WHITE-SPORED AGARICS. 118 



Hygrophorus I'uliKiiieus Frost. Bdible. — TIk- smoky li\tzropliorus was 

 described in the ^s^'i Report of the N. V. State Museum, p. 134. It 

 is an American plant, and was first collected at West Albany, dur- 

 ing the month ot November. It is one of the larger species of the 

 genus, and grows on the ground in woods, in late autumn. The 

 plants are 5-10 cm. high, the cap from 3-10 cm. broad, and the stem 

 1-2 cm. in thickness. The large size of the plant together with the 

 smoky, brown, viscid cap aid in the recognition of the plant. 



The piieus is conve.x, becoming expanded, smooth, very viscid, 

 dull reddish brown or smoky brown, darker on the center ; the mar- 

 gin of the piieus is even in young specimens, becoming irregular in 

 others ; and in age often elevated more or less. The gills are broad, 

 distant, usLuill\- decurrent, often connected by veins, white, with yel- 

 lowish tinge in drying. The spores o\al to elliptical, <S-i2 x 5-7 /<. 

 The stem is stout, sometimes ascending, equal, or enlarged in the 

 middle, or tapering toward the base, solid, viscid like the piieus, 

 usually white, sometimes tinged with the same color as piieus, some- 

 what yellowish tinged in drying. 



Figure 114 is from plants (No. 2546, C. U. herbarium) collected 

 in Enfield Gorge near Ithaca, Nov. 5, 1898. 



Hygrophorus pratensis (Pers.) Fr. Edible. This liygrophorus grows 

 on the ground in pastures, old fields, or in waste places, or in thin 

 and open woods, from mid-summer to late autumn. The plants are 

 3-5 cm. high, the cap 2-5 cm. or more broad, and the stem 6-12 mm. 

 in thickness. The cap being thick at the center, and the stem being 

 usually stouter at the apex, often gives to the plant a shape like that 

 of a top. 



The piieus is hemispherical, then convex, then nearly or quite 

 expanded, white, or with various shades of yellow or tawny, or buff, 

 not viscid, often cracking in dry weather. Flesh very thick at the 

 center, thinner at the margin. The flesh is tirm and white. The 

 gills are stout, distant, long decurrent, white or yellowish, and 

 arcuate when the margin of the piieus is incurved in the young 

 state, then ascending as the piieus takes the shape (^f an in\erted 

 cone. The gills are connected across the interspaces by vein-like 

 folds, or elevations. The spores ari' nearly globose to ovate or nearh' 

 elliptical, white, 6-8 x 5-6 11. The stem is smooth, tirm outside 

 and spongy within, tapering downward. 



Hygrophorus minialus Fr. The vermilion hx'grophorus, is a very 

 common plant in the woods during the summer. The cap and stem 

 are bright red, sometimes vermilion. The gills are yellow and often 

 tinged with red. The gills are adnate or sinuate. The plant is a 



