306 AGARICUS. 



Psaliota. Sow. t, 304. Berk. Eng. Fl. v. p. 105. A. edulis Krombh. t. 23. f, 11-14, 

 26./. 9-13. Tratt. Essb. Schw. t. J. A. exquisitus Vett. Mang. t. 18. Var. 

 purpurasceus C. Illitst. PI. 584. 



687. A. cretaceus Fr. Pileus 7.5 cent. (3 in.) and more broad, 

 wholly white, fleshy, lens-shaped-globose when young, then con- 

 vexo-flattened, obtuse, dry, sometimes even, sometimes rivulose 

 chiefly round the margin from the cuticle separating into squam- 

 ules ; flesh thick, white, unchangeable. Stem 7.5 cent. (3 in.) 

 long, 6-12 mm. (3-6 lin.) and more thick, hollow, stuffed with a 

 spider-web pith, firm, attenuated upwards, even, smooth, not 

 spotted, white. Ring superior, large, reflexed with the margin 

 again erected, even, white. Gills free, then remote, ventricose but 

 very much narrowed towards the stem, crowded, remaining long 

 white, becoming fuscous only when old. 



Spores wholly as in A. campestris. 



In meadows and stoves. Rare. 



The stem is sunk into the substance of the pileus so as to make the gills 

 remote. At first sight it looks much like a Lepiota, as, for example, A. 

 naucimis, M.J.D. Spores 3 x 4 mk. W.G.S. Name creta, chalk. Chalky- 

 white. Fr. Afonogr. i. p. 404. Hym. Eur. p. 279. Sv. Bot. t. 596. f. 2. 

 Sverig. iitl. Svamp. t. 39. Berk. Out. p. 167. t. 10. /. 5. 



688. A. campestris Linn. Pileus about 7.5 cent. (3 in.) broad, 

 varying white and rufescent, fleshy, lens-shaped-convex then 

 flattened, obtuse, dry, sometimes silky-even, sometimes squamulose; 

 flesh thick and soft, becoming reddish or sometimes becoming fus- 

 cous. Stem stuffed, firm, short, bulbous when young, then some- 

 what equal, even or squamulose, white. Ring medial, or more 

 strictly sheathed to the middle, spreading or reflexed, torn, often 

 deciduous and sometimes in the form of a cortina. Gills free, 

 approximate, ventricose, equally attenuated at botJi ends, crowded, 

 often deliquescent, whitish then soon flesh-coloured and at length 

 nmber-fuscous. 



Much more variable than A. arve?isis, &c., both in stature and colours. 

 There are numerous varieties : A. alba pileus somewhat silky, whitish ; stem 

 short. Berk. Out. t. 10. f. 2. Viv. t. 44. Harz. t. 9. B. praticola pileus 

 rufous-scaly, flesh immediately rufescent. Vittad. t. 7. Viv. t. 43. C. rufes- 

 cens pileus rufous, minutely squamulose ; stem elongated. Berk. t. io./. 3. 

 D. umbrina pileus becoming even, umber ; stem stout, squamulose. Vitt. t. 

 8. E ? ful-vaster pileus even, ochraceous tawny ; stem solid ; gills rose- 

 coloured then blackish. Viv. t. 45 upper fig. ; perhaps distinct. More 

 abnormal variations are costata pileus sulcate, repand. Viv. t. 45 lower fig. ; 

 A. villaticus pileus with the skin peeling off in scales ; stem scaly, from the 

 inferior veil, with somewhat of a volva sheathed and ringed. Brand. Cr. Ag. 

 t. 7. B. & Br. n. 1533*, 13 in. in diameter, with a stem 3 in. thick. C. 

 Illust. PI. 585. Various forms, commonly becoming fuscous, are cultivated 

 under the names A. hortensis, vaporariies, cryptarum, &c. Krombh. t. 26. f. 

 14. Paul. t. 132. Seer. n. 94. 



