feature of the
plant is the presence of =cystidia= in the hymenium on the gills. These
are stout, colorless, elliptical, thick-walled, and terminate in two or
three blunt, short prongs.

The =stem= is nearly equal, solid, the color much the same as that of
the pileus, but often paler above, smooth or sometimes scaly.

In some forms the plant is entirely white, except the gills. In addition
to the white forms occurring in the woods, I have found them in an old
abandoned cement mine growing on wood props.

[Illustration: FIGURE 136.--Pluteus tomentosulus. Cap and stem entirely
white, gills flesh color, stem furrowed and tomentose (natural size).
Copyright.]

=Pluteus tomentosulus= Pk.--This plant was described by Peck in the 32d
Report, N. Y. State Mus., page 28, 1879. It grows on decaying wood in
the woods during July and August. The plants are 5--12 cm. high, the cap
3--7 cm. broad, and the stem 4--8 mm. in thickness. The description
given by Peck is as follows: "Pileus thin, convex or expanded,
subumbonate, dry, minutely squamulose-tomentose, white, sometimes
pinkish on the margin; lamellae rather broad, rounded behind, free,
crowded, white then flesh colored; stem equal, solid, striate, slightly
pubescent or subtomentose, white; spores subglobose, 7 mu in diameter,
generally containing a large single nucleus." From the plant collected
at Ithaca the following notes were made. The =pileus= and stem are
entirely white, the gills flesh color. The pileus is expanded, umbonate,
thin except at the umbo, minutely floccose squamulose, no pinkish tinge
noted; the flesh is white, but on the umbo changing to flesh color where
wounded. The =gills= are free, with a clear white space between stem and
rounded edges, crowded, narrow (about 3--4 mm. broad) edge finely
fimbriate, probably formed by numerous bottle-shaped cystidia on the
edge, and which extend up a little distance on the side of the gills,
but are not distributed in numbers over the surface of the gills;
=cystidia= thin walled, hyaline. The =spores= are flesh colored,
subglobose, 5--7 mu. =Stem= cylindrical, even, twisted somewhat, white,
striate and minutely squamulose like the pileus, but with coarser
scales, especially toward the base, solid, flesh white.

The species received its name from the tomentose, striate character of
the stem. The plants (No. 3219, C. U. herbarium) illustrated in Fig. 136
were collected in Enfield Gorge, vicinity of Ithaca, July 28, 1