Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi

=C. subvi´lis= Pk.—small value. =Pileus= thin, centrally depressed or umbilicate, with the margin decurved, hygrophanous, _dark-brown_ and striatulate on the margin when moist, grayish-brown and silky shining when dry, taste farinaceous. =Gills= _subdistant_, adnate or slightly decurrent, whitish when young, then flesh-colored. =Stem= slender, brittle, rather long, _stuffed or hollow_, glabrous, colored like the pileus or a little paler. =Spores= angular, 7.5–10µ. =Pileus= 8–15 lines broad. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 1–2 lines thick. Damp soil in thin woods. Albany county. October. The species is allied to C. vilis, from which it is separated by its silky-shining pileus, subdistant gills and farinaceous taste. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Scattered. Mt. Gretna, Pa. September to November. _McIlvaine._ Edible, pleasant. =C. Wood´ianus= Pk. =Pileus= thin, convex or nearly plane, umbilicate or centrally depressed, hygrophanous, striatulate on the margin when moist, _whitish or yellowish-white_ and shining when dry, the margin often wavy or flexuous. =Gills= close, adnate or slightly decurrent, whitish, then flesh-colored. =Stem= equal, flexuous, shining, _solid_, colored like the pileus. =Spores= subglobose, angular, 6–7.5µ. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 2 lines thick. Ground and decayed prostrate trunks in woods. Lewis county. September. This species is perhaps too closely allied to the preceding, but it may easily be separated by its paler color, closer gills and solid stem, though this is sometimes hollow from the erosion of insects. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =C. Un´derwoodii= Pk.—in honor of L.M. Underwood. =Pileus= rather thin but fleshy, nearly plane or slightly depressed in the center, even, whitish. =Gills= narrow, close, slightly decurrent, pale flesh-colored. =Stem= rather short, equal or slightly tapering upward, solid, whitish. =Spores= subglobose, 4–5µ long. =Pileus= 6–18 lines broad. =Stem= about 1 in. long and 2 lines thick. Syracuse and Jamesville. September and October. _L.M. Underwood._ _Peck_, 49th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. SPORES ROSY-RED. =C. erythro´sporus= Pk. _Gr_—red-spored. =Pileus= thin, hemispherical or strongly convex, glabrous or merely pruinose, pinkish-gray. =Flesh= whitish tinged with pink, taste farinaceous. =Gills= narrow, crowded, arcuate, _deeply decurrent_, colored like the pileus. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, hollow, slightly pruinose at the top, _colored like the pileus_. =Spores= elliptical, 5×3–4µ. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–1.5 in. long, 2–3 lines thick. Decayed wood and among fallen leaves in woods. Albany and Ulster counties. September and October. The species is easily recognized by its peculiar uniform color, its narrow, crowded and generally very decurrent gills and by its bright rosy-red spores. Sometimes individuals occur in which the gills are less decurrent. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Mt. Gretna, Pa., among fallen leaves. Sparsely gregarious. September to November. _McIlvaine._ Edible, good. =C. conis´sans= Pk.—dusted. =Pileus= thin, convex, glabrous, pale alutaceous, often _dusted by the copious spores_. =Gills= close, _adnate_, reddish-brown. =Stem= slender, brittle, hollow, cespitose, _white_. =Spores= narrowly elliptical, 7.5×4µ. =Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 1–2 lines thick. Base of an apple tree. Catskill mountains. September. Remarkable for the bright rosy-red spores which are sometimes so thickly dusted over the lower pilei of a tuft as to conceal their real color. The species is very rare. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. SPORES VERY PALE FLESH-COLORED, MERELY TINTED. =C. cæspito´sus= Pk.—tufted. =Pileus= at first convex, firm, nearly regular, shining, white, then nearly plane, fragile, often irregular or eccentric, glabrous but with a slight silky luster, _even_, whitish. =Flesh= white, _taste_ mild. =Gills= narrow, thin, crowded, often forked, adnate or slightly decurrent, whitish, becoming dingy or brownish-pink. =Stems= _cespitose_, solid, silky-fibrillose, slightly mealy at the top, white. =Spores= 5×4µ. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 2–4 lines thick. Thin woods and pastures. Ulster county. September. This is a large, fine species, very distinct by its cespitose habit, white color and very pale sordid-tinted spores. But for the color of these the plant might easily be taken for a species of Clitocybe. The tufts sometimes form long rows. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Mt. Gretna, Pa. October. _McIlvaine._ Tender, not much flavor. =C. Noveboracen´sis= Pk.—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, 4–5µ broad. Var. _brevis_. Margin of the pileus, in the moist plant, pure white. =Gills= adnate or slightly decurrent. =Stem= short. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, 1–3 lines thick. Woods and pastures. Adirondack mountains, Albany and Rensselaer counties. August to October. The plant is gregarious or cespitose. Sometimes, especially in the variety, it grows in lines or arcs of circles. The margin is often undulated, and in the variety it is, when fresh and moist, clothed with a film of interwoven webby white fibrils which give it a peculiar appearance, and if the spore characters are neglected it might be mistaken for Clitocybe phyllophila. The disk is often tinged with reddish-yellow or rusty hues when moist, and its rivulose character is then more distinct. A farinaceous odor is generally present, especially in the broken or bruised plant, but its taste is bitter and unpleasant. Sometimes bruises of the fresh plant manifest a tendency to assume a smoky-brown or blackish color. The base of the stem is sometimes clothed with a white mycelioid tomentum. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =C. Sey´mourianus= Pk.—=Pileus= fleshy, thin, broadly convex or slightly depressed, even, _pruinose, whitish with a dark lilac tinge_, sometimes lobed and eccentric. =Gills= narrow, crowded, decurrent, some of them forked at the base, whitish with a pale flesh-colored tint. =Stem= equal, silky-fibrillose, _hollow_. =Spores= minute, globose or nearly so, 3.5–4µ long. =Pileus= 1–2.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1.5–2.5 in. long, 3–4 lines thick. Woods. Lewis county. September. _Peck_, 42d Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =LEPTO´NIA= Fr. _Gr_—slender. (Plate LXVI.) [Illustration: LEPTONIA.] Rosy-spored. =Stem= _cartilaginous_, tubular (the tube stuffed or hollow), polished, somewhat shining. =Pileus= _thin_, umbilicate or with a darker disk, cuticle fibrillose or separating into darker scales, _margin at first incurved_. =Gills= at first adnexed or adnate but readily separating. _Fries._ The Leptoniæ are related to the Clitopili as the Collybiæ are to the Clitocybæ. The species are small, elegant, brightly colored, inodorous (except A. incanus), and abound _in rainy weather_. Gregarious or growing in troops; on the ground, commonly on dry mossy pastures, but also in marshy places. _Stevenson._ Six American species reported. I have not seen any. =NOLA´NEA= Fr. _Nola_, a little bell. (Plate LXVII.) [Illustration: Nolanea pascua. About natural size. ] Rosy-spored. =Stem= _tubed_, the tube more rarely stuffed with a pith, _cartilaginous_. =Pileus= somewhat membranaceous, _bell-shaped_, somewhat papillate, striate and sometimes even, sometimes also clothed with flocci, _margin straight and at the first pressed to the stem_, and not involute. =Gills= free or adfixed, and not decurrent. _Fries_. Nolanea agrees with Leptonia and Eccilia among the pink-spored species. It corresponds with Mycena, Galera and Psathyra. Several Entolomata are nearly allied. The species are thin and slender, commonly inodorous and fragile, though some of them are tough. Growing on the ground in summer and autumn. _Stevenson._ Seven American species reported. None seen by writer. _Peck_, Rep. 24, 26, 35, 39, 50. =ECCI´LIA= Fr. _Gr_—I hollow out. (Plate LXVIII.) [Illustration: ECCILIA ATROPUNCTA. Two-thirds natural size. ] =Stem= _cartilaginous_, tubular (the tube hollow or stuffed), expanded upward into the _pileus_, which is somewhat membranaceous and at the first turned inward at the margin. =Gills= attenuated behind, truly decurrent, becoming more so when the pileus is depressed, and not separating as those of Nolanea. Corresponding in structure with Omphalia of the white-spored and Tubaria of the brown-spored series. Allied to Clitopilus in the decurrent gills, but separated by the cartilaginous, smooth stem. (Plate LXIX.) [Illustration: ECCILIA CARNEO-GRISEA. Natural size. ECCILIA ATROPUNCTA. ] =E. car´neo-gri´sea= B. and Br.—_caro_, flesh; _griseus_, gray. =Pileus= about 1 in. broad, gray flesh-color, umbilicate, striate, delicately dotted, margin slightly glittering with dark particles. =Stem= about 1½ in. long, slender, fibrous-hollow upward, wavy, of the same color as the pileus, shining, smooth, white-downy at the base. =Gills= adnato-decurrent, somewhat undulated, distant, rosy, the irregular margin darker. _Stevenson._ =Spores= irregularly oblong, rough, 7×5µ _Massee_. Nova Scotia, _Dr. Somers_. New Jersey, _E.B. Sterling_, August, 1897; Eagle’s Mere, Pa., common under pines, _McIlvaine_. This neat little species is sweet and pleasant raw, and when cooked makes an agreeable dish. European authorities give the taste as unpleasant, but there is nothing of the sort about the American representative. =CLAU´DOPUS= Smith. _Claudus_—lame; _pous_—a foot. (Plate LXX.) [Illustration: CLAUDOPUS VARIABILIS. Natural size. ] =Pileus= eccentric, lateral or resupinate. =Spores= pinkish. The species of this genus were formerly distributed among the Pleuroti and Crepidoti, which they resemble in all respects except the color of the spores. The genus at first was made to include species with lilac-colored as well as pink spores, but Professor Fries limited it to species with pink spores. In this sense we have taken it. The spores in some species are even, in others rough or angulated. The stem is either entirely wanting or is very short and inconspicuous, a character indicated by the generic name. The pileus often rests upon its back and is attached by a point when young, but it becomes turned backward with age. The species are few and infrequent. All inhabit decaying wood. SYNOPSIS OF THE SPECIES. Pileus yellow C. nidulans Pileus white or whitish 1