The North American species of Pholiota, by Alexander H. Smith and L. R. Hesler.

Smith * Hesler

145

Walters 131. CANADA (ONTARIO): Smith 4612, 4779. SWEDEN:
Lundell 23-9-1939. SCOTLAND: D. Reid 1955.
71. Pholiota olympiana (Smith) comb. nov.
Hypholoma olympianum Smith, Mycologia 36: 248. 1944.
Naematoloma olympianum (Smith) Smith, Mycologia 38: 502. 1946.
Illustrations: Text figs. 94-95.
Pileus 2.5-4 (6) cm broad, obtuse to convex and with an incurved
margin at first, expanding to plane or retaining a slight obtuse umbo,
surface at first canescent from a thin coating of whitish silky fibrils but
soon glabrescent or fibrils more or less persistent toward the margin,
moist, color pale tan to clay-color ("cinnamon-buff" to "clay-color") on
disc and paler and yellower on margin (dingy honey-color). Context hard
and thick in disc when fresh, abruptly thinner toward the margin, pallid
but soon lutescent where cut or broken, odor not distinctive, taste quickly
and decidedly bitter.
Lamellae close, about 33 reach the stipe, 3-4 tiers of lamellulae,
narrow (3-4.5 mm), bluntly adnate but seceding, "cream-buff" (very
pale yellow) young, dull yellow-brown in age ("buckthorn-brown") and
often with dark rusty spots, edges even and pale yellowish.
Stipe 5-7 cm long, 3-6 mm thick, subfusoid to equal above a long
tapered pseudorhiza, tubular to hollow, surface densely white-fibrillose
from veil remnants, apex yellowish and pruinose, becoming yellowish
where handled and finally dark sordid brown, in age more or less glabrescent.
Spore deposit cinnamon-brown; spores 6-7.5 (9) x 4-4.5 (5.5) /.,
smooth, apex rounded and lacking a pore; shape in face view elliptic
to ovate, in profile about the same; color dull yellow brown revived in
KOH, in Melzer's reagent pale tawny; wall thin (about 0.25 /.).
Basidia 4-spored, 18-22 x 5-6 /u, projecting somewhat when sporulating. Pleurocystidia 22-36 X 9-15,, abundant, fusoid-ventricose to clavatemucronate, with an irregular amorphous mass in the midportion as
revived in KOH (hence they are chrysocystidia). Cheilocystidia 18-28
x 4-8 Lu, narrowly clavate to subventricose, the apex rounded to obtuse,
often yellow revived in KOH. Caulocystidia 18-28 X 4-10 px, narrowly
clavate to fusoid-ventricose, content homogeneous. Gill trama of nongelatinous subparallel hyphae with yellowish to pale tawny walls in
KOH; subhymenium of hyaline narrow hyphae not gelatinous. Pileus
with an epicutis of narrow (1.5-2.5 pu), hyaline, non-gelatinous (to
slightly gelatinous as revived in KOH) hyphae, smooth or practically so;
hypodermium of brown-walled hyphae 5-12 x diam., and more highly
colored than the hyphae of the context. Clamp connections present. All
hyphae inamyloid.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: Gregarious to scattered around