44 MINNESOTA MUSHROOMS 



more or less strongly incurved; stem 5-6 cm. by 4-8 mm., tan to deep yellow, 

 stuffed ; gills running down the stem, thick and much branched and united, 

 yellow or orange; spores globoid, 5-7 X 3-4/x. The name refers to the color. 



On the ground in woods and meadows, from midsummer to frost ; said to be 

 edible by Mcllvaine. 



MARASMIUS 



Closely related to C o 1 1 y b i a and M y c e n a, but readily distinguished in most 

 cases by the tougher, leathery or membranous cap, which revives after withering. A 

 few species might be placed equally well in two of the genera, and the beginner will 

 find it necessary to seek such species in both places. The stem is tough and slender, 

 and the gills are acute at the edge and variously attached to the stem. It is probable 

 that all the species are edible, though many are too small to be of value. The name 

 refers perhaps to the fact that the plant withers but does not decay. 



Key to the Species 



1. Cap even, not distinctly furrowed; leathery 



a. Stem hairy at base; taste biting 



( 1 ) Stem hairy throughout, densely white-downy at 



base il/. urens 



(2) Stem smooth, but densely hairy at base 71/, peronatus 



b. Stem smooth or hairy, but not densely hairy at base ; 



taste mild 



( 1 ) Stems smooth and shining, fastened in dense 



clusters by threads at the base M. cohaerens 



(2) Stems velvety throughout, not fastened together by 



threads M. oreades 



2. Cap deeply ridged or furrowed ; very thin, papery 



a. Gills attached to a collar free from the stem M. rcttila 



b. Gills without a collar, free or adnate 



(1) Cap white, pellucid; gills adnate M. ni gripes 



(2) Cap pink or tan-red; gills free or touching M. siccus 



Marasmius urens Pungent Marasmius 



Cap small to medium, 3-7 cm. wide, yellowish, tan or paler, smooth, or some- 

 what cracked, convex to plane, the margin often incurved ; stem slender, tough. 

 6-14 cm. by 5-6 mm., pale, covered with fine white hairs, more or less white-woolly 

 at the base, solid; gills free, pale to yellowish or brownish, distant; spores glo- 

 boid, 3-4 X 2-3/x. The name refers to the burning taste. 



Common in woods from spring to autumn, more or less clustered or grouped ; 

 one of the mushrooms poisonous to some persons and not to others, and hence to be 

 avoided except by the experimenter. 



