No. 104.] 61 



Pileus 2 to 3 in. broad, stem 1 to 2 in. long, 2 to 4 lines thick. 



Decaying wood. Griffins, Delaware county, September. 



Our specimens, by tiieir pure wliite color, emarginate adnexed lamellae 

 and glabrous stem, did not well agree with the published description 

 of F. lignatilis, and they were, therefore, described in the Thirty-first 

 Eeport as a distinct species. But P. lignatilis is very variable accord- 

 ing to Fries, and as our plant is scarcely more than a variety of it we 

 have united it thereto. 



Pleurotus subareolatus, P'k. 

 Slightly-areolate Agaric. 



Pileus compact, convex, ivliitish- tinged with hroionisli pink, usually 

 cracking in small maculifonn areas ; lamellfe rather broad, loose, 

 decurrent, whitish becoming tinged with yellow in drying ; stem 

 eccentric, subvertical, short, curved, firm, solid, sometimes com- 

 pressed, white; spores oblong, .0005 to .0006 in. long, about .0002 

 broad. 



Pileus 3 to 4 in. broad, stem 6 to 12 lines long, 4 to 6 lines thick. 



Trunks of elm trees. Bethlehem. October. 



This plant has occurred with us but once. It differs from P, tessu- 

 latus by its stro/igly decurrent lamella which form slightly elevated 

 lines far down on the stem. 



Pleurotus sapidus, Kalchh. 

 Sapid Agaric. 



Plant generally cffispitose; pileus eccentric or lateral, rarely sessile, 

 irregular, convex or depressed on the disk, glabrous, variable in 

 color, whitish, yellowish, grayish-brown, lilac-brown or smoky- 

 brown, flesh wliite ; lamella? rather broad, subdistant, decurrent, dis- 

 tinct or anastomosing at the base, whitish ; stem firm, solid, straight 

 or curved, white or whitish, often united at the base ; spores oblong, 

 2}ah lilac, .00035 to .00045 in. long, .00016 to .0002 broad. 



Pileus 2 to 5 in. broad, stem 1 to 2 in. long, 3 to 8 lines thick. 



Decaying wood of elm, beech, birch, horse-chestnut, etc., sometimes 

 on buried sticks. Common. June to November. Edible. 



This is a very variable species, closely allied to P. ostreaius, with 

 which it is sometimes confused, and from which its short-stemmed 

 subsessile forms with anastomosing lamellae can scai'cely be distin- 

 guished except by the peculiar color of the spores. These, when caught 

 on white paper, have a dull, pale-lilac hue, inclining to lavender color. 

 If they fall on a dark or brown surface they appear whitish. By reason 

 of the colored spores of this fungus and of P. euosmus, W. G. Smith 

 proposed the transfer of these plants to Claudopus, but this arrange- 

 ment was not adopted by Fries, because their real affinities were evi- 

 dently with the Pleuroti, He says that the species is so variable that 

 its characters are indicated with ditficulty, and that on the same trunk 

 specimens sometimes occur that are white, tawny-brown and umber. 

 In the typical form, the lamella? are not described as anastomosing, 

 but a form is mentioned in which the stem is reticulated by anasto- 

 mosing veins. In our plant the lamella? frequently anastomose at the 

 base, just as in P. ostreaius. Its stem, also, is sometimes as short or 

 obsolete as in that species. It occurs both in woods and in open 



