The North American species of Psathyrella.

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MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN

[VOL. 24

Spores 14-17(-19) x 7-8.5,t, smooth, pore usually eccentric (view spore in
profile position), spore apex slightly truncate in face view; shape in face view
oblong to narrowly elliptic, in profile subelliptic to obscurely inequilateral, color
in KOH about "mummy brown" (blackish brown), in Melzer's tawny-red to bay,
wall about 0.4, thick (thin for such a long spore).
Basidia 4-spored, 28-34 x 11-14 /., subcapitate, brownish to hyaline revived in
KOH. Brachybasidioles 10-14x10-12 p. Pleurocystidia none. Cheilocystidia of
two types: one fusoid-ventricose with obtuse apex, 30-44 x 9-14 /, abundant; the
other 18-20 X 14-18 /,, saccate to globose, rare to scattered and brownish in KOH.
Caulocystidia not found on revived material.
Pileus having a cuticle of vesiculose to pear-shaped cells arranged in more or
less of a palisade, their walls hyaline to yellowish in KOH, thin and smooth, thickwalled setae measuring 100-250x4-8 u originating from between the cuticular
cells or from the hyphae of the subcutis. Hyphae of the subcutis ochraceoustawny in KOH and often more highly colored at the septa, walls smooth to very
minutely roughened. Clamps present.
Type locality. Europe.
Habit and habitat. Solitary to gregarious on sticks and debris on rich humus,
occasionally on dung.
Distribution. Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, New York.
Observations. It is now clear that the feature of setae on the pileus is a feature
of a number of species. Smith 65851 from Papoose Creek, near Riggins, Idaho has
spores 10-13 x 6-7.5 /. Setae on the pileus are typical.
Material Examined. Colorado: Smith 51533. Idaho: Smith 65851. Maryland: Type of Agaricus graciloides. Michigan: Ammirati 1448; Potter 7265,
9546, 9684; Smith 5002, 38551, 38868, 41239, 62367, 62407, 64751, 74619, 75818,
78264. New York: Murrill, Type of Psilocybe castaneicolor.
234. Psathyrella cireellatipes Benoist, Bull. Soc. Mycol. Fr. 15: 163. 1899.
var. circellatipes
Illust. P1. 74, fig. a; Text Figs. 528-531.
Pileus 1-4.5 cm broad, ovate with an appressed margin, becoming obtusely
conic and remaining unexpanded or becoming nearly convex, glabrous, moist,
striatulate before fading, dark rusty brown ("russet") becoming paler to dingy
tawny or more grayish brown as spores mature, lubricous when moist, atomate
when faded, fading to pale dingy tan, not sulcate-striate at any time. Context
very thin, fragile, odor and taste not distinctive.
Lamellae close, becoming moderately broad (4-5 mm) and ventricose, ascending adnate, soon seceding, pallid to light brownish to dark gray-brown and finally
dark chocolate-brown when mature, edges even to crenulate and pallid.
Stipe 4-7 cm long, 1.5-4 mm thick, equal, fragile, with brownish flecks of
tomentum near the base, white to pale tan or grayish throughout but darker at
the base in age, with some tawny mycelium around the base in young basidiocarps
(an oozonium), this mat permeating the substratum and the clusters of basidiocarps arising from it, surface of stipe pruinose-punctate at apex.
Spores (10-) 12-15 x 6-8 /, smooth, with a distinct apical to subapical hyaline
pore, ovate to elliptic in face view, in profile obscurely inequilateral to subelliptic, blackish in KOH, dark reddish brown in Melzer's, wall about 0.7 p thick.
Basidia 4-spored, clavate, 9-12 I broad, hyaline in KOH. Brachybasidioles
present and nearly vesiculose at maturity. Pleurocystidia none. Cheilocystidia