North American species of Mycena.

GLUTINIPES: VISCOSAE

425

vicinity of McKenzie Pass, Oregon, and also later during the season
in 1937 at Takilma, Oregon, it literally covered the carpets of pine
needles under open stands of ponderosa pine.
Material studied.-Smith, 3446, 6151, 6750, 7930, 8911, 18149,
November 7, 1941. Burke, Alabama, 1942. Hesler, Tennessee.
Observations.-The color of the stipe when fresh varies from yellow
to greenish, but in dried material it is always a pale yellow. My collections have been compared with material from England which Mr.
Pearson very kindly sent me. The American specimens are similar
to the English material in every respect except in the number of spores
borne on a basidium and in spore size. I regard the slight difference
in the width of the spores as correlated with the two-spored basidia
and of no taxonomic significance.
There is some doubt in my mind whether or not Pearson's species
is distinct enough from M. viscosa to justify the position given it
here. Ktihner has reduced both M. viscosa and M. epipterygioides
to varieties under M. epipterygia. As I have frequently pointed out,
the reddish stains that develop on the gills and stipe in old carpophores are an unreliable character in many groups of Mycenae. The
colors of the pilei in this group are inconstant within certain limits,
and one can reasonably allow considerable variation in the intensity
of the taste of any species. These are all relative characters which
the collector must learn to evaluate. The only justification I have
for giving M. epipterygia, M. viscosa, and M. epipterygioides specific
rank here is that they are recognizable as distinct entities in our flora
and appear to be as constant in their characters as most other members
of the genus.
218. MYCENA EPIPTERYGIA (Fr.) S. F. Gray
Nat. Arr. Brit. Plants, 1: 619. 1821
Agaricus epipterygius Fries, Syst. Myc., 1: 155. 1821.
Prunulus epipterygius Murrill, North Am. Flora, 9: 335. 1916.
Mycena paludicola Murrill, Mycologia, 8: 221. 1916.
Prunulus paludicola Murrill, North Am. Flora, 9: 336. 1916.
Illustrations:
Plate 95 A; Text fig. 51, nos. 6-7 (p. 416).
Atkinson, Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc., 1900, fig. 96.
Beardslee and Coker, Journ. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 40, pl. 11.
Lange, Flora Agar. Dan., 2, pl. 58 A.
Ricken, Die Blatterpilze, 2, pl. 109, fig. 12.