CLASSIFICATION OF AOARK 

 Pluteus l'r. 

 (From the Latin, Pluteus, a protective military covering 



Pink-spored. Without volva or atmulus. Stem fleshy f>> fibro 

 not cartilaginous, separable from the pileus. <iills free, rounded 

 behind, soli. Spores rounded, rarely angular. Bymenium p 

 vided with cystidia. 



Small, sufi mushrooms (except /'. cervinus Fr. whi< rather 



large), lignicolous lor the mosl part, i. e., growing on wood, on 

 logs, stumps, decayed wood, forest debris, or sawdust, rarely on 

 manure. The smaller forms are found in very moisl -■ i t n:i i i- 

 /'. cervvnus is common ; the others tend t<> be rare or Infrequent 



The PILEUS may be glabrous, silky, velvety, minutely scaly or 

 torn, fibrillose or granular; its surface is even, striate on the margin 

 or varying :•> quite rugulose. The upper layer of hyphai >me- 



limes differentiated into ;i separable, somewhat viscid pellicle, or 

 it is composed of loose, rounded cells of ;i differenl color; the 

 shape, size and color of these surface hyphae or cells ander the 

 microscope provide a helpful means of definitely determining some 

 of the species. The color of the pileus varies white, yellow, brown, 

 blackish, or rarely orange t<> red. The <!IIJ.s are soft, not at- 

 tached t<» the Btem bu1 rounded behind and often remote. Usually 

 they are white, in ;i few cases yellowish, and all become tinged by 

 the flesh-colored or rosy spores. Thej are coherent, i. e., collapsing 

 <>n each other ;is in Coprinus, and often become moist ami Dearly 

 deliquescent in wet weather. They are provided with large cells 

 projecting beyond the basidia, either on their edge <>r 

 sides or both, called CYSTIDIA; the shape ami structure 

 of the cystidia vary, ami can be ased with the spoi 

 to separate the otherwise often similar species. They 

 called STERILE CELLS when they occur on the edge of the 

 gills, where they are sometimes arranged in clusters. The STEM 

 is central, fleshy, often with ;i fibrous cuticle, nol cartilagin- 

 ous excepl under dry weather conditions*; it i^ »<»li<l excepl in a 

 few species, as e. g., /'. admirabilis Pk. ami /'. salicinus l'r.: il 

 usually slender ami fragile, equal, rarely Bubbulbous, glabrous or 



Velvety, etc.. like the jriliMK. The SPORES Of the .lillelV'lt -|.e, 



are very much alike, minute, subglobose or short oblong, white and 

 smooth, not angular in our species. They include a numb 

 < ilihir forms according to Mcllvaine, although the older auth< 

 considered them with suspicion. Not all the - been 



