FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLEB MUSHROOMS 



suggestive of the specific name. It grows singly or somewhat 

 gregariously and very rarely in small tufts. In this case, the 

 caps are apt to be smaller than usual. Peck. 



Pholiota precox; early pholiota; pholiota candicans. 

 Plate XIV, Species 104. 



On ground; lawns and other grassy places; solitary or in 

 groups; May to July; edible. 



Cap convex or nearly plane; peels readily; soft; smooth; 

 whitish, becoming tinged with tan or with rusty-brown; 

 flesh white; sometimes with a knob or elevation at the center 

 (umbonate); sometimes with cracks in the peel; sometimes 

 with fragments of the veil attached to the margin of the cap; 

 I to 2 inches broad. 



Gills adjacent to but not attached to the stem (adnexed); 

 close together; whitish, turning brownish or rusty-brown when 

 old. 



Stem whitish or nearly of the color of the cap; slender; 

 pithy or hollow when mature; smooth; with a ring near the 

 top; stem easily separable from the cap; i>^ to 3 inches long. 



Spores rusty-brown; elliptic; .0004 to .0005 inch long, 

 .00024 to .0003 inch broad. 



The early pholiota is a small but variable species. From 

 other similarly colored species that appear in grassy places 

 early in the season, the collar on the stem will easily distinguish 

 it. Sometimes the collar is slight and disappears with age, 

 and sometimes the fragments of the veil remain attached 

 to the cap, leaving nothing for a collar. Peck. 



This is one of our best edible species and it occurs quite 

 abundantly during spring and early summer in grassy and 

 open places throughout temperate regions. Murrill. 



Pholiota squarrosa. Plate XIV, Species 105. 



On or near wood; in clusters; August to December; edible. 

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