sulcate and ragged when old. Gills ovate, free, firm and 
white when young, becoming cinnamon color, moist and 
flaccid when old. No trace of veil even in the youngest 
plants. Stipe pure white, scurfy, hollow from the first. 
Spores ovate, 6x9 me. 
It grew on rotten shavings which had been used for horse bedding and were mixed with 
manure. Both Prof. Peck and Patouillard confirm my opinion that it is undescribed. Most 
species of Bolbitius are yellow, but this is pure white when young, no trace of yellow. Cono- 
cephalus of Europe is a white species but it is conical and "the gills are broader. Prof. Peck 
says “I see no evidence of dissolving gills and it seems to me a Pluteolus.” Stevenson says of 
the gills of Bolbitius‘•becoming moist (but not melting away,)” That the gills of our plant 
become flaccid, can plainly be seen from our photograph. I do not understand that the gills of 
Bolbitius deliquesce like those of Coprinus. 
42—CLTTOCYBE ILLUDENS. 
Pileus orange-red, fleshy, convex or expanded, obscurely ' 
umbonate, smooth, fibrillose, the cuticle sometimes cracking. 
Flesh concolorous. Gills unequally decurrent, narrow to¬ 
ward each end, orange yellow. Stipe long, smooth, solid, 
tapering to the base, usually somewhat excentric. Spores 
about globose, 5 me. 
This species grows caespitose in great clumps, usually at the base of a stump. It is 
found in the woods, but its favorite habitat is at the base of stumps in woodland pastures or 
Oldfields. In the fall of the year we find it in abundance, the large mass of bright color at¬ 
tracting the eye from a distance. I have noticed it from the road in a w^oods 800 feet away. 
No other plant is so frequently brought or sent to me for name, as its rich color and 
large size attracts the attention of all who see it. The beginner will be surprised to find the 
bright yellow gills throw down white spores. So far as known this is a peculiarly American 
plant, and was described by Schweinitz in 1822 under Gymnopus. He states that the gills are 
“branched” which we think is an error Fries m Novae Svmbolae (1851) from dried specimens 
sent by Curtis, concluded that it is a Panus, which is a good illustration of what an erroneous 
idea of a plant an experienced worker may get from dried material. Saccardo compiles it 
under both Panus and Clitocybe. Schweinitz attributed to it an odor disgusting “fastidiosus.” 
which Fries interprets foetid. If the plant has an unpleasant odor we have never noticed it, 
though we are deficient in the sense of smell. It is surely however not “foetid.” Prof. Fallow 
compares the plant to Pleurotus olearius of Europe and infers that it may be a Pleurotus, with 
which genus it would not be far out of place. 
The plant when cooked has a pleasant taste but must be avoided, as both Prof. Farlow 
and Mrs. Williams record a number of cases of poisoning (none fatal however) from eating it. 
Its properties are strongly emetic. 
Under the head of “The‘Jack my Lantern’Mushroom” a name given tp it by the ne¬ 
groes, Mrs. M. E. Williams describes it in a recent number of “The Plant World” and notes a 
phosphorence given off by the gills when placed in the dark. 
The plant is usually about a foot high and six to eight inches across the pileus. Our 
photograph was made from a very small specimen not one quarter the usual size. 
43—COLLYBIA ZONATA. 
Pileus convex then expanded, thin, with a small umbili¬ 
cus, covered with coarse, tawny, densely matted hairs, ar¬ 
ranged in obscure zones. Stipe firm, slightly tapering down, 
covered with tawny hairs similar to those of the pileus. Gills 
narrow, free, white. Spores elliptical, 4-4| me. 
This is a very characteristic plant and well named. It has many features in common 
with C. stipitarius, in fact seems an enlarged edition of that plant, but the discrepancy in size 
and habits is so great that we would not think of uniting them. Bresadola says “It is in 
my judgment a large variety of C. caulicinalis, (usually known as C. stipitarius in this country, 
—Lloyd,) same spores, same basidia, same evstidia, and color of hair corresponds, only it is 
larger and different habitat.” We find there is a specimen of this plant in the Schweinitzian 
herbarium labeled “Lentinus tenaciformis. Schw. Mss,” but Schweinitz never published it. 
This is a characteristic plant and makes a characteristic photograph from which the plant can 
be recognized on sight, and we challenge any one to make a “colored plate” which will better 
depict the plant than the photograph that we send out. 
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