170 SECTION HYGROCYBE 



89 



Hygrophorus cokeri Sm. & Hes. 



Lloydia 5: 34. 1942 



Hygrophorus gomphidioides Coker, Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. Jour. 45: 

 168. 1929. Non H. gomphidioides P. Henn. 1908. 



Illustration: 



Coker, Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. Jour. 45, pi. 14. 



Pileus 1.5-2.8 cm broad, convex, disc depressed, near "cinnamon 

 rufous" to "tawny," slightly viscid, fibrous, the fibrils innate and sepa- 

 rated forming interrupted radial grooves, the tips erect to form scat- 

 tered, punctate squamules, margin incurved and drooping. Context 

 about 1.5 mm thick at the disc, concolorous but paler, tender, not 

 brittle; odor none, taste distinctly and persistently bitter-astringent. 



Lamellae subdecurrent, deep chestnut or mahogany brown, 

 slightly glaucous from the spores, rather close, narrow to medium, 

 thick, waxy, veined, edges blunt, more or less uneven. 



Stipe 1.5-3 cm long, 3-6 mm thick, nearly concolorous, subequal or 

 tapering downward, base usually constricted, usually compressed and 

 channelled, hollow, flesh fibrous, easily splitting, dry. 



Spores (5.5)6.5-8(9) X 3.5-4.8 /x, ellipsoid, smooth, yellowish in 

 Melzer's reagent. Basidia 34-48 X 5-6 /*, 4-spored. Pleurocystidia and 

 cheilocystidia none. Gill trama subparallel to undulating-parallel. Cuti- 

 cle of repent hyphae which loosen in bundles and then are more or less 

 erect, hyphae slender, not constricted, not of the miniatus-type. Pileus 

 trama of radially disposed hyphae. Clamp connections not found. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distribution — On sandy soil, in mixed 

 woods, North Carolina, April. 



Material Studied — north Carolina: Coker 4248 (type, col- 

 lected by J. N. Couch, from near Meeting of the Waters, Chapel Hill, 

 April 15, 1920). 



Observations — The description of microscopic characters given 

 above is based on our study of the type. 



Regarding this species Coker states: "It seems to fall in the 

 miniatus-cantharelhis group, but it is not very close to any of these. It 

 is a very peculiar and well-marked species, sharply distinguished by 

 the conspicuously radiating fibrous lines on the cap, ending in deli- 

 cate squamules, strongly depressed Gomphidius-Mke shape of the cap 

 and the distinctive colors. The spores are smaller than others of the 

 group." 



