SUBSECTION HYGROPHORUS 273 



which are 2-4 fx broad. No hypodermium evident. Pileus trama inter- 

 woven, hyphae more or less radially disposed. Lactifers present in the 

 pileus trama. Clamp connections present on the cuticular hyphae. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distribution — Scattered to gregarious un- 

 der conifers and in Sphagnum bogs, Michigan, Ontario, Colorado, 

 California, Idaho, and Oregon, September to December; also Europe. 



Material Studied — California: Smith 9336. Colorado: Smith 

 52637. idaho: Smith 47083, 53229, 53460, 53555. Michigan: Bailey 92; 

 McVaugh & Smith 31914; Smith 1109, 1247, 4718, 43701, 43977, 51021, 

 58240. Oregon: Smith 3419, 19165, 19505, 19645, 26661, 27291. Austria: 

 Moser, Sept. 14, 1960 (Hesler 24134). 



Observations — In the American collections the spores seldom 

 measure more than 7 fx long. A specimen of this species collected in 

 Sweden by Lundell has spores practically the same size but has a 

 thicker stipe. Bresadola's ( 1928 ) description and illustration corre- 

 spond with the American material in all respects except spore size 

 (7-9 /x). Konrad ( 1929) describes H. discoideus as having spores 6-8 X 

 3.5-5 /a, but does not give the dimensions of the stipe in his description. 

 Some European investigators agree that H. discoideus favors a conifer- 

 ous habitat, a characteristic also constant of our specimens. Moser 

 (1955) finds it in both conifer and deciduous forests. The collections 

 reported for Michigan by Smith (1937a) did not show the gilvous 

 stains on the stipe as described by Bresadola, but this character has 

 been noted in subsequent collections. 



Kuhner and Romagnesi (1953, p. 57) give H. discoideus Fr. as a 

 synonym of H. leacophaeus Fr. They give its spores 6.5-8.7 X 3.5-4.5 /x. 

 We recognize both species; in H. leucophaeus the stipe is dry, and in 

 H. discoideus it is viscid. 



SERIES AUREI (Bataille) stat. nov. 



Subsection Aurei Bataille, Flore Monogr. Hygrophores, p. 35. 1910. 

 Characters as given in key to series, page 249. 

 Type species: H. aureus Arrh. in Fries. 



Key to Species 



1. Pileus dark olive brown to olive blackish but changing to yellow and 

 finally red 164. H. hypothejus 



1. Not with above pattern of color change 2 



2. Pileus scarlet fading to reddish orange and finally yellowish; growing 



under larch 3 



2. Pileus color-pattern not as above 4 



