=C. viola´ceus= Fr. (Plate LXXXII, fig. 2, page 306.) One of our most plentiful and beautiful autumnal fungi. As the American plant differs somewhat from the European, Professor Peck’s description is given. =Pileus= convex, becoming nearly plane, dry, adorned with numerous persistent hairy tufts or scales, dark violet. =Lamellæ= rather thick, distant, rounded or deeply notched at the inner extremity, colored like the pileus in the young plant, brownish-cinnamon in the mature plant. =Stem= solid, fibrillose, bulbous, colored like the pileus. =Spores= subelliptical, 12.5µ long. The Violet cortinarius is a very beautiful mushroom and one easy of recognition. At first the whole plant is uniformly colored, but with age the gills assume a dingy ochraceous or brownish-cinnamon hue. The cap is generally well formed and regular and is beautifully adorned with little hairy scales or tufts. These are rarely shown in figures of the European plant, but they are quite noticeable in the American plant and should not be overlooked. The flesh is more or less tinged with violet. The gills when young are colored like the cap. They are rather broad, notched at the inner extremity and narrowed toward the margin of the cap. When mature they become dusted with the spores whose color they take. The stem also is colored like the cap. It is swollen into a bulb at the base and sometimes a faint ochraceous band may be seen near the top. This is due to the falling spores which lodge on the webby filaments of the veil remaining attached to the stem. =Cap= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, about ½ in. thick. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Minerva, Essex county. A form of this species occurs here, having the pileus merely downy or punctate-hairy under a lens, no squamules being distinguishable by the naked eye. July. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =Spores= 12–14×10µ _Cooke_. The spider web veil is exquisitely displayed in this species. This, with its strongly bulbous base and violet tinge throughout, easily mark it. Though usually solitary great numbers of it are found in its settlements. The mixed woods of central New Jersey abound with it in July, August and September. Throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia it is common, and is reported from several other states. In Redman’s woods, near Haddonfield, N.J., a densely clustered form of singular beauty occurs. A dozen individuals of various forms and sizes with swollen stems form a compact mass, rich in color, and cutting crisp and juicy as an apple. They are far better than other Cortinarii I have eaten. I have not seen it elsewhere. C. violaceus is everywhere eaten, and is in my opinion the best of its genus. The American plant is not inodorous, but has a decided mushroom smell and taste. (Plate LXXXIV.) [Illustration: CORTINARIUS ALBO-VIOLACEUS. One-half natural size. ]