The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise / Its Habitat and its Time of Growth

by Miron Elisha Hard

The pileus is thin, submembranaceous, funnel-form, with the margin decurved, nearly smooth, hygrophanous, white, the disk often darker.

The gills are white, very narrow, scarcely broader than the thickness of the flesh of the pileus, crowded, long, decurrent, subarcuate, some of them forked.

The stem is slender, subequal, not hollow, whitish, mycelio-thickened at the base. Peck.

The pileus is one to two inches broad and the stem is one to two and a half long. This is quite a pretty mushroom and has the Clitocybe appearance in a marked degree. The long, narrow, decurrent gills, sometimes tinged with yellow, some of them forked, margin of the pileus sometimes wavy, will assist in distinguishing it. I have no doubt of its edibility. Found among leaves in woods after heavy rains. With us it is confined to the wooded hillsides. The specimens in Figure 71 were found in Michigan and photographed by Dr. Fischer. Found in July and August.

Clitocybe ochropurpurea. Berk.

The Clay-Purple Clitocybe. Edible.

Photo by C. G. Lloyd.

Plate XI. Figure 72.—Clitocybe ochropurpurea.