712 THE AGARICACEAE OF MICHIGAN 



apex scurfy, pallid-whitish. SPORES elliptic-ovate, minute, smooth, 

 5-6 x 3-3.5 inicr., whitish or pale dingy flesh color in mass. ODOR 

 slight or of rancid meal. TASTE slowly peppery or disagreeable, 

 remaining in the mouth a long time. 



Caespitose, rarely solitary. On the ground in frondose or conifer 

 woods. Ann Arbor, Detroit, Bay View, Marquette and New Rich- 

 mond. September-November. Frequent. 



This is one of the most difficult species of Agarics to place proper- 

 ly. Its gills which are often subdecurrent tend to throw it into 

 the genus Clitocybe; and the ease with which they separate from 

 the trama of the pileus is characteristic of the genus Paxillus. The 

 attachment of the gills varies furthermore, sometimes becoming 

 sinuate, sometimes not at all decurrent. In other respects the 

 gills form the very best means of recognizing this species, 

 as indicated in the description. The plants also vary in 

 size and color; clusters composed of several very large specimens 

 are sometimes found, which simulate Clitocybe gigantea and 

 Clitocybe Candida, but differ from both in that the gills become 

 flesh color, and in the tardily peppery taste. After being exposed 

 to rains, the plants become water-soaked, take on a flesh-tint 

 throughout and are quite fragile. It is probable that T. rancidulum 

 Banning is the same plant. 



Section III. Hygropluma. Pileus thin, hygrophanous. Flesh 

 at first compact, then soft, moist and hygrophanous. 



The color of the pileus changes as the moisture escapes, usually 

 becoming much paler. Patouillard (Les Hymenomycetes d'Europe, 

 p. 30, 1887) has separated certain species, e. g., T. melaleuca, from 

 this section on the basis of their echinulate spores, spongy consist- 

 ency and grayish or blackish tinge, and erected the genus Melaleuca 

 for them. Fayod (Ann. d. Sci. Nat., 7 ser., vol. 9, p. 348) did the 

 same, including T. brevipes, T. nudum, T. grammopodium, T. per- 

 sonatum and T. sordidum in that genus, and using mainly the irre- 

 gular hyphae of the gill-trama as the separation character. It has 

 seemed best however, to keep the Friesian arrangement of this sec- 

 tion until the data are more complete. Only a few species of this 

 section have so far been identified. 



