Friesia IV, 3

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F ig. 29. Psalliota eæcellen s,
F igur es executed from natur e ( 1:2).
It is probable t hat P . exeellene has pr eviously been referred to
P . arvensis sensu lat. But all the whit e species from coniferous woods
in the Arvensis group more easily turn yellow and become a deeper
yellow on pressure and have much smaller spores, thus also t he lar ge
P. macrocarpa. Owing to its size, its slender stem, and its occurrence
under Picea it may be mistaken for a light-coloured P. augusta Fr.
(see fi g. 29) ; and experienced mycologists like R i c k e n and many
other able investigators, particularly in Central Europe, have indeed
r eferred it to that species, probably es pecially owin g t o the somewhat
unsatisfactory description of t he latter in F r i e s, Hym. E ur.
But F r i e s' s good figures of P. augusta in At l. och gift. Svamp., and
his ear lier description in Mon. H ym. disp el all doubt as to how this
should be interpreted.
The large, at first snow-white P. excellens, with the concolorous
scales on the cap and stem catches the eye far away in the dark fir
wood and at once renders it re cog nis ab le, and t he micro scopic
examination after one's r eturn home c1inches t he matter . On the