Humidicutis pura (Peck) E. Horak 1990
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Descriptions
Humidicutis pura (Peck) E. Horak 1990
ICON.: Stevenson (1962: 337); Horak (1973: 131).
All characters observed on the North American Hygrophorus purus Peck essentially agree with those described for H. mavis Stev. which in New Zealand is widely distributed both in Nothofagus and broadleaved-conifer forests.
The revision of authentic North American material kept in the Hesler collections (MICH) demonstrated that both the macroscopic and the microscopic data for Hygrophorus purus Peck are obviously erroneous (Hesler & Smith 1963: 214). The surface of pileus and stipe lacks gelatinised hyphae and therefore this fungus is misplaced in subsect. Psittacini. Clamp connections are absent or very rare on septa of the pileipellis but occur regularly at the base of the basidia. Hence the macroscopic and microscopic features clearly fit the generic circumscription of Humidicutis (Singer) Singer (Horak 1968: 281), and accordingly its transfer to this taxon is proposed.