REPORT OF STATE BOTANIST, 1897 305 
form it is smooth, but a variety is common in which it is minutely 
scurfy. This is named variety furfuracea. There is also a small 
form, called variety pusilla , in which the cap is about i in. broad. 
All these have the root-like prolongation of the stem which is sug¬ 
gestive of the specific name. The color of the stem is either whitish 
or similar to the color of the cap but paler. In the scurfy-stemmed 
variety it is often darker colored than in the typical form. Speci¬ 
mens are sometimes found in which the stem is white and occasion¬ 
ally both cap and stem are white. The spores are white when fresh, 
but after long exposure they sometimes assume a yellowish color. 
The cap is from i to 4 in. broad and the stem from 2 to 8 in. 
long above the surface of the ground, and from 2 to 3 or rarely 
4 lines thick. 
In one specimen in the state herbarium the subterranean or root¬ 
like prolongation of the stem is a little more than 10 in. long. 
The plants grow singly or sparsely scattered in woods or recent 
clearings and may be found from June to October. The caps are 
somewhat tough but agreeable in flavor and the species is classed 
as an edible one without any hesitation. 
Collybia velutipes Curt. 
Velvet-stemmed Collybia 
Pi.ate 50, fig. 11-16. 
Pileus rather thin, convex or nearly plane, obtuse, glabrous, vis¬ 
cid, reddish yellow or tawny; lamellae broad, subdistant, rounded 
behind, slightly adnexed, white or tinged with yellow; stem firm, 
externally cartilaginous, stuffed or hollow, brown or tawny brown, 
velvety hairy when mature; spores narrowly elliptic, .0003 to .00036 
in. long, .00016 broad. 
The velvet-stemmed Collybia is one of the few mushrooms that 
appear very late in the season. It may be found after nearly all 
others have yielded to the severity of the weather. It has even been 
called a winter mushroom because'it is possible to find it in pro¬ 
longed mild thawing weather in winter. It sometimes develops in 
spring also. It is easily recognized by its viscid tawny cap, its 
velvety stem and tufted mode of growth. Sometimes the cap is 
