140 SECTION HYGROCYBE 



Spores 7-9(10) X 5-6 /x, ellipsoid, smooth, yellowish in Melzer's 

 reagent. Basidia 28-45 X 7-10 fx, 4-spored; rarely 1-, 2-, and 3-spored. 

 Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia none. Gill trama of parallel hyphae, 

 10-20 fi broad. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distbibution — On soil in deciduous woods, 

 Tennessee, August. 



Matebial Studied — Tennessee: Hesler 10798 (type, from Knox- 

 ville, Aug. 11, 1937). 



Obsebvations — The yellow color excludes it from H. ravenelii. 

 It lacks a distinctive odor and therefore is not H. auratocephalus. It 

 differs from var. acutoconicus in its smaller spores. 



SERIES HYGROCYBE 



Key to Species 



1. Lamellae purplish, dark red, or lavender 2 



1. Lamellae not colored as above 3 



2. Lamellae dark red; pileus dark purplish red; basidia dimorphous 



77. H. firmus var. purpureas 



2. Lamellae purplish drab to lavender; pileus dark reddish orange, 



becoming more orange-like; basidia monomorphous 



70. H. purpureofolius 



3. Pileus scarlet when young, in some species fading to orange or yellow 

 (tips of squamules becoming fuscous in H. turundus var. turundus) . .5 



3. Pileus not scarlet 4 



4. Pileus yellow; basidia dimorphous . . .76. H. firmus var. occidentalis 

 4. Pileus not yellow, or only a dingy yellow to buff; basidia monomor- 

 phous 14 



5. Spores 9-14 ^ or more long 6 



5. Spores smaller 10 



6. Squamule tips over disc of pileus dark brown to fuscous at maturity 



71. H. turundus var. turundus 



6. Squamule tips and fibrils orange-vellowish, darkening only slightly 



or not at all 7 



7. Pileus deep pinkish red, fading slowly; gills adnate to short-decurrent; 



growing on Sphagnum 72. H. turundus var. sphagnophilus 



7. Not on Sphagnum 8 



8. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia clavate to spathulate 



73. H. appalachianensis 



8. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia none 9 



9. Basidia dimorphous, the large ones with spores 14-18 X 7-8 ix, the 



smaller ones with spores 6x3 ju 74. H. firmus var. firmus 



9. Basidia monomorphous; spores 7-12 X 4-8 /x 79. H. canthareUus 



10. Growing on Sphagnum, solitary to gregarious; stipe 3-8 cm X 



2-4 mm; pileus thin, and striate when moist 



81. H. miniatus f. longipes 



10. Not with the above combination of characters 11 



