nd stem 1--2 cm. in thickness.

[Illustration: PLATE 44, FIGURE 138.--Clitopilus prunulus, cap whitish
or dark gray, gills flesh color (natural size). Copyright.]

The =pileus= is fleshy, firm, convex and becoming nearly plane, and
sometimes as the plants become old the center may be slightly
depressed. It is whitish in color, or dark gray, or with a leaden
tint, dry, sometimes with a distinct bloom on the surface, and the
margin is often wavy. The cap is sometimes produced more on one side
than on the other. The =gills= are not close, at first whitish, then
salmon colored as the spores mature, and they are decurrent as is
characteristic of the genus. The =spores= are elliptical or nearly so,
and measure 10--12 mu long.

Figure 138 is from plants collected near Ithaca, in the autumn of 1898.
This species is considered to be one of the excellent mushrooms for
food. When fresh it has a mealy odor and taste, as do several of the
species of this genus. It is known as the prune mushroom.

=Clitopilus orcella= Bull. =Edible.=--This plant is sometimes spoken of
as the sweet-bread mushroom. It is much like the prune mushroom just
described, in odor and taste, and sometimes resembles it in form and
other characters. It is white in color, and the plants are usually
considerably smaller, and the pileus is, according to my observations,
sometimes more irregular, lobed and wavy on the margin. The flesh is
also softer, and the cap is said to be slightly viscid in wet weather.
The plant grows in the woods and sometimes in open fields.

ENTOLOMA Fr.

The volva and annulus are absent in this genus, the spores are rosy, the
gills adnate to sinuate or adnexed, easily separating from the stem in
some species. The stem is fleshy or fibrous, sometimes waxy, and the
pileus is fleshy with the margin incurved, especially when young. The
spores are prominently angular. The genus corresponds with _Tricholoma_
of the white-spored agarics, and also with _Hebeloma_ and _Inocybe_ of
the ochre-spored ones. _Entoloma repandum_ Bull., is an _Inocybe_ [_I.
repandum_ (Bull.) Bres.] and has angular spores resembling those of an
_Entoloma_, but the spores are not rosy.

=Entoloma jubatum= Fr.--Growing on the ground in woods. The plants are
5--10 cm. high, the cap 3--6 cm. broad, and the stem 3--6 mm. in
thickness.

The =pileus= is conic in some plants, to convex and umbonate, thin,
minutely scaly with blackish hairy scales, dull heliotrope purpl