CLASSIFICATION OP A.6ARII I (.; 



119. Russula mariae l'k. (EDIBLE 



X. V. State .Mus. Rep. 24, 1872. 



Illustrations: x. Y. State Bins. Bull. 75, Pig. i 8, 1904. 

 Plate XV] 1 1 of this Report. 



PILEUS 3-9 cm. broad, firm, subhemispherical a1 first, then 

 broadly convex to plane and depressed, dry, Bubviscid when wet, 

 pruinose-velvety, dark crimson, reddish-purple or maroon-purple, 

 even, substriate only when old, margin at Aral incurved. FLESH 

 thick, thinner toward margin, compact, becoming softer, white, 

 sometimes reddish under pellicle, GILLS narrowly adnate or al 

 mosi subdecurrent, rather narrow, of nearly uniform width, whitt 

 then dingy cream-color, close to subdistant, equal, bifurcate al b 

 STEM 3-9 cm. long, 8 15 mm. thick, subequal or tapering downward, 

 firm then fragile, spongy-stuffed, pruinose, rosy-red to dull purplish- 

 red, especially in the middle, rarely white except a1 ends, white 

 within and unchanging. SPORES globose, tuberculate-crystallate, 

 7.8 micr., creamy-whitish in mass, scarcely yellowish-tinged. CYS- 

 TIDIA rather abnndant, lanceolate, 90 95s 12 mkr. BASIDIA 36 12 

 x9 micr. Subhymenbum of small cells, not sharply limited. TASTE 

 mild or rarely very slightly acrid. ODOE none. 



Gregarious. On the ground in frondose woods. Southern Michi- 

 gan. July-August. Infrequent. 



I have examined the type specimens and submitted drawings, pho- 

 tographs and specimens to Peck. Bis plants average smaller and his 

 figures and descriptions are deceptive as to size as compared with 

 most of the specimens round in Michigan. With as /.'. marie is near 

 ly always larger and has much of the appearance of Cooke's figure of 

 I,'. expalh us i in., pi. L029), bu1 thai species is said to have a reri 

 acrid taste. The pileus varies scarlet-red, reddish-purple, maroon 

 or dark purple. The caps of the purple forms have the appearance 

 of those of R. (/hi h Hi, /,'. purpurea and /.'. drimei of Cooke's pla 

 but all of tlioe have a very acrid taste. The rd form- agree quite 

 well with Gillet's and Michael's figures of R. linnaei, but Romell, 

 Maire, Bresadola and others consider /,'. linnaei as ;i doubtful 

 species. The stems of R. maria are nearly always somewhat col 

 ored. The pruinosity of the cap and stem is due to minute tufts 

 purplish or reddish hairs as seen under the mi< roscope. The pi 

 was named by Dr. Peck in honor of Ids wife Mary. The inter].! 

 lion of tin's species in my previous paper (Mich. Acad. Rep. i ! 

 ~n. 1909 i was an error. 



