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

Smith ~ Hesler

45

Spores 8-11.5 X 6-6.5 X 7-9 tu, elliptic in profile view, angular-ovate
in face view varying to ovate or to kite-shaped, smooth in KOH, with a
thick wall for the genus (0.5-1.8 /i), rich reddish cinnamon in KOH
and in Melzer's, apical pore present and apex more or less truncate, pore
1-1.5,u wide.
Basidia 23-26 x 8-10(11) /u, clavate, hyaline in KOH. Pleurocystidia none. Cheilocystidia 20-26 X 8-13 /u, abundant but readily
collapsing and not easily demonstrated on old gills, fusoid-ventricose with
short necks and obtuse to subacute apex, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled.
Gill trama parallel, pale cinnamon in KOH, hyaline in H0,O when
fresh but with hyaline incrusting particles along the walls. Subhymenium
not gelatinous. Pileus trama floccose-interwoven. Cuticle of compactly
appressed enlarged hyphal cells with ochraceous walls in H,O when
fresh, and dark rusty brown revived in KOH, the cells more or less ellipsoid (10-18.u in diameter) and hyphae radial, pigment mostly in the
wall, incrustations not conspicuous. Clamp connections present.
HABIT, HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. Densely gregarious on burned soil,
Idaho and Wyoming, June and July.
OBSERVATIONS: The lubricous pileus, dull reddish brown color, and
mild taste distinguish it. In KOH the color of the spores would seem to
suggest a relationship with Conocybe but the other characters do not
bear this out.
MATERIAL EXAMINED: IDAHO: Smith 44640 (type), 44809, 65015,
65056, 71453. WYOMING: Solheim 3957; Smith 34354, 34646, 34862.
Subgenus Flavidula subg. nov.
Pileus siccus, fibrillosus vel squamulosus, luteus, luteofulvus, fulvus
vel badius. Stipes glaber, fibrillosus, granulosus vel non squarroso-squamu losus.
TYPUS: Pholiota curvipes.
Species with a pileus trichodermium of non-gelatinous hyphae and
typically having the cells more or less inflated or often sphaerocyst-like
are placed here if in addition the spores are tawny to cinnamon-brown
or dark yellow-brown in KOH and have smooth walls. In some species
the epicutis of the pileus consists of innate appressed non-gelatinous
hyphae. A germ pore may or may not be present at the spore apex, and if
present it is usually so small that a 1.4 N.A. oil immersion lens is often
needed to see it clearly. The cells of the hyphae forming the trichodermium in section Flavidula may be thin or thick-walled, and smooth
or incrusted, but become a dark rusty brown color in KOH. This latter
reaction we consider an important feature of the subgenus. An annulus
may or may not be present. The pileus generally appears dry and appressed fibrillose to echinate-squamulose. Species with an hygrophanous
pileus are not admitted to section Flavidula. Species having pale colored