North American species of Mycena.

22 NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF MYCENA

The texture of the flesh is very difficult to describe accurately,
but does deserve some consideration as a secondary character. Many
of the large species, such as M. rugulosiceps, have a pliant cartilaginous
texture, whereas others, such as M. niveipes and M. parabolica, are
distinctly fragile. Because of the presence of thick gelatinous layers
over the pilei and stipes of some, they seem to be pliant and tough.
M. tenax was so named because of its toughness. The minute species
may also be either pliant or fragile, but here there is much more intergradation.
LATEX
The presence of milklike or colored latex distinguishes the Lactipedes from other sections of Eumycena, and a watery hyaline fluid
which exudes from cut surfaces of the carpophore distinguishes the
section Hydropus, also of Eumycena. M. Leaiana, in Glutinipes,
has a juice which stains the fingers and is watery-orange if pressed out.
Because of its viscid stipe, however, it is not included in Lactipedes.
The watery latex of Hydropus is best demonstrated by cutting the
pileus slightly with a sharp instrument, such as a razor. The fluid
oozes out in numerous droplets from fresh specimens. The milklike
or colored latex is best demonstrated by cutting off the stipe with a
sharp razor. A drop or two of the latex will ooze out. In M. galopus
the latex is often scanty, and the average collector fails to notice it.
It is most readily seen by observing the base of the stipe at the time
the specimens are collected. The color, but not the quantity, is of
diagnostic value within the section. Species with white, orange, and
reddish latex are known from North America.
MACROSCOPIC CHARACTERS OF DRIED SPECIMENS
Many agarics, including some in Mycena, assume a distinctive
appearance when dried. In some the colors of the fresh specimens
are well preserved in the dried material, and in others the carpophores
assume a distinctive color in drying. Among the members of the
section Typicae of Eumycena, however, nearly all the dried material
has much the same appearance. M. monticola, M. strobilinoides, and
M. oregonensis are distinct when dried because the colors of the fresh
specimens are preserved to a remarkable extent. In M. fuliginaria,
however, all the specimens I have seen dried black, the result, no
doubt, of the characteristic color change exhibited by the fresh material. The white or pale species usually vary when dry from dead