DESCRIPTIONS OF FUNGI. 99 



Orange or Yellow. 



have sometimes a small decurrent tooth (Ste- 

 venson), but our specimen had none. It grew 

 together (caespitose) on a stump. Not edible. 



MARASMIUS OE.EADES = a mountain nymph. 

 The Fairy Ring Mushroom. 



Gap when young and moist is of a pale 

 yellowish-red, but fades when dry to pale yel- 

 low. It is from 1 to 2 inches broad, fleshy, 

 tough, convex, then plane, somewhat umbon- 

 ate, even, smooth, slightly striate at margin 

 when moist. Stem 1 to 2 inches long and 

 less than \ inch thick ; slender, solid, tough, 

 equal, sometimes cartilaginous, straight, cov- 

 ered with a close woven skin that can be rub- 

 bed off. Gills free or slightly attached, 

 whitish or creamy yellow, broad, distant, the 

 alternate ones shorter, rounded, or deeply 

 notched at inner end. These mushrooms grow 

 in circles and are called fairy rings. They are 

 found chiefly on lawns and pastures from May 

 till October. We saw one specimen in October. 

 It grew in a waste lot at Kaighn's Point, Cam- 

 den, N. J. It was solitary, of a brownish-yel- 

 low color, the cap 1 inch broad, and the stem 1 

 inch long. It was growing amidst some ballast 

 plants, the only mushroom there. 



