but of others they are decurrent on
it; hence, in some species they are like the gills of Tricholoma in
their attachment, in others they run down on the stem as in the
Clitocybe. In many of them both cap and stem are very viscid, a
characteristic not found in the Clitocybes; and the gills are generally
thicker and much farther apart than in that genus. A number of the
species are beautifully colored.

_Hygrophorus pratensis. Fr._

THE PASTURE HYGROPHORUS. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: Plate XXIV. Figure 163.--Hygrophorus pratensis.]

Pratensis, from pratum, a meadow. The pileus is one to two inches broad;
when young almost hemispherical, then convex, turbinate or nearly flat,
the center more or less convex, as if umbonate; margin often cracked,
frequently contracted or lobed; white or various shades of yellow,
buffish-reddish, or brownish. Flesh white, thick in the center, thin at
the margin. The stem is stuffed, attenuated downwards. The gills are
thick, distant, white or yellowish, bow-shaped, decurrent, and connected
by vein-like folds. Spores are white, broadly elliptical, .00024 to
.00028 inch long.

The pasture hygrophorus is a small but rather stout-appearing mushroom.
It grows on the ground in pastures, waste places, clearings, and thin
woods, from July to September. Sometimes all white or gray.

Var. cinereus, Fr. Pileus and gills gray. The stem whitish and slender.

Var. pallidus, B. & Br. Pileus depressed, edge wavy, entirely pale
ochre.

This species differs mainly from H. leporinus in that the latter is
quite floccose on the pileus.

_Hygrophorus eburneus. Bull._

SHINING WHITE HYGROPHORUS. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: _Photo by C. G. Lloyd._

Figure 164.--Hygrophorus eburneus.]

Eburneus is from _ebur_, ivory. The pileus is two to four inches broad,
sometimes thin, sometimes somewhat compact, white; very viscid or
glutinous in wet weather, and slippery to the touch; margin uneven,
sometimes wavy; smooth, and shining. When young, the margin is incurved.

The gills are firm, distant, straight, strongly decurrent, with
vein-like elevations near the stem. The spores are white, rather long.

The stem is unequal, sometimes long and sometimes short; stuffed, then
hollow, tapering downward, punctate above with granular scales. Odor and
taste are rather pleasant. It is found in woods and pastures in all
parts of Ohio, but it is not plentiful anywhere. I have found it only in
damp woods about Chillicoth