110 



STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



somewhat hairy. The color varies from gray to dark bluish gray, 

 or black with a bluish tinge. The gills are thick, broad in propor- 

 tion to the size of the cap, distant, and are said by some to be paler 

 than the pileus. In plants collected at Ithaca, the gills are often as 

 dark as the pileus. The entire plant is rather tough, and revives 

 after being dried if placed in water, resembling in this respect Maras- 

 mius, Panus, or Trogia, and it may be more nearly related to one of 

 these. Figure 114 is from plants (No. 4599, C. U. herbarium) 

 collected at Ithaca. 



HYGROPHORUS Fries. 



The genus Hygrophorus is one which presents some difficulties in 

 the case of some of the species, especially to beginners, and plants 

 need to be studied in the fresh condition to understand the most im- 



F1GUREI15. Hygrophorus chrysodon. Entirely white with golden yellow granules 

 on cap and stem (natural size). Copyright. 



portant character which separates it from certain of the other white- 

 spored agarics. The substance of the pileus is continuous with that 

 of the stem, that is, the stem is not easily separated from the cap at 

 the point of junction, but is more or less tenacious. The gills may 

 be adnexed, adnate, sinuate, or decurrent, but what is important 

 they are usually rather distant, the edge is acute or sharp, and grad- 

 ually thickened toward the junction with the cap, so that a section 

 of the gill is more or less triangular. This is brought about by the 

 fact that the substance of the cap extends downward into the gill 

 between the laminae or surfaces of the gill. But the most important 

 character for determining the genus is the fact that the surfaces of the 

 gills become rather of a waxy consistency at maturity, so that they 

 appear to be full of a watery substance though they do not bleed, 



