GILL FUNGI 69 



yellow or yellowish, smooth, hollow ; gills adiiexed or nearly free, brownish or 

 brown; spores rust-colored, ellipsoid, 14-15 X 8-9/i.. The name refers to the 

 fragile cap and stem. 



On dung, from May to frost; of good ilavor. 



CUUTIXAKIUS 



Distinguished among ocher-spored genera by the presence of a cobwebby gill- 

 veil which forms a curtain from the stem to the margin of the cap, and hangs from 

 the latter for some time after expansion. This shows best in the young plants, often 

 disappearing completely in age. Some species of P h 1 i o t a, I n c y b e and 

 Ilebeloma possess a curtain, but it is less typical and persistent. In C o r t i- 

 n a r i u s, moreover, the fibers of the veil are more clearly superficial, and the gills 

 very powdery. The genus is enormous, and the species are closely related and difficult 

 to determine. None of the species are known to be poisonous, but few are of real 

 value as food. The name refers to the curtain-like veil. 



Key to the Species 



1. Cap sticky; gills purple when bruised C. piirpKrasceus 



2. Cap not sticky; gills not purple when bruised 



a. Cap and stem more or less violet in color 



( 1 ) Whole plant violet C. violacens 



(2) Plant whitish, tinged or marked with violet C. alboviolaceus 



b. Cap and stem not violet ; buff, yellow or brown 



(1) Stem not bulbous, etjual C. cinnamomcus 



(2) Stem usually bulbous, tapering upward 



(a) Cap brown; stem with a large tapering bulb C. squamulosus 



(b) Cap rust-yellow; stem with a small roundish 



bulb C. autitmnalis 



(c) Cap cream to buff; stem somewhat bulbous C. ochrolcucus 



Cortinarius purpurascens Purple Gill 



Cap large, 10-14 cm. wide, reddish-brown to tawny, smooth, very sticky when 

 wet, convex to plane; stem stout, 6-8 cm. by 2-3 cm., pale blue, turning purple 

 when touched, fibrillose, bulbous, solid ; gills sinuate, bluish, then brown, purple 

 when bruised, broad and crowded; spores rust-brown, elliptic, 8-10 X 5-6/^. The 

 name refers to the purple gills. 



On the ground in woods, late summer to autumn ; one of the best species of 

 this genus. 



Cortinarius violaceus Violet Cortinarius 



Cap 8-16 cm. wide, dull to deep violet, dry, with many hairy tufts or scales, 

 convex to plane; stem 10-12 cm. by 1-2 cm., violet, fibrillose, bulbous, solid; 



