30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
nearly hemispheric, but it soon becomes convex and continues to 
expand till it is nearly plane or centrally depressed. The margin 
is even when young and generally remains so in maturity, but 
sometimes it becomes radiately striate. The surface appears to 
the naked eye to be pruinose or covered with a bloom, but under 
a lens it is seen to be dusted with minute particles which, under 
the action of water, are separable and give reddish stains to any 
white surface against which the moistened cap may be rubbed. 
This pruinosity is one of the best distinguishing features of the 
species. A little boy once went with his mother to look for mush- 
rooms. They came on a group of Mary’s russula and the little 
boy, noticing the bloom on the caps and recognizing in it a 
resemblance to the bloom of plums, cried out in childish glee 
“plummies, plummies.” He was evidently a close and thoughtful 
observer and could distinguish at sight this russula from all 
others. The flesh of the cap is white, but has a pinkish tint 
immediately beneath the cuticle which is separable on the margin 
but adnate in the center of the cap. The taste is mild, but occa- 
sionally a specimen may be found in which it is slightly and 
tardily acrid. The color varies from deep crimson to purple. 
The center is sometimes more highly colored than the margin 
and in the purple specimens the margin in old plants is apt to 
fade to a whitish color and to become striate. The gills are white 
when young but with advancing age they become yellowish. They 
are nearly all of full length and are therefore wider apart at the 
margin of the cap than at the stem. A few are forked at the 
base and the interspaces are veiny. The stem is generally cylin- 
dric but occasionally tapering downward or pointed at the base. 
It appears to the naked eye to be smooth but under a lens it is 
slightly pulverulent. It is solid or slightly spongy and white 
within and colored like or a little paler than the cap externally 
except at the ends where it is white. Forms occasionally occur 
-In which the stem is entirely white. 
The cap is 1-3 inches broad; the stem 1-2 inches long, 3- 5 lines 
thick. It grows both in woods and in open grassy places and is 
found in July and August. It is not as highly flavored as some 
