GENERA AND SPECIES OF MUSHROOMS 



latter being gathered for the market in some parts of Mexico. 

 Murrill. 



Clitopilus prunulus; plum clitopilus; prune mushroom. 

 Plate VI, Species 30. 



On ground in woods in warm wet weather in July and 

 August; solitary or with but few individuals in a place; edible. 



Cap fleshy, broadly convex or nearly plane, sometimes de- 

 pressed at center; dry; suffused with a bloom; color, whitish 

 or grayish; margin sometimes wavy; flesh white; odor branny 

 (farinaceous) ; size, 2 or 3 inches broad. 



Gills somewhat far apart (distant); extending down the 

 stem (decurrent); whitish when young, becoming salmon 

 colored when older. 



Stem white; solid; smooth; i to 2 inches long; yi'io yi inch 

 thick. 



Spores salmon pink (rhodosporae) ; oblong elliptical, pointed 

 at each end; .0004 to .00045 inch long. 



English writers speak highly of it as an esculent and class 

 it among the most delicious of edible species. Gillet says 

 that it is one of the best mushrooms that can be found. 



This species when fresh has a mealy odor and taste. Atkin- 

 son. 



The genus CoUybia 



In the white-spored genus Collybia the gills are free from 

 the stem or notched or curved upon their edges near the stem. 

 The stem is either entirely cartilaginous (like gristle) or has a 

 cartilaginous rind while the central portion of the stem is 

 fibrous or fleshy, stuffed (pithy) or hollow. The cap is fleshy 

 and when the plants are young the margin of the cap is in- 

 curved or inrolled, i.e., it does not lie straight against the 

 stem as in the genus Mycena. 



157 



