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STUDIES OF AMERICAN FUNGI. 



Crepidotus versutus Pk. This little Crepidotus has a pure white 

 pileus which is covered with a soft, whitish down. The plants grow 

 usually on the underside of rotten wood or bark, and then the upper 

 side of the cap lies against the wood, and is said to be resupinate. 

 Sometimes where they grow toward the side of the log the cap has a 

 tendency to be shelving. In the resupinate forms the cap is attached 

 usually near one side, and then is produced more at the opposite side, 

 so that it is more or less lateral or eccentric. As the plant becomes 

 mature the edge is free from the wood for some distance, only being 

 attached over a small area. The cap is somewhat reniform, thin, 

 and from 6-12 cm. in diameter. The gills radiate from the point 



Figure 154. Crepidotus versutus. Cap white, downy ; gills whitish, then 

 rusty (twice natural size). Copyright. 



where the cap is attached to the substratum, are not crowded, 

 rounded behind, that is, at the lateral part of the cap where they con- 

 verge. They are whitish, then ferruginous from the spores. The 

 spores are sub-elliptical, sometimes inequilateral, and measure from 

 8-12 X 4-6 ^i. 



Crepidotus herbarum Pk., is a closely related species, separated on 

 account of the smaller spores. Both species grow either on herbs or 

 decaying wood. As suggested by Peck they are both closely related 

 to C. chimonophilus Berk., which has "oblong elliptical" spores. 

 The shape of the spores does not seem to differ from the specimens 

 which I have taken to be C. versutus. 



