Order Hymenohycetes. Tribe Pileafi. 



Plate XLVIII. 



AGARICUS CRISTATUS, 5«^../. 



Crested Agaric. 

 Series Leucosporus. Sub-genus Lepiota.' 



Sub-divisiou. * * Veil fixed or fuiracious ; a;ills remote or free. 



Spec. Char. Agaeicus Cristatus. Pileus from lialf au iuoh to one inch and a half broad, expandeil, iimbo- 

 nate, white, the epidermis broken into rufescent scales which are either fiat or reflexed, and less frequent un the 

 mai'gin. Flesh firm, thin. Gills remote, numerous, slightly ventricose, the margin uneven, often imbricated, 

 tinged slightly with yellow, stem from one inch to two inches high from one to two lines thiclf, tough, composed of 

 fibres, smooth or fibriilose, hollow with a few cottony fibres, flesh towards the base reddish ; equal, not in the least 

 bulbous, but rooting by white fibres. Ring sometimes attached in fragments to the margin, sometimes moveable 

 on the stem. Taste and smell strong, not pleasant. 

 Agariccs cristatus, Batsch, Fries, Berkeley, Greinlle. 



Hah. In grassy places, lawns &c., sometimes on garden beds. Solitary or subgregarious. August to November. 



With correct portraits wherewith to compare any particular Agaric there will be little chance of erroiu-, 

 unless the specimen be a monstrosity. Among the Lepiotes to which tlie present subject belongs, A. Poli/- 

 sficiis is the most likely to be confused with it ; but may be distinguished by attention to the gills, since in 

 A. cristatus they are remote from the stem and in A. poli/stictis approximate to it ; the latter, among several 

 minor differences, is in-odorous, the former strongly scented, but it is better to select the gills as the point 

 to attend to, because " smeU " being an uncertain sense and an uncertain quality, the result of experiments 

 upon it is of course uncertain too. A. dypeolariiis is also scentless, and has approximate gills. A. crista- 

 tus is a common Agaric, but the two other species are not so ; A. pioli/stictis having been discovered and 

 described by Mr. Berkeley only at the time the English Elora, vol. v. was pubKshed. Dr. Badliam found it 

 at Wymondham in 1847, and Mrs. Hussey portrayed it, it may therefore appear in the course of tliis work, 

 although it has no striking beauty to recommend it. A. clypeolarvus is sub-campanulate, but the bell shape 

 is not at all assumed by the two species we have compared together ; none of them possess the bulbous 



' From XfTTis, a scale. Veil single, universal, closely adhering to and confluent with the epidermis ; when 

 bm-st, forming a more or less persistent ring towards the midcUe of the stem. Stem hollow, stuffed with more or 

 less densely interwoven arachnoid threads ; equal or thickened at the base, fibriilose. Pileus more or less fleshy 

 but not compact, ovate when young, soon campanulate, then expanded and umbonate. Flesh white, soft ; gOls 

 unequal, never distant or decurrent. Colour of the gills white, in some varieties yellow. Persistent, autumnal 

 fungi growing on the gi-ound. Not dangerous. 



