! T 8 BASIDIOMYCE TES 



the pileus varies up to four inches wide and the stem is short, 

 varying from a half an inch to two inches long ; taste peppery. 



L. volemus is an edible species with a reddish-brown pileus two 

 to five inches across and a stem one to four inches long of nearly 

 the same color as the pileus ; it is commonly gregarious. L. 

 rufns, a smaller brighter red species with an acrid peppery taste, 

 is said to be poisonous. 



B. Species with orange-colored milk. 



L. deliciosus, as its name would imply, is an edible species easily 

 recognized by its usually depressed grayish-orange pileus which is 

 marked with brighter zones ; the lamellae have nearly the same 

 color ; when found it is usually gregarious. L. Chelidonium has 

 a yellow milk nearly the color of that flowing from celandine. 



C. Species with blue milk. 



L. Indigo is our only species which is characterized by its color, 

 which is almost prussian blue within and a whitish blue without. 



6. Genera with a leathery pileus and grooved or splitting vil- 

 lous lamellae. (SCHIZOPHYLLEAE.) 



Schizophyllum is the only genus of which S. commune is every- 

 where common on standing saplings or on fallen branches, vary- 

 ing from a half an inch to two inches across. A second species 

 has been reported from New Mexico. 



7. Genera with a tough, leathery, thin membranous, or rarely 

 somewhat fleshy, pileus, which revives after drying at the return 

 of moisture. (MARASMIEAE.) 



This tribe is made up chiefly of the genus Marasmius, of which 

 we have numerous,* mostly small species. A larger edible spe- 

 cies, M. oreades, is commonly known as the fairy-ring, because 

 of its habit of growth in circles ; it is very common in pastures. 

 Besides this genus we have a single representative of the tropical 

 genus Anthracophyllum in South Carolina, a single species of 

 Heliomyces in Alabama, two species of Xerotus also southern, 



*Some sixty species are described from this country. Morgan (Jour. 

 Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist. 6 : 189-194), describes seventeen species oc- 

 curring in Ohio, and Peck (Reg. Rep. 23 : 124-126), describes seven 

 occurring in New York, but many have since been reported. 



