Agaricaceae 



(Plate LXXIX.) 



GALERA TENERA. 

 Two-thirds natural size. 



Gaiera. G. te'nera Schaeff. tener, tender. Pileus % in. and more high, 



of one color, pallid rust-color when 

 damp, becoming pale when dry, hy- 

 grophanous, somewhat membranace- 

 ous, conico-bell-shaped, commonly 

 smooth, slightly striate when moist, 

 wholly even when dry, opaque, some- 

 what atomate. Stem commonly 3-4 

 in. long, i line thick, tubular, fragile, 

 equal or when larger thickened down- 

 ward, tense and straight, somewhat 

 shining, striate upward, of the same 

 color as the pileus when moist, and 

 like it becoming pale when dry. Gills 

 adnate in the top of the cone, appear- 

 ing as if free, ascending, somewhat 

 crowded, linear, cinnamon. 



Pastures and grassy places in 

 woods. Common. May to November. Stevenson. 



Spores ellipsoid, 14-21x8-12/1 K.; 14-8/1 W.G.S.; 14x7/1 W.P.; 

 12-13x7/1 Massee; elliptical, dark rust-color, almost rubiginous, 13- 

 16.5x8-10/1 Peck. 



Var. pilosella (Agaricus pilosellus Pers.), has both pileus and stem 

 clothed with a minute erect pubescence when moist. A form is some- 

 times found in which the center of the pileus is brown or blackish-brown. 

 Peck, 46th Rep. N. Y. State Bot. 



Var. obscu'rior Pk. A notable form of this species was found grow- 

 ing in an old stable of an abandoned lumber camp. The plants were 

 large, the pileus in some being more than an inch broad, the stems 

 were 3-6 in. long and the color was rust-colored as in G. ovalis, to 

 which the plants might be referred but for the large spores. Essex 

 county. July. I have labeled the specimens variety obscurior. Peck, 

 5oth Rep. 



Haddonfield, N. J. ; Chester county; West Philadelphia, Pa. ; West 

 Virginia. In rich pastures, on lawns, dung in woods. Common. June 

 to October. Mcllvaine. 



Very variable in size and in color when wet and dry. The color of 

 gills and spores readily distinguishes it in its habitats. From spring to 



300 



