I 



RKl'ORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1902 45 



fiud no description, was discovered in North Elba, and is de- 



Hcribcd in another i)lnrp in this report, under the name 



L a c t a r i u s s u b d n 1 c i s o c u 1 a t u s. The varietal name 



is suggeisted by the dark colored umbo or eyelike spot in the 



center of the cap. 



Russula crustosa Pk. 



CRUSTED RUSSULA 



PLATE 81. FIG. 1-7 



Pileus fleshy, firm, very convex becoming nearly plane or cen 

 trally depressed, slightly viscid when moist, even or striate and 

 rimose areolate on the margin, commonly even in the center, 

 flesh white, taste mild or sometimes tardily acrid; lamellae 

 moderately close, narrowed behind, some of them forked, white; 

 stem short, stout, equal, stuffed or hollow, white; spores white, 

 subglobose or broadly elliptic, .0003-.0004 of an inch long, .00025- 

 .0003 broad. 



The crusted russula is closely related to the greenish russula, 

 R. V i r e s c e n s, and the cracked russula, R. cutefracta. 

 From the former it differs in its slightly viscid cap of which the 

 cuticle cracks and forms small, crustlike patches or scales on 

 the margin but usually remains entire in the center; from the 

 latter it is distinct by the absence of any red or purplish tints in 

 the flesh and the stem. Even in purplish specimens the flesh 

 and stem are wholly white. 



The cap is very convex or almost hemispheric when young, 

 nearly plane or centrally depressed w^hen mature. The surface 

 cracks toward the margin as in K. cutefracta, while the 

 center nearly always remains entire. These surface chinks form 

 small areolae or scales which appear like fragments of a crus- 

 taceous cuticle. 



The color varies greatly. It may be straw yellow, pale 

 ochraceous, brownish ochraceous, greenish with a yellowish or 

 pale ochraceous center or a dull brownish purple. The center 

 is sometimes paler, sometimes darker than the margin. The 

 flesh is white, and the taste mild or sometimes slightly and tardily 

 acrid. The acridity if present is destroyed by cooking. The 

 gills are white, narrowed toward the stem and nearly free. They 

 are sometimes forked, specially near the stem, and intervening 



