A CATALOGUE OF BEITISH POISONOUS FUNGI. 163 



Gills white, broad, ventricose, iiiiequal, adnexed. Odour faint. 

 Taste bitterish. Spores white. 



Obs. Referred to in chapter ix. Narcotico-acrid, but much less virulent 

 than other Amanites. It is a species which, under favourable conditions, will 

 attain extraordinary size. In a bramble -covered pit I found two specimens, 

 the largest of which was nearly three feet high and some twenty inches across 

 the pileus. The differences between it and the Blusher are so obvious that a 

 child would not mistake one for another. But abroad it has been often mis- 

 taken for the Oronge, which is nearer to it iu colour. — W. D. H. 



(IV.) AGARICUS PANTHERINUS ; Amanita pantherina ; 

 The Panther-cap. 



Habitat. On high grounds in and about woodlands. Solitary, 

 or scattered. 



Season. August to IS'ovember. Uncommon. 



Pileus. Two to four inches across, livid buff or brownish, con- 

 centrically verrucose, viscid in wet, soft and smooth in dry weather ; 

 convex, then expanded, plane. Margin thin, striate. Warts 

 white, mealy, flat, scale-like, persistent. 



Stem. Three to five inches high, white, even, thick, silky- 

 smooth. Base bulbous. Ring deflexed. Volva close-sheathing, 

 smooth, edge free. 



Section. Flesh not thick, white, unchanging. Stem stuffed, 

 at length hollow. Gills white, unequal, broad in front, the shorter 

 ending abruptly, the longer adnexed. Odour slight. Taste salt 

 and bitter. Spores white. 



Obs. Narcotico-acrid, but not virulent. Cordier proved its quality. I once 

 ate two specimens, before I knew better. In eight or ten hours I experienced 

 giddiness, vertigo, nervous trembUng, and some time after painful coUc. These 

 symptoms passed off, but next day urticaria showed itself, and lasted a week. 

 The species must not be mistaken for the Blusher. — W. D. H. 



(V.) AGARICUS PHALLOIDES; Amanita phalloides ; The 

 Arch Bane. 



Habitat. On the ground in and about woods. Singly, or scat- 

 tered. 



Season. August to N^ovember. Common. 



Pileus. Two to five inches across, pallid, or white, or livid, 

 yellowish, greenish ; smooth, glossy in dry weather, viscid in wet, 

 scarcely or not verrucose; campanulate, then convex, expanded, 



