118 THE AGARICACEAE OF MICHIGAN 



white. MILK icatery or watery-white, unchanged, mild or slightly 

 woody. ODOR faint, somewhat like that of G. camphoratus." 



On the ground in open places or in wet places in woods. Ann 

 Arbor. August. Rare. 



Differs from L. camphoratus in that the pileus becomes rimose- 

 areolate and fades somewhat in age, and in its more tomentose stem. 



Russula Fr. 

 (From the Latin, russula, reddish.) 



Veil none; the trama composed of vesiculose tissue, without a 

 milky juice; gills rigid, fragile, acute on edge; stem central, con- 

 fluent with the pileus; spores globose or subglobose, usually echinu- 

 late or verrucose, white cream-color, yellow or ochraceous. 



Fleshy, putrescent, rigid-brittle mushrooms, mostly terrestrial, a 

 few on much decayed wood, on sphagnum or on other mosses. A 

 very distinct genus, most closely related to Lactarius, from which 

 it differs by its lack of a milky juice. Hygrophorus differs in the 

 thicker and more waxy nature of the gills although here there 

 are evident certain signs of relationship with species of Russula. 

 Almost all of the species are edible after careful cooking since even 

 the peppery forms then lose their sharp taste; in any case the mild 

 species are perfectly safe when fresh, young and clean. 



The PILEUS may be red, purple, violet, bluish, yellow, green or 

 white, except in the Compactae, a differentiated pellicle is present 

 on the surface of the cap. This pellicle is often composed of more 

 or less gelatinous hyphae and becomes viscid in wet weather, or it 

 may remain dry and become pruinose or velvety. The pellicle is 

 somewhat separable along the margin of the pileus and in many 

 of the Fragiles can be peeled easily on the whole surface. The 

 margin of the pileus is often striate at least in age. In the species 

 with a thin cap, the lines of attachment of the gills to the cap 

 show through as raised ridges which are often tuberculate because 

 of the presence of the interspacial veins beneath and these striae 

 may extend far toward the center of the pileus. In the species with 

 firm and thick caps, the striations are not as marked or are ob- 

 scurely developed on the margin only when the plant becomes old. 

 Still, this character is so variable that it must be used with caution 

 as a diagnostic character. The surface is usually glabrous or merely 

 pruinose to velvety; the latter appearance is due to cystidia-like 

 erect hyphae closely coveriug the pellicle. The GILLS of the differ- 



