HYGROPHORUS Fries. [Illustration: FIGURE 115.--Hygrophorus chrysodon. Entirely white with golden yellow granules on cap and stem (natural size). Copyright.] The genus _Hygrophorus_ is one which presents some difficulties in the case of some of the species, especially to beginners, and plants need to be studied in the fresh condition to understand the most important character which separates it from certain of the other white-spored agarics. The substance of the pileus is continuous with that of the stem, that is, the stem is not easily separated from the cap at the point of junction, but is more or less tenacious. The gills may be adnexed, adnate, sinuate, or decurrent, but what is important they are usually rather distant, the edge is acute or sharp, and gradually thickened toward the junction with the cap, so that a section of the gill is more or less triangular. This is brought about by the fact that the substance of the cap extends downward into the gill between the laminæ or surfaces of the gill. But the most important character for determining the genus is the fact that the surfaces of the gills become rather of a waxy consistency at maturity, so that they appear to be full of a watery substance though they do not bleed, and the surface of the gill can be rather easily removed, leaving the projecting line of the _trama_. This is more marked in some species than in others. The waxy consistency of the gills then, with the gills acute at the edge, broad at the point of attachment to the pileus, and the gills being rather widely separated are the important characters in determining the species which belong to this genus. The nearest related genus is Cantharellus, which, however, has blunt and forked gills. A number of the plants are brilliantly colored. [Illustration: PLATE 38, FIGURE 116.--Hygrophorus eburneus. Entirely white, slimy (natural size). Copyright.] =Hygrophorus chrysodon= (Batsch.) Fries. =Edible.=--This plant has about the same range as _Hygrophorus eburneus_, though it is said to be rare. It is a very pretty plant and one quite easily recognised because of the uniform white ground color of the entire plant when fresh, and the numerous golden floccules or squamules scattered over the cap and the stem. The name _chrysodon_ means golden tooth, and refers to these numerous golden flecks on the plant. A form of the plant, variety _leucodon_, is said to occur in which these granules are white. The plant is 4--7 cm. high, the cap 4--7 cm. broad, and the stem 6--10 mm. in thickness. The plants grow on the ground in the woods, or rather open places, during late summer and autumn.