arker on the center. The =gills= are sinuate or adnate, slightly
broader in the middle (ventricose) in age, pale at first, then becoming
ochre yellow, and darker when the plant dries. The =spores= are tawny in
mass, oval, elliptical, minutely tuberculate when mature, 6--9 x 4--6 mu.
The =stem= is clavate, pale cream buff in color, solid, becoming
irregularly fistulose in age, bulbous or somewhat ventricose below, the
bulb often large and abrupt, 1.5--3 cm. in diameter. The =veil= is
prominent and attached to the upper part of the stem, the abundant
threads attached over an area 1 cm. in extent and forming a beautiful
cortina of the same color as the pileus and stem, but becoming tawny
when the spores fall on it. The stem varies considerably in length and
shape, being rarely ventricose, and then only at the base; the bulbous
forms predominate and the bulb is often very large.

Figures 156, 157 are from plants (No. 3674 C. U. herbarium) collected at
Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

BOLBITIUS Fries.

The genus _Bolbitius_ contains a few species with yellowish or yellowish
brown spores. The plants are very fragile, more or less mucilaginous
when moist, usually with yellowish colors, and, what is the most
characteristic feature beside the yellowish color of the spores, the
gills are very soft, and at maturity tend to dissolve into a
mucilaginous consistency, though they do not deliquesce, or only rarely
dissolve so far as to form drops. The surface of the gills at maturity
becomes covered with the spores so that they appear powdery, as in the
genus _Cortinarius_, which they also resemble in the color of the
spores. In the mucilaginous condition of the gills the genus approaches
_Coprinus_. It is believed to occupy an intermediate position between
_Coprinus_ and _Cortinarius_. The species usually grow on dung or in
manured ground, and in this respect resemble many of the species of
_Coprinus_. Some of the species are, however, not always confined to
such a substratum, but grow on decaying leaves, etc.

[Illustration: FIGURE 158.--Bolbitius variicolor. Cap viscid, various
shades of yellow, or smoky olive; gills yellowish, then rusty (natural
size).]

=Bolbitius variicolor= Atkinson.--This plant was found abundantly during
May and June, 1898, in a freshly manured grass plat between the
side-walk and the pavement along Buffalo street, Ithaca, N. Y. The
season was rainy, and the plants appeared each day durin