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

84 The North American Species of Pholiota
remind one of the cheilocystidia of some of the species we have included
in the present work.
30. Pholiota discolor (Pk.) Saccardo, Syll. Fung. 5: 744. 1887.
Agaricus discolor Peck, Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. Bull. 1: 50. 1873.
Illustrations: Text figs. 42-43.
Pileus subcaespitose, 1-3 cm broad, convex, becoming plane or
slightly depressed, hygrophanous, cinnamon-rufous and striatulate on
the margin when moist, bright ochraceous yellow when dry, glabrous,
thin.
Lamellae adnate or with a decurrent tooth, pallid then pale ferruginous, finally brown, narrow, close.
Stipe 2.5-7 cm long, 1.5-3 mm thick, whitish or pallid, fibrillosestriate, equal, hollow. Veil forming a distinct, persistent annulus.
Spores 7-9 x 4-5.5 a,, elliptic to broadly so in face view, slightly
inequilateral in profile; smooth; germ pore not evident; very pale yellowish in KOH under microscope.
Basidia 22-26 x 6-7 /z, (2-, 4-spored. Pleurocystidia none; cheilocystidia 45-68 X 5-9 /u, usually long-cylindric, often obscurely to slightly
ventricose, more rarely capitate.
Gill trama slightly interwoven, hyphae 4-7 /u broad. Subhymenium
not distinctive. Pileus trama interwoven. Cuticle of repent hyphae, bearing erect, scattered or clustered colorless hyphae, the terminal elements
as ventricose or subclavate pileocystidia, 25-95 x 10-13 a,. Caulocystidia
absent, but at times the terminal cells of the more or less colorless hyphae
are cystidioid and project outward. Clamp connections present.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: On wood, New York, September.
Type studied.
OBSERVATIONS: In his original description, Peck described the pileus
as viscid. We found the type devoid of any gelatinous hyphae on the
pileus and therefore regard the species as not viscid. But this conclusion
needs to be reaffirmed from an examination of fresh material, as Peck was
usually right on such matters. However, Peck himself confused this species with Galerina autumnalis, a species with distinctly ornamented
spores, and this concept (of a species with rough spores) was continued
for many years in the North American literature.
Dennis (1953) reported on this species, but he described it as having
spores with an apical germpore and cheilocystidia 20-30 X 7 /u. These
features do not check with our study of the type.
31. Pholiota brunnea sp. nov.
Illustrations: Text figs. 44-46; p1. 10.

Pileus 1-2.5(3) cm latus, late convexus, glaber sed ad marginem