Iieucosporse 



3 in. across, tough and flexible, unequal, excentric or dimidiate, margin 

 often lobed, cinnamon-color becoming pale, at length more or less 

 scaly. Flesh thin. Gills narrow, forming decurrent lines on the stem, 

 somewhat branched ; pinkish-white then pale-ochraceous. Stem about 

 % in. long, 34 lines thick, solid, unequal, pale, base downy. Massee. 



On trunks of beech, poplar, etc. 



Often imbricated and more or less grown together. Allied to Panus 

 torulosus, but distinguished by the much thinner pileus, more expanded 

 and excentric, also dimidiate, flaccid, cinnamon becoming pale, but the 

 form not constant. Stem about }* in. long, 4 lines thick, often com- 

 pressed, downy at the base. PileilS 24 in. broad, scaly when old. 

 Gills decurrent in long, parallel lines, not at all resembling those of 

 Pleurotus ostreatus, which anastomose behind, but frequently unequally 

 branched, at first whitish or pale flesh-color, then wood-color, crisped 

 when dry. Fries. 



Always known by its shell-like form and its tough substance. 



Sent to the writer by Mr. E. B. Sterling, Trenton, N. J. September, 

 1898. 



The appearance of scales upon the pileus was scarcely noticeable. 

 Taste pleasant. The fungus is tough when old, but yields an excellent 

 gravy. 



P. torulo'sus Fr. a tuft of hair. (Plate LIV, p. 232.) Pileus 2-3 

 in. broad, somewhat flesh-color, but varying reddish-livid and becoming 

 violet, entire, but very excentric, fleshy, somewhat compact when young, 

 plano-infundibuliform, even, smooth. Flesh pallid. Stem short, com- 

 monly I in., solid, oblique, tough, firm, commonly with gray, but often 

 violaceous down. Gills decurrent, somewhat distant, simple, separate 

 behind, reddish then tan-color. 



Very changeable in form, at first fleshy-pliant, at length coriaceous. 

 In the covering of the stem it approaches Paxillus atro-tomentosus, but 

 there is no affinity between them. Fries, 



On old stumps. 



Spores 6x3/x W. G. S. 



North Carolina, Curtis; Massachusetts, Frost; Minnesota, Johnson; 

 Kansas, Cragin; New York, Peck, Rep. 30. 



Much esteemed in France, W.D.H. Edible, but tough. M.C.C. 



233 



