COLLYBIA VELUTIPES 491 



fungus is frequently found on the trunks of living trees, particularly 

 those of the elm and willow, and has often been suspected of being 

 parasitic under certain conditions.^ Miinch ^^ and others have 

 reported successful infection experiments with it." 3 



" With us it is the only wild mushroom obtainable in quantity 

 dunng the winter. It may be frozen solid for days without affecting 

 Its quality or its ability to resume growth upon the return of mild 

 weather. In fact it may freeze and thaw several times without 

 material injury to its esculent qualities. . . . Apparently the plant is 

 capable of growth at temperatures slightly above freezing. Probably 

 it grows at any season when the ground is not frozen." On one 

 occasion careful observation led to the conclusion that " the Collybia 

 plants must have grown under the snow during the winter." ^ 



" Compared with some of the common warm- weather mushrooms 

 Collybia velutipes is of slow growth. . . . Caps of C. velufipes which 

 have become shrivelled during dry weather absorb water and 

 partially revive when moistened." ^ 



" Its flavour is excellent. Most mushroom eaters of the writer's 

 acquaintance pronounce it first class ... The caps are firm, but 

 never tough no matter how old they may be. When properly 

 cooked they are palatable and easily digestible . . . Since they 

 appear in cool weather, they are not seriously infested with worms 

 or insects. . . . Another desirable quality ... is the long time it 

 may be kept." ^ 



Collybia velutipes was one of the wood-destroying fungi which, 

 during the winter of 1922-1923, were attacking the severely trimmed 

 Poplars in my father's grounds at King's Heath, near Birmingham, 

 England. A cluster of its fruit-bodies was observed in course 

 of development on December 16, and at 7 p.m. on the night of 

 December 23 I examined it with the hand-lamp. The temperature 

 of the air was 41-5° F. The fruit-bodies were situated on the side 



P. Hennings, " Die an Baumstammen und Holz auftretenden teilweise para- 

 sitaren heimischen Blatterschwamme," Zeit.f. Pflanzenkrankheiten, Bd. XIII, 1903, 



2 E Miinch, " Versuche uber Baumkrankheiten," Naturw. Zeitschr. f. Forst- 

 u. Landw., Bd. VIII, 1910, pp. 389^08, 425-447. 



' F. C. Stewart, Zoc. cil., pp. 86-87. 4 jj,-^ g^g^ 



M., pp. 88, 95-97. 6 iud.,i^. 88-89. 



