204 SECTION HYGROCYBE 



cystidia and cheilocystidia none. Gill trama subparallel, hyphae 4-8 fx 

 broad. Cuticle of more or less gelatinous hyphae. Clamp connections 

 present on the cuticular hyphae. 



117 



Hygrophorus caerulescens B. & C. 



Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ill (4): 292. 1859 



Pileus 1-5 cm broad, flat, color a delicate blue-drab, viscid when 

 wet, shining when dry. Context thick on the disc. 



Lamellae decurrent, few, medium broad, subdistant, darker than 

 the pileus, rather thick and fleshy, intervenose. 



Stipe 3-6.4 cm long, 10 mm thick, pale blue, firm then soft and 

 hollow, attenuated downwards. 



Spores 5-7 X 3.5-4.5(5) /z, ellipsoid, smooth, very pale yellow in 

 Melzer's reagent, numerous. Basidia 38-50 x 4-5 /x. Pleurocystidia and 

 cheilocystidia none. Gill trama subparallel, hyphae slender (2-4 /x 

 broad ) . Cuticle of more or less repent, gelatinous hyphae. Clamp con- 

 nections not found. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distribution — Among dead leaves and sticks 

 in woods, New England. 



Material Studied — Sprague (type, collected in New England). 



Observations — The microscopic characters given above are based 

 on our study of the type (consisting of one carpophore). 



Murrill (1916) places this species under the heading "Doubtful 

 Species," appended to his treatment of those Hygrophorus species with 

 divergent gill trama. He says: "Described from specimens collected by 

 Sprague among dead leaves and sticks in woods in New England. Like 

 all Sprague's collections at Kew, this is accompanied by excellent notes 

 and a beautiful sketch, which is very similar to Camarophyllus fulvosus 

 in shape. The pileus is described as 'delicate blue-drab,' the lamellae as 

 'much decurrent, of a deeper color than the pileus,' and the stipe as 

 'white with a light blue tint.'" 



118 



Hygrophorus laetissimus Sm. & Hes. 



Lloydia 5: 63. 1942 



Hygrocybe laetissima (Sm. & Hes.) Singer, Lilloa 22: 153. 1951. 



Illustrations: 

 Fig. 58. 

 Smith and Hesler, Lloydia 5, pi. 12. 



Pileus 6-8 cm broad, obtuse, becoming nearly plane, color "spec- 

 trum red" over the disc (more brilliant than scarlet red), the margin 



