Kauffman : The genus Cortinarius 307 



The tissue of the stem, as one would expect from the condi- 

 tions of the young ''button/' is very loosely put together in the 

 mature plant. Further study is needed to determine the exact 

 character in certain of the subgenera. No gelatinous layer is ever 

 present so far as known, its gelatinous character in the subgenus 

 Myxacium being due to the remains of the universal veil. The 

 tissue of the stipe is continuous with that of the pileus. The term 

 ** fibrillose '' is, it seems, the accepted word to described the tramal 

 tissue found in this genus. 



Cortina and universal veil 



The genus Co7^tinarius is said to be especially characterized by 

 the silky veil referred to in the diagnosis of the genus. This veil 

 has usually been called ^'cobwebby'' or "arachnoid," because of 

 its peculiar texture. In some of the subgenera, however, there 

 occurs a structure which is not included in the above definition. 

 If for example we take a highly differentiated species, such as 

 Cortinarius ai'inillatits Fr., we can observe at the proper stage 

 what might be considered as two veils; the '^ cobwebby" or inner 

 veil, also called the cortina, and an adjacent tissue, the universal 

 veil. . , 



The corti)ia is the tissue, composed of loose hyphae, which 

 forms a '* cobwebby " curtain in front of, /. e., below the lamellae, 

 The threads of this curtain or cortina seem to be inserted for some 

 distance vertically along the stem, and converge in a wedge-shaped 

 manner as they meet the edge of the pileus. In C. squamnlosns 

 Pk., it clearly coalesces w^ith the trama of the margin of the pileus, 

 and is therefore not superficial in that species. In the young 

 stages of this plant — e. g., when it is only 3 mm. thick — its 

 texture is the same as later, and it seems to fill the cavity under 

 the primordium of the lamellae* Whether this is the typical inser- 

 tion of a "partial veil" into the pileus must be left an open ques- 

 tion till I am able to examine young stages of more species. As 

 the pileus expands and the hymenium matures, the cortina grad- 

 ually disappears. In many cases its remains can be detected at 

 its insertion on the stem, by the fact that the falling spores are 

 caught in its loose meshes and remain as a cinnamon, annular 



stain on the upper part of the stem. In other cases the margin 



