Chapter XIII: Part 13

=C. cinnabari´nus= Fr.—_cinnabaris_, dragon’s blood. =Pileus= 2–3 in. broad, _scarlet-red_, truly fleshy, campanulate, then flattened, obtuse or very obtusely umbonate, silky, then becoming smooth and shining, or obsoletely scaly; the firm flesh paler. =Stem= 1½-2 in. long, 3–4 lines and more thick, solid, equal, sometimes however bulbous, fibrillose or striate, scarlet-red, reddish brick-color internally. Cortina fibrillose, lax, cinnabar. =Gills= wholly adnate, somewhat decurrent, 3 lines broad, somewhat distant, connected by veins, unequal and darker at the edge, dark blood-color when bruised.

Odor of radish. Readily distinguished from all others by its _splendid scarlet color_, and from C. sanguineus by its short solid and firm stem, its broad pileus and _somewhat distant gills_. Stem never becoming yellow. _Fries._

=Spores= 7–8×4µ _Cooke_.

It is a variable species with us.

=Cap= 1½ in. across, convex, broadly umbonate, margin involute, yellowish-brown, silky, innately fibrillose, shining, when young the cap is round, margin involute. =Veil= white, fibrillose, fugacious, leaving no trace on stem. =Flesh= thick in center, solid, close-grained, white, tinged with brown. Tastes strongly as radishes. Skin partially detachable.

Gills exceedingly beautiful in their deep claret-color, which is permanent, decurrent.

=Stem= 3 in. long, shining, smooth, white near top, brownish below, equal, fibrous, stuffed, skin removable.

On ground among pines, near station, Mt. Gretna, Pa. August to frost. Solitary, gregarious and cespitose.

Taste and smell like radishes. The caps cook well and are of fair flavor. Makes good patties and croquettes.

_C. cinnabarinus_, Var. 1. Mt. Gretna, Pa., August to frost. On decaying chestnut stumps.

Cap 1 in. across, shining, convex, orange-brown, white on margin and under minute appressed squamules, but few on margin; apparent remnant of a veil on cap, as a viscid skin.

Gills rounded behind, slightly emarginate, like Tricholoma, grayish-brown when young, becoming a brilliant scarlet, unequal.

Stem 2 in. high, over ¼ in. thick, white, covered with brownish-orange appressed squamules, often with stained marking of veil or fragments of veil as ring. Cespitose, connate.

Taste and smell strong like radishes. Flavor in dish is decided but pleasant. Makes good patties and croquettes.

Specimens were identified by Professor Peck as C. cinnabarinus, as were those of the preceding. The variations are so great that I give this place as a variety.

=C. sanguin´eus= Fr.—_sanguis_, blood. =Pileus= 1–1½ in. broad, _blood-color_, becoming slightly pale when dry, fleshy, thin, convex then plane, obtuse, occasionally depressed, silky or squamulose. =Flesh= reddish, paler. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 2–3 lines thick, stuffed then hollow, equal (rather attenuated than thickened at the base), here and there flexuous, with fibrils of the same color, almost darker than the pileus. Cortina arachnoid, fugacious, red blood-color. =Gills= adnate, crowded, 2–3 lines broad, quite entire, dark blood-color.

Wholly _dark blood-color_, the stem when compressed pouring forth bloody juice. Odor of radish. Thinner than species nearest to it. The spores are ochraceous on a white ground, somewhat ferruginous on a black ground. _Fries._

=Spores= 6×4µ _W.G.S._

North Carolina, _Curtis_; Massachusetts, _Sprague_, _Farlow_, _Frost_; Connecticut, _Wright_; New York, _Peck_, 23d Rep.

Edible. _Leuba._

(Plate LXXXVII.)

CORTINARIUS CINNAMOMEUS.
Natural size.
]

=C. cinnamo´meus= Fr. =Pileus= 1–2½ in. across. =Flesh= thin, convexo-campanulate, umbonate, somewhat cinnamon color, silky squamulose with yellowish innate fibrils, becoming almost glabrous. =Gills= adnate, broad, crowded, shining, yellowish, then tawny-yellow. =Stem= 2–4 in. long, equal, yellow, as is also the flesh and the veil, hollow. =Spores= 7–8×4–5µ.

A very common species, especially in mossy places in pine woods, occurring under many well defined forms, which can not be separated as species. Essential points common to all. (1) Stem everywhere equal, stuffed, then hollow, yellowish, fibrillose from the similarly colored veil. (2) Pileus thin, flattened and obtusely umbonate, silky with yellowish down, often glabrous when adult, and then bright cinnamon, but the color is variable. (3) Flesh splitting, yellowish. (4) Gills adnate, crowded, thin, broad, always shining. (5) Spores dark ochraceous, size and color very variable; pileus from ½-3–4 in. across; color of pileus changeable, depending on the more or less persistence of the down (fundamental color and veil constant in this species and its allies); gills varying through blood-red, reddish cinnamon, tawny saffron, golden and yellow. _Fries._

=Pileus= thin, convex, obtuse or umbonate, dry, fibrillose at least when young. =Flesh= yellowish. =Lamellæ= thin, close, adnate. =Stem= slender, equal, stuffed or hollow. =Spores= elliptical, 8µ long. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= 7–8×4µ _Cooke_.

The Germans are said to be very fond of this species, which is generally stewed in butter and served with sauce for vegetables.

Catalogued by Dr. M.A. Curtis, North Carolina, as edible. Edible. _Cooke._

Var. _semi-sanguin´eus_ received from E.B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J., August, 1897. Juicy and good.

The species is common over the United States and plentiful in its numerous varieties from August to frost. It frequents mixed woods, borders and open and mossy places. The pine woods of New Jersey yield it in quantity, as do the hemlock forests of Eagle’s Mere, Pa., and oak woods of West Virginia.

It has a smell and taste—mildly of radishes. Its flavor when cooked is decided but pleasant.

TELAMO´NIA. (_Gr_—lint.)

(Plate LXXXVIII.)

=C. armilla´tus= Fr.—_armilla_, a ring. (Plate LXXXII, fig. 5, p. 306.) =Pileus= 3–5 in. broad, _red-brick color_, truly fleshy, but not very compact, at first cylindrical, soon campanulate, at length flattened, dry, at first smooth, soon innately fibrillose or squamulose, flesh dingy pallid. =Stem= 3–6 in. long, ½ in. thick, solid, firm, remarkably bulbous (bulb 1 in. thick, villous, whitish) and fibrillose at the base, when old striate and reddish-pallid, internally dirty yellow. Exterior veil woven, red, arranged _in 2–4 distant cinnabar zones encircling the stem_; partial veil continuous with the upper zone, arachnoid, reddish-white. =Gills= adnate, slightly rounded, distant, at first pallid cinnamon, at length very broad (½ in.), dark ferruginous, almost bay-brown.

Odor of radish. A very striking species. From the pileus not being hygrophanous, _at the first smooth_ and at length torn into fibrils or squamulose, it might easily be taken for a species of Inoloma. The cortina itself is paler than the zones. It differs from all others in these zones. The rings are usually somewhat oblique. _Fries._

Professor Peck in the 23d Rep. N.Y. State Cab. Nat. Hist., describes the American species as follows:

“=Pileus= fleshy, thick, convex or subcampanulate, then expanded, minutely squamulose, yellowish-red. =Lamellæ= not close, broad, slightly emarginate, whitish-ochraceous, then cinnamon. =Stipe= stout, solid, fibrillose, whitish, girt with one to four red bands, bulbous.

“Height 4–6 in., breadth of pileus 2–4 in., stipe 4–8 in. thick.

“Woods. North Elba. August.

“A large and noble species. The margin of the pileus is thin and sometimes uneven; the upper band on the stem is usually the brightest and most regular. The pileus is not distinctly hygrophanous.”

=Spores= 10×6µ _Cooke_.

Edible. _Cooke._

September 8, 1897, Mr. E.B. Sterling, Trenton, N.J., sent me several specimens new to me and remarkable in having two well-defined veils, the lower and thicker one of which left a dark zone upon the stem, the upper, fibrillose, was more persistent, but left a fainter impression. These veils are not mentioned in Professor Peck’s description of the American species, but are prominently noted in that of Fries, as above. In a very young specimen both veils were present. Cap light brown, minutely squamulose, with a few small red spots; margin thin, involute, flesh thick, yellowish, firm; gills distant, rounded behind, slightly emarginate, alternate ones short, light brown inclined to cinereous on edge.

Spores brown. Small young specimens did not show bulbous stem as distinct as larger and older ones.

I afterward found several specimens at Mt. Gretna, Pa., September and October, 1897.

The flesh is excellent, closely resembling Pholiota subsquarrosa. The species seems to be rare. If found in quantity it will prove one of our very best edibles.

=C. dis´tans= Pk. =Pileus= thin except the disk, convex, squamulose, bay-brown when moist, tawny when dry. =Lamellæ= broad, distant, thick, dark cinnamon-color. =Stipe= subequal, often a little tapering upward, solid, slightly fibrillose-scaly, concolorous.

Height 2–3 in., breadth of pileus 1–2 in., stipe 4–6 in. thick.

Grassy ground in pine woods. Greenbush. June.

The flesh is dull-yellowish. The pileus, when drying, has for a time a brown-marginal zone. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

New Jersey pines. Eagle’s Mere, Pa., coniferous woods. August. Mt. Gretna, Pa., pines. August, September. _McIlvaine._

Like most of the hygrophanous Cortinarii, the taste is more or less that of rotten wood. The flavor is flat and undesirable.

=C. furfurel´lus= Pk. =Pileus= thin, convex, furfuraceous with minute squamules, hygrophanous, watery-tawny when moist, pale ochraceous when dry. =Lamellæ= broad, thick, distant, adnate or slightly emarginate, tawny-yellow, then cinnamon. =Stem= equal, peronate, colored like the pileus, with a slight annulus near the top. =Spores= subelliptical, minutely rough, 8–10×6µ.

=Plant= 1–2 in. high. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 2–4 lines thick.

Moist ground in open places. Gansevoort. August. _Peck_, 32d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Haddonfield, N.J., Mt. Gretna, Pa. _McIlvaine._

Strong woody flavor—like rotten wood. Not poisonous, but not desirable.

HYGROCYBE.

=C. casta´neus= Bull.—chestnut. =Pileus= fleshy, thin, campanulate or convex, then expanded, dark chestnut-color when moist, paler when dry. =Lamellæ= rather broad, violet-tinged, then cinnamon. =Stipe= fibrillose, stuffed or hollow, lilac tinged at the top, white below.

Height 2–3 in., breadth of pileus 1–2 in., stipe 3–4 lines thick.

Ground under spruce or balsam trees. Catskill mountains. October. Edible. _Peck_, 23d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= 8×5µ.

It is certainly a wholesome, esculent species, but a great number would be required to make a good dish. _M.C. Cooke._

Catalogued by Rev. M.A. Curtis, North Carolina, as edible.

Eaten in Italy. Inodorous, edible and agreeable. _Cordier._ More than fair. I have often eaten it. _R.K. Macadam._

=PAXIL´LUS= Fr.

_Paxillus_, a small stake.

=Hymenophore= continuous with the stem, decurrent. =Gills= membranaceous, somewhat branched, frequently anastomosing behind, _distinct from the hymenophore and easily separable from it_. =Spores= dingy-white or ferruginous.

_Fleshy putrescent fungi, margin of pileus at first involute, then continually and gradually unfolding and expanding._ _Fries._

=Pileus= symmetrical or eccentric. =Stem= central, eccentric or wanting. Edge of gills entire, sharp.

The marked features of this genus are the strongly involute margin, the soft, tough, decurrent gills, separating readily from the flesh, and the color of the spores.

The members of this genus possess some of the characters of Boletus. The gills separate easily from the hymenophore as do the tubes of the latter, and their anastomosing tendency is in P. porosus so marked that the hymenium consists of large angular tubes. The gills of P. solidus B. and C. form pores at the base, and its spores are elongated, both features indicating an affinity with Boletus.

ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.

LEPISTA (a pan). Page 327.

Pileus entire, central. Spores dingy-white, in P. panæolus somewhat rust-color. On the ground.

TAPINIA (to depress). Page —--.

Pileus generally eccentric or resupinate. Spores rust-color. On the ground or on stumps.

So far as known the species of this genus are harmless. Many of them are large, fleshy and inviting in appearance, but their flesh is usually dry and coarse, and, though absorbent, is hard to cook tender. P. atrotomentosus, which seems to be rare, is an exception. The flesh of this species being firm in texture and readily made into a first-class dish.

LEPIS´TA.

=P. lepis´ta= Fr.—_lepista_, a pan. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad, flat or depressed, dirty-white, smooth, sometimes minutely cracked near the margin which is thin, involute and often undulate. =Stem= very variable in length, 1–4 in., ½-¾ in. thick, dingy white or cream, solid, white inside, equal, with a cartilaginous cuticle passing between the gills and the flesh of the pileus, base blunt, villous, white. =Gills= very decurrent, crowded, 2–3 lines broad, slightly branched but not at the base, dingy-white becoming darker.

=Spores= reddish, becoming dingy brown. Broadly pyriforme 6×8µ _Massee_.

Pennsylvania. September, 1894. _McIlvaine._ Albion, N.Y., _Dr. Cushing_, 1898.

On ground in woods and margins of woods.

=Flesh= white. =Gills= narrow, crowded, brittle, decurrent, dingy-white or pale-buff, easily separating from cap. =Stem= solid, elastic, at length hollow, often short, an inch long, tapering downward, frequently up to four inches in length and equal, base villose.

Resembling Lactarius piperatus and some forms of Clitocybe. It is separated from the former by the absence of milk and from the latter by its involute margin. The Clitocybe resembling it are all edible.

=Smell= strong, like old oily nuts. Edible but coarse.

=P. li´vidus= Cke. =Pileus= 1–2 in. across, convex, at length slightly depressed at the disk, margin slightly arched and incurved, dingy-white, or livid ochraceous, opaque. =Gills= decurrent, arcuate, almost crowded, 1½ line broad, white. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, ½ in. thick at the apex, attenuated downward, white, fibrillose, stuffed then hollow, usually rather flexuous. =Flesh= nearly white. =Spores= globose, 3–3.5µ diameter, nearly white.

In woods. Usually in small clusters. Closely allied to Paxillus revolutus, but distinguished by the absence of any tinge of violet on the pileus or stem, and by the persistently white gills. _Massee._

Received from Katherine A. Hall, Danville, N.Y. October, 1898.

Raw it tastes like a drug-store smell. Edible, pleasant.

TAPI´NIA.

(Plate XC.)

PAXILLUS INVOLUTUS.
One-half natural size.
]

=P. involu´tus= (Batsch) Fr.—_involutus_, rolled inward. =Pileus= 2–5 in. broad, fleshy, compact, convexo-plane then depressed, smooth, viscid when moist, shining when dry, yellowish or tawny-ochraceous, _strongly involute_, _margin densely downy_, flesh pallid. =Stem= 2–4 in. high, about ½ in. thick, solid, firm, paler than the pileus, central or eccentric. =Gills= 2–3 lines broad, crowded, branched, anastomosing, _forming pores behind_, whitish then yellowish or rusty, _spotting when bruised_.

=Spores= rust-color, ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid 8–16×6µ _K._; 5×6µ _W.G.S._ Elliptical, 8–10µ _Peck_.

It grows singly or in groups and likes damp mossy soil. Common in cool hemlock or spruce woods in the Adirondack mountains; not rare in the mixed woods of all our hilly districts. When growing on decayed stumps the stem is sometimes eccentric. August, November. _C.H. Peck._

In open woods near Haddonfield, N.J., it grows to a large size and in quantity. In Angora woods near Philadelphia a complete ring of it 20 ft. in diameter was seen.

Considered edible throughout Europe and said to be highly esteemed in Russia. The flesh of the American plant is dry and coarse, does not cook tender and is rather tasteless.

=P. a´tro-tomento´sus= (Batsch.) Fr.—_ater_, black; _tomentum_, down. =Pileus= 3–6 in. broad, rust-color or reddish-brown, compactly fleshy, eccentric, convex then plane or depressed, margin thin, frequently minutely rivulose, sometimes tomentose in the center. =Flesh= white. =Stem= 3–6 in. high, ½-1 in. thick, stout, solid, elastic, eccentric or lateral, unequal rooting, _covered with dense velvety down, very dark brown_. =Gills= adnate, 3 lines broad, close, anastomosing at the base, yellowish, interspaces venose.

=Spores= subhyaline 4–6×3–4µ _K._ Elliptical, pale-yellowish, 5×2.5–3µ _Massee_. Elliptical 5–6×4µ _Peck_.

Found near Philadelphia, gregarious in old woods. September. In New Jersey in pine woods on stumps and on the ground, probably growing from roots. _McIlvaine._

Grows singly or cespitose, sometimes in large tufts, when the pileus is frequently irregular from compression. In wet weather the pileus is moist and sometimes obscurely mottled with dark spots. Occasionally it has an unpleasant dirt-like odor. _Peck._

Cordier considers this species suspicious and Paulet inutile on account of its bad taste.

The flesh differs from most Paxilli in being very fine grained and cooked is of the consistency of a marshmallow. The taste is marked but pleasant.

_Series IV._ =PORPHYRO´SPORÆ= (Pratelli). _Gr_—purple.

Spores typically black-purple or brownish-purple, more rarely dusky brown. (It is to be observed that the spores vary in color according to the color of the ground on which they are deposited.) There are sterile forms with the gills persistently white (A. obturatus, A. udus). Those species are more deceptive in which the gills continue for a long time white, and even begin to decay before they are discolored by the spores; these may be easily mistaken for Leucospori. _Fries._

Pratelli is the name given by the early authors to this series, based upon the spore color; Porphyrosporæ is the name now used. The species within the group are closely allied to those having black spores without a tinge of purple or violet (Melanosporæ), but in none of the species do the gills deliquesce as in Coprinus, neither are there resupinate or lateral stemmed species.

There is a present tendency to do away with this series and include all dark-spored species in the Melanosporæ. Professor Atkinson and Bertha Stoneman, in their “Provisional Key to the Genera of Hymenomycetes,” omit the series and give “Melanosporæ, Gill and Butz (Pratellæ and Coprinariæ in broadest sense). Spores dark brown, purplish-brown or black.”

PORPHYROSPORAE.

_Hymenophore distinct from fleshy stem._

PILOSACE. AGARICUS. (PSALLIOTA.) CHITONIA.

_Hymenophore confluent and homogeneous with fleshy stem._

STROPHARIA. HYPHOLOMA.

_Hymenophore confluent with, but heterogeneous from cartilaginous stem._

PSILOCYBE. PSATHYRA. DECONICA.

PLATE XCII.

CHART OF GENERA IN PURPLE-SPORED SERIES—PORPHYROSPORAE, PAGE 330.
]

(Plate XCIII.)

CHITONIA RUBRICEPS.
Two-thirds natural size.
]

It is frequently difficult to determine by the spore-color of this series even to which series a specimen belongs. Many of our best edibles belong in this series. I know of none noxious.

=CHITON´IA= Fr.

Universal veil distinct from the pileus, at maturity forming a distinct volva round the base of the ringless central stem. =Gills= free from the stem. =Spores= brownish-purple.

Analogous in structure with Volvaria and Amanitopsis. An exotic genus imported into this country.

No American species reported.

FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.

1. AGARICUS VARIABILIS, 346 4. AGARICUS CAMPESTER, 332

2. AGARICUS SILVICOLA, 343 5. AGARICUS CAMPESTER 332
(SECTION),

3. AGARICUS PLACOMYCES, 345

AGAR´ICUS.

_Agaricon_, a Greek name for fungi, said to be derived from the name of
a town, Agara.

=Pileus= fleshy, flesh of the stem different from that of the pileus, furnished with a distinct ring. =Gills= at first enclosed by the veil, free, rounded behind, at first white or whitish, in some species this stage lasting but a short time, then pink or reddish, at length dark purplish-brown from the spores. =Spores= brown, brownish or reddish-purple.

On the ground, generally in pastures, meadows or manured ground, a few species occur in woods.

Analogous with Lepiota of the white-spored series. Stropharia also bears a ring and has similar colored spores, but is separated by the flesh of stem and pileus being continuous and the gills being more or less adnate.

Formerly in Agaricus as sub-genus Psalliota (_psallion_, _psalion_, in poetry, a ring). When Psalliota was raised to generic rank it was given the name of the great genus Agaricus as a mark of distinction on account of its including the most widely known and useful mushroom of the world—Agaricus campester. The name Psalliota is not in modern use.

Old Agaricus included many subgenera and consequently many more species. Now it contains but few. All of them are highly flavored and of marked excellence. Before the subgenera under Agaricus were promoted to full generic standing it was customary to state the name of a species thus: Agaricus (Psalliota) campester. Agaricus (Stropharia) semi-orbicularis. This was lengthy and clumsy. In the older books this form prevails. Often, however, the subgenus is omitted before the name, which compels the student to look up the subgenus to which the species belongs. The older books are therefore puzzling to modern students, who find there simply the name Agaricus to guide them. The present genus of a known species in old Agaricus can be easily found by looking in the index for its specific name. The name of the genus follows it in parentheses.

All of the genus can be cooked in any desired way.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.

* Gills at first or very soon pink or rosy.

** Gills at first brownish or gray.

*** Gills at first white or whitish.

* _Gills at first or very soon pink or rosy._

=A. campes´ter= Linn.—_campus_, a field. (Plate XCI, fig. 4 (3 figs.) fig. 5, section, p. 332). =Pileus= at first hemispherical or convex, then expanded with decurved margin or nearly plane, smooth, silky floccose or hairy squamulose, the margin extending beyond the lamellæ, the flesh rather thick, firm, white. =Lamellæ= free, close, ventricose, _at first delicate pink or flesh color_, then blackish-brown, _subdeliquescent_. =Stem= equal or slightly thickened toward the base, _stuffed_, white or whitish, nearly or quite smooth. =Ring= at or near the middle, more or less lacerated, sometimes evanescent. =Spores= elliptical, 6–8×4–5µ.

=Plant= 2–4 in. high. =Pileus= 1.5–4 in. or more broad. =Stem= 4–8 lines thick. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= spheroid-ellipsoid, 9×6µ _K._; 6×8µ _W.G.S._

The varieties of A. campester are numerous. All of them are edible and vary but slightly in their excellence.

Var. _al´bus_ Berk.—_albus_, white. A very common wild form. =Cap= 2–4 in. across, smooth or slightly fibrillose. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, ⅓-⅔ in. thick, white or whitish. Spring to autumn, in rich grassy places. Sometimes very large. It is cultivated.

Var. _gri´seus_ Pk.—_griseus_, gray. =Cap= grayish, silky, shining. =Ring= vanishing. Reported from Virginia.

Var. _prati´cola_ Vitt.—_pratum_, a meadow; _colo_, to inhabit. Meadow variety. =Cap= covered with reddish scales. =Flesh= pinkish. Parade ground, Mt. Gretna, Pa.

Var. _umbri´nus_ Vitt.—_umber_, dark brown. =Cap= brown, smooth. =Stem= short, minutely scaly.

“Var. _rufes´cens_ Berk.—_rufescens_, becoming red. =Pileus= reddish, minutely scaly. =Gills= at first white. =Stem= elongated. =Flesh= turning bright red when cut or bruised. This departs so decidedly from the ordinary characters of the type, especially in the white color of the young gills, that it seems to merit separation as a distinct species.” _Peck_, 36th Rep.

Var. _villa´ticus_ Brond.—belonging to a villa. =Cap= scaly. =Stem= scaly.

Var. _horten´sis_ Cke.—growing in gardens. =Cap= brownish or yellowish-brown, covered with fibrils or minute hairs. This is a cultivated species.

“Var. _Bu´channi_. =Cap= white, smooth, depressed in center, the margin naked. =Stem= stout. =Ring= thin, lacerated. A rare variety, sometimes occurring in mushroom beds.

“Var. _elonga´tus_—elongated. Long-stemmed variety. =Pileus= small, smooth, convex, the margin adorned with the adherent remains of the lacerated veil. =Stem= long, slender, slightly thickened toward the base. =Ring= slight or evanescent. This is also a variety of mushroom beds.

“Var. _vapora´rius_. Green-house variety (A. vaporarius Vitt.) =Pileus= brownish, coated with long hairs or fibrils. =Stem= hairy-fibrillose, becoming transversely scaly. Conservatories, cellars, etc. Not differing greatly from Var. hortensis.” _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

The A. campester is known the world over as the common mushroom. It is cosmopolitan, appearing in pastures and rich places from spring and until long after severe frosts. It is the sweet morsel of gourmets. Indirectly it has done more damage than the assembled viciousness of all other toadstools. It is by mistaking the young button forms of the deadly Amanita for the button forms of the common mushroom that most cases of fatal toadstool poisoning are brought about. It is, also, usually the persons who think they know the mushroom, and can not be deceived, that get poisoned. If two rules are observed danger can be avoided. (1) Never eat a fungus gathered in the woods believing it to be the mushroom. The typical A. campester does not grow in the woods; species of Agaricus somewhat resembling it do. (2) Look at the gills; those of the mushroom are at first a light-pink which rapidly, as the plant matures, darken to a dark-brown, purplish-brown, or purplish-black. This is due to the ripening of the spores. Those of the Amanita are constantly white.

Pages could be written upon the mushroom and its culture, and recipes for the cooking of it would fill a volume. One important thing is omitted from them all—it is culinary heresy to peel a mushroom. Much of the flavor lies in the skin, as it does in that of apples, apricots, peaches, grapes, cherries and other fruits. The mushroom should be wiped with a coarse flannel or towel until the skin is clean. See chapter on cooking, etc.

Lafayette B. Mendel, in American Journal of Physiology, March, 1898, gives the following analysis of A. campester:

Two varieties of the common mushroom were collected in New Haven. Fifteen specimens of one variety weighed 1½ ounce, an average weight of 43 grains each. The analysis gave:

_a._ _b._

Water 87.88% 92.20%

Total solids 12.12 7.80

Total nitrogen in dry 4.42 4.92
substance

Ash in dry substance 11.66 17.18

=A. comp´tulus= Fr.—_comptus_, gaily adorned. =Pileus= 1–1½ in. broad, _yellowish-white_, slightly fleshy, convex then plane, obtuse, _adpressedly fibrilloso-silky_, becoming even. =Flesh= thin, soft, of the same color as the pileus. =Stem= 2 in. long, 2–3 lines thick, _hollow_, stuffed with floccules when young, _somewhat attenuated_, even, smooth, white, becoming somewhat light yellow. =Ring= medial, torn, _fugacious_, of the same color. =Gills= rounded-free behind, crowded, soft, broader in front, _flesh-color_ then _rose_, not dingy-flesh-color except when old.

Closely allied to A. campestris, but constantly distinct in its more beautifully colored gills. _Fries._

Cultivated ground. Menands. August. _Peck_, Rep. 41.

Closely allied to A. campestris, from which it may be separated by its smaller size, the yellowish hue of the dry plant and by the smaller spores. _Peck_, 41st Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Mt. Gretna, Pa. Parade ground, with A. campester; Haddonfield, N.J. August to frost. _McIlvaine._

A. comptulus appears frequently in the latitude of Philadelphia. It is a neat species, but not substantial in flesh. Here it usually grows close to the ground. The ring is very evanescent.

Its edible qualities are those of A. campester.

=A. silvat´icus= Schaeff.—belonging to woods. =Pileus= thin, at first convex or bell-shaped, then expanded, _gibbous or subumbonate_, fibrillose or variegated with a few thin tawny brownish or reddish-brown _spot-like adpressed scales_, whitish, brownish or smoky-gray, the disk sometimes tinged with red or reddish-brown, the flesh white or faintly reddish. =Lamellæ= thin, close, free, narrowed toward each end, reddish, then blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, _equal or slightly tapering upward_, hollow, whitish. =Spores= elliptical, 5–6.5×4–5µ.

=Plant= 3–5 in. high. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 4–6 lines thick.

Woods. Summer and autumn. Not common. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Massachusetts, _Farlow_; Minnesota, _Johnson_; California—edible, _H. and M._

West Virginia, 1881–1885, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. August to frost. In pine and mixed woods. _McIlvaine._

Edible, _Curtis_. Edible, _Peck_.

In taste and smell A. silvaticus resembles A. silvicola, but is stronger. It is a frequent but not common species in the localities where I have found it. Quantities of it have not occurred, but myself and friends have eaten it for years, knowing no distinction in effect between it and allied species. Its strong taste requires that it be well cooked. It does not lose its high flavor, which may be objectionable to some. I prefer using its juices as a flavoring.

=A. diminuti´vus= Pk.—diminutive. =Pileus= thin, fragile, at first convex, then plane or centrally depressed, sometimes slightly umbonate, whitish or yellowish, faintly spotted with small thin silky appressed brownish scales, the disk brownish or reddish-brown. =Lamellæ= close, thin, free, ventricose, brownish-pink becoming brown, blackish-brown or black. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, smooth, pallid. =Annulus= thin, persistent, white. =Spores= elliptical 5×4µ.

=Plant= 1.5–2 in. high. =Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 lines thick.

Woods. Croghan and Sandlake, N.Y. August. Autumn.

This is a small but symmetrical and beautiful Agaric. It is perhaps too closely related to the preceding species (A. silvaticus), of which it may possibly prove to be a mere variety or dwarf form. Its pileus is quite thin and fragile. Usually the darker or reddish hue of the disk gradually loses itself in the paler color of the margin, but sometimes the whole surface is tinged with red. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Chester county; West Philadelphia, Pa., September; Mt. Gretna, Eagle’s Mere, Pa., August. _McIlvaine._

I have found A. diminutivus so intimately associated with A. silvaticus that its being a dwarf form of the latter seemed more than probable. Its edible qualities are the same.

=A. Rod´mani= Pk. =Pileus= rather thick, firm, at first convex, then nearly or quite plane, with decurved margin, smooth or rarely slightly cracked into scales on the disk, white or whitish, becoming yellowish or subochraceous on the disk, the flesh white, unchangeable. =Lamellæ= close, _narrow_, rounded behind, free, reaching nearly or quite to the stem, _at first whitish then pink or reddish-pink_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= short, subequal, solid, whitish, smooth below the ring, often scurfy or slightly mealy-squamulose above; ring variable, thick or thin, entire or lacerated, at or below the middle of the stem. =Spores= broadly elliptical or subglobose, generally uninucleate, 5–6×4–5µ.

=Plant= 2–3 in. high. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 6–10 lines thick. Grassy ground and paved gutters. Astoria, L.I. _Rev. W. Rodman_. Washington Park, Albany. May to July.

This species is intermediate between A. campestris and A. arvensis, from both of which it may be distinguished by its narrow gills, solid stem and smaller, almost globose, spores. In size, shape of the pileus and general appearance it most resembles A. campestris, but in the whitish primary color of the gills and in the yellowish tints which the pileus often assumes, it approaches nearer to A. arvensis. * * * _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

I can now add my own testimony to that of Mr. Rodman as to its edibility. Its flesh is firm but crisp, not tough, and its flavor, though not equal to that of the common mushroom, is nevertheless agreeable, and its use as food is perfectly safe. _Peck_, Rep. 49.

This species has grown freely for several years at Hull and Cohasset, Mass. It is usually found about June 1st, and is not seen again until early autumn. It is the handsomest mushroom I have seen, and its edible qualities are on a par with its appearance. _Macadam._

=A. hæmorrhoida´rius= Shulzer. _Gr_—discharging blood. =Pileus= 4 in. across, reddish-brown, fleshy, ovate then expanded, _covered with broad adpressed scales_, margin at first bent inward. =Flesh= when broken immediately blood-red. =Stem= 4 in. high, 1 in. thick, soon hollow, fibrillose, the solid base somewhat bulbous. =Ring= superior, large. =Gills= free, approximate, crowded, rosy-flesh-color, at length purple-umber.

Very striking, 3–4 in. high. The pileus and the white stem become spotted blood-red when touched. The stem when young is adpressedly squamulose below, when full grown mealy, becoming smooth. _Fries._

=Spores= purple-brown, 7–8×5µ Massee; brown, elliptical, 5–6×4µ _Peck_.

A rare or overlooked plant in United States, first recorded by Professor Peck, who found it but once, growing under a hemlock tree. Rep. 45.

Nebraska, _Clements_; West Virginia; Eagle’s Mere and Mt. Gretna, Pa. In hemlock and mixed woods. Autumn. _McIlvaine._

=Cap= 2–4 in. across. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, up to ¾ in. thick.

Every part of the plant turns red and has a congested appearance when bruised. The flesh is white but immediately becomes red when broken.

It is a frequent but not common species, growing singly, or in small clusters.

In flavor and substance it is equal to any mushroom.

=A. mari´timus= Pk. =Pileus= very fleshy, firm, at first subglobose, then broadly convex or nearly plane, glabrous, sometimes slightly squamose with appressed spot-like scales, white becoming dingy or grayish-brown when old. =Flesh= whitish, quickly reddening when cut, taste agreeable, odor distinct, suggestive of the odors of the seashore. =Lamellæ= narrow, close, free, pinkish becoming purplish-brown with age, the edge white. =Stem= short, stout, firm, solid, equal, sometimes bulbous, white, the annulus delicate, slight and easily obliterated. =Spores= broadly elliptic, purplish-brown, 7–8µ long, 5–6µ broad.

=Pileus= 2–8 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, .6 in. thick.

Sandy soil near salt water, Lynn, Mahant and Marblehead, Mass. June to December. _R.F. Dearborn._

This is a very interesting and an excellent mushroom. Dr. Dearborn writes that he has used it on the table for fourteen years and that it is the only mushroom that he has ever eaten in which the stem is as good as the cap. He considers it the most hearty and satisfying of all the numerous species that he has ever eaten. Both its taste and odor is suggestive of the sea. The latter is quite strong, and perceptible by one riding along the road by whose side the mushrooms are growing. They sometimes grow in semicircles and attain a larger size in warm weather than in the colder weather of autumn. They are most abundant in August. The flesh, when cut or broken, quickly assumes a pink or reddish hue on the freshly-exposed surface. This is a very distinctive character and with the maritime habitat makes the species easy to recognize. Another species, Agaricus hæmorrhoidarius Kalchb. exhibits a similar change of color in its wounded flesh, but is of very rare occurrence with us, does not, so far as ascertained, grow near the sea, has a darker cap and a long hollow stem. The stem in the maritime mushroom is short and solid. Its collar is very slight and easily destroyed. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, No. 2, F. 1899.

=A. Califor´nicus= Pk.—=Pileus= at first subconical, becoming convex, minutely silky or fibrillose, whitish, tinged with purple or brownish-purple on the disk. =Flesh= whitish. =Gills= close, free, pink becoming purplish, then blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, solid or stuffed, equal or tapering upward, distinctly and rather abruptly narrowed above the entire externally silky ring, pallid or brownish. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 5–6×4–5µ.

=Pileus= 1–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 2–4 lines thick.

Under oak trees. Pasadena. January. _McClatchie._

This fungus is similar in size, shape and habitat to A. hemorrhoidarius, but it is unlike that species in color, in the adornment of the pileus and in its color not changing where bruised or broken. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 22–5 My. 95.

=A. Elven´sis= B. and Br.—Name from river Elwy, Wales, where first found. Tufted. =Pileus= 4–6 in. or more across, subglobose then hemispherical, fibrillose, broken up into large persistent brown scales, areolate in the center, margin very obtuse, thick, covered with pyramidal warts. =Stem= at first nearly equal, at length swollen in the center, and attenuated at the base, 4–6 in. high, 2 in. thick in the center, fibrillose and areolate below, nearly smooth within the pileus, solid, stuffed with delicate threads. =Ring= thick, very large, deflexed, broken here and there, warted in areas beneath. =Gills= rather crowded, ¼ in. broad, free, of a brownish flesh-color. =Spores= elliptic oblong, 8×4µ.

Under oak trees, etc. Edible, delicious eating. Flesh of pileus ¾ in. thick, red when cut. _Massee._

California, _H. and M._

Edible. _Cooke_, 1891.

=A. f[oe]dera´tus= Berk. and Mont.—confederated. =Pileus= fleshy, thin, at first ovoid then bell-shaped, finally convex, somewhat umbilicate with the center slightly depressed, margin hanging down (when dry involute), fragments of the veil hanging from the margin, tawny, scaly with minute, scattered, white, persistent granules, 2–3 in. broad, ¾-1½ in. high.

=Stem= stout, hollow, stuffed with fibers, gradually increasing in size to the base; below the ring rough from the ruptured bark, 4 in. high. =Ring= superior, broad, reflexed, torn, persistent. =Gills= linear, medium broad, at first pinkish-lilac, when adult brownish, edge white, pulverulent, adnate, gradually attenuated toward the margin. =Spores= dingy-brown, ovoid oblong, 10µ long. Somewhat cespitose. Elegant.

On the ground in pastures. July. Columbus, Ohio. _Sullivant_, Mont. Syll., p. 121.

Edibility not reported. I have not seen this species.

=A. xylo´genus= Mont. _Gr_—produced on wood. =Pileus= membranaceous, at first ovoid, then conical, bell-shaped, umbonate, finally convexo-plane, smooth, pale-yellow, center brownish, margin split, striate when dry, 1½-2½ in. broad, 1¼ in. high. =Stem= cartilaginous, white, 3 in. high, ¼ in. thick, gradually thickened toward the base, hollow. =Ring= of medium size, inferior, erect or reflexed. =Gills= free, remote, lance-shaped, rounded behind, attenuated toward the margin, pink as in A. campester. =Spores= spherical, colorless, hyaline, 5–7.5µ.

On dead wood. August. Columbus, Ohio. _Sullivant._ Mont. Syll., p. 122.

Edibility not reported. I have not seen this species.

** _Gills at first brownish or gray._

=A. argen´teus= Brændle—of silver. =Pileus= thin, convex becoming nearly plane, slightly silky or glabrous, pale grayish white or grayish brown, shining with a silvery luster when dry, the margin sometimes striate, at first incurved, often revolute when old. =Flesh= whitish, becoming blackish where cut. =Lamellæ= close, free, at first brownish becoming blackish brown or black with age. =Stem= short, glabrous, solid, often narrowed toward the base, the annulus slight, evanescent. =Spores= broadly elliptic, 7–10µ long, 6µ broad.

=Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–1½ in. long, ¼-⅜ in. thick.

Lawns and grassy places in rich soil. Often associated with Stropharia bilamellata Pk. After rains from April to November. Washington, D.C. _F.J. Brændle._

This is a small mushroom, peculiar in having the young gills of a dark color and in the absence of any pink hues. The gills sometimes become moist and manifest a tendency to deliquesce. The drying specimens emit a strong but not unpleasant odor. Mr. Brændle says that their edible quality is excellent and that it is not impaired by drying. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899.

=A. praten´sis= Schaeff.—a meadow. =Pileus= 2–3½ in. across, ovoid then expanded, becoming smooth or sometimes broken up into scales more or less concentrically arranged, whitish, then grayish. =Flesh= thick in the center, thin toward the margin, white. =Gills= free, rounded behind, about ¼ in. broad, grayish, then brown. =Stem= about 2 in. long, ½-⅔ in. thick, base thickened, smooth, whitish. =Ring= median, simple, usually deciduous. =Stem= becoming more or less hollow. =Spores= elliptical, apiculate, 6×3.5µ.

On pastures and woods. Distinguished by the grayish gills becoming brown without any intermediate pink or fleshy tinge, and in being rounded behind, the median deciduous ring, and the more or less hollow stem. _Massee._

California. Common. Edible. _H. and M._ Not elsewhere reported.

=A. achi´menes= B. and C. _Gr_—an amber-colored plant. =Pileus= 4–6 in. broad, pallid or yellowish-white, smooth like kid leather, but studded with warty excrescences especially toward the center. =Stem= 4–6 in. high, 3–4 lines thick, white, stuffed with floccose fibers, furnished toward the apex with a large deflexed ring. =Gills= broad, crowded at first, whitish then ash-colored and dingy-brown, free. =Spores= brownish, oval or ovate.

A splendid species allied to A. fabaceus, but differing in its paler spores, warty cap, ample ring, etc.

On the earth. Solitary. June. _S.C. Ravenel._ Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, 1849.

I have not seen this species.

=A. faba´ceus= Berk.—relating to beans. =Pileus= 4–5 in. across, thin, almost submembranaceous, umbonate, conical when young, becoming nearly plane as it expands, white, viscid when moist; epidermis smooth, tough, feeling like fine kid leather, turning yellow when bruised. =Stem= 3–4 in. high, ⅓ in. thick, white, smooth, with the exception of a few fibrilla, equal except at the base. =Veil= large, at first covering the gills and connecting the margin with the stem, white, externally floccose. =Gills= crowded, very thin, not ventricose, free, brown when young, then darker brown, at length almost black like the dark part of a bean flower. A fine species allied to A. arvensis. When young it has a peculiar but not unpleasant smell. On the ground, amongst dead leaves in open woods. Waynesville, September 10, 1844. Hooker’s London Jour. of Botany, 1847.

Described by Berkeley from specimens collected by Thomas G. Lea, in the vicinity of Cincinnati.

On ground among old leaves in woods. Common. =Pileus= 3–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. high. =Spores= brown, nucleate on one side, small, 5.5µ long. _Morgan._

This is among the most delicious species for the table. Fresh specimens have a distinct taste and odor of peach kernels or bitter almonds which is nearly lost in cooking. Am. Jour. Science and Arts, 1850. _Curtis._

Ohio, _Lea_, _Morgan_; North Carolina, _Curtis_; South Carolina, _Ravenel_; Massachusetts, _Sprague_.

*** _Gills at first whitish._

=A. arven´sis= Schaeff.—belonging to cultivated ground. HORSE MUSHROOM, PLOWED-LAND MUSHROOM. (A. Georgii Sow., A. pratensis Scop., A. edulis Krombh., A. exquisitus Vitt.) =Pileus= at first convex or conical, bell-shaped then expanded, at first more or less floccose or mealy, then smooth white or yellowish. =Flesh= white. =Gills= close, free, generally broader toward stem, _at first whitish, then pinkish_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= equal or slightly thickened toward the base, smooth, _hollow or stuffed_ with a floccose pith; ring rather large, thick, the lower or exterior surface often cracked in a radiate manner.

=Plant= 2–5 in. high. =Pileus= 3–5 in. or more broad. =Stem= 4–10 lines thick.

Cultivated fields and pastures. Summer and autumn.

This species is so closely related to the common mushroom that it is regarded by some authors as a mere variety of it. Even the renowned Persoon is said to have written concerning it: “It appears to be only a variety of A. campestris.” Fries also says that it is commonly not distinguished from A. campestris, but that it is diverse in some respects; its white flesh being unchangeable, its gills never deliquescing, remaining a long time pale and not becoming dark-red in middle age. Berkeley says of it: “A coarse but wholesome species, often turning yellow when bruised.” _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

=Spores= spheroid-elliptical, 9×6µ _K._; 11×6µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, 8–10×5–6.5µ _Peck_.

Indiana, _H.I. Miller_; Minnesota, _B.L. Taylor_; West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, _McIlvaine_.

Unless the numerical system of John Ph[oe]nix to express degrees of quality is adopted by a mycophagists' congress, and one species of fungus is chosen as the standard of excellence, the comparative excellence of species will never be settled. English epicures shun A. arvensis; the French prefer it. Berkeley says it is inferior to the common mushroom; Vittadini says it is very sapid and very nutritious. So opinion varies. Individual tastes must decide excellence. Comparison never will. Toadstools differ in substance, texture and taste as one meat or vegetable differs from another. Beef could not be chosen as the standard for meats, or cabbage as the standard for vegetables. Agaricus arvensis is good.

PAGE.
AGARICUS MAGNIFICUS. PECK, 342

A new species of Agaricus.

=A. magni´ficus= Pk.—magnificent. (Plate XCIV.) =Pileus= 5–15 cm. (2–6 in.) broad, fleshy, thick, convex, becoming nearly plane or centrally depressed, bare, often wavy and split on the margin, white or whitish, often brownish in the center. =Flesh= 1.5–2 cm. (½ in.) thick in the center, thin on the margin, white, unchangeable. =Gills= numerous, rather broad, close, free, ventricose, white becoming dark purplish brown with age, never pink. =Stem= 10–15 cm. long (4–6 in.), about 2.5 cm. thick (1 in.), firm, stuffed with cottony pith, bulbous or thickened at the base, fibrillose, striate, minutely furfuraceous (covered with scurf) toward the base, ringed, pallid or whitish, the ring thin, persistent, white. =Spores= small, elliptic, 5–6µ long, 3–4µ broad.

Gregarious or cespitose; thin woods, Mt. Gretna, Pa. August. _Charles McIlvaine._

A large fine species distinguished from its near allies by the absence of pink hues from the gills. Mr. McIlvaine remarks that it has an anise-like flavor and odor and that when young the whole fungus is tender and high flavored, but when full grown the caps only are edible. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899.

=A. silvic´ola= Vitt.—_silva_, a wood; _colo_, to inhabit. (Plate XCI, fig. 2, p. 332.) (A. arvensis, var. abruptus Pk.; now A. abruptus Pk.) =Pileus= convex or sub-bell-shaped, sometimes expanded or nearly plane, _smooth, shining_, white or yellowish. =Gills= close, thin, free, rounded behind, generally narrowed toward each end, _at first whitish, then pinkish_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= _long_, cylindrical, stuffed or hollow, white, _bulbous_; ring either thick or thin, entire or lacerated. =Spores= elliptical, 6–8×4–5µ.

=Plant= 4–6 in. high. =Pileus= 3–6 in. broad. =Stem= 4–8 lines thick.

Woods, copses and groves or along their borders. Summer and autumn. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Very good eating, though scarcely as highly flavored as the common mushroom. _Peck._

West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, June to frost. _McIlvaine._

A. silvicola, by many authors considered a variety of A. campester, is, seemingly, becoming common. Professor Peck in 46th Rep. has made the abrupt bulb and its usual double veil distinctive marks which ally it to A. arvensis. He therefore calls it var. abruptus. As this book goes to press Professor Peck writes me that he concludes var. abruptus to be a good and distinct species. It is therefore given as such. While familiar with it since 1881, I never found it in quantity until 1898, at Mt. Gretna, Pa. There, among the straw and rubbish of abandoned camps on wood margins, it grew in great quantity; sometimes singly, at others in crowded clusters. When growing singly it exhibits all the characteristics of its description; when clustered, the stems are not always bulbous. The caps are thin but fleshy, brittle and bear a disproportionate width to the stem—like a plate on a pipe stem. The caps when mature are usually tinged with yellow and are spread flat; the ring is large, often double, yellowish, often torn, fragments of it frequently hang from the cap margin; the bulb when perfect is small, abrupt, as if it had once been round but the stem pushed into it. It has a strong spicy mushroom odor and taste, and makes a high-flavored dish. It is delicious with meats. It is the very best mushroom for catsup. Mixed with Russulæ or Lactarii or other species lacking in mushroom flavor, it enriches the entire dish. The stems, excepting of the very young, are tough.

Larvæ do not infest A. silvicola. Its habit of growth shows it to be cultivatable. It has but one draw-back. Growing as it does in woods and in the presence of the poisonous Amanita, it is possible for the careless collector to confound the two. The Amanitæ have larger bulbs, cups at the base, and _white gills_; the A. silvicola has no volva, has whitish gills when very young only, they become pinkish, then a marked blackish-brown.

=A. creta´ceus= Fr.—_creta_, chalk. =Pileus= 3 in. and more broad, wholly _white_, fleshy, lens-shaped-globose when young, then convexo-flattened, obtuse, dry, _sometimes even_, sometimes rivulose chiefly round the margin from the cuticle _separating into squamules_. =Flesh= thick, white, unchangeable. =Stem= 3 in. long, 3–6 lines and more thick, _hollow, stuffed with a spider-web pith_, firm, attenuated upward, even, smooth, not spotted, white. =Gills= free, then remote, ventricose but _very much narrowed toward the stem_, crowded, _remaining long white_, becoming dingy-brown only when old. _Fries._

=Spores= 3×4µ _W.G.S._; 5–6×3.5µ _Massee_.

Under certain conditions the spores are white. _M.J.B._

In lawns and rich ground.

North Carolina, on earth and wood. Edible, _Curtis_; Minnesota, rare, _Johnson_; California, _H. and M._; Ohio, _Lloyd_; Kentucky, _Lloyd_, Rep. 4; New York, _Peck_, Rep. 22.

=A. subrufes´cens= Pk.—_sub_, under; _rufescens_, becoming red. =Pileus= at first deeply hemispherical, becoming convex or broadly expanded, silky fibrillose and minutely or obscurely scaly, whitish, grayish or dull reddish-brown, usually smooth and darker on the disk. =Flesh= white, unchangeable. =Lamellæ= at first white or whitish, then pinkish, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, often somewhat thickened or bulbous at the base, at first stuffed, then hollow, white; the annulus flocculose or floccose-scaly on the lower surface; mycelium whitish, forming slender branching root-like strings. =Spores= elliptical, 6–7µ _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Indiana, _H.I. Miller_, 1898; Haddonfield, N.J., _McIlvaine_.

June 2, 1896, I found several specimens of a fungus new to me, and sent them to Professor Peck for identification. He pronounced it a dwarf form of his species A. subrufescens. The cluster grew on a florist’s compost pile at Haddonfield, N.J. Its flesh has a flavor like that of almonds.

This species is now cultivated and has manifest advantages over the marketed species—it is easier to cultivate, very productive, produces in less time after planting the spawn, is free from attacks of insects, carries better and keeps longer.

Amateurs are likely to succeed in growing it, and to have goodly crops of mushrooms instead of disappointments.

=A. placo´myces= Pk. _Gr_—a flat cake. (Plate XCI, fig. 3, p. 332.) =Pileus= thin, at first convex, becoming flat with age, whitish, brown in the center and elsewhere adorned with minute brown scales. =Lamellæ= close, white, then pinkish, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= smooth, annulate, stuffed or hollow, bulbous, white or whitish, the bulb often stained with yellow. =Spores= elliptical, 5–6.5µ long.

=Cap= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, ¼ to nearly ½ in. thick.

It grows in the borders of hemlock woods or under hemlock trees from July to September. It has been eaten by Mr. C.L. Shear, who pronounces it very good. I have not found it in sufficient quantity to give it a trial. This mushroom is very closely related to the wood mushroom or silvan mushroom, Agaricus silvaticus, a species which is also recorded as edible, but which is apparently more rare in our state (New York) than even the flat-cap mushroom. This differs from the silvan mushroom in its paler color, in having the cap more minutely, persistently and regularly scaly, and in its being destitute of a prominent center. In the silvan mushroom the scales, when present, are few, and they disappear with age. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Mrs. E.C. Anthony, Gouverneur, N.Y., June, 1898, writes: “In great abundance on lawn, tumbling over one another in their haste to make their appearance. One of the largest, which did not have half a chance to display its proportions, would probably measure 7 in., perhaps more. When mature they crack across the top, showing the white flesh. The gills are pink, stem white, solid and bulbous. There is no perceptible odor when fresh.”

Indiana, _H.I. Miller_, edible, good.

Specimens sent to me by Mrs. Anthony, though not fresh, were eaten by me. They very much resembled the common mushroom, but probably, owing to their condition, were not so tender.

I have not found the species. The illustration is after a painting by Mrs. E.C. Anthony.

=A. varia´bilis= Pk.—variable. (Plate XCI, fig. 1, p. 332.) =Cap= 2–6 in. across, ovate, bell-shaped, irregularly convex and wavy, margin incurved but never striate, smooth, minutely fibrillose, with few remaining floccose scales; mature plant pure white, when young distinctly tinged with lilac and here and there with yellow when mature, slightly, broadly umbonate and depressed around umbo, cracks along gills. =Flesh= thick in center, very thin, even membranaceous toward margin, spongy, unchangeable. =Gills= free, close, thin, flaccid, ventricose, narrow next stem, but few short, pure-white when young, then dark-umber without purple tinge. =Stem= equal, tubed, white, silky, smooth above ring, rippled and minutely furfuraceous (scurfy) below, flocculose-furfuraceous when young, densely hairy at base, and occasionally slightly expanding, but not bulbous, densely cespitose with a coarse, white, root-like mycelium. =Veil= heavy at first, mottled with yellow scales beneath; as cap expands veil becomes thin, like tissue paper, ruptures at both stem and margin leaving torn ring on stem and appendiculate fragments on edge of cap.

=Spores= shed in great quantity, rich dark umber-brown without shade of purple.

=Taste= strong like almond. =Smell= slightly of musk, like the running mycelium of A. campester.

Found at Mt. Gretna, Pa. _Charles McIlvaine._

I have never found worms in this species. It is very prolific and its habitat shows that it can be cultivated. Its freedom from worms and lasting carrying quality will make it commercially valuable.

It grew in an old roofless stable from September until after several frosts, in enormous quantity, 25 or 30 pounds in a patch. It differs from A. subrufescens in not having a shade of red about it, in its very distinct light-lilac cap when full grown, and in its snow-white youth. The young gills are pure white as are the caps. The stems sometimes taper upward, but they are usually remarkably equal.

It is delicate when cooked and of excellent flavor.

=A. tabula´ris= Pk.—relating to boards. =Pileus= 5–10 cm. broad, very thick, fleshy, firm, convex, deeply cracked in areas, whitish, flesh whitish, tinged with yellow, the areas pyramidal, truncate, the sides horizontally striate, their apices sometimes tomentose. =Lamellæ= narrow, close, free, blackish-brown when mature. =Stem= short, thick, solid. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 7.5–9µ long, 6–7.5µ broad, generally containing a single large nucleus.

In clay soil by roadsides. Craig, Colorado. August. _E. Bethel._

This species is remarkable for the peculiar upper surface of the pileus which is broken into pyramidal areas. The sides of these are marked by parallel lines in such a way that they appear as if formed by small tablets placed one upon another, each successive tablet being a little smaller than the one immediately preceding it. Only dried and broken specimens have been seen by me and the notes of the collector do not give the color of the young lamellæ. There is a trace of a thick ring on the broken stem of one specimen. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 25, No. 6, 1898.

Not elsewhere reported. Edible qualities not given.

=PILOSACE= Fr.

(Plate XCV.)

Hymenium differentiated from the stem. =Gills= free from the stem; general and partial veil both absent, hence there is no ring on the central stem. =Spores= purple-brown.

A peculiar genus, with the habit of Agaricus, but without a trace of a ring. _Massee._

P. eximius Pk., 24th Rep. N.Y. State Bot., is the only species thus far reported in America. Edible qualities unknown.

STROPHA´RIA.

_Gr_—a sword-belt. (Referring to the ring.)

=Flesh= of stem and pileus _continuous_. =Veil= present, when ruptured forming a distinct ring on the stem. =Gills= more or less _adnate_.

On the ground or epiphytal.

Separated from all the genera of the purple-spored series but Agaricus by the presence of a distinct ring, and from that by the continuity of flesh in stem and pileus, and by the gills not being free. =Pileus= somewhat fleshy, sometimes viscid.

The species belonging to this genus are rather small, and from their habitats are frequently passed or overlooked. Yet many of them are common and plentiful. Those which have been tested are excellent and worth seeking in their season. The entire genus has been under a cloud. Writers upon it assert some of its members to be dangerously poisonous. So far as carefully tested by the writer no doubtful one has been encountered, and one—semiglobata—has been eaten by himself and friends since 1881, notwithstanding its dangerous reputation.

The division between this genus and Agaricus is not always sharply defined. S. æruginosa, S. semiglobata and S. stercoraria were formerly placed in Psalliota, now Agaricus.

ANALYSIS OF TRIBES.