42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



stem 4-6 lines thick. As an edible species it is rather tough but its 

 flavor is agreeable if well cooked and seasoned and it is harmless. 



Should the proposed genus Laccaria be recognized the name of 

 the present species would be Laccaria ochropurpurea 

 (Berk.) and that of the preceding species would be Laccaria 

 amethystina (Bolt.) Cke. 



Russula compacta Frost 



COMPACT RUSSULA 



PLATE 109, FIG. 1-4 



Pileus fleshy, compact, broadly convex, becoming centrally de- 

 pressed or infundibuliform by the elevation of the margin, dry or 

 slightly viscid after rain, unpolished, at first whitish slightly clouded 

 with reddish buff, or rusty red with whitish margin, becoming en- 

 tirely rusty red with age, flesh white, taste mild or slightly and 

 tardily acrid ; lamellae close, adnate or slightly rounded behind, 

 unequal, some forked, white, changing to reddish brown where 

 wounded and in drying; stem short, stout, firm, solid or sometimes 

 cavernous, white, becoming stained where bruised; spores white, 

 globose or subglobose, .0003-.00035 of an inch broad. 



The compact russula is a large mushroom belonging to the 

 Fricsian section Compactae. It is allied to the European Russula 

 m u s t e 1 i H a Fr. from which it may be separated by its different 

 color, which changes with age, and by its disagreeable odor in dry- 

 ing. The cap is usually 2-4 inches broad, but sometimes it attains 

 a diameter of 6 inches. Its stem is short, equal, stout and firm, 

 white when young but usually becoming colored like the cap. It is 

 2-2.5 inches long, 8-18 lines thick. It furnishes an abundance of 

 agreeable food, the flesh being so thick and compact. 



Russula earlei Pk. 



EARLE RUSSULA 



State Mus. Bui. 67, p. 24, pi. N, fig. 5-10. 



The Earle russula is a very distinct and easily recognized 

 species. No one of our other species has such distant gills combined 

 with such small white spores. These characters in connection with 

 its very viscid or glutinous and pale yellow or straw colored cap 

 make it scarcely possible to confuse it with any other species. It 

 has hitherto been found on Long Island only. It occurs in August. 



