POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 87 



BUFF WARTY CAPS. 



Ayaricus {Amanita) phalloides. 



(Plate XI. Fig. 1.) 



Possibly this is the most dangerous of 

 all native fungi, and exceedingly common 

 in nearly every wood in the autumn. 

 Smith only says that it is supposed to be 

 dangerous, but Dr. Plowright traced more 

 than one case of fungus poisoning to this 

 source. The pileus is from three to four 

 inches broad, with rather a viscid skin, when 

 growing in open places whitish or pale yellow, 

 in more shady places greenish or light olive. 

 Sometimes the top is quite naked, at other 

 times with irregular patches of the volva 

 adhering. The gills are free from the stem, 

 white, broadest in the middle, narrowed 

 to each end ; the stem three to five inches 

 high, solid at first, then hollow, bulbous 

 at the base, with a large drooping white 

 collar or ring near the top, and a volva 

 or sheath at the base, the lower portion 



