166 
Mycologia 
spicuous scaly covering. This variety is often cultivated but is 
rarely found wild. 
Psathyrella disseminata (Pers.) Ouel. 
Scattered Psathyrella 
Plate 132. Upper Figure. X 1 
Pileus membranaceous, ovoid-campanulate, densely gregarious 
or cespitose, 6-10 mm. broad ; surface minutely scaly becoming 
smooth, whitish, gray, or grayish-brown ; margin sulcate-plicate, 
entire; lamellae adnate, broad, white to gray, then black; spores 
ellipsoid, 8 X 6 ^ ; stipe furfuraceous to glabrous, yellowish to 
cinereous, very slender becoming hollow, often curved, about 2.5 
cm. long and 1 mm. thick. 
This small and very beautiful species is widely distributed in 
Europe and America on decayed wood and moist earth containing 
organic matter, the caps occuring in such large numbers in one spot 
that it is entirely impossible to count them. It may be looked for 
throughout the season from early summer until late autumn and 
it often appears on the soil in greenhouses during the winter. The 
species strongly suggests Coprinus, both in its mode of expanding 
and in blackening with age, when the black spores are mature. 
New York Botanical Garden. 
