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The: MANi'-CAP Ci^itocybe (Edible) 

 Clitocybc jiuiUiccps Peck 



Clitocybc mulficcps is common and sometimes very abundant. It 

 grows on the ground, usually in grassy places, in clusters of from ten 

 to as many as one hundred individuals. It may be looked for from 

 May to October, though it is not likely to be found during midsummer. 



The cap is 3 to 7 cm. ( i Uj 3 inches) broad. It is fleshy, although 

 the flesh is not very thick except at the center, and very firm. It is 

 convex, or sometimes nearly flat, and often irregular from mutual 

 pressure. The color varies from whitish to yellowish gray or brown. 

 The surface is smooth or sometimes slightly silky toward the center, 

 and is moist in wet weather. The flesh is white and when uncooked 

 it has an oily taste which is somewhat disagreeable. 



The gills are whitish, close together, narrow at each end. and at- 

 tached to the stem either adnate or slightly decurrent. The spores 

 are white. 



The stem is 5 to 10 cm. (2 to 4 inches) long, cylindrical, or some- 

 what thickened at the base, firm but more or less elastic, smooth on the 

 outside but sometimes covered with a powdered substance toward the 

 top, and lidllow or stuffed with a cottony substance within. Tliere is 

 no ring and no volva. 



The spring clusters of this mushroom are said to be more tender 

 and of better flavor than those appearing in autumn. Some people are 

 very fond of the many-cap Clitocybc while others do not like it. 



Collected in Champaign county. 



