56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



which the brown color is more permanent and more clearly shown. 

 The moisture escapes first from the center of the cap, last from 

 the thin margin. 



The gills in the young plant are white or whitish, but they soon 

 change to the purplish brown of the mature plant. The stem in 

 the lignatile form 'is sometimes slightly stained toward the base. 

 Our specimens were found in woods near Constableville, in Sep- 

 tember. The larger form was growing from a dead place in the 

 trunk of a sugar maple tree about two feet from the ground ; the 

 smaller form was growing on the ground at the foot of the tree 

 and on the same side. Specimens of both were collected at the 

 same time. 



Entoloma grayanum Pk. 



GRAY ENTOLOMA 



Plate 126, figures J-/ 



Pileus fleshy, but thin toward the margin, broadly convex or 

 nearly plane, sometimes broadly umbonate, glabrous, moist or sub- 

 hj^grophanous, whitish or grayish brown, flesh white, taste farinace- 

 ous ; lamellae thin, moderately close, adnexed, whitish becoming 

 flesh colored; stem equal or nearly so, solid, stuffed or hollow, silky 

 fibrillose, white or pallid ; spores angular, uninucleate, 7.5 ix in 

 diameter. 



Pileus 5-8 cm broad ; stem 3-7 cm long, 4-10 mm thick. 



The gray entoloma is a very variable mushroom, both in size, 

 habit and color. The cap ranges from 1-3 inches broad and from 

 watery white to grayish brown. Its stem also may be long, slender 

 and flexuous or short, stout and straight and from 1.5-3 inches long 

 and 2-6 lines thick. It may be solid, stufl^ed or hollow, and white 

 whitish or pallid. The flesh of the cap is white when dry and its 

 flavor is distinctly farinaceous. The gills are at first white but 

 when mature they are pink. They never assume the brown color 

 so characteristic of the common mushroom and other species of 

 the genus Agaricus which have pink gills when young. The mode 

 of growth is single, loosely gregarious or rarely cespitose. They 

 usually grow among fallen leaves in mixed woods and may be 

 found from July to September. 



