Agaricaceae 



K. puella'ris Fr. (Plate XLIV, fig. 7, p. 184.) Mild. Pileus i-i^ 



in. across, flesh almost membranaceous except the disk; conico-convex 

 then expanded, at first rather gibbous, then slightly depressed, scarcely 

 viscid, color peculiar, purplish-livid then yellowish, disk always darker 

 and brownish; tuberculosely striate, often to the middle. Gills adnate 

 but very much narrowed behind, thin, crowded, white then pale-yellow, 

 not shining nor powdered with the spores. Stem I i *a in. long, 24 

 lines thick, equal, soft, fragile, wrinkled under a lens, white or yellowish; 

 stuffed, soon hollow; taste mild. 



Spores subglobose, pale-yellow, echinulate, 1 0x8-9/4 Massee. 



In woods. 



Among the most frequent and readily recognized of species, occur- 

 ring in troops. Always small, thin, taste mild. Allied to R. nitida, but 

 more slender ; color paler, and not shining. Fries. 



Distinguished from R. nitida and R. nauseosa by the absence of smell. 

 Massee. 



Var. interi sior Cke. Nearly the same size as the typical form ; pileus 

 deep purp"le, nearly black at the disk. 



The stem has a tendency to become thickened at the base, and turns 

 yellowish when touched. 



Var. rose'ipes Sec., given by Massee, has been retained as a distinct 

 species by Professor Peck, Rep. 51, and is described in place. R. 

 pusilla Pk., 5<Dth Rep., is closely allied to it. 



West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina. Common 

 in woods and under trees in short grass. July to September. Mcllvaine. 



This little Russula is ubiquitous. It does not amount to much when 

 other fungi are plenty, because of its very thin cap, but it thrives in all 

 sorts of summer weather. When its companions are scarce or parched 

 R. puellaris is gladly gathered by the mycophagist, its numbers making 

 up for its lightness and lack of flavor. 



R. pusilla Pk. little. Pileus very thin, nearly plane or slightly 

 and umbilicately depressed in the center, glabrous, slightly striate on 

 the margin, red, sometimes a little darker in the center, the thin pellicle 

 separable. Flesh white, taste mild. Lamellae broad for the size of the 

 plant, subventricose, subdistant, adnate or slightly rounded behind, 

 white, becoming yellowish-ochraceous in drying. Stem short, soft, 

 solid or spongy within, white. 



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