ish spots ov sciik's, l)Ul this i> nut a coiistant Icatiire. It is cither 

 hollow or stuffed with a webby pith, li- <olhir is thick and tiriii, 

 and soon becomes loose and movable on the stem. The stem ia 

 5 to 10 inches long and only ^ an incii, or even less, in thickness. 

 The cap is commonly ;} to l> inches broad. Tiie plants usually 

 grow singly, but sometimes clusters of several are found. 



The Parasol mushroom has been highly commended, and be- 

 longs among mushrooms of the first-class, both in size and qual- 

 ity. "One of the most delicate species, although the flesh is 

 sh"glitly tough;" ''almost the greatest, if not the greatest favorite 

 with tlie fungus-eaters;" "very delicate, of easy digestion and in 

 great denuuul'' are some of tlie recorded utterances in its favor. 

 Unfortunately it is not very abundant. 



There is no poisonous species with which if can be confused by 

 any intelligent observer. 



There is a rare fonn in whicli the umbo and spots are much 

 plainer than usual, and the whole plant, cxcei)t these, is white. 



In some places a mushroom occurs which closely resembles the 

 Parasol mushroom, but it has no imibo and the cap has a more 

 shaggy appearance. This is probably the American form of the 

 Eagged mushroom, Lepiota rhacodes, a European species which 

 is also classed as edible, and whicli some recent authors regard as 

 a mere varietv of the Parasol mushroom. 



The smooth lepiota, Lepiota naucinoides, is about as large as 

 the common mushroom, generally very regular in shape and of a 

 clear white color, but sometimes there is a yellowish or even a 

 smoky or brownish tint on the disk of the cap. The cap is usu- 

 ally so smooth and even that the plant is appropriately called 

 the Smooth mushroom. Occasionally a slight mealiness or gran- 

 ular roughness develops in the centre of the cap, and still more 

 rarely the epidermis cracks in such a manner as to give the ap- 

 pearance of thick imbricating scales. The gills are white until 

 old age or dr\Tiess causes them to assume a smoky 1)rownis]i hue, 

 with a slight pinkish tint added. In this condition the plant is 

 likely to be mistaken for the Chalky mushroom, Agariciis cre- 

 taceus, hut if the color of the spores is noticed, there need be no 

 such mistake, for they are ivhite in the Smooth mushroom, brown 

 in the Chalky mushroom. But both specie? are edible, so that 

 such a mistake would not be serious in a physical point of view. 

 The stem is white, and generally it gradually becomes thicker 

 toward the base so that it may be said to have a bulbous base 

 gradually tapering into the stem above. It is hollow, but the 

 cavity often contains a delicate wcbl)y or cottciiy pitli. The (^ol- 



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