ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI. 33 



THE GENERA OF AGAEICINI. 



These are nineteen in number, and will be described severally as 

 follows : 



I. AGARICUS. (PI. I. fig. 1, 2, 3.) Fleshy plants, putrefying 

 in age, not reviving after being dried ; not deliquescing ; not 

 coriaceous nor woody. Gills membranaceous, persistent, with. 

 acute edge, their surfaces separable, the trama filamentous and 

 derived from the flesh. Some four hundred and fifty species 

 are recorded as occurring in Great Britain.^ Of these about 

 eighty are edible, and some thirty are more or less poisonous. 

 The Genus is divided iuto a number of Sub-genera, as under. 

 The first distinction to be noted is the colour of the Spores. It 

 is referable to one or other of five groups. White, Pink, Brown, 

 Purple, or Black. This definition must be primarily attended to, 

 as the Sub-genera are linked together otherwise by particulars 

 of form. They will be taken in the order of their general cor- 

 respondence of habit, the bracketed letters prefixed indicating 

 that relationship, the bracketed colour after the name of each. 

 Sub-genus being that of the Spores. (See the Tables illustrating 

 the Subgenera of Agaricus.) 



(a.) Amanita (White). Terrestrial. Large. Pileus and Stem 

 distinct. Possessing a Volva. Pileus bearing warts. Most species 

 bear a Ring. Gills free. 



(a.) Volvaria (Pink). Terrestrial, or parasitic. Pileus and 

 Stem distinct. Possessing a Volva. Pileus scarcely, or not, verru- 

 cose. Gills free, soft, moist. 



(b.) Lepiota (White). Terrestrial. Large. Pileus and Stem dis- 

 tinct. Bearing a Ring. Pileus scaly or shaggy; tall and expand- 

 ing. Gills free, or remote. 



(6.) Chamseota (Pink). Terrestrial. Pileus and Stem distinct. 

 Stem hollow, and annulate. Pileus fleshy. Gills free. 



(&.) Psalliota (Purple). Terrestrial. Large. Pileus and Stem 

 distinct. Annulate. Veil thick, fibrous or silky. Gills free, rounded 

 behind. 



(c.) Pluteus (Pink). Mostly parasitic. Pileus and Stem distinct. 

 No Ring. Gills free, crowded, soft and cohering. 



(c.) Pilosace (Purple). Pileus and Stem distinct. Ringless, 

 Gills free. No British species. 



(d.) Armillaria (White). Parasitic and terrestrial. Pileus and 

 ^ According to Cooke, in the Handbook of British Fungi. 



D 



