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

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The North American Species of Pholiota

minute; in face view elliptic (usually fairly broadly elliptic), in profile
elliptic to subelliptic; in KOH dingy ochraceous and with a central refractive globule, wall thin but with a mucilaginous ochraceous thickening against it as revived in KOH, in Melzner's reagent dull tawny (and
the mucilaginous material not evident).
Basidia 26-30 x 6-8 /x, 2- and 4-spored, hyaline in KOH, yellowish
in Melzer's sol. Pleurocystidia none. Cheilocystidia 26-44 x 3.5-7,u,
ventricose-rostrate, the neck flexuous and 2-3 /u thick, apex subacute to
subcapitate, (shape much as in the Galerina sideroides group-almost
tibiiform), walls thin smooth and hyaline, content homogeneous. Caulocystidia abundant, versiform: 15-20 x 8-10 /, and clavate, tibiiform and
36-50 X 4-6 X 2-3 x 3.5,/, and 35-50 x 3-5 /u and nearly setiform, all
hyaline in KOH, smooth and with thin-walls.
Gill trama of floccose parallel to subparallel hyphae 4-10 u, broad
and cells inflating even more in age, dull rusty ochraceous in KOH to
merely dingy ochraceous, walls smooth and thin; subhymenium gelatinous, of narrow interwoven hyphae. Pileus cutis a very thick gelatinous
pellicle of widely separated interwoven hyphae with gelatinous walls,
hyphae 2-3 /t diam. and yellowish to hyaline, smooth; hypodermial region
of more highly colored (ochraceous) smooth floccose hyphae 4-10,u
diam., and thin-walled. Context hyphae ochraceous in KOH, thin-walled,
smooth and cells often much inflated. All hyphae inamyloid. Clamp connections present.
HABIT, HABITAT, AND DISTRIBUTION: On debris of conifers, Nordman,
Idaho, Oct. 8, 1956. Smith 54274, type.
OBSERVATIONS: In the dried condition the pilei are evenly a rather
distinct yellow, the disc and margin being the same color. The stipes are
browner but have not darkened distinctly in drying as occurs for so many
Pholiota species. The stipe tissue in KOH does not darken distinctively. P. aurantioflava is a most unusual species in that the basiodicarps
when fresh resemble those of subgenus Flammula in both appearance in
the field and in the combination of moderately dextrinoid spores and
lack of pleurocystidia. The gelatinous subhymenium and cheilocystidia
connect to stirps Sideroides of Galerina. It appears that the more Galerina
and Pholiota are studied the more intermediates we find. This situation
is of importance in evaluating the families of rusty brown and purplebrown spored agarics. Because of such intermediate species as this the
connection from Galerina to Pholiota subg. Flammula is solidly established, for here the aspect of the basidiocarp is clearly with a group of
Pholiotae lacking pleurocystidia, but the microscopic features of subhymenium still indicate the stirps Sideroides of Galerina.
Stirps Serotina
The peculiar "doughnut-like" thickening around the apical pore is
the feature emphasized here. It is not conspicuous but it could be the