REPORT OF THE vSTATE BOTANIST 1 904 39 



Hieracium praealtum Vill. 

 This noxious weed has become very abundant in Lewis county. 

 From Lyon Falls to Carthage it is plentiful along the railroad, in 

 pastures and meadows and by roadsides. It is also common along 

 the Carthage and Adirondack Railroad. It rivals buttercups and 

 daisies in giving color to meadows infested by it. The orange 

 hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum, which is asso- 

 ciated with it in some places and which is no less pestilential, was 



not seen here. 



Hydnum adustum Schw. 



An unusual form of this fungus was found in the western part 

 of the State by G. E. Morris. The pileus is shaped like the bowl 

 of a goblet by the upward curving of its margin and the stem is 

 central. The whole plant is white. 



Hygrophorus laurae decipiens n. var. 

 Pileus thin, stem slender, less than 6 lines thick, generally ces- 

 pitose and attenuated at the base, pileus not changing color in 

 drying, gills also nearly unchangeable. Edible. Near Elm lake, 

 Hamilton county. September. 



Hypholoma sublateritium (Schaeff.) Fr. 



In October specimens of the brick-red hypholoma were sent to 

 me with the statement that two persons who had eaten stewed 

 mushrooms of this kind had been raade sick by them. In one case 

 " a severe headache with tingling and numbness in hands 

 and arms and a feeling of general weakness and relaxation" devel- 

 oped in 15 hours after eating and lasted half an hour. In the 

 other case the person "was attacked with violent nausea and 

 purging." The difference in the symptoms of the two persons 

 and the long time between the eating and the development of the 

 symptoms led me to think that the mushrooms were not responsible 

 for the sickness. It seemed to me that by some mistake the sam- 

 ples sent me were not the same kind as those that had been eaten 

 or that the sickness was due to some other cause. As the samples 

 sent me were still in fairly good condition, I concluded to try 

 their edible quality myself. Three caps were selected, fried with 

 butter and eaten. No harm and no unpleasant results followed, 

 and my opinion of the innocence of the mushrooms was confirmed. 



It is proper to add that in the typical form of the species the 

 taste is said to be bitter, but in these specimens no bitter flavor 

 was perceptible, though in other respects they exhibited the char- 

 acters of the species. 



