No. 15.] HYMENIALES OF CONNECTICUT. 



49 



Pholiota caperata Pers. (Plate XXIII.) Another species 

 of this g-enus which is found growing on the ground is 

 P. caperata. During the season of 1906 it was especially 

 abundant in Mansfield, growing in open chestnut woodland. The 

 cap is large, often five inches in diameter. It is yellow in color, 

 and often roughened on the surface with ridges and pits. The 

 flesh is thick and firm. The gills are thin, crowded, and some- 

 what saw-toothed on the margins. 



Pholiota squarrosoides Pk. (Plate XXI, Bull. No. 3.) 

 This is one of the most delicious of the edible fleshy fungi. It 

 grows in large clusters on dead stumps, especially those of maple 

 trees. The caps are convex, quite viscid when moist, and covered 

 with dense scales scattered over the surface. As the caps mature, 

 these scales separate somewhat, thus showing the white surface 

 of the cap beneath. This gives the cap its peculiarly mottled 

 appearance. The gills are close and compact, white at first, 

 becoming cinnamon-colored with age. The stem is somewhat 

 stout and densely covered with thick, white scales. These change, 

 as the plants mature, to a dull yellow-brown color. 



PLUTEUS Fr. 



This genus belongs to the rosy-spored group, therefore the 

 gills of fresh specimens soon assume a pink color, due to the 

 accumulation of these spores. These plants are usually found 

 growing on decaying tree trunks or other woody substances. 



Pluteus cervinus Schaeflf. (Plate XXV; Plate XXIII, 

 Bull. No. 3.) This species is one of the most common members 

 of the genus, and is one of the few edible species in the rosy- 

 spored group. It is usually found in the woods growing singly, 

 from early spring until late frost, but nowhere has the writer 

 found it so abundant as along a wood road which has been 

 heavily coated with sawdust. There was hardly a day through- 

 out the entire season when a good supply of fresh plants could 

 not be gathered ; and mushrooms from this source not only sup- 

 plied several of the families living on the campus of the 

 Connecticut Agricultural College, but also furnished material for 

 many " mushroom spreads " prepared by the students. One 

 mushroom enthusiast took a large quantity of the sawdust and 

 stored it in his cellar, that he might have a supply of fresh 

 mushrooms throughout the winter. 

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