The gills are broad, distant, attached to the stem by the entire width; pale fleshy-red in hue which is more constant than the color of the cap and which forms an ear-mark to tell the species; adnate with a decurrent tooth, plane, the white spores being very abundant.
The stem is tough, fibrous, stuffed, crooked, white-villous at the base, rather long and slender, dull reddish yellow or reddish-flesh-colored, sometimes pallid or dull ochraceous, slightly striate; when the season is wet it is often watery.
This waxy Clitocybe has a wide range and is frequently very abundant. It is found through almost the entire season. It will grow almost anywhere, in woods, pastures, and lawns, and sometimes on naked ground. The plants in Figure 76 were found in tall grass in a grove in August. Those in Figure 77 were found the last of November on Cemetery Hill, under pine trees.
Figure 77.—Clitocybe laccata. Two-thirds natural size. Specimens growing late in the fall.
Prof. Peck gives the following varieties:
- Var. amethystina—in which the cap is much darker in color.
- Var. pallidifolia—gills much paler than usual.
- Var. striatula—cap smooth, thin, so that shadowy lines are seen on cap, radiating from near the center to the margin. This grows in damp places. Some authors make Clitocybe laccata a type for a new genus and call it Lacaria laccata.
Collybia. Fr.
Collybia is from a Greek word meaning a small coin or a small round cake. The ring and volva are both wanting in this genus. The pileus is fleshy, generally thin, and when the plant is young the margin of the pileus is incurved.