AGARICALES 119 



and several species each of Pamis* and Lentinus.^ Of the 

 former genus a small phosphorescent species, P. stypticus, a half 

 inch or more broad, is very common on rotten wood. Of the 

 latter, L. lepideus is common on railroad ties, L. tigrinns in wet, 

 open swampy places, and L. strigosus on old stumps. 



8 . Genera with a fleshy pileus, usually decaying rapidly after the 

 maturity of the spores. (AGAKICEAE.) 



This tribe contains all the remaining genera and is by far the 

 largest of the tribes. For convenience the genera may be divided 

 into several smaller groups. Among these the most marked are 

 those possessing a volva in which the young mushroom is com- 

 pletely enveloped and which remains either in the form of a perma- 

 nent cup at the base of the stem or as a series of floccose separable 

 scales on the surface of the pileus, according as the volva is tough 

 or tender. This group is sometimes known as the VOLVATAE| and 

 contains some of the most deadly as well as some of the finest 

 edible species. The species are very common and a single one is 

 probably responsible for most of the fatal cases of mushroom poi- 

 soning that have occurred in this country; that it may be more easily 

 detected and avoided we illustrate it (PL 8. f. i, 2.]. It is known 

 as Amanita phalloides ; the pileus is smooth, white, greenish or 

 brown, and from three to five inches broad ; the lamellae remain 

 white, the base is bulbous and is loosely margined by the volva ; 

 it grows in woods, in open places or in the shade of bushes in 

 pastures from July to October. A. verna has practically the same 

 poisonous character and is sometimes regarded as the same ; it 

 differs mainly in its closer investing volva. Its white lamellae, 

 white spores, and bulbous volvate base will readily enable any one 

 to avoid it. 



Amanita muscaria is equally poisonous, but lacks the trim 



* Hennings unites this genus with Lentinus. Forster (Jour. Mycol. 4 : 

 21-26), describes the fourteen species of Panus found in this country. 



f Twenty-seven American species have been described; Morgan (Jour. 

 Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist. 6 : 194-196), describes ten of these which grow 

 in Ohio. He has later established the genus Lentoditim on what had been 

 regarded as a diseased state of Lentinus tigrinus, which will probably 

 prove a well-founded genus ; it deserves further study. 



\ A useful compilation of descriptions of species in this group has been 

 made by Mr. C. G. Lloyd, of Cincinnati (separately published). 



