The gills are attached to the stem and slightly decurrent by a tooth, moderately broad, crowded, unequal, creamy white, then rusty-brown. Spores brownish, 8–13×6–7µ.
The stem is stuffed, then hollow, often striate above the ring, rather slender, sometimes mealy, skin peeling readily, whitish. The spores are rusty-brown and elliptical. The caps are from one to two inches broad, and the stem is from two to three inches long. The veil is stretched like a drumhead from the stem to the margin of the cap. It varies in manner of breaking; sometimes it separates from the margin of the cap and forms a ring around the stem; again, but little remains on the stem and much on the rim of the cap.
It appears every year on the Chillicothe high school lawn. The gills are creamy-white when the cap first opens, but they soon turn to a rusty-brown. It comes in May. I have never found it after June. I am always delighted to find it for it is always appetizing at that season. Look for them on lawns and pastures and in grain fields.
Pholiota dura. Bolt.
The Hard Pholiota. Edible.
Figure 210.—Pholiota dura. One-half natural size. Caps tawny tan-color.
Dura, hard; so called because the surface of the cap becomes quite hard and cracked. The pileus is from three to four inches or more broad, very compact, convex, then plane, cuticle often very much cracked, margin even, tawny, tan-color, sometimes quite brown.
The gills are firmly attached to the stem, somewhat decurrent with a tooth, ventricose, livid, then a brown rusty color. Spores elliptical, 8–9×5–6µ.