OCHRE-SF'( )l''h:i) AGARICS. 163 



at Ithaca. The spiiit-s is widely distributed in tliis coiintr)' as well 

 as in H II rope. 



Cortinarius , Dermocybe ) ochnileiicus (Schaeff.) Fr. — This is a 

 very hL-autituI [^laiit because i>t \hv soft, silky appearance of the sur- 

 face of pilrus and stem, aiul thf delicate yellowish white color. 

 It occurs in woods, on the ^iround among decaying leaves. The 

 plants are 412 cm. high, the cap 47 cm. broad, and the stem above 

 is 6-10 mm. in thickness, and below from 2-3 cm. in thickness. 



The pileus is convex to nearly expanded, and sometimes a little 

 depressed, usually, however, remaining convex at the top. It is dr)-, 

 on the center finely tomentose to minutely squamulose, sometimes 

 the scales splitting up into concentric rows around tlu' cap. The cap 

 is fleshy at the center, and thin at the margin, the color is from cream 

 buff to buff, darker on the center. The gills are sinuate or adnate, 

 slightly broader in the middle (ventricose) in age, pale at first, then 

 becoming ochre yellow, and darker when the plant dries. The spores 

 are tawny in mass, oval, elliptical, minutely tuberculate when mature, 

 6-9 X 4-6 /<. The stem is clavate, pale cream buff in color, solid, 

 becoming irregularly flstulose in age, bulbous or somewhat ventri- 

 cose below, the bulb often large and abrupt, 1.5-3 cm. in diameter. 

 The veil is prominent and attached to the upper part of the stem, the 

 abundant threads attached over an area i cm. in extent and forming 

 a beautiful cortina of the same color as the pileus and stem, but be- 

 coming tawny when the spores fall on it. The stem varies consid- 

 erably in length and shape, being rarely ventricose, and then only 

 at the base ; the luilbous forms predominate and the bulb is often very 

 large. 



Figures 152, i^^ are from plants (No. 3674 (>. U. herbarium) 

 collected at Blowing Rock, N. C, during September, i.S(». 



BOLBITIUS Fries. 



The genus Bulbitius contains a few species with )'ellowish or \'el- 

 lowish brown spores. The plants are very fragile, more or less 

 mucilaginous when moist, usually with yellowish colors, and, what is 

 the most characteristic feature beside the yellowish color of the 

 spores, the gills are very soft, and at maturity tend to dissolve into 

 a mucilaginous consistency, though they do not diliquesce, or only 

 rarely dissolve so far as to form drops. The surface of the gills at 

 maturitv becomes covered with the spores so that they appear pow- 

 dery, as in the genus Corti)hiriits, which they also resemble in the 

 color of the spores. In the mucilaginous condition of the gills the 

 genus approaches Coprinns. It is believed to occupy an intermediate 



