The gills are short-adnate, somewhat crisped, close, pale reddish.

The stem is short, hollow, p.u.b.escent, thickened upward, concolorous; the base somewhat tuberculose. _Morgan_, Myc. Flora M. V.

This plant is quite frequently found in our woods growing on the bark at the base of living beech trees. Its habitat, its reddish or alutaceous cap, and its paler gills will clearly identify the species.

_Marasmius peronatus. Fr._

THE MASKED MARASMIUS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 112.--Marasmius peronatus. Natural size. Cap reddish-buff. Gills creamy or light reddish-brown.]

Peronatus is from _pero_, a boot.

The pileus is reddish-buff, convex, slightly flattened at the top, quite wrinkled when old; diameter, at full expansion, between one and two inches, margin striate.

The gills are thin and crowded, creamy, becoming light reddish-brown, continuing down the stem by a short curve.

The stem is fibrous-stuffed, pale, densely clothed at the base with stiff yellowish hairs.

It grows in the woods, among dead leaves, from May till frost.

It is usually solitary yet is sometimes found in cl.u.s.ters. It has been eaten frequently without injury, but by most writers is branded poisonous. It is quite acrid, but that disappears in cooking. The dense yellow hairs at the base of the stem appear to const.i.tute the distinguishing characteristic. Found from July to October.

_Marasmius ramealis. Fr._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 113.--Marasmius ramealis. Natural size.]

Ramealis means a branch or stick; so called because the plant is found growing on sticks, in open woods.

The pileus is very small, somewhat fleshy, plane or a trifle depressed, obtuse, not striate, slightly rugulose, opaque.

The gills are attached to the stem, somewhat distant, narrow, white.

The stem is about one inch long, stuffed, mealy, white, inclined to be rufescent at the base.

The spores are elliptical, 42.

This is a very pretty plant, but easily overlooked. It is found on oak and beech branches, frequently in large groups. Figure 113 ill.u.s.trates their mode of growth and will a.s.sist the collector in identifying the species. Not poisonous, but too small to gather. Found from July to October. The specimens in Figure 113 were found in Haynes' Hollow near Chillicothe and photographed by Dr. Kellerman.

_Marasmius saccharinus. Batsch._

GRANULAR MARASMIUS. EDIBLE.

Saccharinus is from _saccharum_, sugar; it is so called because the white pileus looks very much like loaf sugar.

The pileus is entirely white, membranaceous, convex, somewhat papillate, smooth, sulcate and plicate.

The gills are broadly and firmly attached to the stem, narrow, thick, very distant, united by veins, whitish.

The stem is quite thin, thread-form, attenuated upward, at first flocculose, at length becoming smooth, inserted obliquely, reddish, pale at the apex. Spores, 53.

Quite common in wet weather on dead oak limbs in woods. This plant differs from M. epiphyllus in its habitat, in the papillate form of its pileus and the stem's being flocculose, then smooth; also in that the gills are united in a reticulated manner. Common. July to October.

_Marasmius epiphyllus. Fr._

THE LEAF MARASMIUS. EDIBLE.

Epiphyllus means growing on leaves.

The pileus is white, membranaceous, nearly plane, at length umbilicate, smooth, wrinkled, plicate.

The gills are firmly attached to the stem, white, connected by veins, entire, distant, few.

The stem is rather h.o.r.n.y, bay, minutely velvety, apex pale, inserted.

The spores are 32. This plant is abundant everywhere, on fallen leaves in woods during rainy weather. July to October.

_Marasmius delectans. Morgan._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 114.--Marasmius delectans. Natural size. Caps white. Gills broad and distant.]

Delectans means pleasing or delightful.

The pileus is subcoriaceous, convex, then expanded and depressed, glabrous, rugulose, white, changing in drying to pale alutaceous.

The gills are moderately broad, unequal, rather distant, trabeculate between, white, emarginate, adnexed; the spores are lance-oblong, hyaline, 7-94.

The stem, arising from an abundant white-floccose mycelium, is long, slender, tapering slightly upward, smooth, brown and shining, white at the apex.

It is found growing on old leaves in woods. The plants in the figure were collected in the woods at Sugar Grove, Ohio, by R. A. Young, July 28, 1906, and photographed by Dr. Kellerman. Found from July to October.

_Marasmius nigripes. Schw._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 115.--Marasmius nigripes. Natural size. Caps and gills white, stems black.]

Nigripes means black foot, so called because the stems are black.

Tremmelloid. Pileus very thin, pure white, pruinose, rugulose-sulcate, convex then expanded.

The gills are pure white, unequal, some of them forked, adnate, the interstices venulose.

The stem is thickest at the apex, tapering downward, black, white-pruinose, the base insit.i.tious. _Morgan_.