FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLED MUSHROOMS 



Gills close together; extending down the stem (decurrent); 

 branched or forked; connected by veins on the under surface 

 of the cap; whitish when young, yellowish or rusty when old, 

 turning reddish-brown where cut or bruised. 



Stem central, or sometimes away from the center of the 

 cap (eccentric); solid; smooth; colored like the cap; i to 3 

 inches long; ^/j to yi inch thick; shorter than the diameter of 

 the cap. 



Spores rusty; elliptic; .0003 to .0004 inch long. 



It is sometimes called the brown chantarelle but it is scarcely 

 a rival of the true chantarelle. Most authorities record it as 

 edible but they do not praise it highly. It is said to be in 

 high estimation in Russia. With us it is scarcely available 

 except to people living near damp woods. Peck. 



The genus Pholiota 



Pholiota is a rusty or ochraceous-spored genus. Except 

 for the color of the spores, many of the species belonging to 

 this genus resemble closely those fungi of other genera so that 

 the spore color must be observed before identification can be 

 certainly made. Its plants resemble those of Armillaria 

 among the white-spored mushrooms and Stropharia in the 

 brown-spored series. In some of the species of Pholiota grow- 

 ing upon the ground, the spores are brown, enough to cause 

 some difficulty in deciding whether a given species should be 

 regarded as a Pholiota or a Stropharia. Other resemblances 

 make the species of this genus a difficult one for the beginner. 



The stem and cap are continuous with each other and can- 

 not be easily separated. The stem has a ring or collar. 



Species of Pholiota 

 Pholiota adiposa; fat pholiota. Plate XIV, Species loi. 



On stumps and dead trunks of trees in or near woods; singly 

 or in tufts; September to November; edible. 

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