Melanosporee 



Var. cinereus. Pileus membranaceous, floccosely mealy, then naked, Coprinos. 

 ashy-gray. Stem subequal, rootless, hollow to the base, often twisted. 

 Spores 12-8/t. 



On dung and rich soil. 



Var. macrorhi'za. Pileus at first with feathery squamules. Stem 

 short, hairy, rooting, sometimes more or less marginately subbulbous. 

 Spores 13-14x8-9^. 



On dung. Pileus pale and smaller than in the typical form, stem 

 shorter, with a more or less elongated rooting base. Berkeley. 



Of this very variable species there is a small form growing on de- 

 cayed wood in woods. It has the spores rather smaller than in the 

 type, they being 10-1 i/u. long, Syu. broad. It might be designated Var. 

 silvi'cola. Peck, 43d Rep. N. Y. State Bot. 



West Virginia, 1881-1885, May to October. Mcllvaine, 



Common to the United States. Of excellent flavor and tender. It 

 must be cooked at once. 



C. tomento'sus (Bull.) Yr.tomentum, pubescence. Pileus very 

 thin, at first oblong-oval and floccose-scaly, soon bell-shaped, naked, 

 closely striate, grayish-brown or blackish-brown, often with a leaden 

 hue, finally expanded, the disk smooth, reddish or ochraceous-brown, 

 the margin turned upwards and much split or lacerated. Lamellae 

 closely crowded, narrow, free, white then pinkish, finally black. Stem 

 white, tall, fragile, tapering upward, finely floccose-squamulose, hollow, 

 sometimes with a large tap root. Plant gregarious or cespitose. 



Height 3-6 in., breadth of pileus 6-18 lines. 



Very variable in size and color. The covering of the pileus is easily 

 rubbed off. It soon disappears and the plant quickly decays, seldom 

 continuing through the day. Peck, 23d Rep. N. Y. State Bot. 



Mt. Gretna, Pa., about old picketing places in camp grounds. Prof. 

 M. W. Easton, July, 1898. 



West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, May to 

 September, on dung, rich ground, gardens and in woods. Mcllvaine. 



Very delicate ; of strong mushroom flavor. It is common, and can 

 usually be collected in numbers. It is of little food value in itself, but 

 yields an excellent flavor to anything it is cooked with. It must be 

 cooked as soon as gathered. 



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