Kauffman : The genus Cortjnarius 315 



biniicleate spores are evidently the rule. This, however, is not 

 the place to discuss the matter further. 



Of how much value the basidia are as specific characters, has 

 not yet been determined to my satisfaction. 



Habitat 



There is little difficulty in getting material for the study of the 

 genus CortinariuSj once its haunts are known. One may tramp a 

 whole day through the woods, and hardly find a specimen, even 

 in proper season. As is well known, the genus is eminently north- 

 ern or found in temperate altitudes, and this, with the fact that 

 they occur in the autumn, would indicate that they love the cool 

 wood and shady brook. In the region of pine and spruce, or in 

 old beech forests, where the shade is dense and the ground is satu- 

 rated with moisture — there one may nearly always find spots 

 where they abound. Especially is this the case when the forest 

 covers a hill or ravine along w^hose slope are found rivulets at 

 intervals of a few yards. Even then one is impressed with the re- 

 markably local character of their occurrence. They need a substra- 

 tum which is capable of retaining moisture for a considerable time, 

 because they are slower of development than are many others of 

 the fleshy mushrooms. Moisture and the nature of the forest 

 trees seem, as far as at present known, to determine their home. 

 I have collected as many as twenty species within a radius of a 

 few rods. Sometimes a single beech tree is the centre, around 

 which can be found a half dozen or more kinds. Such a case was 

 a swamp of maple, oak and young hemlock, in which a beech 

 tree, standing by itself, was the center of a 15-foot radius, and 

 within the area made by it were iound : a troop of 32 specimens 

 of C. squamidosus Pk. ; also C. multifonnis Fr., C. bolaris Fr., 

 C. torvns En, and three smaller kinds which were not identified. 

 On entering a new field, a beech forest was invariably a successful 

 collecting ground, when near-by places yielded nothing. So far, our 

 plants were found more often near beech or hemlock. Whether 



F 



there is some symbiotic relation is an interesting question. 



T 



Identification 

 To make this paper as useful to the beginner as possible, and 

 at the same time further the study of the plants of this interesting 



