144 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



but a variety is common in which it is minutely scurfy. This is named 

 variety furfuracea. There is also a small form, called variety p u s i 1 1 a, 

 in which the cap is about i inch broad. All these have the root-like pro- 

 longation of the stem which is suggestive of the specific name. The color 

 of the stem is either whitish or similar to the color of the cap but paler. In 

 the scurfy-stemmed variety it is often darker colored than in the typical 

 form. Specimens are sometimes found in which the stem is white and 

 occasionally both cap and stem are white. The spores are white when fresh, 

 but after long exposure they sometimes assume a yellowish color. 



The cap is from i to 4 inches broad and the stem from 2 to 8 inches 

 long above the surface of the ground, and from 2 to 3 or rarely 4 lines 

 thick. 



In one specimen in the state herbarium the subterranean or root-like 

 prolongation of the stem is a little more than 10 inches long. The plants 

 grow singly or sparsely scattered in woods or recent clearings and may be 

 found from June to October. The caps are somewhat tough but agreeable 

 in flavor, and the species is classed as an edible one without any hesitation. 



Collybia velutipes (Curt.) Fr. 

 Velvet stemmed Collybia 



PLATE 47, fig. IO-/J 



Pileus rather thin, convex or nearly plane, obtuse, glabrous, viscid, red- 

 dish yellow or tawny; lamellae broad, subdistant, rounded behind, slightly 

 adnexed, white or tinged with yellow; stem firm, externally cartilaginous, 

 stuffed or hollow, brown or tawny brown, velvety hairy when mature ; spores 

 narrowly elliptic, .0003 to .00036 of an inch long, .00016 broad. 



The velvet stemmed collybia is one of the few mushrooms that appear 

 very late in the season. It may be found after nearly all others have yielded 

 to the severity of the weather. It has even been called a winter mushroom, 

 because it is possible to find it in prolonged, mild, thawing weather in win- 

 ter. It sometimes develops in spring also. It is easily recognized by its 

 viscid, tawny cap, its velvety stem and tufted mode of growth. Sometimes 

 the cap is wholly yellowish or yellowish on the margin and darker on the 

 central part. • Because of the crowded mode of growth the caps are some- 

 times very irregular. The gills are rounded or deeply notched next the 



