SUBSECTIOX CAMAROPHYLLI 341 



206 



Hvgrophorus amarus Sm. & Hes. 



Lloydia 2: 50. 1939 



Pileus 3-8 cm broad, subhemispheric at first, then convex, ex- 

 panded plane, obtuse or subdiscoid, color varying from "warm buff' to 

 "flesh color" at first, sometimes "antimony yellow" or tinged "salmon 

 color" to "ochraceous orange" on the disc, paler on the margin, gluti- 

 nous, not streaked, glabrous and even, margin at first incurved and 

 white floccose. Context white, unchanging, 5-10 mm thick on the disc, 

 rather compact; odor slight, taste very bitter to nauseous and persistent. 



Lamellae adnate, at length arcuate with a decurrent tooth, "ivory 

 vellow," becoming incarnate-spotted, waxy, close to subdistant, rather 

 broad (6-10 mm). 



Stipe long or short, 5-7 cm or 8-13 cm long, 10-15(20) mm thick at 

 the apex, white or tinged incarnate, covered throughout by an innate 

 dense white floccose-fibrillose sheath, tapering downward or attenu- 

 ated at the base, dry or slightlv viscid at first, solid. 



Spores 7-8.5 X 4.5-6 fx, ellipsoid, smooth, colorless to very pale yel- 

 low in Melzer's reagent. Basidia 46-60 X .5-8 p., 2- and 4-spored. Pleuro- 

 cvstidia and cheilocvstidia none. Gill trama divergent, hyphae 4-6 fx 

 broad. Cuticle a conspicuous, gelatinous zone, 200—350 ll thick, with 

 tangled, narrow ( 2-5 \x broad ) hyphae, some more or less erect, form- 

 ing an ixotrichodermium. Cuticular hvphae with a few small, rather in- 

 conspicious clamp connections. No hvpodermium differentiated. A 

 few lactifers present. Pileus trama of more or less radial hvphae. 



Habit, Habitat, and Distribution — Gregarious to subcaespitose 

 under spruce and Douglas fir, Washington. Wyoming, and Idaho, July- 

 November. 



Material Studied — idaho: Wehmeyer (Copeland, Sept. 11, 

 1922). Washington: Kauffman (type, from Lake Quinault, Nov. 2. 

 1925). Wyoming: Wehmever. Hoback Forest Camp and Camp Davis, 

 July 22, 1940. 



Observations — All of the collections, except one bv Dr. Weh- 

 meyer. were made by Professor C. H. Kauffman, and our description is 

 taken from his notes. H. erubescens is sometimes described as being 

 bitter. However, in H. erubescens the taste is indistinctive, and the 

 pileus is dark reddish brown in contrast to the bitter taste and the 

 buff to yellow colors in H. amarus. Moreover, the gills of H. amarus 

 are ivory yellow, and in H. erubescens thev are pinkish, becoming 

 spotted or stained reddish. The stature of H. amarus is somewhat simi- 

 lar to that of H. pudorinus, but the fibrillose sheath of the stipe should 

 distinguish H. amarus. 



