226 Rhodora [ DECEMBER 
of the same general color as the cap, and more or less roughened by 
the breaking up of the outer surface. In Z. rhacodes the stem is white 
and somewhat pruinose. Moreover it stains brown on being handled, 
a point not noted by Vittadini, On exposure to the air the flesh of Z, 
rhacodes assumes a brownish orange tint. The cross-cut stem is even a 
dark red-brown. The same colors are seen in the expressed juice. A 
similar change of color to some shade of red has been noted in some 
forms of Z. procera. 
In spore characters the two species are markedly different, although 
in both there is a considerable variation in the size and shape of the 
spores. Recent examination of both dried and fresh material gives 
the following data : — 
L. procera: spores oblong-ellipsoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, always with 
an even outline, sometimes round-pointed at the smaller end ; contents 
granular; size 124 to 18+ by 93 to 123 y. 
L. rhacodes : spores irregularly ovoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, blunt or 
frequently truncate and angular at the smaller end, 1 to 4 guttulate ; 
markedly smaller than those of Z. procera, being 93 to 14+ by 61 to 
95 p- 
In habit and in habitat the two species are again different. Z. pro- 
cera is frequently solitary, grows in fields and woods, and is apparently 
native. Its distribution is wide. Z. racodes is usually caespitose, the 
bases of the stems being united in a thick white mass, sometimes as 
much as a foot across and over an inch thick, which lies almost entirely 
above ground. From such a mass, however, the individuals can be easily 
torn apart. 
As found about Boston Z. rhacodes has the appearance of an intro- 
duced plant. It occurs in or near greenhouses or in enriched soil out 
of doors. Some years ago in a greenhouse in Lynn the luxuriance oí 
its fruiting proved a nuisance to the florist who, unaware of its edibility, 
was at some trouble to keep his house clear of it, finding necessary the 
use of a rake and a bushel basket. In Cambridge it likewise grows in 
a greenhouse under the benches, where it appears in force towards the 
end of September, and occasionally also at various times during the 
winter. At Allston it is found on very rich soil where sweepings from 
cattle cars used to be thrown. Here the clusters are very dense, the 
pilei overlapping. The color in this out-of-door station is very much 
darker than in the other places mentioned, and in the greenhouses it is 
darker where the sun falls upon it. It has been found in greatest luxu- 
