SUBSECTIOls C \W \lioril) LLOPSJS 5 



Observations — This species is \er\ close to H. boreolis and 

 there is some question whether the two are distinct. //. boreolis as we 

 know it has a moist, fleshy pileus, whereas in // rUoetu the pileus is 

 thin, pliant, and viscid. The translucent si nations <>i //. niveus arc ver) 

 pronounced, but //. boreolis may also have them to some extent. In 



color, stature, habit, spore size, and in (lie interwoven gill tiania the) 

 are practically identical. Sections of the pileus of //. boteolU show a 

 few narrow subgelatinous hyphae over the surface, whereas those of 



//. niveUS show a pellicle of appreciable thickness made up of dis- 

 tinctly gelatinous hyphae. In our estimation the recognition oi these 



two species hinges on the differences noted in the pellicle of the pileus. 

 If these prove to be variable, then //. borcalis would be a synonym of 

 H. niveUS. We have recognized both here because OUT evidence points 

 to the existence of two rather than a single species. 



H. niveus is also related to //. oirgineus. In //. niveus the content 

 of the pilens is very thin, and the surface viscid; in //. oirgineus the 

 flesh is thick on the disc and the pilens is not viscid. 



A form of H. niveus with a pinkish stipe-base has been found in 

 Massachusetts by Bigelow (B-7858), and in England by Orton ( I960. 

 p. 247, footnote). Orton saws that H. niveus. //. oirgineus 3 and //. berke- 

 leyi are all prone to a pathological condition (not investigated — per- 

 haps bacterial) in which the stipe and pilens surface turns pink in 

 places; this is var. roseipes of older authors, and he considers this a 

 worthless name. 



5 



Hygrophorus buccinulus (Speg.) Dennis 



KewBnll. 2: 256. 1953 



CHtocybe huccinula Speg., Bol. Acad. Nac. Ciena Cordoba. 11: 388. 



1889. 

 Marasmiellus buccinulus (Speg.) Singer, Lilloa 22: 299. L951. 



Illustration: 



Dennis, Kew Bull. 2, fig. 1 (drawings) . 



Pileus 1-1.5 cm broad, convex with a small umbilicus, white, dry, 

 silky. Context white, thick; odor none. 



Lamellae decurrent, white, narrow, subdistant. thick. 



Stipe white, tapering downwards, undulating, dry, fibrous, solid 

 or, in age, becoming hollow above. 



Spores 7-8(10) x 6-7 /x, subglobo.se> to broadly ellipsoid, non- 

 amyloid. Basidia 67-75 x 10 /x, 4-spored. Cull trama interwoven. Cuti- 

 cle of radiating hyphae, 4-5 n broad. 



