302 Kauffman : The genus Cortinarius 



sible what progress there was. To Professor G. F. Atkinson, 

 whose enthusiasm in this phase of botany is well known, I owe the 

 inspiration to take up and continue the study. 



Historical 



Like many of the generic names of the fleshy fungi, that of 

 CortinaritiS was bestowed upon it in the time of Persoon and 

 Fries. In the Synopsis Methodica Fungorwn (1801), Persoon 

 placed *' cortinarius " as a section under the genus Agaricus. Here 

 he included 52 species. Fries, somewhat later (1836-38),* raised 

 the group to generic rank. Saccardo gives him credit for 209 

 species, including some originally described by Persoon under 

 Agariciis, Britzelmayr has described 64. These two men have 

 done most of the work in continental Europe. In North Amer- 

 ica Professor Peck has described 70 species, nearly all of which 

 belong to the State of New York. The descriptions of these are 

 mostly published in the reports of the regents of the State of New 

 York, beginning with the twenty-third report. 



General considerations' 



The genus Cortinarius is easily recognized in the field after a 

 season's practice in collecting. The genera most closely allied to 

 it are Tnocybe and Hebeloma, and cases occur where it is at first 

 impossible to decide where the plant in question belongs ; but 

 these instances are rather few. Hebelorna and Inocybe^ like Corti- 

 narius, grow on the ground. The former is usually separated by 

 the absence of a veil when young, and the gills are paler when 

 mature. Inocybe also has paler gills and spores when mature, 

 and is, as a rule, smaller ; many of its species are further charac- 

 terized by cystidia on the gills* Stevenson f says '' Cortinarius is 

 readily distinguished by its peculiar habit, but is badly defined 

 by artificial characters." This statement is certainly borne out by 

 my experience. It will nevertheless be well at this point to give 

 a brief diagnosis of the genus. 



* - 



Generic description 



Fruit-body fleshy, putrescent, with a veil, this composed of 

 silky threads which in the young plant connect the edge of the 



* Epicrisis 255. 

 "[■ British Fungi. 



