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

Smith ~ Hesler

149

young, becoming "honey-yellow" then "buckthorn-brown," five tiers of
lamellulae present, narrow to moderately broad, close.
Stipe 3-5 cm long, 4-9 mm thick, apex "massicot-yellow" or paler,
glabrous over the upper two-thirds, coarsely fibrillose-squamulose below,
squamules reflexed, finally "buckthorn-brown," equal to enlarged above,
at times compressed. Veil pallid, at first submembranous, finally subarachnoid, leaving a fringe on the pileus margin and an evanescent zone
on the pileus.
Spores 5.5-7 (7-9) X 3.5-4 (4.5-5),u, ovate to elliptic in face view,
more or less inequilateral in profile, smooth, apical pore evident on all,
on larger spores apex truncate (N.A. 1.4 lens), dull tawny in KOH,
paler (ochraceous) in Melzer's sol. wall moderately thick (~ 0.3 /L).
Basidia 17-21 (20-25) X 4.5-6 (6-7.5) /u, 4-spored rarely 2-spored
(only small ones were observed to be 2-spored), hyaline in KOH, yellowish in Melzer's reagent. Pleurocystidia scattered to rare, 25-40 X 6-9 (12),., two types observed; 1) elliptic-mucronate with thin hyaline walls and
homogeneous content and 2) fusoid-ventricose to ventricose-elongate
(neck filamentose), with a highly refractive amorphous body in ventricose part as revived in KOH, walls thin, smooth and hyaline, neck often
drawn out into a filamentose extension, with walls flexuous. Caulocystidia
rather numerous, 24-42 x 3-6 /u filamentose-subcapitate to narrowly
fusoid-ventricose, apex subcapitate to acute, walls thin and hyaline,
content homogeneous.
Gill trama a central area of subparallel hyphae, 6-15 pu broad (cells
inflated in age), walls thin smooth and hyaline to yellowish in KOH,
content homogeneous in KOH; subhymenium of narrow subparallel
gelatinous colorless hyphae. Pileus cutis a thick gelatinous layer of
narrow interwoven hyphae 2-3 /u diam., yellowish in KOH and walls
smooth to asperulate (in age); hypodermium of ochraceous smoothwalled floccose hyphae 4-10 /u diam. Context hyphae 8-18 /u or more
thick, (cells greatly inflated) walls smooth, thin colorless to yellowish in
KOH; oleiferous hyphae present, yellow in KOH. All hyphae inamyloid.
Clamp connections present.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: Caespitose on bare soil, in a road
through a swamp, Alabama, collected by R. P. Burke (A.S.) Sept. 29,
1942.
OBSERVATIONS: This is a curious species in nearly all respects. The
yellow colors, hygrophanous context, yellow gills and stipe when young,
and scales at the stipe base make it a distinctive species in the field.
Microscopically the tendency of the chrysocystidia to have a long filamentose neck is most unusual for this type of cystidium. The large spores
are borne in 4's on the large basidia. No spores attached to two-spored
basidia were seen. We are certain, however, that not all of the large
spores seen are from 4-spored basidia. The fact that these larger spores
in a fair number of individuals have a truncate apex is one reason for
de-emphasizing the feature as a generic character.