Pileus 1–4 inches broad. Stem 1–3 inches long, 4–12 lines thick.
Gregarious or cespitose. Woods, especially of pine. When growing in tufts the stem is often eccentric and the pileus irregular. The base of the stem is often white tomentose. Its agreeable odor and mild taste led to a trial of its edible qualities, but it developed a bitter taste in cooking. Peck, 54th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Clitocybe Adirondackensis Pk. Adirondack Clitocybe. Pileus thin, convex or nearly plane and umbilicate, or centrally depressed and funnel-form, glabrous, moist, white or pale tan color. Flesh white. Lamellæ thin, narrow, close, very decurrent, white. Stem nearly equal, glabrous, stuffed or hollow, colored like the pileus. Spores subglobose or broadly elliptic, 4–5µ long, 3–4µ broad.
The Adirondack clitocybe is common in the northern forests of the state, but is not limited to them. Its cap is thin, and soon becomes nearly flat with a decurved margin and a central depression or umbilicus, or very concave by the elevation of the margin, and then it resembles a wineglass in shape. Its margin is sometimes wavy or irregular. In color it varies from white to a very pale red or tan color. White specimens sometimes have the center slightly darker than the rest.
The gills are very narrow, being scarcely broader than the thickness of the flesh of the cap. They are closely placed, white and decurrent.
The stem is nearly cylindric, smooth and stuffed or hollow. It is colored like the cap. Often there is a white tomentum or cottony substance at its base.
The cap varies in size and is 1–2 inches broad; the stem 1.5–3 inches long and 1–2 lines thick. It may be found from July to October. Its flavor is suggestive of that of the common mushroom. Peck, 54th Rep N.Y. State Bot.
Clitocybe maculosa Pk. Spotted Clitocybe. Pileus fleshy, convex, often centrally depressed, glabrous, centrally marked with numerous small round spots, yellowish-white, the young margin involute and minutely downy. Flesh white, taste mild. Lamellæ narrow, close, very decurrent, whitish or slightly yellowish, some of them forked. Stem equal or slightly tapering upward, glabrous or sparingly fibrillose, stuffed, sometimes becoming hollow, whitish. Spores subglobose or orbicular, 4–5µ broad.
The peculiar mark by which the spotted clitocybe may be distinguished consists in the small round definite spots in the central part of the cap. They have a slightly darker or watery or yellowish color and appear as if depressed below the rest of the surface. The cap is smooth and whitish or yellowish white and is generally depressed in the center and decurved on the margin. The margin is usually adorned with slight, short radiating ridges. The flesh is white and the taste mild.
The gills are closely placed side by side, narrow and prolonged downward on the stem. They have nearly the same color as the cap. The stem is nearly cylindric, smooth or adorned with a few silky fibrils, whitish and spongy within or sometimes hollow when old.