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

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The North American Species of Pholiota

tose, surface glabrous, viscid, subhygrophanous, pale ochraceaous-brown,
often darker on the disc, margin entire. Context cream colored, unchanging; odor and taste mild.
Lamellae subsinuate-decurrent, pale ochraceous to fusco-ferruginous,
heterophyllous, crowded, broad, subventricose.
Stipe 5-6 cm long, 3-4 mm thick, pale brown, yellowish white at the
apex, subequal, slightly enlarged at the apex and base, glabrous above,
brown-fibrillose below, solid, white-mycelioid at the base.
Spores (5.5) 6-7 (8) X 3.5-4 u,, smooth, apical pore distinct and
apex obscurely truncate in some, shape in face view oblong to elliptic,
in profile oblong to elliptic or obscurely inequilateral, pale dull tawny
to ochraceous in KOH, paler in Melzer's reagent, wall less than 0.25 pt
thick.
Basidia 18-23 (25) x 4.5-6 pu, 4-spored clavate, yellowish in KOH
and in Melzer's reagent. Pleurocystidia scattered to abundant 25-37 (44)
X 6-12 it, clavate-mucronate or fusoid-ventricose; content distributed
throughout the cell and amorphous-granular, in KOH it is bright ochraceous, in Melzer's amber-brown or darker; wall smooth thin and collapsing over the cell content and not readily reviving. Cheilocystidia 22-30
x 5-8 pu, subfusoid to fusoid-ventricose, wall thin and smooth, content
hyaline to yellowish but not coarsely granular. Caulocystidia in tufts,
36-54 x 7-13 pt, versiform: cylindric to capitate, ventricose or irregular
variously, walls smooth and thin content mostly "empty."
Gill trama reviving poorly but a gelatinous subhymenial layer
present. Pileus cutis a gelatinous layer of narrow (2-5 Fp) smooth to
slightly incrusted hyphae yellow in KOH, hypodermial region rusty
ochraceous in color but hyphal detail not clear. Clamp connections
present. All hyphae inamyloid.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: Under trees, probably attached
to buried wood, California, December. Type studied.
OBSERVATIONS: Although it was originally described as being dry,
the pileus cuticle of the type shows a distinct zone of gelatinous hyphae.
The species appears to be rare; no reports of it have appeared since the
type was collected in 1901. The pleurocystidia are its most interesting
feature in that they are not typical chrysocystidia but must be included
in this category in a broad sense.
Subgenus Flammula (Fr.) Singer, Lilloa 22: 515. 1951 Emended
The dextrinoid, non-truncate spores combined with the absence of
both leptocystidia and chrysocystidia in the hymenium, and the lack of
a persistent membranous annulus distinguish this group. Young pilei are
usually a bright yellow and the lower part of the stipe is strongly fulvescent. The spore deposit may have a stronger reddish tone than is
typical for the genus as a whole.
Type: P. flavida.