1916] 
OVERHOLTS—GILL FUNGI 199 
tirely smooth cystidia seems to bridge over the gap in this 
respect, and it seems best at present to regard this latest 
collection as only a variety of Pluteus cervinus. 
P. petasatus Fries, sometimes regarded as a synonym of 
P. cervinus, approaches this collection in size and is reported 
as growing on sawdust, but it is described as glabrous and 
commonly umbonate—characters that do not apply to my 
plants. For convenience the present collection may be desig- 
nated as follows: 
Pluteus cervinus var. caespitosus Overholts, n. var. 
Plate 6, figs. 5, 6. 
Pileus 11-16 em. broad, very slightly viscid, decorated with 
brownish fibrils or appressed, fibrillose scales that are more 
prominent in the center; gills 1-1.7 em. broad; stem 10-15 
em. long, 1.3—2.5 em. thick; spores oblong-ellipsoid, smooth, 
hyaline under the microscope, salmon-colored in mass, 4-7 Х3- 
4»; cystidia abundant, fusiform, sharp-pointed, smooth, 40— 
75 X 10-12, | 
On heap of sawdust. Densely cespitose in a cluster of about 
thirty plants. Pacific, Missouri, November 9, 1914. 
Type collection in Herb. Overholts No. 2316, and a single 
specimen from the collection has been deposited in the her- 
barium of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The variety is edi- 
ble and quite delicious. 
