CLASSIFICATION OP AGARIi 183 



Flammula I i\ 

 i From the Latin, flamma, a (lame i 



Ochre-brown to rusty-spored. Stem central, continuous with the 

 pileus, without an annulus, fleshy or fibrous; partial veil in tin- form 

 of a fibrillose or subarachnoid cortina, evanescent. <iills adnaU o\ 

 subdecurrenl at first. Spores dark brown, rusty-brown or rusty 

 yellow. Pileus viscid or dry. Mostly on wood. 



Fleshy, putrescent, lignicolous, rarely terrestrial fungi, char- 

 acterized by ilif habitat and the spore-color. To be separated from 

 Pholiota by the non-membranous inner veil; from Qebeloma by the 

 darker In-own or rusty-yellow j^ills and spores; from Naucoria by the 



fleshy -fibrous stem; from Continarius by the habitat on w I. It 



corresponds to Hypholoma of the purple-spored group in habit. By 

 reason of the bitter taste or odor, the Flammulas are not attractive 

 for food, ;iih1 although no definite information is available to prove 

 that they are not edible, they • are usually considered unpalatable 

 and looked upon with suspicion. The genus is difficult and the 

 species appear to run into one another. They occur mostly in the 

 northern forests. 



The PILEUS is often very viscid, with a separable pellicle, or, in 

 the section Sapineae. with a dry adnate cuticle; it is usually tinged 

 with yellowish, olivaceous or fuscous hues. The margin or surface 



is sometimes dotted with thin, fibrillose scales but becomes denuded 



in age or after rains ; it is therefore important to obtain fresh plants 



for study. The fibrillose cortina is more copious in some Bpecies 



than in others and this fact must be kept in mind. The GILLS are 



referred to by authors as adnate-decurrent and some emphasize the 

 decurrent character as a means of recognizing the genus; there is, 



however, considerable variation in this respect, and more often 

 the gills are adnate or slightly rounded behind ami in age may 



become emarginate as in related genera. The color of the gills at 



maturity is conditioned by the spores and is markedly different in 

 the first and last section. /•'. polychroa is unique l»\ the gray and 

 purplish hues which cloud them. /•'. carbonaria has dark dirty- 

 brown jjills. In the last section they are brighl rustyochre or 



yellow. The STEM is fleshy or fibrous, usually more or less fibril 

 lose, glabrescent, mostly naked at the ape\ and with a tendency to 



become darker, sordid, brown or rusty in age, especially at or 



toward the base. The SPORES are usually elliptical or oval, smooth 

 or slightly rough under high magnification. A spore-prinl is very 



