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

Smith * Hesler

61

Spores 7.5-9 x 4-4.5 X 4.5-6 /, smooth, elliptic to somewhat ovate
in face view, slightly bean-shaped in profile or with the ventral line
merely straighter than the dorsal line, slightly compressed (at least some
of the spores), color in KOH rather bright yellow-brown, paler in
Melzer's, apex with a very minute pore.
Basidia 4-spored, 20-25 x 7-9,t, yellowish as revived in KOH.
Pleurocystidia none. Cheilocystidia narrowly clavate to subglobose, 20-30
x 9-15 fu, walls hyaline to golden ochraceous revived in KOH but when
fresh pale cinnamon, showing some tendency for the wall to thicken,
very few of them fusoid-ventricose to utriform. Caulocystidia 26-40 X
9-18,u, clavate, subelliptic or broadly fusoid-ventricose, walls thin but
rusty cinnamon in KOH.
Gill trama of subparallel hyphae with yellowish walls in KOH,
smooth and thin as revived in KOH, the cells 8-15,/ diam., (inflated
in age), narrower toward the poorly formed indistinct subhymenium.
Pileus cutis of filaments aggregated into fascicles and with the cell
walls thin, rusty cinnamon in KOH and nearly smooth to asperulate or
finely roughened, terminal cells somewhat cystidioid to merely elliptic;
subcutis of appressed rusty-cinnamon hyphae smooth to incrusted and
narrower than those in the fascicles (in the latter 8-15,u diam.) Context
of hyphae paler than those of subcutis (in KOH) to merely yellowish,
interwoven. Clamp connections present. All tissues inamyloid (color not
much different from that seen in KOH mounts.)
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: Solitary to widely gregarious on
debris and wood of conifers and harwoods, June to September; Maine to
Michigan. The description is from Smith 9546, from near Pontiac, Mich.
OBSERVATIONS: The distribution of this species in North America
remains to be ascertained, since there is such a strong possibility of confusion between P. muricata, P. erinaceella, P. limulata and P. granulosa.
According to the Friesian descriptions Agaricus muricatus has broad
adnexed-seceding gills and a rather strongly squamulose stipe below the
veil-line. The description of Naucoria muricata in Kiihner & Romagnesi
reads more like that of P. erinaceella, especially in regard to the cheilocystidia. Certainly the account by Pearson (1949) under Naucoria muricata describes a species different from P. granulosa on the basis of cheilocystidia alone. It seems that the best characterization of Pholiota muricata that can be made at present is that it is a yellow-gilled P. erinaceella.
Flammula limulata is close to P. granulosa. To try and resolve this
problem specimens collected and identified by Lars Romell were borrowed from the Riksmuseet at Stockholm. The following is a detailed
description of the microscopic features of this material:
Spores 7-9 x 4-5,/, smooth, apical pore very minute; shape in face
view elliptic to subovate, in profile obscurely bean-shaped to obscurely
inequilateral; color in KOH pale cinnamon, in Melzer's reagent about
the same; wall about 0.25 /.