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

Smith ~ Hesler

185

Pileus 6-12 cm broad, dry, convex becoming nearly plane, covered
with a tawny fibrous cuticle of brownish fibrillose scales, the lighter
colored flesh showing when the fibers separate into scales, sometimes concentrically cracked about the disc. Context thin, white, becoming brownish where cut; odor and taste of radish.
Lamellae adnate or joined to a narrow collar, narrow, attenuated
near stipe, close, whitish becoming pinkish cinnamon then dark cinnamon, edges white-crenulate.
Stipe 5-8 cm long, 8-10 mm thick, covered below the ring with
numerous erect, subfloccose, tawny scales, slightly floccose above the
annulus, equal, stuffed or hollow. Veil forming an ample, membranous,
persistent annulus, which is white above and tawny floccose-squamulose
below.
Spores (6) 7-10 (11) x 4.5-5.5 u,, smooth, lacking an apical pore, in
face view elliptic, in profile elliptic to obscurely inequilateral, as revived
in KOH dark chocolate brown.
Basidia 25-28 X 7-8 fu, 4-spored, clavate. Pleurocystidia none. Cheliocystidia 20-28 x 7-9 uL, clavate-capitate, inconspicuous. Gill trama subparallel, hyphae 8-12 f broad, floccose. Pileus trama interwoven. Pileus
cuticle not sharply differentiated; surface bearing clumps of brownish
hyphae (the scales). Clamp connections none. All tissues inamyloid.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: About the base of oak trees,
Michigan, September. Type studied.
OBSERVATIONS: It is possible that we have here a distinct Agaricuslike genus comprising two species, Peck's and Stropharia kauffmanii
Smith. The latter has dull violaceous drab gills when mature in contrast
to Peck's species with dark cinnamon gills. Harper (1914, pl. 60) gives
an excellent illustration of P. fulvo-squamosa. Harding (1952) thought
it the same as Agaricus subrufescens, and Overholts (1927) commented
that the scales on the pileus reminded him of those on A. subrufescens.
The absence of clamp connections also seems to indicate a relationship to
Agaricus.
Stirps Schraderi
The subhymenium is of cellular to filamentous structure but not
gelatinous, the pileus is dry and lacks gelatinous layers. In these features
the genus Inocybe comes to mind as a possibly related group, but the
spores of P. schraderi and P. scabella have a minute pore. The group
may seem artificial to some, but the species at least are united by basic
characters. The basidiocarps of the three species do not closely resemble
each other in aspect.
Key

1. Spores 8-10 x 4.5-5.5........................................ P. sola