88 FORTT-TEIRD ANNUAL REPORT ON THE 



slightly emargiuate, whitish; stem solid, .fibrous, not bulbous, 

 sheathed below by the brown velvety veil, the annulus narrow, 

 spreading, uneven on the edge; spores subglobose, .00025 in. in 

 diameter, 



Pileus about 3 in. broad; stem 1.5 to 3 in. long, 4 to 6 lines thick. 



Ground in woods, Suffolk county. September. 



This species is perhaps not specifically distinct from the Euroi^ean 



Armillaria rhagadiosa, to which it was referred in the Thirty-third 



Report, and with the description of which it agrees very closely, but 



that species is said to grow on trunks of trees, and to have the 



lamellae decurrent. This I find only solitary on the ground, with 



lamellse merely adnate or subdecui'rent and with spores subglobose 



and about .00025 in. in diameter. No description of the European 



plant, so far as seen by me, gives the character or dimensions of its 



spores. Mr. Ellis remarks that the fresh plant has an aromatic odor 



like spikenard. A. rJiagadiosa is also said to have a strong aromatic 



odor. 



Armillaria mellea, Vahl. 



HoNEY-COLOKED ArMILLARIA. 



Hym. Europ. p. 44. Syl. Fung., Vol. V, p. 80. 



Pileus fleshy, rather thin except on the disk, at first hemispherical 

 or subcorneal, then convex or nearly plane, adorned with numerous 

 hairy squamules, mostly striate on the margin, pale-yellowish, dingy- 

 yellowish or honey-color or reddish-brown, flesh whitish, taste 

 unpleasant; lamelhe subdistant, adnate or decurrent, whitish or 

 pallid, often with rufescent spots when old; stem equal or slightly 

 thickened at the base, stuffed or hollow when old, sometimes floccose- 

 squamose, externally fibrous, pallid or brownish; spores .0003 to 

 .0004 in. long, .0002 to .00025 broad. 



Pileus 1 to G in. broad; stem 1 to 6 in. long, 3 to 10 lines thick. 



Ground and decaying wood. Common. Late summer and 

 autumn. 



This species, like many others that are plentiful and have a 

 wide geographical range, is extremely variable. In its mode of 

 growth it is either solitary gregarious or csespitose. It occui-s 

 both on the ground and on decaying wood of various trees, 

 in woods and in cleared lands. It is especially abundant in 

 recent clearings in hilly and mountainous districts, where it often 

 forms large tufts composed of many individuals closely crowded 

 together, growing especially about stumps and prostrate trunks. It 

 is sometimes very small, having a pileus scai-cely more than an inch 

 broad, and a stem but an inch or two long. Again, it is of monstrous 



