View A43-1112-1979-eng.pdf

EDIBLE AND POISONOUS MUSHROOMS OF CANADA
In groups on the ground in woods, occasionally on lawns beneath trees,
fairly common. July-Oct.
This is an interesting little species that is entirely white but has brown
spores. The lamellae become pale clay-colored in age. It is a common species
and can be recognized easily.
Inocybe lilacina (Boud.) Kauffm. is very similar except for its color, and
some authors regard it as merely a variety of /. geophylla. Its pileus and stipe
are lilac colored at first but soon fade. It is frequently found associated with
/. geophylla.
PHOLIOTA
Pholiota is an important genus for the mycophagist because it includes a
number of good edible species that are fairly large and often occur in large
clusters providing abundant material for food. However, as in other genera,
some care must be taken to identify the species correctly because at least one
is known to be poisonous. Some of the species are important as wood des-
troyers.
The genus includes those species that have rusty brown or ochre-brown
spores, lamellae attached to the stipe, and a membranous annulus but no
volva. They may be found either on wood or on the ground. Some of the
species are markedly scaly but others are smooth.
The North American species have been pretty well known since the excel-
lent monograph by Overholts (1927). He recognized 56 species and a few have
been added since then. However, recent authors tend to divide Pholiota into
several genera, with P. squarrosa (Pers. ex Fr.) Kummer as the type of Pholiota
in the narrower sense.
Many of the characters used in distinguishing these genera are based on
microscopic structures not readily determined by the amateur collector, hence
for the purposes of this book it is considered preferable to use the genus in the
wider, more traditional sense.
Key
1. Occurring on the ground 2
1. Occurring on wood or sawdust 3
2. Pileus whitish to cream, glabrous; spores smooth with
truncate apex P. vermiflua
2. Pileus ochraceous buff to cinnamon-buff, unevenly wrinkled, at
first with fine whitish fibrils or with a hoary bloom;
spores large, rough-walled P. caperata
3. Pileus glabrous at all stages 4
3. Pileus scaly or becoming so 5
184