54 



sion of these will be reserved for future bulletins. As far as the 

 writer has observed they are all edible, and though of various 

 shades from white, yellowish-white, yellow, yellowish-red, to dull 

 brownish or dirty olive, they all agree in these important generic 

 characters: the gills are rather distant, of a waxy consistency 

 broadening towards their attachment to the cap, and the central 

 portion of the gill, called the trama, is but a continuation of the 

 material of the pileus, so that when they are pulled off from the 

 cap, they each leave a projecting line of the trama behind them 

 on the cap. 



The Gray-Gilled Hypholoma. 



(Hypholoma capnoides}. Plate VI. 



This toadstool is one of the most choice we have, and is agreea- 

 ble either raw or cooked. It is commonly found about old 

 stumps, though it is by no means uncommon where dead wood 

 has decayed, or where rotten roots come near the surface of the 

 ground. It so closely resembles another Hypholoma of this sec- 

 tion, that the taste is the best means of distinguishing them. 

 Chew a little piece. If the plant selected is of our species, it has 

 a sweet nutty taste; if it belongs to the closely related H. fascicu- 

 lare, growing in just such spots, it is as bitter as gall. To the 

 observant eye there are other differences which distinguish these 

 two species. The Bitter Hypholoma has a yellowish cap and a 

 yellowish-green cast to the gills; the gray-gilled Hypholoma has a 

 cap of yellowish-red to dark red at the center, and the gills are of 

 a decided purplish slate color. 



This genus of plants furnishes many edible species all over the 

 world, and many are to be found in our own country. The main 

 marks of distinction by which this toadstool may be known are 

 these. The plants generally grow in clusters and often together 

 ("connate") on flexuous stems 3 to 6 inches long and ^ to ^ 

 inch thick. The caps are yellowish-red, daiker in the center and 



