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

Smith ~ Hesler

83

to clear citrine, becoming rusty (tawny) below, with traces of reddish
mycelium, decorated with zones and patches of veil remnants. Cortina
yellowish pallid, remains disappearing almost entirely.
Spores 5.5-7 X 3.5-4 A,, smooth, apical pore distinct but apex not
truncate; shape in face view ellipsoid, in profile oblong to ellipsoid; color
in KOH dark yellow brown, in Melzer's paler; wall 0.25 u thick.
Basidia 4-spored, 18-20 x 6-7 u,, clavate, hyaline in KOH, yellowish
in Melzer's reagent. Pleurocystidia none, except for clavate bodies with
ochraceous content in KOH. Cheilocystidia filamentous 24-36 X 5-8 /U,
broadest at capitate apex, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, content homogeneous. Caulocystidia 28-42 X 7-12 pu clavate, subutriform or more
rarely fusoid ventricose, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, arising from a
gelatinous subhymenium over apex of stipe, content hyaline but coagulated and wrinkled in some cells.
Gill trama with a central area of hyaline subparallel floccose hyphae
4-12 u' diam. walls thin, smooth, hyaline; subhymenium a distinct gelatinous interwoven layer of narrow hyaline hyphae. Pileus cutis a well
developed layer of narrow gelatinous hyphae 3-5 /i diam. smooth, hyaline
in KOH; hypodermial zone not distinct. Context hyphae interwoven,
hyphae with inflated cells, walls thin, smooth, hyaline in KOH. Clamp
connections present. All hyphae inamyloid.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: Romagnesi reports it as fairly
common in the spring or fall on wood or soil.
OBSERVATIONS: Kiihner 8& Romagnesi (1953) and Romagnesi (1956
pl. 58 lower figs.) describe a species which they consider to have chrysocystidia. In our mounts we did not find any with the hyaline refractive
inclusion as revived in KOH, but some clavate cells with yellow content
were observed. In either case, depending on ones definition of chrysocystidia, the species would not fall in section Lubrica of Singer or in our
subgenus Flammuloides. Our description is translated and condensed
from that of Romagnesi (1956) and our microscopic data are from excellent specimens by Josserand. We do not recognize the species, in this
concept, from North America, but include the description for comparative purposes. The name has appeared in the American literature, mostly
for a cystidiate species with yellowish gills but otherwise very close to
P. lenta. From Romagnesi's painting it appears that P. gummosa (as
Dryophila) resembles clusters of Naematoloma fasiculare on the one
hand (except for the viscid pileus and lack of green gills) or greenish
clusters of P. polychroa. Pilat (1959) illustrates elongate cystidia of the
P. lenta type (pl. 130, as Flammula gummosa). We have used here the
most clearly established concept of the species we could find by European
authors. We do not insist it is the concept of Fries since none of the
illustrations-Pilat's or Romagnesi's closely resemble the Friesian paintings. Kuhner (1946) has studied the species in culture. He describes
allocystidia in his cultures of both diploid and haploid mycelium. They