THE ROSY-SPORED AGARICS.
The spores of this series are of great variety of color, including rosy,
pink, salmon-color, flesh-color, or reddish. In Pluteus, Volvaria, and
most of Clitopilus, the spores are regular in shape, as in the
white-spored series; in the other genera they are generally irregular
and angular. There are not so many genera as in the other series and
fewer edible species.
_Pluteus. Fr._
Pluteus means a shed, referring to the sheds used to make a cover for
besiegers at their work, that they might be screened from the missiles
of the enemy.
They have no volva, no ring on the stem. Gills are free from the stem,
white at first then flesh-color.
_Pluteus cervinus. Schaeff._
FAWN-COLORED PLUTEUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Plate XXVIII. Figure 188.--Pluteus cervinus.
Natural size.]
_Cervinus is from cervus, a deer._ The pileus is fleshy, bell-shaped,
expanded, viscid in wet weather, smooth, except a few radiating fibrils
when young, margin entire, flesh soft and white; color of the cap
light-brown or fawn-color, sometimes sooty, often more than three inches
across the cap.
The gills are free from the stem, broad, ventricose, unequal in length,
almost white when young, flesh-colored when mature from the falling of
the spores. The stem is solid, slightly tapering upward, firm, brittle,
white, spread over with a few dark fibrils, generally crooked. The
spores are broadly elliptical. The cystidia in the hymenium on the gills
will be of interest to those who have a microscope.
This is a very common mushroom about Chillicothe. It is found on logs,
stumps, and especially on old sawdust piles. Note how easily the stem is
removed from the cap. This will distinguish it from the genus Entoloma.
You cannot get anything in the market that will make a better fry than
Pluteus cervinus; fried in butter, it is simply delicious. Found from
May to October.
[Illustration: Figure 189.--Pluteus cervinus.]
_Pluteus granularis. Pk._
[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._
Figure 190.--Pluteus granularis.]
Pileus is convex, then expanded, slightly umbonate, wrinkled, sprinkled
with minute blackish granules, varying in color from yellow to brown.
The gills are rather broad, close, ventricose, free, whitish, then
flesh-colored.
The stem is equal, solid, pallid, or brown, usually paler at the top,
velvety with a short, close pile.
The spores are subglobose, about .0002 inch in diameter. The plant is
two to three inches high, pileus one to two inches broad, stem one to
two lines thick. _Peck_, 38th Rep. N. Y. State Bot.
This is a much smaller species than P. cervinus, but its esculent
qualities are quite as good. Found from July to October.
_Pluteus eximius. Smith._
_Eximius, choice, distinguished._ The pileus is fleshy, bell-shaped when
young, expanded, beautifully fringed on the margin, larger than the
cervinus.
The gills are free, broad, ventricose, white at first, then
rose-colored, flesh white, and firm.
The stem is thick, solid, and clothed with fibers. Dr. Herbst, Fungal
Flora of the Lehigh Valley.
I found some beautiful specimens in George Mosher's icehouse. I am very
sorry I did not photograph them.
_Volvaria. Fr._
The spores of this genus are regular, oval, rosy-spored. The veil is
universal, forming a perfect volva, distinct from the cuticle of the
pileus. The stem is easily separable from the pileus. The gills are
free, rounded behind, at first white, then pink, soft. Most of the
species grow on wood. Some on damp ground, rich mold, in gardens, and in
hot-houses. One is a parasite on Clitocybe nebularis and monadelphus.
_Volvaria bombycina. (Pers.) Fr._
THE SILKY VOLVARIA. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Plate XXIX. Figure 191.--Volvaria bombycina.
The egg form of the V. bombycina showing the universal veil or volva
bursting at the apex. These are unusually large specimens.]
[Illustration: Figure 192.--Volvaria bombycina. Two-thirds natural size.
Entire plant white and silky.]
[Illustration: Figure 193.--Volvaria bombycina. Two-thirds natural size,
showing the gills, which are pink, then dark-brown.]
Bombycina is from _bombyx_, _silk_. This plant is so called because of
the beautiful silky lustre of the entire plant. The pileus is three to
eight inches broad, globose, then bell-shaped, finally convex and
somewhat umbonate, white, the entire surface silky, in older specimens
more or less scaly, sometimes smooth at the apex. The flesh is white
and not thick.
The gills are free, very crowded, broad, ventricose, flesh-colored, not
reaching the margin, toothed. The stem is three to six inches long,
tapering upward, solid, smooth, the tough volva remaining like a cup at
the base. The spores are rosy in mass, smooth, and elliptical. The volva
is large, membranaceous, somewhat viscid.
The plant in Figure 192 was found August 16th, on a maple tree where a
limb had been broken, on North High Street, Chillicothe. Many people had
passed along and enjoyed the shade of the trees but its discovery
remained for Miss Marian Franklin, whose eyes are trained to see birds,
flowers, and everything beautiful in nature.
I have found the plant frequently about Chillicothe, usually solitary;
but on one occasion I found three specimens upon one trunk, apparently
growing from the same mycelial mass. The caps of two of them were each
five inches across. It usually grows on maple and beech. If you will
observe a hollow beech, or sugar snag of which one side is broken away,
leaving the sheltered yet open nestling place, you are very likely to
find snugly enscounced in its decaying heart one or more specimens of
these beautiful silky plants. The volva is quite thick and frequently
the plant, when in the egg state, has the appearance of a phalloid.
Found from June to October.
_Volvaria umbonata. Peck._
THE UMBONATE VOLVARIA.
[Illustration: Figure 194.--Volvaria umbonata. Two-thirds natural size.
Entire plant white and silky.]
Umbonata, having an umbo or conical projection like the boss of a
shield. This plant is quite common on the richly manured lawns of
Chillicothe. I have found it from June to October. The pileus is white
or whitish, sometimes grayish, often smoky on the umbo; globose when
young, bell-shaped, plane when fully expanded, umbonate, smooth;
slightly viscid when moist, shining when dry, inch to an inch and a half
broad. The flesh is white and very soft.
The gills are free, white at first, then from flesh-color to a reddish
hue from the rosy-colored spores; some of the gills are dimidiate,
somewhat crowded, broader in the middle.
The stem is two inches to two and a half long, tapering from the base
up, smooth, cylindrical, hollow and firm. The volva is always present,
free, variously torn, white and sometimes grayish.
The entire plant is silky when dry. I have found it growing in my buggy
shed. It is not abundant, though quite common. I have never eaten it,
but I do not doubt its edibility.
_Volvaria pusilla. Pers._
[Illustration: Figure 195.--Volvaria pusilla.]
The pileus is explanate, white, fibrillose, dry, striate, center
slightly depressed when mature.
The gills are white, becoming flesh-color, from the color of the spores,
free, distant.
The stem is white, smooth, volva split to the base into four nearly
equal segments. The spores are broadly elliptical, 5-6 mc.
This is the smallest species of the Volvaria. It grows on the ground
among the weeds and is apt to escape the attention of the collector
unless he knows its habitat. It is quite likely that V. parvula is the
same plant as this. Also V. temperata, although it has a different
habitat, seems to be very near this species. The plants in Figure 195
were collected in Michigan and photographed by Dr. Fischer. The volva is
brown-tipped as shown in the figure given.
_Volvaria volvacea. Bull._
THE STOVE VOLVARIA.
It is called "The Stove Volvaria" because it has been found in old
unused stoves. Pileus fleshy, soft, bell-shaped, then expanded, obtuse,
virgate, with adpressed black fibrils. The gills are free,
flesh-colored, and inclined to deliquesce. The stem is solid, subequal,
white. The volva loose, whitish. The spores are smooth, elliptical.
This is a much smaller plant than the V. bombycina and grows in the
ground. It is often found in hot-houses and cellars.
_Entoloma. Fr._
Entoloma is from two Greek words; _entos_, within; _loma_, a fringe,
referring to the inner character of the veil, which is seldom even
apparent. The members of this genus have rosy spores which are
prominently angular. There is neither volva, nor annulus. The gills are
attached to the stem or notched near the junction of the gills and the
stem. The pileus is fleshy and the margin incurved, especially when
young. The stem is fleshy, fibrous, sometimes waxy, continuous with the
pileus. It corresponds with Hypholoma, Tricholoma, and Hebeloma. It can
always be separated from the rosy-spored genera by the notched gills.
The flesh-colored spores and gills distinguish the Entoloma from the
Hebeloma, which has ochre-spored ones, and Tricholoma, which has white
ones.
All the species, so far as I know, have rather a pleasant odor, and for
that reason it is highly necessary that the genus and species should be
thoroughly known, as they are all dangerous.
_Entoloma rhodopolium. Fr._
THE ROSE-GRAY ENTOLOMA.
[Illustration: Figure 196.--Entoloma rhodopolium. Three-fourths natural
size.]
Rhodopolium is composed of two Greek words, rose and gray.
The pileus is two to five inches broad, hygrophanous; when moist
dingy-brown or livid, becoming pale when dry, isabelline-livid,
silky-shining; slightly fleshy, bell-shaped when young, then expanded
and somewhat umbonate, or gibbous, at length rather plane and sometimes
depressed; fibrillose when young, smooth when full grown; margin at
first bent inwards and when large, undulated. Flesh white.
The gills adnate, then separating, somewhat sinuate, slightly distant,
broad, white, then rose color.
The stem is two to four inches long, hollow; equal when smaller, when
larger, attenuated upward; white pruinate at the apex, otherwise smooth;
slightly striate, white, often reddish from spores. Spores 8-10x6-8u.
_Fries_.
The plant is found in mixed woods and is rather common. Captain
McIlvaine reports it edible, but I have never eaten any of the
Entolomas. Some of them have a bad reputation. Found in September and
October.
_Entoloma grayanum. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 197.--Entoloma grayanum. One-half natural size.]
The pileus is convex to expanded, sometimes broadly umbonate, drab in
color, the surface wrinkled or rugose, and watery in appearance. The
flesh is thin and the margin incurved.
The gills are at first drab in color, but lighter than the pileus,
becoming pinkish in age. The spores on paper are very light
salmon-color. They are globose or rounded in outline, 5-7 angled, with
an oil globule, 8-10u, in diameter.
The stem is of the same color as the pileus, but lighter, striate,
hollow, somewhat twisted, and enlarged below. The above accurate
description was taken from Atkinson's Studies of American Fungi. The
plants were found near a slate cut on the B. & O. railroad near
Chillicothe. Not edible. This species and E. grisea are very closely
related. The latter is darker in color, with narrower gills, and has a
different habitat.
_Entoloma subcostatum. Atkinson n. sp._
[Illustration: Plate XXX. Figure 198.--Entoloma subcostatum.
Mature plants showing broad gills and very thin flesh, also fibrous
striate stems.]
Subcostatum means somewhat ribbed, referring to the gills.
Plants gregarious or in troups or clusters, 6-8 cm. high; pileus 4-8
cm. broad; stems 1-1.5 cm. thick.
The pileus is dark-gray to hair-brown or olive-brown, often subvirgate
with darker lines; gills light salmon-color, becoming dull; stem colored
as the pileus, but paler; in drying the stems usually become as dark as
the pileus.
Pileus subviscid when moist, convex to expanded, plane or subgibbous,
not umbonate, irregular, repand, margin incurved; flesh white, rather
thin, very thin toward the margin.
Gills are broad, 1-1.5 cm. broad, narrowed toward the margin of the
pileus, deeply sinuate, the angles usually rounded, adnexed, easily
becoming free, edge usually pale, sometimes connected by veins,
sometimes costate, especially toward the margin of the pileus.
Basidia four-spored. Spores subglobose, about six angles, 8-10u in
diameter, some slightly longer in the direction of the apiculus,
pale-rose under the microscope.
Stem even, fibrous striate, outer bark subcartilaginous, flesh white,
stuffed, becoming fistulose.
Odor somewhat of old meal and nutty, not pleasant; taste similar.
Related to E. prunuloides, Fr., and E. clypeatum, Linn. Differs from the
former in dark stem and uneven pileus, differs from the latter in being
subviscid, with even stem, and pileus not umbonate and much more
irregular, and differs from both in subcostate gills. _Atkinson_.
The specimens in Plate XXX grew in grassy ground on the campus of the
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. They were collected by R. A.
Young and photographed by Dr. W. A. Kellerman, and through his courtesy
I publish it. The plants were found the last of October, 1906.
_Entoloma salmonea. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 199.--Entoloma salmonea.]
Pileus thin, conical or campanulate, subacute, rarely with a minute
papilla at the apex, smooth, of a peculiar soft, ochraceous color,
slightly tinged with salmon or flesh color.
The gills and stem are colored like the pileus. _Peck._
Dr. Peck says, "It is with some hesitation that this is proposed as a
species, its resemblance to another species is so close. The only
difference is found in its color and in the absence of the prominent
cusp of that plant. In both species the pileus is so thin that in well
dried specimens, slender, dark, radiating lines on it, mark the position
of the lamellae beneath, although in the living plant these are not
visible." The plant in Figure 199 was found in Purgatory Swamp near
Boston, by Mrs. Blackford. They are found in August and September.
_Entoloma clypeatum. Linn._
THE BUCKLER ENTOLOMA.
_Clypeatum, a shield or buckler._ The pileus is slightly fleshy, lurid
when moist, when dry gray and rather shining, streaked, spotted,
campanulate, then expanded, umbonate, smooth, watery.
Gills just reaching the stem, rounded, ventricose, somewhat distant,
minutely toothed, dirty flesh-color.
The stem is stuffed, then hollow, equal, round, clothed with small
fibers, becoming pale, covered with a minute powdery substance. The
flesh is white when dry. This plant will be distinguished usually by the
amount of white mycelium at the base of the stem. Dr. Herbst remarks
that it is a genuine Entoloma. It is certainly a beautiful plant when
fully developed. It is found in woods and in rich grounds from May till
September. Label it poisonous until its reputation is established.
_Clitopilus. Fr._
Clitopilus is from _clitos_, a declivity; pilos, a cap. This genus has
neither volva nor ring. It is often more or less eccentric, margin at
first involute; stem fleshy, diffused upward into the pileus; the gills
are white at first, then pink or salmon-color as the plant matures and
the spores begin to fall; decurrent, never notched. The pileus is more
or less depressed, darker in the center. The spores are salmon-color, in
some cases rather pale, smooth or warted. Clitopilus is closely related
to Clitocybe, the latter having white gills, the former pink. It differs
from Entoloma just as Clitocybe differs from Tricholoma. It can always
be distinguished from Eccilia because the stem is never cartilaginous at
the surface. It differs from the genus, Flammula, mainly in the color of
the spores.
_Clitopilus prunulus. Scop._
THE PLUM CLITOPILUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 200.--Clitopilus prunulus.]
Prunulus means a small plum; so called from the white bloom covering the
plant.
The pileus is two to four inches broad, fleshy, firm; at first convex,
then expanded, at length becoming slightly depressed, often eccentric,
as will be seen in Figure 200; whitish, often covered with a frost-like
bloom, margin often wavy, bending backward.
The gills are strongly decurrent, comparatively few of full length,
white, then flesh-color.
The stem is solid, white, naked, striate, short. Spores, 7-8x5.
This is one of the most interesting plants because of the various forms
it presents.
I have found it in various parts of the state and frequently about
Chillicothe. It has a pleasant taste, and an odor reminding you of new
meal. It is tender and its flavor is excellent.
Found in woods or open woods, especially where it is damp, and under
beech trees, as well as oak. Found from June to October.
The plants in Figure 200 were collected near Ashville, N. C., and
photographed by Prof. H. C. Beardslee.
_Clitopilus orcellus. Bull._
THE SWEET-BREAD CLITOPILUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 201.--Clitopilus orcellus.]
Orcellus is a diminutive meaning a small cask; from _orca_, a cask.
The pileus is fleshy, soft, plane, or slightly depressed, often
irregular, even when young; slightly silky, somewhat viscid when moist;
white or yellowish-white, flesh white, taste and odor farinaceous.
The gills are deeply decurrent, close, whitish, then flesh-color.
The stem is short, solid, flocculose, often eccentric, thickened above.
The spores are elliptical, 9-10x5u. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N. Y.
This plant resembles the Plum mushroom, C. prunulus, very closely in
appearance, taste and odor, but it is considerably smaller. It grows in
wet weather, in open fields and lawns. It is quite widely distributed in
our state, having found it in Salem, Bowling Green, Sidney, and
Chillicothe. I frequently find it associated with Marasmius oreades. The
specimens in Figure 201 were found near Ashville, N. C., and were
photographed by Prof. H. C. Beardslee. Found from July to October.
_Clitopilus abortivus. B. and C._
THE ABORTIVE CLITOPILUS. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 202.--Clitopilus abortivus. Two-thirds natural
size, showing the grayish-brown cap and solid stem.]
Abortivus means abortive or imperfectly developed; so called from its
many irregular and undeveloped forms.
The pileus is fleshy, firm, convex, or nearly plane, regular or
irregular, dry, clothed with a minute silky tomentum, becoming smoother
with age, gray or grayish-brown, flesh white, taste and odor
subfarinaceous.
The gills are slightly or deeply decurrent, at first whitish or pale
gray, then flesh-colored. Spores irregular, 7.5-10x6.5u.
The stem is nearly equal, solid, minutely flocculose, sometimes fibrous,
striate, paler than the pileus. _Peck_, 42d Report N. Y.
There are often three forms of this plant; a perfect form, an imperfect
form, and an abortive form as will be seen in Figure 203. The abortive
forms seem to be more common, especially in this locality. They will be
taken at first to be some form of puff-ball. They are found in open
woods and in ravines. I found some very fine specimens under beech trees
on Cemetery Hill. They are, however, widely distributed over the state
and the United States. The specimens in Figure 203 were collected near
Ashville and photographed by Prof. Beardslee.
[Illustration: Figure 203.--Clitopilus abortivus. Abortive forms.
Edible.]
_Clitopilus subvilis. Pk._
THE SILKY-CAPPED CLITOPILUS. EDIBLE.
Subvilis means very cheap, insignificant.
The pileus is thin, centrally depressed or umbilicate, with the margin
decurved, hygrophanus, dark-brown, striate on the margin when moist,
taste farinaceous.
The gills are subdistant, adnate, or slightly decurrent, whitish when
young, then flesh-colored.
The stem is slender, brittle, rather long, stuffed or hollow, glabrous,
colored like the pileus or a little paler.
The spores are angular, 7.5-10u. _Peck_, 42d Rept.
This plant is distinguished from Clitopilus villis by its shining
pileus, widely separated gills, and farinaceous taste. Found on
Ralston's Run and in Haynes' Hollow, near Chillicothe, from July to
October.
_Clitopilus Noveboracensis. Pk._
[Illustration: Figure 204.--Clitopilus Noveboracensis. Two-thirds
natural size.]
Noveboracensis, the New York Clitopilus. Pileus thin, convex, then
expanded or slightly depressed; dingy-white, cracked in areas or
concentrically rivulose, sometimes obscurely zonate; odor farinaceous,
taste bitter.
Gills narrow, close, deeply decurrent, some of them forked, white,
becoming dingy, tinged with yellow or flesh-color.
Stem equal, solid, colored like the pileus, the mycelium white, often
forming white, branching, root-like fibers. Spores globose.
Prof. Beardslee thinks that this species is doubtless identical with _C.
popinalis_ of Europe. He has submitted specimens and photographs to
European mycologists, who hold to this view.
I found this plant quite abundant on the Huntington Hills after heavy
rains in August. Their season is from August to October. The specimens
in Figure 204 were found growing among leaves after a heavy rain October
10th. The plants have a tendency to turn blackish if they are bruised in
handling them.
Var. brevis. This is so called from its short stem. The margin of the
pileus is pure white when moist. Gills attached to the stem or slightly
decurrent.
_Eccilia. Fr._
Eccilia is from a Greek verb which means "I hollow out"; so called
because the hollow cartilaginous stem expands upward into a
membranaceous pileus, whose margin at first is incurved. Gills
decurrent, attenuated behind.
This genus corresponds with Omphalia and is separated from Clitopilus by
the cartilaginous, smooth stem.
_Eccilia carneo-grisea. B. & Br._
THE FLESH-GRAY ECCILIA. EDIBLE.
[Illustration: Figure 205.--Eccilia carneo-grisea. Caps dark-gray or
slate color. Gills rosy.]
Carneo-grisea means fleshy-gray.
The pileus is one inch or more broad, umbilicate, dark-gray or grayish
flesh color, finely striate, margin darkened with micaceous particles.
The gills are distant, adnate, decurrent, rosy, slightly undulate,
margin irregularly darkened.
The stem is one to two inches long, slender, smooth, hollow, wavy, same
color as the pileus, white tomentose at the base.
Spores irregularly oblong, rough, 7x5u.
It is found from Nova Scotia through the Middle West. It is commonly
reported in fir and pine woods but I find it on the hillsides about
Chillicothe in mixed woods. It is frequently found here associated with
Boletinus porosus.
Found in July, August, and September.
_Eccilia polita. Pers._
[Illustration: Figure 206.--Eccilia polita. Natural size. Caps
hair-brown to olive, umbilicate.]
Polita means having been furbished.
The pileus is one inch or more broad, convex, umbilicate, somewhat
membranaceous, watery, livid or hair-brown to olive, smooth, shining
when dry, finely striate on the margin.
The gills are slightly decurrent, crowded, irregular or uneven, flesh
color.
The stem is cartilaginous, stuffed or hollow, lighter in color than the
pileus, equal or sometimes slightly enlarged at the base, polished from
which the specific name is derived.
This is a larger plant than E. carneo-grisea; and it differs materially
in the character of its spores, which are strongly angled and some of
them square, 10-12u in diameter, with a prominent mucro at one angle.
It is found in the woods from September to frost.
_Leptonia. Fr._
Leptonia means slender, thin.
The spores are salmon-color and irregular. The pileus is never truly
fleshy, cuticle always torn into scales, disk umbilicate, and often
darker than the margin which is at first incurved. The gills are
attached to the stem and easily separated in old plants. The stem is
rigid, with cartilaginous bark, hollow or stuffed, smooth, shining,
often dark-blue, confluent with the cap.
_Leptonia incana. Fr._
THE HOARY LEPTONIA.
Incana means hoary or grayish-white.
The pileus is about one inch broad, somewhat membranaceous, convex, then
plane, depressed in the center, smooth, with a silky lustre, margin
striate.
The gills are attached to the stem, broad, somewhat distant, white, then
greenish.
The stem is hollow, shining, smooth, brownish-green. The spores are very
irregular, dull-yellowish, pink, rough, 8-9u.
It is frequently found in pastures after warm rains. They grow in
clusters, and have the odor of mice to a marked degree.
_Leptonia serrulata. Pers._
SAW LEPTONIA.
[Illustration: Figure 207.--Leptonia serrulata.]
Serrulata means saw-bearing, so named from the serrulate character of
the gills.
The pileus is dark-blue, flesh thin, umbilicate, depressed, without
striate, squamulose.
The gills are attached to the stem, with a dark serrulate edge.
The stem is thin, cartilaginous, paler than the pileus.
_Nolanea. Fr._
Nolanea means a little bell, so called from the shape of the pileus.
It is rosy-spored. The stem is cartilaginous and hollow. The pileus is
submembranaceous, thin, bell-shaped, papillate, margin straight, pressed
close to the stem. The gills are free and not decurrent. They are found
growing on the ground in the woods and pastures.
_Nolanea pascua. P._
THE PASTURE NOLANEA.
Pascua means pasture.
The pileus is membranaceous, conical, then expanded, slightly umbonate,
smooth, striate, watery; when dry, shining like silk.
The gills are nearly free, ventricose, crowded, dirty-grayish.
The stem is hollow, fragile, silky-fibrous, striate. The spores are
irregular, 9-10. They are found in pastures in summer and fall, after
a rain.
_Nolanea conica. Pk._
THE CONE NOLANEA.
The pileus is thin, membranaceous, conical, with a minute umbo or
papilla, cinnamon-color, striatulate when moist.
The gills are light flesh-color, nearly free.
The stem is slender, straight, hollow.
Found in moist woods.
_Claudopus. Smith._
Claudopus is from two Greek words: _claudos_, lame; _pus_, foot.
The pileus is eccentric or lateral like the Pleuroti. The species were
formerly placed in the Pleuroti and Crepidoti, which they very closely
resemble, save in the color of the spores. This genus formerly included
those plants which have lilac spores, but Prof. Fries limited it to
those which have pink spores. The spores in some species are even and in
others, rough and angular. The stem is either wanting or very short,
hence its name. All are found on decayed wood.
_Claudopus nidulans. Pers._
[Illustration: Figure 208.--Claudopus nidulans. One-half natural size.
Cap yellow or buff. Gills orange-yellow.]
Nidulans is from _nidus_, a nest.
The pileus is sessile, sometimes narrowed behind into a short stem-like
base, caps often overlapping one another, kidney-shaped, quite downy,
the margin involute, hairy toward the margin, a rich yellow or buff
color.
The gills are broad, moderately close, orange-yellow.
The spores are even, 3-5x1u, elongated, somewhat curved, delicate pink
in mass. It is quite common in the woods about Chillicothe. A maple log
from which I secured the specimen photographed in Figure 208 was
completely covered and presented a beautiful sight. It has a rather
strong and disagreeable odor. It is edible, but generally tough, and
must be chopped very fine and cooked well. It is found in woods, on logs
and stumps, from August to November.
_Claudopus variabilis. Pers._
_Variabilis, variable or changeable._ The pileus is white, thin,
resupinate--that is the plant seems to be on its back, the gills being
turned upward toward the light, quite downy, even, being fastened in the
center to a short downy stem.
The gills are at first white, then of the color of the spores.
It is found on decaying limbs and branches in the woods. It is quite
common everywhere.