Plate 49, Figure 149.—Pholiota johnsoniana. Cap yellowish to yellowish brown, stem whitish, gills grayish then rust-brown (natural size). Copyright.
Pholiota johnsoniana Pk. Edible.—This species was described from specimens collected at Knowersville, N. Y., in 1889, by Peck, in the 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 98, as Agaricus johnsonianus. I found it at Ithaca, N. Y., for the first time during the summer of 1899, and it was rather common during September, 1899, in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Blowing Rock, N. C. It grows in woods or in pastures on the ground. The larger and handsomer specimens I have found in rather damp but well drained woods. The plants are 7–15 cm. high, the cap 5–10 cm. broad, and the stem 6–12 mm. in thickness.
The pileus is fleshy, very thick at the center, convex, then expanded and plane, smooth, sometimes finely striate on the thin margin when moist, yellowish, or fulvous, the margin whitish. The gills are attached to the stem by the upper angle (adnexed), rounded, or some of them angled, some nearly free. In color they are first gray, then rusty brown. They appear ascending because of the somewhat top-shaped pileus. The spores are irregularly ovoid, 4–6 × 3–3.5 µ. The stem is cylindrical or slightly tapering upward, smooth, slightly striate above the annulus, whitish, solid, with a tendency to become hollow. The veil is thick, and the annulus narrow and very thick or "tumid," easily breaking up and disappearing. The plant is quite readily distinguished by the form of the pileus with the ascending gills and the tumid annulus. Peck says it has a "somewhat nutty flavor."
Figure [149] is from plants (No. 4014, C. U. herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
NAUCORIA Fr.
This genus, with ferruginous spores, corresponds with Collybia among the white-spored agarics. The gills are free or attached, but not decurrent, and the stem is cartilaginous. The plants grow both on the ground and on wood. Peck, 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, et seq., gives a synopsis of seven species.
Naucoria semi-orbicularis Bull. Edible.—This is one of the common and widely distributed species. It occurs in lawns, pastures, roadsides, etc., in waste places, from June to autumn, being more abundant in rainy weather. The plants are 7–10 cm. high, the cap 3–5 cm. broad, and the stem 2–3 mm. in thickness. The pileus is convex to expanded, and is remarkably hemispherical, from which the species takes the name of semi-orbicularis. It is smooth, viscid when moist, tawny, and in age ochraceous, sometimes the surface is cracked into areas. The gills are attached, sometimes notched, crowded, much broader than the thickness of the pileus, pale, then reddish brown. The stem is tough, slender, smooth, even, pale reddish brown, shining, stuffed with a whitish pith. Peck says that the plants have an oily flavor resembling beechnuts.
Naucoria vernalis Pk.—Naucoria vernalis was described by Peck in 23rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 91, from plants collected in May. The plants described here appeared in woods in late autumn. The specimens from which this description is drawn were found growing from the under side of a very rotten beech log, usually from deep crevices in the log, so that only the pileus is visible or exposed well to the view. The plants are 4–8 cm. high, the cap 2–3 cm. broad, and the stem 4–5 mm. in thickness. The taste is bitter.