H. pena´rius Fr.—penus, food. Pileus tan-color, opaque, fleshy, especially when young, at first umbonate, then very obtuse, hemispherical then flattened, even, smooth, commonly dry, margin at first involute, exceeding the gills, undulated when flattened. Flesh thick, hard, whitish, unchangeable. Stem curt, 1½ in. or more long, about ½ in. thick at the apex, solid, compact, hard, attenuated at the base into a spindle-shaped root, ventricose to the neck, again attenuated upward or wholly fusiform-attenuated, pale-white, smeared with tenacious, easily dried slime, warty. Flesh firm, but externally more rigid, cuticle somewhat fragile. Veil not conspicuous. Gills adnato-decurrent, acute behind, distant, thick, 3–4 lines broad, veined, tan inclining to pale. Fries.
Odor pleasant, taste sweet. The fusiform root is as long as the stem.
In mixed woods. Stevenson.
Spores 7–8×4–5µ.
Edible. Cooke.
Large specimens occurred in mixed woods, in November, 1898, at Mt. Gretna. The caps varied from 1½-5 in. across. The color was white, tinged with yellow, much lighter than described. The caps look coarse and the stems are not inviting; but the caps have a pleasant odor. When stewed for twenty minutes they are meaty and tasty.
H. erubes´cens Fr.—erubesco, to become red. Pileus 2–4 in. and more broad, white becoming everywhere red, fleshy, gibbous then convexo-plane, viscid, adpressedly dotted with squamules or becoming smooth, sometimes wholly compact, sometimes thin towards the margin which is at the first naked. Flesh firm, white. Stem sometimes short, robust, 2 in. long, 1 in. thick and attenuated upward, sometimes elongated, 4 in. long, equal or attenuated at the base, solid, flexuous, with red fibrils, dotted with red upward. Gills decurrent, distant, soft, white, with red spots. Fries.
Veil none. The ground color is white, as it is also internally, but it everywhere becomes red and the pileus often rosy blood-color. Handsome, growing in troops, commonly forming large lax circles.
In pine woods. Stevenson.