36 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE 



Every collector in the temperate zone is aware of the seasonal 

 phenology of agarics. The influence of season on the fruiting of Hygro- 

 phori, in general, parallels that for the species of other mushrooms. 



In temperate North America, most Hygrophori fruit in the sum- 

 mer and autumn. In some species fruiting may occur in the spring; in 

 others, fruiting occurs in the winter; for some species the fruiting pe- 

 riod extends from the autumn into the winter months, or from summer 

 into autumn. 



Relatively few species in the temperate zone of North America 

 produce carpophores in late winter and spring. Our notes, however, do 

 show spring collections of H. occidentalis, purpurascens, subisabelli- 

 nus, and acutoconicus; in Europe, H. marzuolus appears in the early 

 spring near snow-banks. But, fruiting of these species may also occur 

 in the summer and autumn. 



As already stated a majority of temperate species appears during 

 the summer and autumn months, and for certain species of the United 

 States the autumn fruiting period extends into the winter. From No- 

 vember to January, one finds many species of section Hygrophorus, 

 notably H. fragrans, fuligineus, hypothejus, ponderatus, roseibrunneus, 

 subsordidus, and tephroleucus. 



In any season when certain species of Hygrophorus may be ex- 

 pected, appropriate rains are a determining factor. Experienced col- 

 lectors are fully aware of the essential influence of at least normal rain- 

 fall in carpophore production. Field experience suggests that certain 

 species which appear, for example, in the winter do not appear in 

 other wet seasons of the year, in response to rain-periods. It is as- 

 sumed, therefore, that for most species of Hygrophorus there are tem- 

 perature factors as well as moisture factors which strongly influence 

 fruiting. 



It appears, as M. Lange ( 1948 ) has pointed out, that many agarics 

 may properly be categorized as spring species, summer species, au- 

 tumn species, or winter species — in the temperate zone — with allow- 

 ance for some overlap of preceding and succeeding seasons. 



One problem on which critical, extended observations are needed 

 is that of the periodicity of fruiting. Our general observations indicate 

 that a year of heavy fruiting may be followed by one or more years of 

 light fruiting. Excellent collecting seasons come at intervals varying 

 from two to ten years, depending on weather conditions and on the 

 species. Apparently an agaric crop more or less exhausts a mycelial- 



