NEW YOEK SPECIES OF VISCID BOLETI. 



BOLETUS Dill. 



Hymeniuin composed of separable tubes crowded into a porous 

 stratum, without a trama, distinct and easily separable from the 

 hymenophore. Mouths of the tubes either porous, round or angular ; 

 spores normally fusiform, rarely oval or subrotund. Terrestrial, fleshy , 

 putrescent, centrally stipitate fungi. Many of them valuable for their 

 edible qualities, a few poisonous. Hym. Europ., p. 495. 



This genus is related to Paxillus on one hand and to Polyporus on 

 the other. It is more accurately limited than many others, but its 

 species are numerous and less clearly defined. Some are very vari- 

 able, others are too closely allied to be readily distinguished. Fries 

 remarks that " no genus has given me more trouble than that of the 

 Boleti." The difficulty is apparently due to the imperfect descrip- 

 tions given by some authors and to the variability of some species 

 whose limits have not been well ascertained. 



Most of the Boleti grow in the warmest part of the season, and 

 especially in very warm showery weather. They are scarce in dry 

 weather. Some species attain a very large size, others exhibit a 

 singular change of color in their tubes or flesh when cut or bruised. 

 They are described as terrestrial, yet a few species sometimes occur 

 also on much decayed wood. 



The spores vary in color in different species, but this variation 

 occurs in closely related species, so that it is not deemed available for 

 classifying in series as in the genus Agaricus. It is, however, valu- 

 able as a specific character and should always be noted. Fries has 

 taken the primary color of the tubes as the distinguishing character 

 of the series, but the same objection holds in this case as in the 

 other. 



New York is rich in species of this genus. Two sections, Laceri- 

 pedes Pk. (Torr. Bull. 1883, p. 73) and Hirtipelles Pk. (in. ed.) 

 are represented, of which no examples appear to have occurred in 

 Europe. We attempt here an exposition of the species of the Vis- 

 cipelles, the first section in the Friesian arrangement. 



