The pileus is from three to four inches or more broad, very
compact, convex, then plane, cuticle often very much cracked, margin
even, tawny, tan-color, sometimes quite brown.

The gills are firmly attached to the stem, somewhat decurrent with a
tooth, ventricose, livid, then a brown rusty color. Spores elliptical,
8-9x5-6u.

The stem is stuffed, hard, externally fibrous, thickened toward the
apex, sometimes ventricose, often irregularly shaped.

On June 6th, 1904, I found Mr. Dillman's garden on Hickory street,
Chillicothe, white with this plant. Some were very large and beautiful
and I had an excellent opportunity to observe the irregularity in the
form of the stem. Some years previous I found a garden in Sidney, Ohio,
equally filled. In the fall of 1905 I was asked to drive out about seven
miles from Chillicothe to see a wheat-field, the last of October, that
was white with mushrooms. I found them to be of this species.

Only the young plants should be used, as the older ones are a bit tough.

_Pholiota adiposa. Fr._

THE FAT OR PINEAPPLE PHOLIOTA. EDIBLE.

[Illustration: Figure 211.--Pholiota adiposa. Two-thirds natural size.
Caps saffron-yellow.]

Adiposa is from _adeps_, fat. The pileus is showy, deep-yellow, compact,
convex, obtuse, slightly umbonate, quite viscid when moist, shining when
dry; cuticle plain or broken into scales which are dark-brown, the
margin incurved; the flesh is saffron-yellow, thick at the center and
thinning out toward the margin.

The gills are firmly attached to the stem, sometimes slightly notched,
close, yellow, then rust-color with age. Spores elliptical, 7x3u.

The stem is equal, stuffed, tough, thickening at the base, brown below
and yellow above, quite scaly.

The beautiful appearance of the tufts or clusters in which the Pineapple
Pholiotas grow will attract the attention of an ordinarily unobservant
beholder. The scales on the cap seem to contract and rise from the
surface and sometimes disappear with age. The caps of mushrooms should
not ordinarily be peeled before cooking, but it is better to peel this
one.

The ring is slight and the specimens represented here were found on a
stump in Miss Effie Mace's yard, on Paint Street, Chillicothe.

_Pholiota Caperata. Pers._

THE WRINKLED PHOLIOTA. EDIBLE.

Caperata means wrinkled.

[Illustration: Plate XXXI. Figure 212.--Pholiota caperata.]

The pileus is three to four inches broad, fleshy, varying from a clay