CLASSIFICATION 439 



***** Plants yellow or brownish yellow. 

 •]■ Spores colourless. 



C. mtiscoides. — Hymenophore with a short, slender stem, downy 

 at the base, branches slender, 2-3 times forked, 'axils rounded, 

 branchlets thin, clear egg-yellow (spores colourless, subglobose, 

 5-6 n diam.). 



Forming a small tuft i-i|- in. high. Distinguished by the clear 

 egg-5^ellow colour. 



Among grass in pastures. Common. 



var. fastigiata. — Tufts very much branched, branches crowded, 

 of equal length and forming a level top, rather tough. Colour of 

 the typical form. 



Among grass in pastures. Common. 



C. iimhrinella. — Hymenophore sparingly branched, branches and 

 branchlets cylindrical, tips blunt, forked ; axils usually rounded, 

 entirely pale umber (spores pip-shaped, colourless, 5-6x3-4 jj). 



Tufts f-i in. high ; stem sometimes rather thick and minutely 

 velvety. Resembles C. muscoides, var. fastigiata, but distinguished 

 by the brown colour and the pip-shaped spores. 

 On the ground, 

 f f Spores ochraceous. 



C. aurea (PI. XXXIV, fig. 8). — Hymenophore with a stout, 

 fleshy, elastic trunk which divides into numerous thick branches 

 that divide repeatedly in a forked manner and terminate in rather 

 slender, erect, round branchlets, deep dull yellow above, lower 

 portions pale, 3-4 in. high (spores pale ochraceous, elliptical, wall 

 rough, 10-11x5-6 /x). 



Forming large showy tufts. Flesh \\'hite. 

 On the ground in woods. 



C. abietina. — Hymenophore much branched ; stem short, thick, 

 whitish, downy ; branches slender, crowded, frequently divided, 

 erect, deep dull ochraceous, becoming greenish when bruised, from 

 1-3 in. high (spores ochraceous, elhptical, 6x3-4 Z^)* 



Plant very much branched from a stout base ; branches some- 

 times rather thick, equal, repeatedly divided ; axils rounded, tips 

 abrupt and with several small points, at other times divided into 

 numerous thin, erect branches, the whole plant resembling a birch 

 besom. Taste bitter. Branches longitudinahy wrinkled when dry. 

 On the ground in fir woods. 



C. flaccida. — Hymenophore very much branched ; stem short ; 

 branches crowded, repeatedly forked ; upper axils rounded, the 

 pointed terminal branches usually forcipate or curving inwards to- 

 wards each other, entirely ochraceous (spores ochraceous, broadly 

 elliptical, 4-5x3 /^). 



Superficially resembling C. abietina, but the whole fungus is 

 more flaccid and does not turn green when bruised. Stem some- 



