294 SECTION HYGROPHORUS 



known to us from the conifer forests of the north coast of California. It 

 has an equal ( or nearly so ) elongated stipe with conspicuous sheath of 

 dark-colored fibrils which break up into zones or patches. These two 

 are readily distinguished at sight in both the fresh and dried condi- 

 tion. 



J. Lange (1935-40) comments on a paler form of H. olivaceoalbus 

 which grades into H. limacinus. 



Ill 



Hygrophorus olivaceoalbus var. gracilis Maire 



Treballs del Museu de Ciencies Naturals de Barcelona 15 (Bot. Ser.), 



p. 53. 1933 



Pileus 1.5-3 cm broad, conic, campanulate or plane, glutinous, vir- 

 gate with dark-cinereous fibrils beneath the gluten, disc blackish, mar- 

 gin sordid olivaceous-cinereous. Context whitish or tinged cinereous, 

 odor and taste not distinctive. 



Lamellae white, broad, distant, decurrent, edges even. 



Stipe 6-8 cm long, 5-7 mm thick, surface covered by a thin gluti- 

 nous sheath over the lower portion, smoky olive beneath the gluten 

 and appressed fibrillose with smoky-olive fibrils, apical annular zone 

 white above and ashy gray beneath, white and silky at the apex. 



Spores 10-14 X 5.5-7.5 /z, ellipsoid, at times slightly inequilateral, 

 smooth, pale yellowish in Melzer's reagent. Basidia 42-57 X 7-9 /x, 2-, 

 3-, and 4-spored. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia none. Gill trama 

 divergent, hyphae 3-6 p. broad. Cuticle a broad ( 175-250 /*) gelatinous 

 zone with fuscous, loosely tangled, narrow (2-3.5 /x) hyphae having 

 dark-brown granules in them as seen in Melzer's reagent. No hypoder- 

 mium differentiated. Pileus trama of radial hyphae. Clamp connections 

 present on the hyphae of the cuticle, gill trama, and subhymenium. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distbibution — Scattered under fir, Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and Michigan, October-November. 



Matebial Studied — obegon: Smith 9211, 8211 (as form minor). 

 Washington: Smith 18080. Michigan: Smith 62065. 



Obsebvations — This is an apparently constant slender form in 

 which, at least in our material, the number of spores borne on a basid- 

 ium varies greatly in a single pileus. This condition is correlated with 

 an increase in spore size. The dark granules as seen in Melzer's reagent 

 in the hyphae of the gelatinous epicutis are the most distinguishing 

 feature of the variety. 



