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.

[Illustration: 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.

The gills are adnate or nearly free, soft, membranaceous. Many species
of Collybia will revive to some extent when moistened, but they are not
coriaceous.

The stem differs in substance from the pileus, cartilaginous or has a
cartilaginous cuticle, while the inside is stuffed or hollow. This is
quite a large genus, containing fifty-four American species.

_Collybia radicata. Rehl._

THE ROOTING COLLYBIA. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: Plate XIII. Figure 78.--Collybia radicata.]

This, in its season, is one of the most common mushrooms in the woods.
It grows in the ground, frequently around old stumps, sometimes on
lawns.

Those in Figure 78 were found in the woods on the ground. One plant, as
will be seen by the square, is a foot high.

It is easily recognized by its long root and flat cap. The root extends
into the ground and will frequently break before pulling up. This root
gives name to the species.

The pileus is fleshy, rather thin, convex, then plane, often with margin
upturned in old plants as in Figure 78, and frequently wrinkled at and
toward the umbo, smooth, viscid when moist.

The color is quite variable, from almost white to gray, grayish-brown;
flesh thin, very white, elasti