AGARICALES I2 i 



A second group of the agarics is known as the ANNULATAE. 

 These lack the volva of the last group but are provided with a veil 

 which becomes an annulus as the pileus expands. Among the 

 white-spored forms we have the genera Lcpiota and Armillaria. 

 The first is well represented with us by nearly thirty species,* 

 mostly characterized by a scaly pileus, free lamellae and a con- 

 spicuous, often movable, annulus. The species are often known 

 as parasols ; the following larger species are commonly eaten : 



L. procera has a brownish or reddish-brown pileus three to five 

 inches across and a very long hollow stem, frequently reaching 

 ten inches and bulbous at the base. Z. rhacodes resembles it 

 closely but has smaller spores ; it is also edible. 



L. naitcinoides differs from most of the species of the genus in pos- 

 sessing a smooth pileus ; it is white throughout with a slightly 

 bulbous base to the stem ; the pileus is from two to four inches 

 wide and the stem is from two to four inches long.-}- It grows com- 

 monly in grassy places from August to November and occasion- 

 ally in cultivated fields. 



L. Morgani is a handsome species readily characterized by its 

 green spores ; while some people regard it as edible, it has fre- 

 quently caused sickness, and is to be regarded as a suspicious plant. 



Armillaria contains fewer species, J but one of them, A. mellca, is 

 very common, growing in large masses at the base of old stumps ; 

 unlike most of the genus it has a somewhat scaly pileus. The 

 pileus varies from whitish to reddish brown, tho brownish-yellow 

 is probably the most common color ; the lamellae tho white at first, 

 finally become stained with reddish brown ; the veil varies from 

 cottony to membranous, sometimes disappearing in older plants. 

 While this species is regarded as edible, it is not regarded as 

 specially fine grained or fine flavored. 



Among the pink-spored species, Annularia has not been found 

 with us ; among those with rusty brown spores we have Pholiota 



* Peck (Reg. Rep. 35: 160-164) nas described the eighteen species 

 growing in New York. 



f Professor Atkinson figures this as L. nai/cina, a European species 

 with which ours may be identical. 



J Peck (Reg. Rep. 43 : 40-45) gives a synopsis of the six Ameiican 

 species with rather full descriptions of the species and their variations found 

 in New York. 



