Sub-Class BASIDIOMYCETES

CohortHYMENOMYCETES.Gr.—a membrane, a fruit-bearing surface;Gr.—a mushroom. (So called from the hymenium or fruit-bearing surface.)

Fungi composed of membranes, fleshy, woody or gelatinous, growing on wood or on the ground. The hymenium or spore-bearing surface exposed at an early stage. The spores are borne on basidia, spread over the surface. The common mushroom is typical of the family. All the members resemble it, more or less, in organization and reproductive organs. These latter, in the mushroom, are spread over lamellæ or gills. The spores, after ripening and dissemination, germinate and produce a mycelium or thread-like vine, which in turn develops the spore-producing part of the plant. Hymenomycetes is divided into the following six Families:—

a.HYMENIUM FIGURATE.

b.HYMENIUM EVEN.

In the Agaricaceæ the hymenium is spread over lamellæ or gills which radiate from a center or stem. The gills are composed of a double membrane, and are simple or branched.

The parts of an Agaric may all be present as in Amanitæ, or severally absent in other genera. When the young fungus is entirely enclosed in a wrapper or case, this case is called theuniversal veil. When this veil is ruptured by the growth of the stem, that part which remainsattached to the base is called thevolva. The membrane reaching from the stem to the margin of the cap is thepartial veil; when it ruptures by the expansion of the cap and all or a portion adheres to and about the stem it forms theannulus or ring. In some species one or both veils may be present, or one or both may be absent.

The stem iscentralwhen supporting the cap at its center;excentricwhen at one side of the center;lateralwhen it supports the cap from the side. If the stem is absent, the cap is said to besessile; if the cap is horizontal and supported by a broad base it isdimidiate; if attached to its place of growth by its back it isresupinate.

Genera are largely distinguished by the manner in which the gills are attached to the stem. These distinguishing attachments are shown in the plates illustrating genera and in PlateIV. Gill-shapes.

For convenience Agaricaceæ is divided by the color of the spores into five series: white, pink, brown, purple, black. The last two, owing to the similarity of hue, are by some writers (preferably) included in the black-spored series. Spore color is a valuable assistant in determining species.

Spores white, rarely dingy or inclining to reddish. In the genus Russula the spores of some species are white, in some cream-color, and in several pale ochraceous. Variations from pure white are found in the spores of Tricholoma personatum and a few other species. Gill-color is not a guide to spore-color. Purple, yellow, brown, pinkish gills may produce white spores.

Plate I.

Plate II.

(A name given to some esculent fungi by Galen, perhaps fromMount Amanus.)

(A name given to some esculent fungi by Galen, perhaps from

Mount Amanus.)

Universal veil (volva), which is at first continuous (completely enveloping the young plant), distinct from the skin of the cap. Hymenophore or cap, the part which bears the spore-bearing surface, distinct and easily separable from the stem, which leaves a socket in the flesh when it is removed.All growing upon the ground.Fries.

(Plate VII.)Section of Amanita Phalloides.

(Plate VII.)

Section of Amanita Phalloides.

Pileussomewhat fleshy, convex then expanded.Gillsfree. Universal veil at first enclosing the entire plant, which as it grows burststhrough, generally carrying the upper part on the pileus, where it appears as patches or scales, the remainder enclosing the stem at the base as a volva, either in a cup-like form, closely adherent or friable and evanescent. The partial veil in youth extends from the stem to the margin of the pileus, enclosing the gills; when ruptured it depends from the stem as a ring.Stemfurnished with a ring, and different in substance from that of the pileus.Sporeswhite.

On the ground.

The nearest allied genus, Amanitopsis, is separated by the absence of a ring, and Lepiota by its lack of a volva; Volvaria, Acetabularia and Chitonia, possessing volvas, are distinguished by the color of their spores.

Amanitæ are the most beautiful and conspicuous of fungi. While there are comparatively few species of them, the individual members are plentiful in appearing from spring until the coming of frost. They are solitary or gregarious in growth. Occasionally two or three are found together. They frequent woods, groves, copse, margins of woods and land recently cleared of trees. They are seldom found in open fields. A careful study of all their botanic points should be the first duty of the student of fungi. Familiarity with every characteristic of the Amanitæ will insure against fatal toadstool poisoning, for it is the well-grounded belief of those who have made thorough investigation that, with the exception of Helvella esculenta, now Gyromitra esculenta, the Amanitæ, alone, contain deadly poisons.

No Amanita, or piece of one, should be eaten before its identity is fully established and its qualities ascertained by referring to the descriptions herein given or to the opinion of an expert.

They are the aristocrats of fungi. Their noble bearing, their beauty, their power for good or evil, and above all their perfect structure, have placed them first in their realm; and they proudly bear the three badgesof their clan and rank—the volva or sheath from which they spring, the kid-like apron encircling their waists, and patch-marks of their high birth upon their caps. In their youth, when in or just appearing above the ground, they are completely invested with a membrane or universal veil, which is distinct and free from the skin of the cap. As the plant grows the membrane stretches and finally bursts. It sometimes ruptures in one place only and remains about the base of the stem as the volva. When such a rupture occurs the caps are smooth. In most species portions of the volva remain upon the cap as scruff or warts—pointed or rough—or as feathery adornment; any or all of which may in part or whole vanish with age or be washed away by rain.

Extending from the stem to the margin of the cap, and covering the gills, is the partialveil—a membranaceous, white texture of varying thickness. As the cap expands this veil tears from it. Portions frequently remain pendant from the edges, the rest contracts to the stem as a ring, or droops from it as a surrounding ruffle, or, if of slight consistency, may be fugacious and disappear, but marks, remains, or the veil itself will always be traceable upon the stem.

The Amanitæ are of all colors, from the brilliant orange of the A. Cæsarea, the rich scarlet or crimson of the A. muscaria, to the pure white of the A. phalloides in its white form.

Their stems are usually long, and taper from the base toward the top. In some forms the base is distinctly bulbous. Thevolvaat the base is attached to the stem at its lower extremity. It may be visible as a cup or ruptured pouch with spreading mouth, or it may be of such friable texture as to appear like mealy scales. Often, when the plant is pulled from the ground, the volva remains, but the marks of its attachment will appear and should be carefully looked for. Theirgillsare commonly white, are of equal length and radiate from near the stem, which they do not reach, to the circumference of the cap. They are white, unless tinged with age, excepting upon A. Cæsarea and A. Frostiana where they are yellow.[B]Their caps are umbrella-shaped, flat or convex. Their flesh is white, does not change color when bruised. They are scentless and almost tasteless when fresh, when old they have a slightly offensive odor and taste.

B.A. Frostiana is not always yellow gilled.

The family is not a large one, not over thirty members complete its circle. Every feature, every part of its several members, should be thoroughly known before the intimacy of eating. While at least nineof the family are not only edible but delicate and sapid, far better will it be to leave all alone than to make a mistake. A piece of a poisonous variety the size of a dime will often cause serious disorders if eaten. Many persons have died from eating very small quantities.

Because of its ovate or button-like form when young, it is frequently mistaken for the common field mushroom; even experienced mycophagists have been deceived by it. No other poison has so puzzled scientists. Other varieties of fungi may interfere with digestion, but to the Amanitæ all deaths from toadstool-eating are traceable. Its subtle alkaloid is absorbed by the system, and in most cases lies unsuspected for from six to twelve hours, then its iron grip holds to the death. For centuries it has defied all remedies. The problem has been partially solved. At Shenandoah, Pa., August 31, 1885, a family of five were poisoned by toadstools; two died, three lived. Noting the sad account in the newspapers, I at once wrote to Shenandoah for specimens of the fungi eaten and a description of the treatment. I promptly received from Dr. J.E. Schadle (now Professor Schadle), the physician in charge of the cases, a box containing two harmless varieties and several fine specimens of the Amanita phalloides, all of which were gathered on the same spot and by the same person who gathered the toadstools doing the poisoning. They told the tale. A remarkably full and interesting account of the cases was sent to me by Dr. Schadle. After exhausting all other remedies, and after two of the five had died, he administered subcutaneously, by hypodermic injection, sulphate of atropine—a product of the deadly nightshade analagous to belladonna—1⁄180to1⁄60of a grain at a dose. It proved to be an antidote and saved the lives of the remaining three.

The action of atropine in arresting the deadly work of poisoning by amanitine had been foreshadowed by Schmidberg and Koppe, and dwelt upon in numerous published articles by Mr. Julius A. Palmer, to whom more than any other is due the branding of the murderous members of the Amanita family; but for the first time atropine was used upon the human system to ward their blows.

All of the species herein described are found in the United States. Of the twenty-seven, nine are edible, nine are either known to be deadly or are so closely allied to deadly species that it is unsafe to class them as other than poisonous until absolute proof is obtained of their harmlessness.The remaining nine I have not seen, neither is there any record of their qualities.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.

*Volva opening at the top or splitting all around, leaving a manifest, free border at the base of the stem. Pileus naked or with broad membranaceous patches.

**Volva splitting regularly all round the lower portion, persistent, more or less closely embracing the base of the bulbous stem. The upper portion being adnate to the pileus appears on it by expansion as scattered, thick warts.

***Volva friable, entirely broken up into wart-like scales, therefore not persistent at the base of the stem, which is at first globose-bulbous, becoming less so as it lengthens. Pileus bearing mealy patches, soon disappearing or with small, hard, pointed warts.

****Volva rudimentary, flocculose, wholly disappearing.

*Volva bursting at top, etc.

A. viro´saFr.—virus, poison.

Shining white.Pileus3–4 in. broad, fleshy,at first conical and acute, afterwards bell-shaped, then expanded, naked, viscous in wet weather, shining when dry,marginalways even, but most frequentlyunequal, turned backward and inflexed.Fleshwhite, unchangeable.Stem4–6 in. long,wholly stuffed, almost solid, split up into longitudinal fibrils, cylindrical from the bulbous base, often compressed at the apex,torn into scaleson the surface, springing from alax, wide, thick volva, which bursts open at the apex.Ringclose to the top, lax, silky, splitting up into floccose fragments.Gillsfree, thin, narrow, narrowing at both ends, but a little broader in front, not decurrent on the stem (although the apex of the stem is often striate), crowded, somewhat floccose at the edge.Fries.

The pilei are most frequently oblique, extended and lobed on one side as in Hygrophorous conicus, scarcely ever depressed. The pileus rarely becomes yellow. The fragments of the veil often adhere to the edge of the gills.

Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine.Plate VI.Fig.Page.Fig.Page.1.Amanita spreta,114.Amanita muscaria,142.Amanita phalloides (white var.),75.Amanita frostiana,163.Amanita phalloides (brown var.),76.Gyromitra esculenta,546

Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine.Plate VI.

In woods. Uncommon. August to October.

Fetid, poisonous.Stevenson.

Sporesspheroid or subspheroid, 10–16µ,K.; 8µW.P.; sub-globose, 8–10µMassee.

POISONOUS.

I think it a variety of A. phalloides.

A. phalloi´des Fr.Gr.—phallus-like. (PlateVI, figs. 2, 3, p. 6.)Pileus3–4 in. broad, commonly shining white or lemon-yellow, fleshy, oval bell-shaped, then expanded,obtuse, covered over with a pellicle which isviscid(not glutinous) in wet weather, naked, rarely sprinkled with one or two fragments of the volva, theregular margin even.Stem3–5 in. long, ½ in. and more thick, solid downward, bulbous, hollow and attenuated upward,rather smooth, white.Ringsuperior, reflexed, slightly striate, swollen, commonly entire, white.Volvamore or less buried in the soil, bulbous,semifree, bursting open in a torn manner at the apex, with a lax border.Gillsfree, ventricose, 4 lines broad, shining white.Fries.

Pileusvery variable in color, commonly white or yellow (A. citrina Pers.), becoming green (A. viridis Pers.), olivaceous and occasionally variegated with tiger spots; in late autumn with the disk almost black but whitish round the margin. Odor somewhat fetid, but little remarkable as compared with that of A. virosa.

In woods. Frequent. August to November.

A very POISONOUS and dangerous species.Stevenson.

Spores8–9µW.G.S.; 8–10µB.; 7–9µ diam.Massee; globose, 7.6×6µPeck.

Pileusat first ovate or subcampanulate, then expanded, slightly viscid when young and moist, smooth or rarely adorned by a few fragments of the volva,even on the margin, white, yellowish-brown or blackish-brown.Lamellærather broad, rounded behind, free, white. Stem equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, smooth or slightly floccose, ringed,bulbous, the ruptured volva either appressed loose or merely forming a narrow margin to the bulb.

Plant4–8 in. high.Pileus2–5 in. broad.Stem3–6 lines thick.

This species is common and variable. It occurs everywhere in woods and assumes such different colors that the inexperienced mycologist is apt to mistake its different forms for distinct species. With us the prevailingcolors of the pileus are white, yellowish-white, grayish-brown and blackish-brown. It is remarkable that the form with a greenish pileus, which seems to be common enough in Europe, does not occur here. Fries also mentions a form having a white pileus with a black disk. A somewhat similar form occurs here, in which the pileus is grayish-brown with a black disk. Some of the variously colored forms were formerly taken to be distinct species, in consequence of which several synonyms have arisen, of which A. virescens Fl. Dan., Amanita viridis Pers., and Amanita citrina Pers., are examples. A. verna Bull. is a variety having a white pileus, a rather thick annulus and an appressed volva. It sometimes occurs early in the season; hence the specific name. It also occurs late in the season and runs into the typical form so that it is not easy to keep it distinct. The flesh and the lamellæ are white, the stem is white, pallid or brownish, and the annulus is either white or brownish. The bulb is generally very broad and abrupt or depressed, though it sometimes is small and approaches an ovate form. The large bulbs are sometimes split externally in two or three places and are, therefore, two- or three-lobed. In such cases the volva is less persistent than usual and its free portion then furnishes merely an acute edge or narrow margin to the bulb. Specimens sometimes occur in which the margin of the pileus is narrowly adorned with a slight woolly hairiness, but usually it is perfectly smooth and even. By this character, taken in connection with the membranous volva and bulbous base of the stem, the species is readily distinguished. Sometimes a strong odor is emitted by it, but usually the odor is slight. Authors generally pronounce this a poisonous and very dangerous species. Its appearance is attractive, but its use as food is to be avoided.Peck, 33d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Common in woods and recently cleared woodlands. Frequent over the United States. June to frost.

An exceedinglypoisonous, dangerous, seductive species, responsible for most of the deaths from toadstool eating; because in its white form it is mistaken for the common mushroom—Agaricus campester. The real fault is with the collector, who should never eat any fungus found in the woods, believing it to be the mushroom. The mushroom does not grow in the woods. Neither has itwhite gills, norwhite spores, nor avolvaat the base of the stem as have Amanitæ.

The caps of A. phalloides vary in color—white, oyster-color, smokybrown. The color of the commonest form is from white to a light hue of greenish yellow. The center of the cap, whatever may be the prevailing color, is usually several shades darker. In shape, the cap changes from a knob in youth, through the shapes of expansion, until it becomes fully spread, when it is umbrella-shaped, or almost flat. Some forms have a slightly raised portion or umbo in the center of the cap. The gills are white, of good width, rounded next to the stem and free from it.

The stem conforms in color to the cap, but in lighter shades. White-capped varieties have white stems. The stem has a sudden broad, distinct bulb at the base. On the upper side of the bulb there is usually a margin or rim. The stem tapers more or less toward the cap, from which it is easily separable. The cup, wrapper or volva is torn or split or irregular at the upper part, and is not pressed to the stem as in some forms.

Professor Peck, in his 48th Report, gives the following excellent synopsis of differences between the poisonous Amanita and edible fungi, for which it could only by great stupidity be mistaken:

Poison amanita.Gillspersistently white.Stemequal to or longer than the diameter of the cap, with a broad, distinct bulb at the base.

Common mushroom.Gillspink, becoming blackish-brown.Stemshorter than the diameter of the cap, with no bulb at the base.

From all forms of the edible Sheathed amanitopsis the Poison amanita differs in its distinctly bulbous stem, in having a collar on the stem and in the absence of striations on the margin of the cap.

From the edible Reddish amanita, it is easily separated by the entire absence of any reddish hues or stains and of warts upon its cap.

From the Smooth lepiota its distinct, abrupt and marginal bulb at once distinguishes it.

A. ver´naBull.—vernus, of spring. A variety of A. phalloides. POISONOUS. White.Pileusovate then expanded, somewhat depressed, viscid, margin orbicular, even.Stemstuffed then hollow, equal, floccose, closely sheathed with the free border of the volva.Ringreflexed, swollen.Gillsfree.Pileusglabrous, even on the margin, white, viscid when moist.Gillswhite.Stemringed, white, floccose, stuffed or hollow, closely sheathed at the base by the remains of the membranous volva, bulbous.Sporesglobose, 8µ broad.

In woods. Spring and summer.

The Vernal Amanita scarcely differs from white forms of the A. phalloides except in the more persistent and more closely sheathing remains of the wrapper at the base of the stem. It is probably only a variety of that species, as most mycologists now regard it, and it should be considered quite as dangerous. I have not found it earlier than in July, although in Europe it is said to appear in spring, as its name implies.Peck, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Common over the United States. West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, May to November. It appeared at Mt. Gretna, Pa., on May 28, 1899.McIlvaine.

The absence of a ring separates white forms of A. volvata and A. vaginata.

The virulence of its poison is the same as that of A. phalloides.

A. magnivela´risPk.—magnus, large;velum, veil.Pileusconvex or nearly plane, glabrous, slightly viscid when moist, even on the margin, white or yellowish-white.Gillsclose, free, white.Stemlong, nearly equal, glabrous, white, furnished with a large membranous white annulus, sheathed at the base by the appressed remains of the membranous volva, the bulbous base tapering downward and radicating.Sporesbroadly elliptical, 10×6–8µ.

Pileus3–5 in. broad.Stem5–7 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.

Solitary in woods. Port Jefferson, Suffolk county. July.

The species resembles Amanita verna, from which it is separated by its large persistent annulus, the elongated downwardly tapering bulb of its stem, and especially by its elliptical spores.Peck, 50th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

I have not seen this species. Its resemblance to A. verna is enough to place the ban upon it until it has been tested.

A. map´paFr.—mappa, a napkin. From the volva.Pileus2–3 in. broad, commonly white or becoming yellow, slightly fleshy, convexo-plane, obtuse or depressed, orbicular,dry, margin for the most part even.Stem2–3 in. long, 3–5 lines thick, stuffed then hollow, almost equal above the bulb, rather smooth, white.Ringsuperior, soft, lax, here and there torn.Volvaregularlycircularly split, somewhat obliterated; the globoso-bulbous base united with the stem, with an acuteand distant margin; the portion covering the pileus divided into broad, irregular, somewhat separating scales.Gillsannexed, crowded, narrow, shining, white.Fries.

Odorstinking. The color is that of A. phalloides, with which A. virosa exactly agrees, more rarely straw color, lemon-yellow, becoming green.

In mixed woods. Frequent.Stevenson.

Sporesspheroid, 7–10µK.; 8–9×6–8µB.; subglobose, 7–9µ diameterMassee.

New York woods and fields, common, September to October,Peck, 22d Rep.; North Carolina,Curtis; New England,Frost; Minnesota,Johnson; Ohio,Morgan; District Columbia,Miss Taylor.

POISONOUS.

Probably but a variety of A. phalloides.

A. spre´taPk.—spreta, hated. (PlateVI, fig. 1, p. 6.)Pileussubovate, then convex or expanded, smooth or adorned with a few fragments of the volva, substriate on the margin, whitish or pale-brown.Gillsclose, reaching the stem, white.Stemequal, smooth, annulate, stuffed or hollow, whitish, finely striate at the top from the decurrent lines of the lamellæ, not bulbous at the base, but the volva rather large, loose, subochreate.Sporeselliptical, generally with a single large nucleus, 10–13×6–8µ.

Plant4–6 in. high.Pileus3–5 in. broad.Stem4–6 lines thick.

Ground in open places. Sandlake and Gansevoort. August.Peck, 32d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

This is a dangerous species, because containing a deadly poison and resembling the most common forms of Amanitopsis, therefore likely to be mistaken for them. Specimens sent by me to Professor Peck were identified as his species. I add my own description.

Pileusoval, broadly umbonate, date-brown toward and on umbo, soft, dry, smooth, more or less sulcate on edge.Fleshwhite, thin, except at center.Stemtapers rapidly above ring and at base, white-reddish-brown toward middle, narrows toward volva from which it is almost free at the base, hollow, furfuraceous above ring.Gillswhite, crowded, free.Ringwhite, thin, persistent, but at times hard to distinguish because clinging to stem.Volvafree, fitting close, uppermargin thin, lower part quite thick, making stem appear bulbous, which it is not. White forms occur.

Not as virulent as A. phalloides, but like it in its POISONOUS effects. It differs from Amanitopsis in having a ring.

Grows in woods and on wood-margins.

Angora woods, West Philadelphia. On ground in mixed woods, open and grassy places in wood and wood-margins. August to September.McIlvaine.

A. recuti´taFr.—having a fresh or new skin.Pileusconvex then plane,dry, smooth, frequently bearing fragments of the volva, margin nearly even.Stemstuffed then hollow, attenuated,silky, volva circumscissile, becoming obliterated, margin closely pressed to stem; ring distant, white.Gillsstriate-decurrent.

In pine woods. Common.

No report upon quality.

A. Cæsa´reaScop.—king-like. (Called by the GreeksCibus Deorum, food of the gods.) CAUTION.Pileus3–8 in. across, hemispherical, then expanded, free from warts, distinctly striate on the margin, red or orange becoming yellow.Gillsfree, yellow.Stem4–6 in. long, up to ¾ in. thick at base, slightly tapering upward, yellowish, flocculose, stuffed with white fibrils or hollow, with a conspicuous yellowish ring or veil.Volvawhite, large, distinct and membranous.Sporeselliptical, 8–10µPeck.

Open woods, under pines on lawns. July to October.

Reported from North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York.Peck, Rep. 23, 32, 33, 48.

This emperor of fungi is the most showy of its race. It grows to 10 in. in height. The cap reaches 8 in. in diameter and the stem over 1½ in. in thickness. In very much smaller specimens about the same proportions occur. The cap is at first ovate, then hemispherical, then expanded. It has no warts or scales upon it. The margin is distinctly striate. The flesh is white, yellow or reddish under the skin; next to the gills it is usually yellow.

The stem tapers upward from the socket at its base. It is yellowish and covered with loose fibrils of darker hue. The ring is white, butfrequently tinged with yellow. In taste and smell it is mild. Open woods is its favorite habitat, yet it is found growing luxuriantly under pines, maples, elms, on lawns. It is not often found, but when it is, it is solitary, or in groups or rings. In the latitude of Philadelphia it is found from July until October 1st. Further south its stay conforms to temperature, and it is more frequent. There is no doubt of its rare edibility abroad, and of its being eaten in America.

A specimen believed to be it should never be eaten until carefully distinguished from A. muscaria and A. Frostiana, which have warts or scales on the cap (which sometimes are not discernible after rain), white gills, and a volva which soon breaks up into fragments or scabs.

Appearing like a small form of A. muscaria, to which it was formerly referred, is A. Frostiana Pk. (Frost’s Agaric). It closely resembles small A. Cæsarea, especially in the yellow tinge of stem, ring and gills. The volva and ring (persistent in A. Cæsarea) soon disappear, but are traceable by fluffy fragments, or yellow stains. It is extremely poisonous.

The differences, concisely, are these: A. Cæsarea (Orange Amanita).Capsmooth, though occasionally with a few fragments of the volva as patches upon it.Gillsyellow.Stemyellow.Volvausually persistent, sometimes breaking up into soft, fluffy masses.

A. muscaria(Fly Amanita). Poisonous.Capcovered with remains of the volva as scales or wart-like patches.Gillswhite.Stemwhite or light-yellow.Volvanot persistent, breaking up into fluffy fragments or scales.

A. Frostiana.Poisonous. Smaller and more delicate than the two preceding.Capsmooth or with yellow scales or wart-like patches.Gillsyellow or tinged on edge with yellow.Stemwhite or yellow, the ring evanescent, but always leaving a yellow mark on stem.Volvayellow, breaking up into yellow fluffy fragments.

Far better for the amateur to let the A. Cæsarea, and anything resembling it, respectfully alone.

New York,Gansvoort. Circle forty feet in diameter.Peck, 32d Rep.; Maryland. There is not a doubt that this fungus can be eaten with impunity,Banning; Alabama, abundant. Edible. Alabama Bull. No. 80.

Rogues and Cordier, French writers, regard it as the finest and most delicate of fungi, the perfume and taste being exquisite.

The writer has not had opportunity to eat A. Cæsarea. If such should occur he would go about it very cautiously. No suspicion attaches to it abroad, but evidence is accumulating in the hands of the writer (not yet convincing) that either locality may render it poisonous or that A. muscaria varies so much in appearance as to deceive even the expert into mistaking it for A. Cæsarea. It is possible that A. muscaria is, at times, in certain localities, harmless; but no such exception as this is noted in the entire fungoid realm. It is not so common that collectors should mourn its waste. It is better, far, to let it alone.

**Volva splitting regularly all around; pileus bearing thick warts, etc.

A. musca´riaLinn.—musca, a fly. (PlateVI, fig. 4, p.6. PlateIX.) POISONOUS.Pileus4 in. and more broad, normally at first blood-red, soon orange and becoming pale, whitening when old, globose, then convex and at length flattened, covered with apelliclewhich isat first thick, and in wet weatherglutinous, but which gradually disappears, and sprinkled with thick, angular, separating fragments of the volva;marginwhen full-grownslightly striate.Fleshnot compact, white,yellow under the pellicle.Stemas much as a span long, shining white, firm, torn into scales, at first stuffed with lax, spider-web fibrils, soonhollow; theadnate base of the volvaforms an ovate bulb, which ismarginate with concentric scales.Ringvery soft, torn, even, inserted at the apex of the stem, which is often dilated.Gillsfree, but reaching the stem, decurrent in the form of lines, crowded, broader in front, white, rarely becoming yellow.

Var.rega´lis, twice as large.Stemstuffed,solid when young, as much as 1–2 in. thick, becoming light-yellow within; the volva terminates in 8–10 concentric squamoso-reflexed rows of scales.Pileusvery glutinous, bay-brown or the color of cooked liver.Gillsyellowish.

Var.formo´sa, soft, fragile.Pileusat firstlemon-yellow, with mealy, lax, yellowish, easily-separating warts, often naked.Gillsoften becoming yellow. A. formosa, with the warts rubbed off.

Var.umbri´na, thinner andmore slender.Stemhollow, often twisted, bulb narrowed.Pileusat firstumber, then livid, with the exception of the disk, which is dingy-brown.Gillsat length remote.Stev.

Photographed by Dr. J.R. Weist.Plate IX.AMANITA MUSCARIA.

Pileusat first ovate or hemispherical, then broadly convex or nearly plane, slightly viscid when young and moist,rough with numerouswhitish or yellowish warts, rarely smooth, narrowly andslightly striate on the margin, white, yellow or orange-red.Gillswhite.Stemequal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed with webby fibrils or hollow, bearing a white ring above,ovate-bulbousat the base, white or yellowish; the volva usually breaking up into scales and adhering to the upper part of the bulb and the base of the stem.Sporeselliptical, 8–10x6–8µ.

Plant5–8 in. high.Pileus3–6 in. broad.Peck, 33d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

A white variety, with the pileus thickly studded with sharp warts, occurs in Albany Rural Cemetery. July.Peck, 24th Rep.

Var.al´baPk. It also occurs on Long Island in two forms, the normal one and a smaller one, in which the warts of the pileus are evanescent or wanting. Not unfrequently it makes a close approach to white forms of A. pantherina, in having the upper part of the bulb uniformly margined by the remains of the definitely circumscissile volva, but this margin is more acute than in that species.Peck, 46th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Sporesspheroid-ellipsoid, 10–12x8–9µK.; 6x9µ,W.G.S.; elliptical, 8–10x6–8µPeck.

“At Cincinnati, yellow A. muscaria are all we find.”Lloyd.

Reported from most of the states. At Mt. Gretna I found it in great quantity, and frequently three or four tightly crowded together. Many pounds of it were sent to Professor Chittenden, Sheffield Laboratory, Yale University. Near Haddonfield, N.J., large patches annually grow under pines, gorgeous in their rich orange-red caps, usually scaly, with at times lemon-yellow in the same clusters, smooth as A. Cæsarea. It grows from July until after hard frosts.

It is undoubtedlypoisonousto a high degree. Its juices in minute quantity, carefully and scientifically injected into the circulation of etherized cats, kill in less than a minute. A raw piece of the cap, the size of a hazel nut, affects me sensibly if taken on an empty stomach. Dizziness, nausea, exaggeration of vision and pallor result from it. The pulse quickens and is full, and a dreaded pressure affects the breathing. I have not noticed change in the pupil of the eye. Nicotine from smoking a pipe with me abates the symptoms, which entirely disappear in two hours, leaving as reminiscence a torturing, dull, skull-pervading headache. If, as is asserted on good authority, the Siberians use it as an intoxicant, they certainly suffer the accustomed penalty.It is possible that persons may, in a degree, become immune to its poison, as they do to arsenic, strychnia, opium, nicotine, or it may be that a portion of the poison is extracted by boiling. It is, however, extremely dangerous to rely upon extracting by any means the poison of the Amanita, and to eat the residue. Acetic acid or vinegar doesnotdestroy the poison; it dissolves it to an extent and extracts it, and becomes as poisonous as the plant itself. There is no means of telling how much of the poison remains in the plant after such treatment. The safe plan is to eat, only, of toadstools which do not contain any poison to extract.

One redeeming virtue, alone, rests with A. muscaria—it kills flies.

A. Frost´ianaPk.—in honor of Charles C. Frost. POISONOUS. (PlateVI, fig. 5, p. 6.)Pileusconvex or expanded, bright-orange or yellow, warty, sometimes nearly or quite smooth, striate on the margin.Gillsfree, white or slightly tinged with yellow.Stemwhite or yellow, stuffed, bearing a slight, sometimes evanescent ring, bulbous at the base, the bulbslightly marginedby the volva.Sporesglobose, 8–10µ in diameter.

Plant2–3 in. high.Pileus1–2 in. broad.Stemabout 2 lines thick. June to October.

This appears like a very small form of the Fly Agaric, to which, as var. minor, it was formerly referred. The only decided characters for distinguishing it are its small size and globose spores. Our plant sometimes grows in company with A. muscaria, but it seems to prefer more dense woods, especially mixed or hemlock woods. It is generally very regular and beautiful and has the stem quite often of a yellow color, and the bulb margined above with a collar-like ring.Peck, 33d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina,McIlvaine.

A. Frostiana is found well over the land. It is frequent in shady woods and seems to favor ground under the prevailing tree—oak, chestnut, pine, hemlock, whichever it may be. From the many hundreds I have seen, I think it more likely to be mistaken by the novice for A. Cæsarea than A. muscaria, because of its often yellow gills and stem. It is much smaller and thinner than either. In the states I have found it, it is darker than described, being a rich reddish-orange or scarlet. The partial veil or ring is very evanescent but often found upon thestem as a yellow, floccose remnant. The stain of the ring is always noticeable. The volva is seldom found entire. It, too, is evanescent, but, like the veil, is found yellow and fluffy, adhering to the fingers when touched.

It is probable that its highly colored cap has caused it to be gathered by the careless collector of bright-capped Russulæ, and that thus R. emetica got its bad name. Examine carefully any toadstool resembling it. The Russulæ have neither ring nor volva.

A. excel´saFr.—excelsus, tall. POISONOUS.Pileus4–5 in. broad,brownish-gray, darker in the center,fleshy, soft, globose, then plane,pellicle thin, but viscous, and in reality separable in wet weather, then the surface is oftenwrinkled-papillose, or in a peculiar manner hollowed and pitted, sprinkled with angular, unequal, whitish-gray, easily separating warts, the remains of the friable volva; margin at first even, but when properly developed manifestly striate, even furrowed.Fleshsoft, white throughout, unchangeable.Stem4–6 in. long, 1 in. thick, at first stuffed, almost solid, but at length hollow, globose-depressed at the base, attenuated upward from the bulb, covered, sometimes as far as the ring, sometimes only on the lower part withdense, squarrose, concentric scales(from the epidermis of the stem being torn), striate at the apex.Ringsuperior, large, separating-free or at length torn.Gillsquitefree, rounded(not decurrent on the stem in the form of lines), very ventricose, ½ in. and more broad, shining white.

Thebulb when youngissomewhat marginate, but by no means separable, the margin proper, like that of A. muscaria, is marked with scales, buried in the soil, somewhat rooting, beneath the margin marked here and there with a concentric furrow. The shorter gills intermixed are more numerous than is usual among Amanitæ. There is a smaller variety, with the margin more frequently striate and the stem stuffed, then hollow.Fries.

Solitary, in woods, chiefly under beech.Stevenson.

Spores6x9µW.G.S.; 8–9×5–6µMassee.

North Carolina,Schweinitz,Curtis; South Carolina,Ravenel; California,Harkness and Moore; Massachusetts,Frost,Andrews; Minnesota,Johnson; Rhode Island,Olney.

A. pantheri´naDe C.—spotted like a panther. Doubtful.Pileuscommonly olivaceous-umber when young, fleshy, convex then flattened or somewhat depressed, with asticky pellicle, which is at first thick and olivaceous dingy-brown, then thinned out, almost disappearing and livid, the disk only becoming brownish;margin evidently striate; the fragments of the volva divided into small, equal, white, regularly arranged, moderately persistent warts.Fleshwholly white, never yellow beneath the pellicle.Stem3–4 in. long, ½ in. thick, at first stuffed then hollow with spider-web fibrils within, equal or attenuated upward, slightly firm and sometimes scaly downward,greavedat the base by the separablevolva which has an entire and obtuse margin.Ringmore or less distant, adhering obliquely, white, rarely superior.Gillsfree, reaching the stem, broader in front, 3–4 lines broad, shining white.

It is readily distinguished from A. muscaria, var. umbrina, by the white flesh never becoming yellow beneath the pellicle. Variable in size and color, which, however, is never red or yellow, and in the position of the ring.

In woods and pastures.Stevenson.

Spores7–8×4–5µK.; 6–10µB.; 8×4µW.G.S.; 7.6×4.8µMorgan.

Not poisonous,W.G.S.; not edible,Roze; poisonous,Leuba.

North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, New York.Peck.

A. Ravenel´iiB. and C.—in honor of Henry W. Ravenel.Pileus4 in. across, convex, broken up into distinct areas, each of which is raised into an acute, rigid, pyramidal wart.Stem3 in. high, bulbous.Volvathick, warty, somewhat lobed.Ringdeflexed.

South Carolina, June,H.W. Ravenel; a very fine species allied to A. strobiliformis, Vitt. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1859; Alabama,Atkinson(Ll. Volvæ).

Properties not stated.

A. russuloi´desPk.—resembling a Russula.Pileusat first ovate, then expanded or convex, rough with a few superficial warts, or entirely smooth, viscid when moist, widely striate-tuberculate on the margin, pale-yellow or straw color.Gillsclose, free, narrowed toward the stem, white.Stemfirm, smooth, stuffed, annulate, equal or slightly tapering upward, bulbous; annulus thin, soon vanishing.Volvafragile, subappressed.Sporesbroadly elliptical, 10×8µ.

Plant2–3 in. high.Pileus1.5–2 in. broad.Stem3–5 lines thick. Grassy ground in open woods. Greenbush. June.

This species is remarkable for the thin striate-tuberculate margin of the pileus, which causes it to resemble some species of Russula.Peck, 25th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Qualities not stated.

Massachusetts,Francis.

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