changing to brown where bruised. The =spores= are oval, 7--9 x 4--5 mu.
The =stem= is short, even, and of the same color as the cap.

[Illustration: PLATE 52, FIGURE 160.--Paxillus rhodoxanthus. Cap reddish
brown, stem paler, gills yellow (natural size). Copyright.]

At Ithaca, N. Y., the plant is sometimes abundant in late autumn in
grassy places near or in groves. The Figure 159 is from plants (No. 2508
C. U. herbarium) growing in such a place in the suburbs of Ithaca. At
Blowing Rock, N. C., the plant is often very abundant along the
roadsides on the ground during August and September.

=Paxillus rhodoxanthus= (Schw.)--This species was first described by de
Schweinitz as _Agaricus rhodoxanthus_, p. 83 No. 640, Synopsis fungorum
Carolinae superioris, in Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 1:
19--131, 1822. It was described under his third section of _Agaricus_
under the sub-genus _Gymnopus_, in which are mainly species now
distributed in _Clitocybe_ and _Hygrophorus_. He remarks on the elegant
appearance of the plant and the fact that it so nearly resembles
_Boletus subtomentosus_ as to deceive one. The resemblance to _Boletus
subtomentosus_ as one looks upon the pileus when the plant is growing on
the ground is certainly striking, because of the reddish yellow,
ochraceous rufus or chestnut brown color of the cap together with the
minute tomentum covering the surface. The suggestion is aided also by
the color of the gills, which one is apt to get a glimpse of from above
without being aware that the fruiting surface has gills instead of
tubes. But as soon as the plant is picked and we look at the under
surface, all suggestion of a _Boletus_ vanishes, unless one looks
carefully at the venation of the surface of the gills and the spaces
between them. The plant grows on the ground in woods. At Blowing Rock,
N. C., where it is not uncommon, I have always found it along the
mountain roads on the banks. It is 5--10 cm. high, the cap from 3--8 cm.
broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in thickness.

The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, plane or convex, and when mature
more or less top-shaped because it is so thick at the middle. In age the
surface of the cap often becomes cracked into small areas, showing the
yellow flesh in the cracks. The flesh is yellowish and the surface is
dry. The =gills= are not very distant, they are stout, chrome yellow to
lemon yellow, and strongly decurrent. A few of them are forked toward