densely covered in tawny hairs. Although the stem is hollow, the cap has an insubstantial layer of white flesh. The spore print is white, and the smooth, elliptical spores are 4–6 by 3–5 µm in size. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored, club-shaped, and measure 25–30 by 6.0–6.5 µm. C. zonata has basidioles—basidium-like cells in the hymenium that lack the slender projections known as sterigmata that attach to spores. The basidioles are 15–28 by 3.0–8.0 µm, and range in shape from club-shaped to cylindrical to fusoid (fuse-like). The cheilocystidia (cystidia found on the edges of gills) are 20–45 by 5.0–9.0 µm, cylindrical, club-shaped or fusoid, irregular, and branched or coral-like. Pleurocystidia (cystidia found on the gill face) are absent. The "hairs" on the cap surface are about 50–800 by 4.0–10 µm, and roughly cylindrical with an irregular base; the hairs on the stem are similar to the cap hairs. The cap and stem hairs are dextrinoid, meaning that they are stained yellowish-brown or reddish-brown by the iodine of Melzer's reagent. Clamp connections are present in all tissues. Variety cremoricolor In 1989, Scott Redhead reduced the species Crinipellis cremoricolor (originally described by Robert L. Shaffer and Margaret G. Weaver in 1965, based on specimens found near the University of Michigan Biological Station) to a variety of C. crinipellis. The variety cremoricolor is found in eastern North America and has longer spores than the nominate variety, measuring 7–12 by 3.8–5 µm. According to Shaffer and Weaver, it differs macroscopically from the typical variety in having cream- to buff-colored cap and stem, and pale pinkish-cinnamon gills. Edibility Fruit bodies of Crinipellis zonata have no distinct odor, and a mild to slightly mealy taste. Though the edibility is not known with certainty, author Roger Phillips lists the species as "Poisonous/Suspect", and Orson K. Miller Jr. lists it as nonpoisonous. Similar species Though similar in appearance to other members of Crinipellis, such as C. stipitaria and C. piceae, C. zonata has a slightly larger cap. The Ghanaian species Crinipellis ghanaensis is also similar, but may be distinguished by its lighter-colored cap without a "corrugated appearance", and its distribution. Distribution and ecology Crinipellis zonata is saprobic, living on the debris or roots of hardwoods; it contains wood-decaying enzymes that can break down the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pyrene. The mushrooms grow individually or in small clusters, and is found between August and September. In North America, it