F. alni´cola Fr.—alnus, alder; colo, to inhabit. Pileus 2–3 in. broad, yellow, at length becoming rust-color and sometimes green, fleshy, convex then flattened, obtuse, slimy when moist, but not truly viscous, at the first superficially fibrillose toward the margin. Flesh not very compact, of the same color as the pileus. Stem 2–3 in. and more long, ½ in. thick, stuffed then hollow, attenuato-rooted, commonly curved-flexuous, fibrillose, at first yellow, then becoming rust-color. Veil manifest, sometimes fibrillose, sometimes woven into a spider-web veil. Gills somewhat adnate, broad, plane, at first dingy-pallid or yellowish-pallid, at length together with the plentiful spores rust-colored.
The gills vary decurrent and rounded according to situation. Odor and taste bitter. There are two forms: a. Pileus irregular, fibrillose round the margin; gills at first dingy-pallid. b. Salicicola, pileus somewhat convex, smooth, rarely at the first downy-scaly; gills at first yellowish-pallid. Fries.
Spores subelliptical, 8×5µ K.; 8–10×5–6µ Peck.
New York, swampy woods about base of alders, October, Peck, Rep. 35; at base of alders, with adnate gills, and on birch stumps, with the gills rounded behind, Rep. 39. Mt. Gretna, Pa., New Jersey, mixed woods, August to November, 1898, McIlvaine.
Gregarious and in loose tufts, not plentiful. It is a pretty plant, usually of a bright yellow, sometimes darker at the center of cap. Traces of an evanescent fibrillose ring are occasionally found or the fibrils adorn the margin of the cap. The gills next to the stem are either rounded, attached or slightly decurrent.
Raw the taste is slightly bitter. This disappears in long cooking.
F. fla´vida Schaeff. (Pers.)—flavidus, light yellow. Pileus fleshy, thin, broadly convex or nearly plane, glabrous, moist, pale yellow. Flesh whitish or pale yellow, taste bitter. Lamellæ moderately close, adnate, pale or yellowish becoming rust-color. Stem equal, often more or less curved, hollow, fibrillose, whitish or pale yellow, with a white mycelium at the base. Spores 8×5µ.
Pileus 1–2 in. broad. Stem 1–3 in. long, 1–3 lines thick.
Decaying wood of various trees. Commonly in wooded or mountainous districts. Summer and autumn.
Our specimens were found on wood of both coniferous and deciduous trees. The plants are sometimes cespitose. The pileus becomes more highly colored in drying. The spores are pale rust-colored approaching ochraceous. In Sylloge the spores of this species are described as pale yellowish. Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.