CLASSIFICATION OF AGARICS 611 



veil. ANNULUS large, thick, superior, white. \<>l.\ \ i-* much 

 torn and surrounds the bulb and the stem just above the bulb in 

 the form of scales or rings. SPORES broadly oval, 9-10.5x6 

 iii i » - 1 -. . smooth, usually with a large oil-globule nearh tilling the 

 spore, obliquely apiculate, white. ODOR and TASTE nsualh in 

 sipid in the fresh condition of the mushroom; ii> poison when ex 

 fcracted is, however, extremely bitter. 



(Dried: More or less ochraceous to alutaceous throughout, the 

 sea les on pileus a Iwaj a pa ler. I 



Gregarious or closely massed, often in large fairj riin;-. In 

 thickets of poplar, wood-lots <>!' oak and maple, forests of pine or 

 hemlock, cemeteries, roadsides, Hr.. widely distributed throughout 



the State. Sometimes on | r, gravely Boil, Bometimea in swampy 



poplar woods, usually on denuded or pastured ground ii found 

 under conifers. July-October. Frequent. 



< toe of ilif most showy and attractive mushrooms >>\ the State. 

 Known by iis size, iis yellow mps ornamented with whitish patches, 

 its white gills and scaly bulb. .1. frostiatia and I. flavoconia have 

 similar colors, hut are much smaller. In Europe, the colors are 

 bright scarlet and very striking. With us this form does aol occur. 

 Our species is really a color-varietj of the European plant, much 

 like that which European mycologists name var. forme 

 except that our plant has white scales on its pileus. A. 

 fla/vorubescens has soft yellow scales but is otherwise 

 much different from var. formosa as described, with which 

 it must not be confused. I have no record of the European 

 var. formosa, and am not sine thai it exists in this country. The 

 color of 1. in usiii riii varies somewhat, and in deep shaded places 

 may be white; this is var. alba. The Btately var. regalis with a pale 

 liver colored cap has uol been found in the State, although I have 

 seen it in Sweden; it is verj large. In wel situations the v . - i l nun 

 split as in the preceding section and leave the cap hate; this is 

 var. puellaris and is usually smaller. 



The deadly A. muscaria has few uses. Its poison maj yel be 

 found to be of medicinal value, and the earlj settlers used an infu 

 sion of it to make "fly paper," which was an effective remedy for the 

 troublesome house-fly sometimes, bul which caused disaster ii small 

 children partook of it. i> is a delightful object for the artistic i 

 of the nature lover but in all other respects a menace. 



