L. cochlea´tus Fr.—cochlea, a snail. Pileus 2–3 in. broad, flesh-color, but becoming pale, somewhat tan, fleshy-pliant, thin, commonly excentric, imbricated, very unequal, somewhat lobed or contorted, sometimes plane, sometimes funnel-shaped-umbilicate, but not pervious, smooth. Stem solid, firm, sometimes central, most frequently excentric, sometimes wholly lateral, always sulcate, smooth, flesh-colored upward, reddish-brown downward. Gills decurrent, crowded, serrated, white-flesh-color. Fries.
Pliant, tough, flaccid, very changeable in form, sometimes solitary, sometimes cespitose, imbricated, growing into each other. From very small forms which are commonly solitary, with the stem and pileus scarcely 1 in. it ranges to 3 in.
On stumps. Frequent. August to October.
According to Fries the odor is weak, of anise; but it is generally strong and very pleasant. Stevenson.
Spores nearly globular, 4µ diameter Morgan; spheroid or ellipsoid-spheroid, uniguttate, 4–6µ K.; almost globular, 4µ W.G.S.
The dense clusters of all sized members are usually plenty in favored localities. It is inviting in appearance, taste and spicy odor. It retains a suspicion of the latter when cooked which gives the dish a flavor pleasant to many. It must be young to be tender. When dry—like others of its kind—it can be grated and used in many ways.
L. Un´derwoodii Pk. Pileus fleshy, tough, convex or nearly plane, the glabrous surface cracking into areola-like scales which are indistinct or wanting toward the margin, whitish or slightly tinged with buff or pale ochraceous. Flesh white. Gills moderately close, decurrent, slightly connecting or anastomosing at the base, somewhat notched on the edge, whitish, becoming discolored in drying. Stem stout, hard, solid, eccentric, squamose, colored like the pileus. Spores oblong, 13–15×5–6.5µ.
Plant cespitose. Pileus 3–6 in. broad. Stem 1.5–3 in. long, about 1 in. thick.
This differs from L. magnus in its cespitose habit, eccentric stem, longer spores, less distinctly areolate-squamose pileus and in its habitat. The gills are connected at the base very much like those of Pleurotus ostreatus. Peck, Torr. Bull. Vol. 23, No. 10.
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, McIlvaine.