Clitocybe multiceps Peck. Edible.—This plant is not uncommon during late summer and autumn. It usually grows in large tufts of 10 to 30 or more individuals. The caps in such large clusters are often irregular from pressure. The plants are 6–12 cm. high, the caps 5–10 cm. broad, and the stems 8–15 mm. in thickness. The pileus is white or gray, brownish gray or buff, smooth, dry, the flesh white. The gills are white, crowded, narrow at each end. The spores are smooth, globose, 5–7 µ in diameter. The stems are tough, fibrous, solid, tinged with the same color as cap. Fig. [93] is from plants (No. 5467, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, October 14, 1900.
COLLYBIA Fr.
In the genus Collybia the annulus and volva are both wanting, the spores are white, the gills are free or notched, or sinuate. The stem is either entirely cartilaginous or has a cartilaginous rind, while the central portion of the stem is fibrous, or fleshy, stuffed or fistulose. The pileus is fleshy and when the plants are young the margin of the pileus is incurved or inrolled, i. e., it does not lie straight against the stem as in Mycena.
Many of the species of Collybia are quite firm and will revive somewhat after drying when moistened, but they are not coriaceous as in Marasmius, nor do they revive so thoroughly. It is difficult, however, to draw the line between the two genera. Twenty-five of the New York species of Collybia are described by Peck in the 49th Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 32 et seq. Morgan describes twelve species in Jour. Cinn. Soc. Nat. Hist., 6: 70–73.
Collybia radicata Rehl. Edible.—This is one of the common and widely distributed species of the genus. It occurs on the ground in the woods or groves or borders of woods. It is quite easily recognized by the more or less flattened cap, the long striate stem somewhat enlarged below and then tapering off into a long, slender root-like process in the ground. It is from this "rooting" character that the plant gets its specific name. It is 10–20 cm. high, the cap 3–7 cm. broad, and the stem 4–8 mm. in thickness.
The pileus is fleshy, thin, convex to nearly plane, or even with the margin upturned in old plants, and the center sometimes umbonate. It is smooth, viscid when moist, and often with wrinkles on the surface which extend radially. The color varies from nearly white in some small specimens to grayish, grayish brown or umber. The flesh is white. The gills are white, broad, rather distant, adnexed, i. e., joined to the stem by the upper angle. The spores are elliptical and about 15 × 10 µ. The stem is the same color as the pileus though paler, and usually white above, tapers gradually above, is often striate or grooved, or sometimes only mealy. The long tapering "root" is often attached to some underground dead root. Fig. [94] is from plants (No. 5641, C. U. herbarium) collected at Ithaca, August, 1900.
Plate 30, Figure 93.—Clitocybe multiceps. Plants white or gray to buff or grayish brown. (Three-fourths natural size.) Copyright.