182 STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



The spores are yellowish brown or some shade of this color in mass, 

 lighter yellowish brown under the microscope, fusiform or nearly 

 so, and 7-10 x 2-4 //. The annulus is very variable, sometimes col- 

 lapsing as a narrow ring around the stem as in Fig. 173, from 

 plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., September, 1899 (B. sub- 

 luteus Pk.), and sometimes appearing as a broad, free collar, as in 

 Fig. 174. The veil is more or less gelatinous, and in an early stage 

 of the plant may cover the stem as a sheath. The lower part of 

 the stem is sometimes covered at maturity with the sheathing por- 

 tion of the veil, the upper part only appearing as a ring. In this 

 way, the lower part of the stem being covered, the glandular dots 

 are not evident, while the stem is seen to be dotted above the 

 annulus. But in many cases the veil slips off from the lower portion 

 of the stem at an early stage, and then in its slimy condition 

 collapses around the upper part of the stem, leaving the stem 

 uncovered and showing the dots both above and below the ring 

 (B. subluteus}. 



An examination of the figures of the European plant shows that 

 the veil often slips off from the lower portion of the stem in B. luteus, 

 especially in the figures given by Krombholtz, T. 33. In some of 

 these figures the veil forms a broad, free collar, and the stem is then 

 dotted both above and below, as is well shown in the figures. In 

 other figures where the lower part of the veil remains as a sheath 

 over the lower part of the stem, the dots are hidden. I have three spec- 

 imens of the B. luteus of Europe from Dr. Bresadola, collected at Tren- 

 to, Austria-Hungary : one of them has the veil sheathing the lower 

 part of the stem, and the stem only shows the dots above the an- 

 nulus ; a second specimen has the annulus in the form of a collapsed 

 ring near the upper end of the stem, and the stem dotted both above 

 and below the annulus ; in the third specimen the annulus is in the 

 form of a broad, free collar, and the stem dotted both above and be- 

 low. The plants shown in Fig. 174 (No. 4124, C. U. herbarium) were 

 collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899. They 

 were found in open woods under Kalmia were the sun had an op- 

 portunity to dry out the annulus before it became collapsed or agglut- 

 inated against the stem, and the broad, free collar was formed. My 

 notes on these specimens read as follows: "The pileus is convex, 

 then expanded, rather thick at the center, the margin thin, some- 

 times sterile, incurved. In color it runs from ecru drab to hair-brown 

 with streaks of the latter, and it is very viscid when moist. When 

 dried the surface of the pileus is shining. The tubes are plane or 

 concave, adnate, tawny-olive to walnut-brown. The tubes are 



