North American species of Mycena.

42 NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF MYCENA

Pileus 8-10 mm. broad, ovoid when young, becoming obtuse to
convex, often rather broadly expanded or slightly umbonate in age,
margin appressed against the stipe by a sterile narrow band which
soon becomes lacerated or crenate as expansion takes place, margin
finally flaring at times, surface covered with a completely separable
tenacious pellicle, when young white-pruinose but finally naked and
shining, very viscid, often sulcate-striate in age, color variable but
usually yellowish gray, yellowish, or greenish gray, in age becoming
sordid brownish; flesh thin, tenacious, concolorous with the surface,
sordid reddish in age, odor strong-somewhat resembling that of
fresh cucumbers-taste rancid-farinaceous and very strong; lamellae
adnate to arcuate or with a distinct tooth, subdistant, 18-26 reach
the stipe, two tiers of lamellulae, narrow to moderately broad, whitish,
yellowish, or tinged greenish gray, edges even and pallid, often spotted
reddish brown in age; stipe 3-7 (10) cm. long, 1-2 (3) mm. thick,
equal, strict, or somewhat flexuous, tenacious, faintly pruinose over
all when young but soon shining and glutinous, lemon yellow throughout or tinged greenish yellow, in age usually reddish at the base.
Spores drop-shaped to subovoid, 9-11 X 6.5-8 g, on two-spored
basidia, ellipsoid and 8-10 X 5-6.5 /j on four-spored basidia, amyloid;
basidia 28-33 X 6-7 u; cheilocystidia abundant, 40-60 X 6-9,
with long flexuous gelatinizing pedicels, apices clavate and covered
with short contorted projections or obtuse irregular fingerlike processes; gill trama floccose, pale vinaceous brown in iodine, gill edge
very gelatinous, subhymenium not gelatinous; pileus trama with a
thick separable gelatinous pellicle, hypoderm differentiated (the cells
moderately enlarged), the remainder of the trama filamentous, all
but the pellicle vinaceous brown in iodine; stipe with an outer gelatinous layer, the portion within vinaceous red in iodine.
Habit, habitat, and distribution.-Gregarious under oak and pine;
Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, and California. It usually
occurs late in the fall after frosts.
Material studied.-Smith, 32-554, 32-617, 32-642, 32-657, 33 -1143, 1125, 3712, 5035, 6158, 8109, 18118, November, 1932, Michigan.
Burke, Alabama. Hesler, 10132.
Observations.-The strong odor and taste and changing flesh are
the important characters which separate this species from M. epipterygia. Both occur in coniferous woods in North America. The
colors of the American specimens are not whitish at first, but that