THE WHITE-SPORED AGARICS 



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Hygrophorus miniatus. Fr. 

 The Vermilion Hygrophorus. Edible. 



Miniatus is from minium, red lead. 



This is a small but a very common species, highly colored and very attrac- 

 tive. The pileus and the stem are bright red and often vermilion. The pileus 

 is at first convex, but, when fully expanded, it is nearly or quite flat, and in wet 

 weather it is even concave by the elevation of the margin, smooth or minutely 

 scaly, often umbilicate. Its color varies from a bright red or vermilion or blood- 

 red to pale orange hues. 



The gills are yellow and frequently strongly tinged with red, distant, 

 attached to the stem, and sometimes notched. 



The stem is usually short and slender, colored like, or a little paler, than, 



Figure 171. Hygrophorus miniatus. Cap and stems vermilion-red. Gills yellowish 

 and tinged with bright-red. 



the cap; solid, when young, but becoming stuffed or hollow with age. The 

 spores are elliptical, white, 8/* long. 



The Vermilion mushroom grows in woods and in open fields. It is more 

 plentiful in wet weather. It seems to grow best where chestnut logs have de- 

 cayed. It can be found in such places in sufficient quantities to eat. Few mush- 

 rooms are more tender or have a more delicate flavor. There are two other 

 species having red caps, Hygrophorus coccineus and H. puniceus, but both are 

 edible and no harm could come from any mistake. They are found from June 

 to October. Those in Figure 171 were found in Poke Hollow September 29. 



