Plate 28, Figure 90.—Clitocybe candida. Entirely white (natural size). Copyright.
Plate 29, Figure 91.—Clitocybe candida. Under view of nearly lateral stemmed individual (natural size). Copyright.
CLITOCYBE Fr.
The volva and annulus are wanting in this genus, and the spores are white. The stem is elastic, spongy within, the outside being elastic or fibrous, so that the fibres hold together well when the stem is twisted or broken, as in Tricholoma. The stem does not separate readily from the pileus, but the rather strong fibres are continuous with the substance of the pileus. The gills are narrowed toward the stem, joined squarely or decurrent (running down on the stem), very rarely some of them notched at the stem while others of the same plant are decurrent. In one species at least (C. laccata, by some placed in the genus Laccaria) the gills are often strongly notched or sinuate. The cap is usually plane, depressed, or funnel-shaped, many of the species having the latter form. The plants grow chiefly on the ground, though a number of species occur on dead wood. The genus contains a very large number of species. Peck describes ten species in the 23rd Report, N. Y. State Mus., p. 76, et. seq., also 48th Report, p. 172, several species. Morgan, Jour. Cinn. Soc. Nat. Hist. 6: 70–73, describes 12 species.
Clitocybe candida Bres. Edible.—This is one of the large species of the genus. It occurs in late autumn in Europe. It has been found on several occasions during late autumn at Ithaca, N. Y., on the ground in open woods, during wet weather. It occurs in clusters, though the specimens are usually not crowded. The stem is usually very short, 2–4 cm. long, and 2–3 cm. in thickness, while the cap is up to 10–18 cm. broad.