REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1905 39 



cadmium -yellow or orange in the center, flesh white, taste mild; 

 lamellae rather thick, moderately close, entire or nearly so, adnate, 

 white; stem equal or slightly tapering upward, solid, sometimes 

 becoming spongy within and occasionally cavernous, colored like 

 or a little paler than the pileus; spores yellowish, subglobose, 

 .0003 of an inch long, nearly or quite as broad. 



The yellowish russula is a very beautiful and an attractive 

 species and it is very gratifying to find it edible. It is easily 

 recognized by its color, for, though other species have the cap 

 yellow, not many have both the cap and stem yellow, and none of 

 these has them of the same shade of yellow as this. The cap is 

 dry and the epidermis frequently breaks into minute mealy or 

 granular yellow particles, indicating that the species belongs to 

 the section Rigidae. The color often fades with age and sometimes 

 the margin becomes white. The gills in the fresh plant are white 

 but with age or in drying they often become dingy or assume a 

 clay color. The interspaces are uneven with transverse veins. 

 The stem is often a little paler than the cap, but it is usually more 

 highly colored at the base than elsewhere. The mycelium appears 

 to be of an orange color. 



The caps are 2-3 inches broad, the stem 1.5-3 inches long and 

 4-8 lines thick. This mushroom grows in grassy places, among 

 bushes or in woods and may be found in July and August. It is 

 not common. 



Russula sordida Pk. 



SORDID RUSSULA 

 PLATE 98, FIG. 1-5 



Pileus fleshy, firm, convex becoming centrally depressed, dry, 

 even on the margin, sordid white becoming smoky brown with 

 age, flesh grayish white becoming blackish brown where cut or 

 broken, taste mild or sometimes tardily acrid; lamellae about equal 

 in width to the thickness of the flesh, close, adnate or slightly 

 decurrent, unequal, sometimes forked, white; stem short, firm, 

 equal, solid, white, changing color like the pileus; spores white, 

 globose, .0003 of an inch broad. 



The sordid russula is a large unattractive species, but when 

 fresh specimens free from larvae are fried in butter they make an 

 excellent and relishable dish. It belongs to the section Com- 

 pactae of which we have no species with a truly red cap, though 

 the cap of Russula compacta Frost makes an approach 

 to it. The cap of this species in young plants is nearly white, but 



