w iCROSCOPIC en kfl \( 1 1 RS / ) 



mentation of the stipe apex is white at first but slowl) becomes ash) 

 the color change being limited to the elements »>! the ornamentation. 

 In a few Hygrophori the ornamentation at the apex <>l the stipe con- 

 sists of golden granules. Ii a veil is present, it mav or nia\ not be 

 colored; but if colored, there is often a sharp difference in the color of 



the stipe between the covered and uncovered portions. 



The surface Ornamentation is important both for its color and 0101 



phology. The most unspecialized type is a smooth, glabrous to some- 

 what silkv surface, up to the point of gill attachment. However, in 

 most species the surface near the ape\ is powden | pruhiose | or cov- 

 ered with a slight roughness (scabrous), the elements of which ma\ 

 project as points and consist of Fascicles of a primitive type of derma- 



tocystidium usually not much different in shape from a simple hvphal 

 tip. In some species the stipe apex is \er\ rough. 



As on the pileus, the outer layer of the stipe may be composed of 

 gelatinous hyphae or these hvphae may be the remains of a veil; in the 

 latter instance the stipe is not slimv above the point where the veil 

 breaks. Either the presence of a gelatinous outer veil or a continuous 

 outer gelatinous cortical layer is of great importance in the recognition 

 of species. In section Hygrophorus, the only section in which a gelati- 

 nous veil is found, its presence or absence is the major character on 

 which the section is subdivided. The gelatinous veil is an outer veil ex- 

 tending over the surface of the pileus and causing the latter to be 

 slimy like the stipe. The character is an easy one to ascertain correct 1\ 

 if fruiting bodies in various stages of development are present, because 

 the veil, as the cap expands, extends from the cap margin to the stipe. 

 Below the point of attachment the surface is slimy like the pileus. 

 There are two sources of possible error, however, which should be men- 

 tioned. If the stipe is short and the pileus large, the cap margin may 

 approach the stipe surface near the base of the stipe, so that as the cap 

 expands the greater part (or nearly all) of the stipe surface is dry. Ob- 

 servations on button stages are needed to properly resolve conditions 

 of this kind. A situation in which a species lacks a veil, but has a slimy 

 pileus and has some of the slime drip off onto the base of the stipe, may 

 also be encountered. Again, observations on young fruiting bodies arc 

 essential to a correct interpretation of this character. In dry weather the 

 slime dries rapidly and is greatly reduced in volume. On exposed speci- 

 mens of this kind, a varnished appearance over the lower part of the 

 stipe usually indicates that a gelatinous veil was originally present. 



In a number of species a fibrillose "dry" veil is found between the 

 gelatinous veil and the stipe surface. When such a veil breaks it ma\ 

 leave a rather persistent fibrillose annular /one on the upper part of the 



