140 STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



Pluteus tomentosulus Pk. This plant was described by Peck in the 

 32d Report, N. Y. State Mus., page 28, 1879. It grows on decaying 

 wood in the woods during July and August. The plants are 5-12 

 cm. high, the cap 3-7 cm. broad, and the stem 4-8 mm. in thickness. 

 The description given by Peck is as follows : " Pileus thin, convex 

 or expanded, subumbonate, dry, minutely squamulose-tomentose, 

 white, sometimes pinkish on the margin ; lamella* rather broad, 

 rounded behind, free, crowded, white then flesh colored ; stem equal, 

 solid, striate, slightly pubescent or subtomentose, white ; spores sub- 

 globose, 7 /< in diameter, generally containing a large single nucleus." 

 From the plant collected at Ithaca the following notes were made. 

 The pileus and stem are entirely white, the gills tlesh color. The 

 pileus is expanded, umbonate, thin except at the umbo, minutely 

 floccose squamulose, no pinkish tinge noted ; the tlesh is white, but 

 on the umbo changing to flesh color where wounded. The gills are 

 free, with a clear white space between stem and rounded edges, 

 crowded, narrow (about 3-4 mm. broad) edge finely fimbriate, prob- 

 ably formed by numerous bottle-shaped cystidia on the edge, and 

 which extend up a little distance on the side of the gills, but are not 

 distributed in numbers over the surface of the gills ; cystidia thin 

 walled, hyaline. The spores are tlesh colored, subglobose, 5-7 //. 

 Stem cylindrical, even, twisted somewhat, white, striate and minutely 

 squamulose like the pileus, but with coarser scales, especially toward 

 the base, solid, flesh white. 



The species received its name from the tomentose, striate charac- 

 ter of the stem. The plants (No. 3219, C. U. herbarium) illustrated 

 in Fig. 136 were collected in Enfield Gorge, vicinity of Ithaca, July 



28, 1899. 



VOLVARIA Fr. 



This genus takes its name from the volva, which means a wrap- 

 per, and which, as we know from our studies of Amanita, entirely 

 envelops the plant at a young stage. The genus is characterized 

 then by the rosy or reddish spores, the presence of a volva, and the 

 annulus is wanting. The stem is easily separable from the pileus at 

 its junction, in this respect being similar to Amanita, Amanitopsis, 

 Lepiota and others. The gills are usually, also, free from the stem. 

 The species grow on rotting wood, on leaf mould and on richly man- 

 ured ground, etc. They are of a very soft texture and usually soon 

 decay. 



Volvaria bombycina (Pers.) Fr. Edible. The silky volvaria is so 

 called because of the beautiful silky texture of the surface of the cap. 

 It is not very common, but is world wide in its distribution, and occurs 



