Pink-spored Series 



Flesh Tinged with violet 



Time Autumn. 



Habitat Thick, damp woods. 



C. violaceus differs from c. alboviolaceus in having the cap 

 dark violet and usually covered with fibres. 



GENUS PLUTEUS 



The members of the genus Pluteus are fleshy fungi with 

 pink spores, and gills free from the stem. They have no volva or 

 wrapper about the young plant, and no ring or annulus on the 

 stem. Eleven species are known from the United States, of 

 which Pluteus cervinus, the fawn-coloured mushroom, is the 

 commonest. 



The generic name Pluteus means all that is joined together 

 to make a cover for besiegers at their work, that they may be 

 screened from the missiles of the enemy. The arrangement of 

 the caps in the group pictured is suggestive of the meaning. 



Fawn-coloured Pluteus (Edible) 



Pluteus cervinus (SEE PLATE FACING PAGE 94) 



Cap or Pileus Light 



brown or fawn 



coloured, 



streaked with 



lines of darker 



brown. Sur- 

 face dry and 



shining. Skin 



thin and papery. 



3> inches 



broad. 

 Gills or Lamella 



Almost white 



when young, 



flesh colour 



when mature. 



Broad, unequal 



in length, free 



from the stem. 

 Stem or Stipe 



Creamy white, P. cervinus 



