KEPOKT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 249 



stem central or eccentric, solid, glabrous, colored like the pileus ; 

 spores elliptical, .0003 to .00(4 in. long. 



The Involute paxillus is somewhat variable in color and exhib- 

 its a strange admixture of gray, ochraceous, ferruginous and 

 brown hues, sometimes one being more prominent, sometimes 

 another. It is apt to be viscid when moist and shining when 

 dry. The margin is rolled inwards in the young plant, and is 

 adorned with a grayish tomentum or villosity. It sometimes ex- 

 hibits short markings as in figures 'ZO and 21. The flesh is not a 

 clear white, but tinged with gray. 



The gills are at first w^hitish, but they become yellowish or 

 rust colored with advancing ao:e and assume brownish or red- 

 dish brown stains where cut oc bruised. They are decurrent and 

 a little wavy and reticulately connected where they run down on 

 the stem. The interspaces between them are marked with veins. 



The stem is generally shorter than the diameter of the cap and 

 solid. It is colored nearly like the cap and is sometimes adorned 

 with a few darker spots. 



Cap two to four inches broad, stem one to three inches long, 

 one-tbird to one-half an inch thick. 



The Involute paxillus grows in woods either on the ground or 

 on decayed wood. It grows singly or in groups and seems to 

 like damp mossy soil well filled with vegetable matter. It is 

 common in cool hemlock or spruce woods, but occurs also in 

 mixed woods, and along the borders of marshes. When grow- 

 ing on old decayed stumps or the prostrate moss-covered trunks 

 of trees the stem is sometimes eccentric, but in other cases it is 

 generally central. It appears from August to November. 



It is sometimes called the Brown chantarelle, but it is scarcely 



a rival of the true chantarelle. Most authors record it as edible 



but they do not praise it highly. Kichon and Koze say it is 



edible but scarcely to be recommended. Letellier on the other 



hand says it can be employed as food with much advantage. It 



is also said to be held in high estimation in liussia. With us it 



is scarcely available except to people living near dumi) woods or 



swamps. 



Rhodosporee. 



The name of this section, which in some works bears the name 

 i yporhodii, indicates that the spores are red, but their color is 

 32 



