The specimens sent were tested and found to be of good quality. ** Phæ´oti. _Spores fuscous—ferruginous (dingy rust-color)._ =P. du´ra= Bolt.—_durus_, hard. =Pileus= 3 in. and more broad, tawny, tan-color, becoming dingy brown, fleshy, _somewhat compact_, convexo-plane, obtuse, smooth, _then cracked into patches_, margin even. =Stem= commonly curt, 2 in. long, about ½ in. thick, _stuffed_, even solid, hard, becoming silky-even, then longitudinally cracked when dry, thickened at the _apex, mealy_ and more than usually widened into the pileus, varying ventricose and irregularly-shaped. =Ring= _torn_. =Gills= _adnate_, striato-decurrent with a tooth, ventricose, ½ in. broad, _livid then dingy rust-color_. The stem is abundantly furnished with fibrillose rootlets at the base. Although very closely allied to A. præcox, it is readily distinguished by its rust-color or brown-rust spores. _Stevenson._ =Spores= 9×5µ _W.G.S._; 8–9×5–6µ _Massee_. Haddonfield, N.J. June to October. Florist’s garden, _McIlvaine_. After rains P. dura appears, solitary, from spring to autumn. The cracked cap, in mature specimens, distinguishes it from other species found on its habitat. It varies in size from 1½ in. up to 4 in. across. The caps are excellent. (Plate LXXII.) [Illustration: PHOLIOTA PRÆCOX. After Peck. ] =P. præ´cox= Pers.—_præcox_, early. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad, convex or nearly plane, soft, nearly or quite glabrous, whitish, more or less tinged with yellow or tan-color. =Gills= close, adnexed, at first whitish, then brownish or rusty-brownish. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 2–2.5 lines thick, rather slender, mealy or glabrous, stuffed or hollow, whitish. =Spores= elliptical, rusty-brown, 10–13×6–8µ. The Early Pholiota is a small but variable species. From other similarly colored species that appear in grassy ground early in the season, the collar on the stem will generally distinguish it. Its cap is usually convex when young but nearly flat in the mature plant. It is rather pale in color but not a clear white, being tinted with yellow or pale tan-colored hues. The gills are whitish when the cap first opens, but they soon change to a rusty-brown hue in consequence of the ripening of the spores. They are excavated at the inner extremity and slightly attached to the stem. They are ventricose when the cap is fully expanded. The stem is rather slender, nearly or quite straight and soon smooth and hollow. It is pale or whitish, and usually furnished with a small collar. Sometimes the collar is slight and disappears with age and sometimes the fragments of the veil remain attached to the margin of the cap leaving nothing for a collar. The plants usually grow in grassy ground, lawns and gardens, and appear from May to July. Var. _minor_ Batt. is a small form having the cap only about 1 in. broad and the remnants of the veil adherent to the margin of the cap. It is represented by figures 6 to 12.