THE ROSY-SPORED AGARICS 



237 



Pluteus cervinus, Schceff. 

 Fawn-Coloked Pluteus. Edible. 



Cervinus is from ccrvus, a deer. The pileus is fleshy, bell-shaped, expanded, 

 viscid in wet weather, smooth, except a few radiating fibrils when young, margin 

 entire, flesh soft and white ; color of the cap light-brown or fawn-color, sometimes 

 sooty, often more than three inches across the cap. 



The gills are free from the stem, broad, ventricose, unequal in length, almost 

 white when young, flesh-colored when mature from the falling of the spores. The 

 stem is solid, slightly tapering upward, firm, brittle, white, spread over with a few 

 dark fibrils, generally crooked. The spores are broadly elliptical. The cystidia 

 in the hymen ium on the gills will be of interest to those who have a microscope. 



This is a very common mushroom about Chillicothe. It is found on logs, 

 stumps, and especially on old sawdust piles. Xote how easily the stem is removed 

 from the cap. This will distinguish it from the genus Entoloma. You cannot get 

 anything in the market that will make a better fry than Pluteus cervinus ; fried in 

 butter, it is simply delicious. Found from May to October. 



Figure 190. Pluteus granulans. 



Photo by C. G. Lloyd. 



