s.--This plant occurs on the ground in woods. It is
6--10 cm. high, the cap 2--4 cm. broad, and the stem is 3--4 mm. in
thickness.

[Illustration: FIGURE 143.--Eccilia polita. Cap hair brown to olive,
stem lighter, gills flesh color, notched and irregular (natural size).
Copyright.]

The =pileus= is convex and umbilicate, somewhat membranaceous, smooth,
watery in appearance, finely striate on the margin, hair brown to olive
in color. The =gills= are decurrent. In the specimens illustrated in
Fig. 143 the gills are very irregular and many of them appear sinuate.
The =spores= are strongly 4--5 angled, some of them square, 10--12 mu in
diameter, with a prominent mucro at one angle. The =stem= is
cartilaginous, becoming hollow, lighter in color than the pileus, and
somewhat enlarged below. Figure 143 is from plants (No. 3999, C. U.
herbarium) collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

[Illustration: PLATE 45, FIGURE 144.--Claudopus nidulans, view of under
side. Cap rich yellow or buff, gills flesh color (natural size).
Copyright.]

CLAUDOPUS W. Smith.

In the genus _Claudopus_, recognized by some, the pileus is eccentric or
lateral, that is, the stem is attached near the side of the cap, or the
cap is sessile and attached by one side to the wood on which the plant
is growing; or the plants are resupinate, that is, they may be spread
over the surface of the wood.

The genus is perhaps not well separated from some of the species of
_Pleurotus_ with lilac spores like _P. sapidus_. In fact, a number of
the species were formerly placed in _Pleurotus_, while others were
placed in _Crepidotus_ among the ochre-spored agarics. Several species
are reported from America. Peck in 39th Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 67,
_et seq._, 1886, describes five species.

=Claudopus nidulans= (Pers.) Pk.--This is one of the very pretty agarics
growing on dead branches and trunks during the autumn, and is widely
distributed. It has, however, been placed in the genus _Pleurotus_, as
_P. nidulans_. But because of the pink color of the spores in mass, Peck
places it in the genus _Claudopus_, where Fries suggested it should go
if removed from _Pleurotus_. It seems to be identical with _Panus
dorsalis Bosc_. It is usually sessile and attached to the side of dead
branches, logs, etc., in a shelving manner, or sometimes it is
resupinate.

The =pileus= is sessile, or sometimes narrowed at the base into a short
stem, the caps ofte