SOME COMMON MUSHROOMS AND HOW TO KNOW THEM 19 
CLITOCYBE MULTICEPS. MANY-HEADED CLITOCYBE. (EDIBLE) 
(Fig. 17) 
In this species the cap is convex, fleshy, firm, thin except on the disk, slightly 
moist in wet weather, whitish, grayish, or yellowish gray, in young plants 
sometimes quite brown; the flesh is white, taste mild; the gills are white, close, 
adnate or somewhat decurrent; the stem is equal or little thickened, solid or 
stuffed, elastic, firm, somewhat pruinose at the apex. 
The cap is 1 to 3 inches broad; the stem is 2 to 4 inches long. 
This species is subject to great variation in size, color, shape of gills, texture, 
and taste. Sometimes the gills are very slightly sinuate, reminding one of the 
genus Tricholoma. 
Clitocybe multiceps appears abundantly in the spring and autumn, growing 
in dense clusters often hidden by the grass or stubble. It is edible and by many 
considered very good. 
FIGURE 18.—Clitocybe ochropurpurea 
CLITOCYBE OCHROPURPUREA. PURPLE-GILLED CLITOCYBE 
(Fig, 18) 
In this species the cap is Subhemispherical to flat, in age upturned and 
irregular, pale yellow or yellowish tan, slightly changing to purple, smooth or 
somewhat hairy; the gills are adnate or decurrent, thick, broader behind, 
purple; the stem is solid, equal or swollen in center, conspicuously fibrous, 
paler in color than the pileus. 
The cap is 2 to 4 inches broad; the stem is 214 to 5 inches long. 
Clitocybe ochropurpurea is to be found solitary or in small associations in 
grassy places and open woods, mixed or coniferous. It is coarse in appearance 
and sometimes attains a height of 6 inches. The decided purpie of the gills 
makes it at first difficult for the amateur to recognize this species as belonging 
to the white-spored group, but a spore print will show the spores to be white 
or slightly cream. 
