black. The flesh is saffron yellow, thick at the center of the cap, thinning out toward the margin, spongy and almost tasteless. The =gills= are adnate, and sometimes a little notched, brown (mars brown), and the edge yellow, 6--7 mm. broad. The =spores= are 8 × 5 µ. The =stem= tapers downward, is compact, whitish then yellow, saffron yellow, flesh vinaceous, viscid, and clothed more or less with reflexed (pointing downward) scales. The stem is somewhat cartilaginous, tough, but snapping off in places. The veil is thin floccose and sometimes with coarse scales, soon disappearing.

Figure 146 is from plants (No. 3295, C. U. herbarium) collected on the Ithaca flats from a willow trunk, Oct. 10, 1899.

=Pholiota aurivella= Batsch, which has been found in the United States, is closely related to _P. adiposa_.

=Pholiota squarrosa= Müll., widely distributed and common in the autumn, both in Europe and America, on stumps and trunks, is a large, clustered, scaly plant, the scales "squarrose", and abundant over the pileus and on the stem below the annulus. It is brownish or ferruginous in color.

=Pholiota squarrosoides= Pk., as its name indicates, is closely related to _P. squarrosa_. It has erect, pointed, persistent scales, especially when young, and has a similar habit to _squarrosa_, but differs chiefly in the pileus being viscid, while that of _P. squarrosa_ is dry. _P. subsquarrosa_ Fr., occurring in Europe, and also closely related to _P. squarrosa_, is viscid, the scales are closely appressed to the surface of the cap, while in _squarrosa_ they are prominent and revolute.

=Pholiota cerasina= Pk., occurs on decaying trunks of trees during late summer. The plants grow in tufts. They are 5--12 cm. high, the caps 5--10 cm. in diameter, and the stems 4--8 mm. in thickness. The pileus is smooth, watery when damp, cinnamon in color when fresh, becoming yellowish in drying, and the flesh is yellowish. The stem is solid, and equal, the apex mealy. The annulus is not persistent, and the gills are crowded and notched. The spores are elliptical, and rugose, 5 × 8 µ.

=Pholiota johnsoniana= Pk. =Edible.=--This species was described from specimens collected at Knowersville, N. Y., in 1889, by Peck, in the 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 98, as _Agaricus johnsonianus_. I found it at Ithaca, N. Y., for the first time during the summer of 1899, and it was rather common during September, 1899, in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C. It grows in woods or in pastures on the ground. The larger and handsomer specimens I have found in rather damp but well drained woods. The plants are 7--15 cm. high, the cap 5--10 cm. broad, and the stem 6--12 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is fleshy, very thick at the center, convex, then expanded and plane, smooth, sometimes finely striate on the thin margin when moist, yellowish, or fulvous, the margin whitish. The =gills= are attached to the stem by the upper angle (adnexed), rounded, or some of them angled, some nearly free. In color they are first gray, then rusty brown. They appear ascending because of the somewhat top-shaped pileus. The =spores= are irregularly ovoid, 4--6 × 3--3.5 µ. The =stem= is cylindrical or slightly tapering upward, smooth, slightly striate above the annulus, whitish, solid, with a tendency to become hollow. The =veil= is thick, and the annulus narrow and very thick or "tumid," easily breaking up and disappearing. The plant is quite readily distinguished by the form of the pileus with the ascending gills and the tumid annulus. Peck says it has a "somewhat nutty flavor."

Figure 149 is from plants (No. 4014, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

NAUCORIA Fr.

This genus, with ferruginous spores, corresponds with _Collybia_ among the white-spored agarics. The gills are free or attached, but not decurrent, and the stem is cartilaginous. The plants grow both on the ground and on wood. Peck, 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, _et seq._, gives a synopsis of seven species.

=Naucoria semi-orbicularis= Bull. =Edible.=--This is one of the common and widely distributed species. It occurs in lawns, pastures, roadsides, etc., in waste places, from June to autumn, being more abundant in rainy weather. The plants are 7--10 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is convex to expanded, and is remarkably hemispherical, from which the species takes the name of _semi-orbicularis_. It is smooth, viscid when moist, tawny, and in age ochraceous, sometimes the surface is cracked into areas. The =gills= are attached, sometimes notched, crowded, much broader than the thickness of the pileus, pale, then reddish brown. The =stem= is tough, slender, smooth, even, pale reddish brown, shining, stuffed with a whitish pith. Peck says that the plants have an oily flavor resembling beechnuts.

=Naucoria vernalis= Pk.--_Naucoria vernalis_ was described by Peck in 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, from plants collected in May. The plants described here appeared in woods in late autumn. The specimens from which this description is drawn were found growing from the under side of a very rotten beech log, usually from deep crevices in the log, so that only the pileus is visible or exposed well to the view. The plants are 4--8 cm. high, the cap 2--3 cm. broad, and the stem 4--5 mm. in thickness. The taste is bitter.

The =pileus= is convex, then the center is nearly or quite expanded, the margin at first inrolled and never fully expanded, hygrophanous, smooth (not striate nor rugose), flesh about 5--6 mm. thick at center, thin toward the margin. The color changes during growth, it is from ochraceous rufus when young (1--2 mm. broad), then clove brown to hair brown and clay color in age. The =gills= are grayish brown to wood brown, at first adnate to slightly sinuate, then easily breaking away and appearing adnexed. The =spores= are wood brown in color, oval to short elliptical and inequilateral 6--8 × 4--5 µ. =Cystidia= hyaline, bottle shaped, 40--50 × 8--12 µ. The =stem= is somewhat hollow and stuffed, rather cartilaginous, though somewhat brittle, especially when very damp, breaking out from the pileus easily though with fragments of the gills remaining attached, not strongly continuous with the substance of the pileus. The color is buff to pale clay color; the stem being even, not bulbous but somewhat enlarged below, mealy over the entire length, which may be washed off by rains, striate at apex either from marks left by the gills or remnants of the gills as they become freed from the stem. Base of stem sometimes with white cottony threads, especially in damp situations. In the original description the stem is said to be "striate sulcate." Figure 150 is from plants (No. 3242, C. U. herbarium) collected in woods near Ithaca, October 1, 1899.

GALERA Fr.

_Galera_ with ochraceous (ochraceous ferruginous) spores corresponds to _Mycena_ among the white-spored agarics. The pileus is usually bell-shaped, and when young the margin fits straight against the stem. The stem is somewhat cartilaginous, but often very fragile. The genus does not contain many species. Peck gives a synopsis of five American species in the 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 93, _et seq._, and of twelve species in the 46th Report, p. 61, _et seq._ One of the common species is =Galera tenera= Schaeff. It occurs in grassy fields or in manured places. The plants are 5--8 cm. high, the cap 8--16 mm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The =pileus= is oval to bell-shaped, and tawny in color, thin, smooth, finely striate, becoming paler when dry. The =gills= are crowded, reddish-brown, adnexed and easily separating. The =stem= is smooth, colored like the pileus but a little paler, sometimes striate, and with mealy whitish particles above. =Galera lateritia= is a related species, somewhat larger, and growing on dung heaps and in fields and lawns. =Galera ovalis= Fr., is also a larger plant, somewhat shorter than the latter, and with a prominent ovate cap when young. =Galera antipoda= Lasch., similar in general appearance to G. _tenera_, has a rooting base by which it is easily known. =Galera flava= Pk., occurs among vegetable mold in woods. The pileus is membraneous, ovate or campanulate, moist or somewhat watery, obtuse, plicate, striate on the margin, yellow. The plants are 5--8 cm. high, the caps 12--25 mm. broad, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness. The plant is recognized by the pale yellow color of the caps and the plicate striate character of the margin. The plicate striate character of the cap is singular among the species of this genus, and is shared by another species, =G. coprinoides= Pk.

FLAMMULA Fr.

In the genus _Flammula_, the pileus is fleshy, stem fleshy-fibrous, and the gills adnate to decurrent.

=Flammula polychroa= Berk.--This is a beautiful plant with tints of violet, lavender, lilac and purple, especially on the scales of the pileus, on the veil and on the stem. It occurs in clusters during late summer and autumn, on logs, branches, etc., in the woods. The plants occur singly, but more often in clusters of three to eight or more. The plants are 4--7 cm. high, the cap 3--5 cm. broad, and the stem 4--6 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex, and in the young stage the margin strongly incurved, later the cap becomes expanded and has a very broad umbo. It is very viscid. The surface is covered with delicate hairs which form scales, more prominent during mid-age of the plant, and on the margin of the cap. These scales are very delicate and vary in color from vinaceous-buff, lilac, wine-purple, or lavender. The ground color of the pileus is vinaceous-buff or orange-buff, and toward the margin often with shades of beryl-green, especially where it has been touched. In the young plants the color of the delicate hairy surface is deeper, often phlox-purple, the color becoming thinner as the cap expands.

The =gills= are notched (sinuate) at the stem, or adnate, sometimes slightly decurrent, crowded. Before exposure by the rupture of the veil they are cream-buff in color, then taking on darker shades, drab to hair brown or sepia with a purple tinge. The =stem= is yellowish, nearly or quite the color of the cap, often with a purplish tinge at the base. It is covered with numerous small punctate scales of the same color, or sulphur yellow above where they are more crowded and larger. The scales do not extend on the stem above the point where the veil is attached. The stem is slightly striate above the attachment of the veil. It is somewhat tough and cartilaginous, solid, or in age stuffed, or nearly hollow. The =veil= is floccose and quite thick when the plant is young. It is scaly on the under side, clinging to the margin of the pileus in triangular remnants, appearing like a crown. The color of the veil and of its remnants is the same as the color of the scales of the cap.

The spores in mass are light brown, and when fresh with a slight purple tinge. (The color of the spores on white paper is near walnut brown or hair brown of Ridgeway's colors.) Under the microscope they are yellowish, oval or short oblong, often inequilateral, 6--8 × 4--5 µ.

Figure 151 is from plants (No. 4016, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., September, 1899, on a fallen maple log. The plants sometimes occur singly. It has been collected at Ithaca, N. Y., and was first described from plants collected at Waynesville, Ohio.

=Flammula sapinea= Fr., is a common plant growing on dead coniferous wood. It is dull yellow, the pileus 1--4 cm. in diameter, and with numerous small scales.

HEBELOMA Fr.

In _Hebeloma_ the gills are either squarely set against the stem (adnate) or they are notched (sinuate), and the spores are clay-colored. The edge of the gills is usually whitish, the surface clay-colored. The veil is only seen in the young stage, and then is very delicate and fibrillose. The stem is fleshy and fibrous, and somewhat mealy at the apex. The genus corresponds with _Tricholoma_ of the white-spored agarics. All the species are regarded as unwholesome, and some are considered poisonous. The species largely occur during the autumn. Few have been studied in America.

=Hebeloma crustuliniforme= Bull.--This plant is usually common in some of the lawns, during the autumn, at Ithaca, N. Y. It often forms rings as it grows on the ground. It is from 5--7 cm. high, the cap 4--8 cm. in diameter, and the stem is 4--6 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex and expanded, somewhat umbonate, viscid when moist, whitish or tan color, darker over the center, where it is often reddish-brown. The =gills= are adnexed and rounded near the stem, crowded, whitish, then clay color and reddish-brown, the edge whitish and irregular. The =gills= are said to exude watery drops in wet weather. The =stem= is stuffed, later hollow, somewhat enlarged at the base, white, and mealy at the apex. Figure 152 is from plants (No. 2713, C. U. herbarium) collected in lawns on the Cornell University campus. The plants in this figure seem to represent the variety _minor_.

INOCYBE Fr.

In the genus _Inocybe_ there is a universal veil which is fibrillose in character, and more or less closely joined with the cuticle of the pileus, and the surface of the pileus is therefore marked with fibrils or is more or less scaly. Sometimes the margin of the pileus possesses remnants of a veil which is quite prominent in a few species. The gills are adnate, or sinuate, rarely decurrent, and in one species they are free. It is thus seen that the species vary widely, and there may be, after a careful study of the species, grounds for the separation of the species into several genera. One of the most remarkable species is _Inocybe echinata_ Roth. This plant is covered with a universal veil of a sooty color and powdery in nature. The gills are reddish purple, and the stem is of the same color, the spores on white paper of a faint purplish red color. Some place in it _Psalliota_. Collected at Ithaca in August, 1900.

TUBARIA W. Smith.

In the genus _Tubaria_ the spores are rust-red, or rusty brown (ferruginous or fuscous-ferruginous), the stem is somewhat cartilaginous, hollow, and, what is more important, the gills are more or less decurrent, broad next to the stem, and thus more or less triangular in outline. It is related to _Naucoria_ and _Galera_, but differs in the decurrent gills. The pileus is convex, or with an umbilicus.

=Tubaria pellucida= Bull.--This species grows by roadsides in grassy places. The plants are from 3--4 cm. high, and the cap 1--2 cm. in diameter, and the stem 2--3 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is conic, then bell-shaped, often expanded and with a slight umbo; the color is dull, reddish brown, and it has a watery appearance. The plant is sometimes enveloped with a loose and delicate universal or outer veil, which remains on the margin of the cap in the form of silky squamules as shown in the figure. The margin of the pileus is faintly striate. The =gills= are only slightly decurrent. Figure 153 is from plants (No. 2360 C. U. herbarium) collected along a street in Ithaca.

The stem is at first solid, becoming hollow, tapering above, and the apex is mealy.

CREPIDOTUS Fr.

In _Crepidotus_ the pileus is lateral, or eccentric, and thus more or less shelving, or it is resupinate, that is, lying flat or nearly so on the wood. The species are usually of small size, thin, soft and fleshy. The spores are reddish brown (ferruginous). The genus corresponds to _Pleurotus_ among the white-spored agarics, or to _Claudopus_ among the rosy-spored ones. Peck describes eleven species in the 39th Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 69 et seq., 1886.

=Crepidotus versutus= Pk.--This little _Crepidotus_ has a pure white pileus which is covered with a soft, whitish down. The plants grow usually on the underside of rotten wood or bark, and then the upper side of the cap lies against the wood, and is said to be resupinate. Sometimes where they grow toward the side of the log the cap has a tendency to be shelving. In the resupinate forms the cap is attached usually near one side, and then is produced more at the opposite side, so that it is more or less lateral or eccentric. As the plant becomes mature the edge is free from the wood for some distance, only being attached over a small area. The cap is somewhat reniform, thin, and from 6--12 cm. in diameter. The =gills= radiate from the point where the cap is attached to the substratum, are not crowded, rounded behind, that is, at the lateral part of the cap where they converge. They are whitish, then ferruginous from the spores. The =spores= are sub-elliptical, sometimes inequilateral, and measure from 8--12 × 4--6 µ.

=Crepidotus herbarum= Pk., is a closely related species, separated on account of the smaller spores. Both species grow either on herbs or decaying wood. As suggested by Peck they are both closely related to _C. chimonophilus_ Berk., which has "oblong elliptical" spores. The shape of the spores does not seem to differ from the specimens which I have taken to be _C. versutus_.

=Crepidotus applanatus= Fr., is a larger species, shelving and often imbricated. =Crepidotus fulvotomentosus= Pk., is a pretty species with a tomentose cap and tawny scales, usually occurring singly. It is closely related to _C. calolepis_ Fr.

Figure 154 is from plants of _Crepidotus versutus_ Pk., (No. 2732 C. U. herbarium) collected on rotting wood at Freeville, N. Y., eight miles from Ithaca. The plants are represented twice natural size.

CORTINARIUS Fr.

The genus _Cortinarius_ is chiefly distinguished from the other genera of the ochre-spored agarics by the presence of a spider-web-like (arachnoid) veil which is separate from the cuticle of the pileus, that is, superficial. The gills are powdered by the spores, that is, the spores fall away with difficulty and thus give the gills a pulverulent appearance. The plants are fleshy and decay easily. It is necessary to have plants in the young as well as the old state to properly get at the characters, and the character of the veil is only seen in young or half developed specimens. The species are to be distinguished from other ochre-spored agarics with a cobwebby veil by the fact that the veil in _Cortinarius_ is superficial and the gills powdery. The number of species is very large, and they are difficult to determine. They mostly occur in northern countries and in the autumn or late summer; some species, however, occur during early summer. Peck, 23d Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 105--112, describes 21 species.

=Cortinarius (Inoloma) violaceus= (L.) Fr. =Edible.=--This species is known by the violet or dark violet color which pervades all parts of the plant. The plants are 8--10 cm. high, the pileus 7--15 cm. broad, and the stem is bulbous, 6--8 mm. in thickness. The veil is single. It occurs in woods and open places during late summer and in the autumn. The flesh of the plant is also violet, and this color is imparted to the liquid when the plant is cooked. The flavor is said to be something like that of _Agaricus campestris_.

=Cortinarius (Myxacium) collinitus= (Pers.) Fr. =Edible.=--This is known as the smeared cortinarius because of the abundant glutinous substance with which the plant is smeared during moist or wet weather. It grows in woods. The plants are 7--10 cm. high, the cap 5--8 cm. in diameter, and the stem is 8--12 mm. in thickness. It is usually known by the smooth, even, tawny cap, the great abundance of slimy substance covering the entire plant when moist, and when dry the cracking of the gluten on the stem into annular patches.

The =pileus= is convex to expanded, smooth, even, glutinous when wet, shining when dry, tawny. The =gills= are adnate with a peculiar bluish gray tinge when young, and clay color to cinnamon when old. The =spores= are nearly elliptical, and 12--15 × 6--7 µ. The =stem= is cylindrical, even, and with patches of the cracked gluten when dry.

=Cortinarius (Dermocybe) cinnamomeus= (L.) Fr. =Edible.=--The cinnamon cortinarius is so called because of the cinnamon color of the entire plant, especially of the cap and stem. It grows in the woods during summer and autumn. It is a very pretty plant, and varies from 5--8 cm. high, the cap from 2--10 cm. broad, and the stem 4--6 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is conic, or convex, and nearly expanded, sometimes nearly plane, and again with a prominent blunt or conic umbo. Sometimes the pileus is abruptly bent downward near the margin as shown in the plants in Fig. 155, giving the appearance of a "hip-roof." The surface is smooth, silky, with innate fibrils. Sometimes there are cinnabar stains on parts of the pileus, and often there are concentric rows of scales near the margin. The flesh is light yellowish and with stains of cinnabar. The =gills= are adnate, slightly sinuate, and decurrent by a tooth, easily separating from the stem, rather crowded, slightly ventricose. The color of the gills varies greatly; sometimes they are the same color as the pileus, sometimes reddish brown, sometimes blood red color, etc. This latter form is a very pretty plant, and is var. _semi-sanguineus_ Fr.

Figure 155 is from plants (No. 2883 C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca. The species is widely distributed in this country as well as in Europe.

=Cortinarius (Dermocybe) ochroleucus= (Schaeff.) Fr.--This is a very beautiful plant because of the soft, silky appearance of the surface of pileus and stem, and the delicate yellowish white color. It occurs in woods, on the ground among decaying leaves. The plants are 4--12 cm. high, the cap 4--7 cm. broad, and the stem above is 6--10 mm. in thickness, and below from 2--3 cm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex to nearly expanded, and sometimes a little depressed, usually, however, remaining convex at the top. It is dry, on the center finely tomentose to minutely squamulose, sometimes the scales splitting up into concentric rows around the cap. The cap is fleshy at the center, and thin at the margin, the color is from cream buff to buff, darker on the center. The =gills= are sinuate or adnate, slightly broader in the middle (ventricose) in age, pale at first, then becoming ochre yellow, and darker when the plant dries. The =spores= are tawny in mass, oval, elliptical, minutely tuberculate when mature, 6--9 × 4--6 µ. The =stem= is clavate, pale cream buff in color, solid, becoming irregularly fistulose in age, bulbous or somewhat ventricose below, the bulb often large and abrupt, 1.5--3 cm. in diameter. The =veil= is prominent and attached to the upper part of the stem, the abundant threads attached over an area 1 cm. in extent and forming a beautiful cortina of the same color as the pileus and stem, but becoming tawny when the spores fall on it. The stem varies considerably in length and shape, being rarely ventricose, and then only at the base; the bulbous forms predominate and the bulb is often very large.

Figures 156, 157 are from plants (No. 3674 C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

BOLBITIUS Fries.

The genus _Bolbitius_ contains a few species with yellowish or yellowish brown spores. The plants are very fragile, more or less mucilaginous when moist, usually with yellowish colors, and, what is the most characteristic feature beside the yellowish color of the spores, the gills are very soft, and at maturity tend to dissolve into a mucilaginous consistency, though they do not deliquesce, or only rarely dissolve so far as to form drops. The surface of the gills at maturity becomes covered with the spores so that they appear powdery, as in the genus _Cortinarius_, which they also resemble in the color of the spores. In the mucilaginous condition of the gills the genus approaches _Coprinus_. It is believed to occupy an intermediate position between _Coprinus_ and _Cortinarius_. The species usually grow on dung or in manured ground, and in this respect resemble many of the species of _Coprinus_. Some of the species are, however, not always confined to such a substratum, but grow on decaying leaves, etc.

=Bolbitius variicolor= Atkinson.--This plant was found abundantly during May and June, 1898, in a freshly manured grass plat between the side-walk and the pavement along Buffalo street, Ithaca, N. Y. The season was rainy, and the plants appeared each day during quite a long period, sometimes large numbers of them covering a small area, but they were not clustered nor cespitose. They vary in height from 4--10 cm., the pileus from 2--4 cm. broad, and the stem is 3--8 mm. in thickness. The colors vary from smoky to fuliginous, olive and yellow, and the spores are ferruginous.

The =pileus= is from ovate to conic when young, the margin not at all incurved, but lies straight against the stem, somewhat unequal. In expanding the cap becomes convex, then expanded, and finally many of the plants with the margin elevated and with a broad umbo, and finely striate for one-half to two-thirds the way from the margin to the center. When young the pileus has a very viscid cuticle, which easily peels from the surface, showing the yellow flesh. The cuticle is smoky olive to fuliginous, darker when young, becoming paler as the pileus expands, but always darker on the umbo. Sometimes the fibres on the surface of the cap are drawn into strands which anastomose into coarse reticulations, giving the appearance of elevated veins which have a general radiate direction from the center of the cap. As the pileus expands the yellow color of the flesh shows through the cuticle more and more, especially when young, but becoming light olive to fuliginous in age. In dry weather the surface of the pileus sometimes cracks into patches as the pileus expands. The =gills= are rounded next the stem, adnate to adnexed, becoming free, first yellow, then ferruginous. The basidia are abruptly club-shaped, rather distant and separated regularly by rounded cells, four spored. The =spores= are ferruginous, elliptical, 10--15 × 6--8 µ, smooth. The =stem= is cylindrical to terete, tapering above, sulphur and ochre yellow, becoming paler and even with a light brown tinge in age. The stem is hollow, and covered with numerous small yellow floccose scales which point upward and are formed by the tearing away of the edges of the gills, which are loosely united with the surface of the stem in the young stage. The edges of the gills are thus sometimes finely fimbriate.

At maturity the gills become more or less mucilaginous, depending on the weather. Plants placed in a moist chamber change to a mucilaginous mass. When the plants dry the pileus is from a drab to hair brown or sepia color (Ridgeway's colors). Figure 158 is from plants (No. 2355 C. U. herbarium).

PAXILLUS Fr.

In the genus _Paxillus_ the gills are usually easily separated from the pileus, though there are some species accredited to the genus that do not seem to possess this character in a marked degree. The spores are ochre or ochre brown. Often the gills are forked near the stem or anastomose, or they are connected by veins which themselves anastomose in a reticulate fashion so that the meshes resemble the pores of certain species of the family _Polyporaceæ_. The pileus may be viscid or dry in certain species, but the plant lacks a viscid universal veil. The genus is closely related to _Gomphidius_, where the gills are often forked and easily separate from the pileus, but _Gomphidius_ possesses a viscid or glutinous universal veil. Peck in the Bull. N. Y. State Mus. Nat. Hist. 2: 29--33, describes five species.

=Paxillus involutus= (Batsch.) Fr. =Edible.=--This plant is quite common in some places and is widely distributed. It occurs on the ground in grassy places, in the open, or in woods, and on decaying logs or stumps. The stem is central, or nearly so, when growing on the ground, or eccentric when growing on wood, especially if growing from the side of a log or stump. The plants are 5--7 cm. high, the cap 3--7 cm. broad, and the stem 1--2 cm. in thickness. The plant occurs from August to October.

The =pileus= is convex to expanded, and depressed in the center. In the young plant the margin is strongly inrolled, and as the pileus expands it unrolls in a very pretty manner. The young plant is covered with a grayish, downy substance, and when the inrolled margin of the cap comes in contact with the gills, as it does, it presses the gills against this down, and the unrolling margin is thus marked quite prominently, sometimes with furrows where the pressure of the gills was applied. The color of the pileus varies greatly. In the case of plants collected at Ithaca and in North Carolina mountains the young plant when fresh is often olive umber, becoming reddish or tawny when older, the margin with a lighter shade. As Dr. Peck states, "it often presents a strange admixture of gray, ochraceous, ferruginous, and brown hues." The flesh is yellowish and changes to reddish or brownish where bruised. The =gills= are decurrent, when young arcuate, then ascending, and are more or less reticulated on the stem. They are grayish, then greenish yellow changing to brown where bruised. The =spores= are oval, 7--9 × 4--5 µ. The =stem= is short, even, and of the same color as the cap.

At Ithaca, N. Y., the plant is sometimes abundant in late autumn in grassy places near or in groves. The Figure 159 is from plants (No. 2508 C. U. herbarium) growing in such a place in the suburbs of Ithaca. At Blowing Rock, N. C., the plant is often very abundant along the roadsides on the ground during August and September.

=Paxillus rhodoxanthus= (Schw.)--This species was first described by de Schweinitz as _Agaricus rhodoxanthus_, p. 83 No. 640, Synopsis fungorum Carolinæ superioris, in Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 1: 19--131, 1822. It was described under his third section of _Agaricus_ under the sub-genus _Gymnopus_, in which are mainly species now distributed in _Clitocybe_ and _Hygrophorus_. He remarks on the elegant appearance of the plant and the fact that it so nearly resembles _Boletus subtomentosus_ as to deceive one. The resemblance to _Boletus subtomentosus_ as one looks upon the pileus when the plant is growing on the ground is certainly striking, because of the reddish yellow, ochraceous rufus or chestnut brown color of the cap together with the minute tomentum covering the surface. The suggestion is aided also by the color of the gills, which one is apt to get a glimpse of from above without being aware that the fruiting surface has gills instead of tubes. But as soon as the plant is picked and we look at the under surface, all suggestion of a _Boletus_ vanishes, unless one looks carefully at the venation of the surface of the gills and the spaces between them. The plant grows on the ground in woods. At Blowing Rock, N. C., where it is not uncommon, I have always found it along the mountain roads on the banks. It is 5--10 cm. high, the cap from 3--8 cm. broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, plane or convex, and when mature more or less top-shaped because it is so thick at the middle. In age the surface of the cap often becomes cracked into small areas, showing the yellow flesh in the cracks. The flesh is yellowish and the surface is dry. The =gills= are not very distant, they are stout, chrome yellow to lemon yellow, and strongly decurrent. A few of them are forked toward the base, and the surface and the space between them are marked by anastomosing veins forming a reticulum suggestive of the hymenium of the _Polyporaceæ_. This character is not evident without the use of a hand lens. The surface of the gills as well as the edges is provided with clavate =cystidia= which are filled with a yellow pigment, giving to the gills the bright yellow color so characteristic. These cystidia extend above the basidia, and the ends are rounded so that sometimes they appear capitate. The yellow color is not confined to the cystidia, for the sub-hymenium is also colored in a similar way. The =spores= are yellowish, oblong to elliptical or spindle-shaped, and measure 8--12 × 3--5 µ. The =stem= is the same color as the pileus, but paler, and more yellow at the base. It is marked with numerous minute dots of a darker color than the ground color, formed of numerous small erect tufts of mycelium.

Figure 160 is from plants (No. 3977 C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899. As stated above, the plant was first described by de Schweinitz as _Agaricus rhodoxanthus_ in 1822. In 1834 (Synop. fung. Am. Bor. p. 151, 1834) he listed it under the genus _Gomphus_ Fries (Syst. Mycolog. 319, 1821). Since Fries changed _Gomphus_ to _Gomphidius_ (Epicrisis, 319, 1836--1838) the species has usually been written _Gomphidius rhodoxanthus_ Schweinitz. The species lacks one very important characteristic of the genus _Gomphidius_, namely, the slimy veil which envelops the entire plant. Its relationship seems rather to be with the genus _Paxillus_, though the gills do not readily separate from the pileus, one of the characters ascribed to this genus, and possessed by certain species of _Gomphidius_ in even a better degree. (In Paxillus involutus the gills do not separate so readily as they do in certain species of _Gomphidius_.) Berkeley (Decades N. A. Fungi, 116) has described a plant from Ohio under the name _Paxillus flavidus_. It has been suggested by some (see Peck, 29th Report, p. 36; Lloyd, Mycolog. Notes, where he writes it as _Flammula rhodoxanthus_!) that _Paxillus flavidus_ Berk., is identical with _Agaricus rhodoxanthus_ Schw.

_Paxillus rhodoxanthus_ seems also to be very near if not identical with _Clitocybe pelletieri_ Lev. (Gillet, Hymenomycetes =1=: 170), and Schroeter (Cohn's Krypt, Flora Schlesien, =3=, 1: 516, 1889) transfers this species to _Paxillus_ as _Paxillus pelletieri_. He is followed by Hennings, who under the same section of the genus, lists _P. flavidus_ Berk., from N. A. The figure of _Clitocybe pelletieri_ in Gillet Hymenomycetes, etc., resembles our plant very closely, and Saccardo (Syll. Fung. =5=: 192) says that it has the aspect of _Boletus subtomentosus,_ a remark similar to the one made by de Schweinitz in the original description of _Agaricus rhodoxanthus_. _Flammula paradoxa_ Kalch. (Fung. Hung. Tab. XVII, Fig. 1) seems to be the same plant, as well as _F. tammii_ Fr., with which Patouillard (Tab. Anal. N. 354) places _F. paradoxa_ and _Clitocybe pelletieri_.

=Paxillus atro=tomentosus= (Batsch) Fr.--This plant is not very common. It is often of quite large size, 6--15 cm. high, and the cap 5--10 cm. broad, the stem very short or sometimes long, from 1--2.5 cm. in thickness. The plant is quite easily recognized by the stout and black hairy stem, and the dark brown or blackish, irregular and sometimes lateral cap, with the margin incurved. It grows on wood, logs, stumps, etc., during late summer and autumn.

The =pileus= is convex, expanded, sometimes somewhat depressed, lateral, irregular, or sometimes with the stem nearly in the center, brownish or blackish, dry, sometimes with a brownish or blackish tomentum on the surface. The margin is inrolled and later incurved. The flesh is white, and the plant is tough. The =gills= are adnate, often decurrent on the stem, and easily separable from the pileus, forked at the base and sometimes reticulate, forming pores. =Spores= yellowish, oval, 4--6 × 3--4 µ. Stevenson says that the gills do not form pores like those of P. involutus, but Fig. 161 (No. 3362 C. U. herbarium) from plants collected at Ithaca, shows them well. There is, as it seems, some variation in this respect. The =stem= is solid, tough and elastic, curved or straight, covered with a dense black tomentum, sometimes with violet shades. On drying the plant becomes quite hard, and the gills blackish olive.

=Paxillus panuoides= Fr.--This species was collected during August, 1900, on a side-walk and on a log at Ithaca. The specimens collected were sessile and the =pileus= lateral, somewhat broadened at the free end, or petaloid. The entire plant is pale or dull yellow, the surface of the pileus fibrous and somewhat uneven but not scaly. The plants are 2--12 cm. long by 1--8 cm. broad, often many crowded together in an imbricated manner. The =gills= are pale yellow, and the =spores= are of the same color when caught on white paper, and they measure 4--5 × 3--4 µ, the size given for European specimens of this species. The gills are forked, somewhat anastomosing at the base, and sinuous in outline, though not markedly corrugated as in the next form. From descriptions of the European specimens the plants are sometimes larger than these here described, and it is very variable in form and often imbricated as in the following species.

=Paxillus corrugatus= Atkinson.--This very interesting species was collected at Ithaca, N. Y., on decaying wood, August 4, 1899. The pileus is lateral, shelving, the stem being entirely absent in the specimens found. The =pileus= is 2--5 cm. broad, narrowed down in an irregular wedge form to the sessile base, convex, then expanded, the margin incurved (involute). The color of the cap is yellow, maize yellow to canary yellow, with a reddish brown tinge near the base. It is nearly smooth, or very slightly tomentose. The flesh is pale yellow, spongy. The =gills= are orange yellow, 2--3 mm. broad, not crowded, regularly forked several times, thin, blunt, very wavy and crenulate, easily separating from the hymenophore when fresh; the entire breadth of the gills is fluted, giving a corrugated appearance to the side. The =spores= in these specimens are faintly yellow, minute, oblong, broadly elliptical, short, sometimes nearly oval, 3 × 1.5--2 µ. The =basidia= are also very minute. The spores are olive yellow on white paper. The plant has a characteristic and disagreeable odor. This odor persists in the dried plant for several months.

Figure 162 is from the plants (No. 3332 C. U. herbarium) collected as noted above on decaying hemlock logs in woods. A side and under view is shown in the figure, and the larger figure is the under-view, from a photograph made a little more than twice natural size, in order to show clearly the character of the gills. The two smaller plants are natural size. When dry the plant is quite hard.