Plate 47, Figure 146.—Pholiota adiposa. Cap very viscid, saffron-yellow or burnt umber or wood-brown in center, scales wood-brown to nearly black, stem whitish then yellowish; gills brownish, edge yellow (natural size, sometimes larger). Copyright.
The pileus is convex, then plane, tan or leather colored, darker when dry. It has a watery appearance (hygrophanous), somewhat fleshy, smooth, striate on the margin. The gills are joined squarely to the stem, crowded, at maturity dark reddish brown from the spores.
Figure 147.—Pholiota marginata. Cap and stem tan or leather color, gills dark reddish brown when mature (natural size). Copyright.
The stem is cylindrical, equal, smooth, fistulose, of the same color as the pileus, becoming darker, and often with whitish fibrils at the base. The annulus is distant from the apex of the stem, and often disappears soon after the expansion of the pileus. Figure [147] is from plants (No. 2743, C. U. herbarium) collected near Ithaca.
Pholiota unicolor Vahl, is a smaller plant which grows in similar situations. The plants are usually clustered, 3–5 cm. high, and the caps 6–12 mm. in diameter, the annulus is thin but entire and persistent. The entire plant is bay brown, becoming ochraceous in color, and the margin of the cap in age is striate, first bell-shaped, then convex and somewhat umbonate. The gills are lightly adnexed.
Pholiota adiposa Fr.—The fatty pholiota usually forms large clusters during the autumn, on the trunks of trees, stumps, etc. It is sometimes of large size, measuring up to 15 cm. and the pileus up to 17 cm. broad. Specimens collected at Ithaca during October, 1899, were 8–10 cm. high, the pileus 4–8 cm. broad, and the stems 5–9 mm. in thickness. The plants grew eight to ten in a cluster and the bases of the stems were closely crowded and loosely joined.
The pileus is convex, then expanded, the margin more or less inrolled, then incurved, prominently umbonate, very viscid when moist, the ground color a saffron yellow or in the center burnt umber to wood brown. The cuticle of the pileus is plain or torn into scales which are wood brown, or when close together they are often darker, sometimes nearly black. The flesh is saffron yellow, thick at the center of the cap, thinning out toward the margin, spongy and almost tasteless. The gills are adnate, and sometimes a little notched, brown (mars brown), and the edge yellow, 6–7 mm. broad. The spores are 8 × 5 µ. The stem tapers downward, is compact, whitish then yellow, saffron yellow, flesh vinaceous, viscid, and clothed more or less with reflexed (pointing downward) scales. The stem is somewhat cartilaginous, tough, but snapping off in places. The veil is thin floccose and sometimes with coarse scales, soon disappearing.