30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



nearl}' hemispheric, but it soon becomes convex and continues to 

 expand till it is nearly plane or centrally depressed. The margin 

 is even when young and generally remains so in maturity, but 

 sometimes it becomes radiately striate. The surface appears to 

 the naked eye to be piniinose or covered with a bloom, but under 

 a lens it is seen to be dusted with minute particles which, under 

 the action of water, are separable and give reddish stains to any 

 white surface against which the moistened cap may be rubbed. 

 This pruinosity is one of the best distinguishing features of the 

 species. A little boy once went with his mother to look for mush- 

 rooms. They came on a group of Mary's russula and the little 

 boy, noticing the bloom on the caps and recognizing in it a 

 resemblance to the bloom of plums, cried out in childish glee 

 " plummies, plummies." He was evidently a close and thoughtful 

 observer and could distinguish at sight this russula from all 

 others. The flesh of the cap is white, but has a pinkish tint 

 immediately beneath the cuticle which is separable on the margin 

 but adnate in the center of the cap. The taste is mild, but occa- 

 sionally a specimen may be found in which it is slightly and 

 tardily acrid. The color varies from deep crimson to purple. 

 The center is sometimes more highly colored than the margin 

 and in the purple specimens the margin in old plants is apt to 

 fade to a whitish color and to become striate. The gills are white 

 when young but with advancing age they become yellowish. They 

 are nearly all of full length and are therefore wider apart at the 

 margin of the cap than at the stem. A few are forked at the 

 base and the interspaces are veiny. The stem is generally' cylin- 

 dric but occasionally tapering downward or pointed at the base. 

 It appears to the naked eye to be smooth but under a lens it is 

 slightly pulverulent. It is solid or slightly spongy and white 

 within and colored like or a little paler than the cap externally 

 except at the ends where it is white, ronns occasionally occur 

 in which the stem is entirely white. 



The cap is 1-3 inches broad; the stem 1-2 inches long, 3-5 lines 

 thick. It grows both in woods and in open grassy places and is 

 found in July and August. It is not as highly flavored as some 



