538 THE AGARICACEAE OF MICHIGAN 



woods. June to October (earliest record is May 28; latest, Octo- 

 ber li. Very common. Edible. 



Like Arm Maria mellea its frequent fruiting makes it possible to 

 find a great amount of variation, and many varieties have been 

 named. Var. alba. Pk. is whitish, often caespitose and frequents 

 sawdust piles. Var. viscosus Lloyd is described as very viscid on the 

 cap, and with narrow gills. Var. petasatus Fr. has the cap striate 

 to the middle. It is probable that all of these forms intergrade with 

 the typical plant which along with the varieties varies into many 

 shinies of color. Slender forms occur in low woods, on debris, with 

 I he stature of P. leoninus, but the pileus is almost white. 



This species can be distinguished from Entoloma by its free 

 gills and its lignicolous habitat, although of similar appearance 

 otherwise. As Entoloma contains poisonous species, this is iin- 

 portant. In Europe, P. cervinus has been marked as "suspected"; 

 in this country, however, it is highly praised by mycophagists, 

 since the disagreeable odor and taste disappear on cooking. It 

 has a characteristic relation to the stump on which it is often 

 I'M i nd. in being so attached that it is difficult to get a piece of the 

 wood and mushroom together, since its stem grows in the vertical 

 cucks of the stump. With us it is found on wood, rarely on 

 soil, although the condition of the woody substratum varies ex- 

 ceedingly. Small plants imitate some of the other species and 

 can only be separated with certainty by the use of the microscope. 

 The pronged cystidia are usually the decisive character. Patouil- 

 lard says that the flesh has yellowish lactiferous hyphae scattered 

 throughout it. 



575. Pluteus umbrosus Fr. 



Sys. MycoL, 1821. 



Illustrations : Bresadola, Fung. Trid., Vol. 2, PI. 116. 

 Ricken, Blatterpilze, PL 70, Fig. 4. 



PILEUS 5-10 cm. broad, campanulate then convex-expanded, 

 broadly mnbonate, smoky umber or blackish brown, rugose-reticu- 

 late ana floccose-scaly on disk, even and fibrillose ou margin. 

 PLESB white. C ills free, close, broad, ventricose. whitish then 

 Hesh colored hum the spores, edge fimbriate and smoky brown from 

 the dark cystidia. STEM 3-8 cm. long, 4-8 mm. thick, solid, firm, 

 equal or slightly tapering upward, dingy white to brownish, covered 

 with smoky-brown ftbrills. SPORES oval-elliptical, 5-7x3-4 micr., 



