40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



found single or in tufts. The cap is 2-6 inches broad, the stem 

 1.5-6 inches long and 3-12 lines thick. The cap is convex or some- 

 what bell shape, becoming nearly flat, whitish to grayish brown in 

 color, its surface is smooth, and in large specimens it is sometimes 

 umbonate and rugosely wrinkled about the umbo. Its flesh is 

 white. The gills are at first whitish or grayish but as they mature 

 they assume the pink color of the spores. They are rounded next 

 the stem and but slightly attached to it. The stem is white or 

 whitish, solid and often mealy at the top. 



On account of the disagreeable sensation left in the mouth by 

 tasting the uncooked cap it was thought that this mushroom would 

 probably be found to be unwholesome. But actual experiment 

 has shown that this character is destroyed by thorough cooking 

 and that the mushroom is edible though less highly flavored than 

 some others. Its scarcity makes it of but little importance. 



Hebeloma album Pk. 



WHITE HEBELOMA 



PLATE II7, FIG. 1-6 



Pileus fleshy, thin, firm, convex becoming nearly plane or con- 

 cave by the upcurving of the margin, glabrous, slightly viscid, 

 white or yellowish white, flesh white, taste mild ; lamellae thin, 

 narrow, close, adnexed, whitish when young, becoming brownish 

 ferruginous ; stem equal, firm, solid, glabrous, slightly mealy at 

 the top, white; spores subelliptic, .0005-0006 of an inch long, 

 .00025-.0003 broad (12-16 x 6-8 />-). 



The white hebeloma is not a common mushroom but it is an ex- 

 cellent one for the table. It is gregarious in its mode of growth 

 and occurs among fallen leaves and mosses or on naked damp soil 

 in woods, and may be found in September and October. The 

 cap is 1-2 inches broad, the stem 1-3 inches long and 2-3 lines 

 thick. Generally the whole plant is white when young but the gills 

 assume a brownish cinnamon or brownish rust color when mature. 

 The edge of the gills is slightly excavated near the stem, to which 

 they are narrowly attached. The cap is sometimes tinged with 

 yellow and the stem is adorned at the top with white particles or 

 a floccose mealiness. In State Museum Report 54, plate G, figures 

 1-7, the gills and spores are incorrectly colored. A new figure has 

 therefore been prepared. 



