A CATALOGUE OF BRITISH POISONOUS FUNGI. 171 



Season. August to October. Not common. 



Pileus. Two to three inches across, white, at length dusky- 

 squamose and flocculose ; campanulate, then expanded, nearly- 

 plane or uneven and sub-umbonate. Margin at last rimose. 



Stem. Three to four inches high, white, or dingy, slender, 

 unequal. Base incrassate. Ring distant, simple. 



Section. Flesh thin, white, yellowing where cut. Stem stuffed, 

 at length fistulose. Gills pallid, then grey-pink, at last brown, 

 thin, crowded, dry, unequal, attenuate before and behind, free. 

 Odour strong, not unpleasant. Taste mild. Spores purplish. 



Obs. There is much uncertainty regarding this species, owing to the very 

 variable way in which the Pratelles have been hitherto described. I have eaten 

 it, I beheve, in a dish of other Pratelles. But Cordier asserts he has known a 

 single specimen induce symptoms. It is narcotico-acrid, but evidently not in a 

 powerful degree. Its site and slender habit distinguish it from other Pratelles. 

 —W. D. H. 



Genus AGARICUS. Sub-getivs PSILOCYBE. 



(XX.) AGARICUS SEMILANCEATUS ; Psilocyhe semilanceata ; 

 The Liberty-cap. 



Habitat. In rich pastures, grassy roadsides, etc. In groups 

 and clusters. 



Season. April and May, September and October. Common. 



Pileus. About three-quarters of an inch broad and high, pale 

 buff or drab, smooth, glabrous, sleek in dry weather, viscid in wet ; 

 conical, campanulate, obtusely cuspidate. Margin sub-striate, 

 thin, dark, translucent. 



Stem. Two to four inches high, pallid, drab, very slender, 

 flexuose, tough, equal, smooth, naked. Base enlarged, perhaps 

 blue-tomentose. 



Section. Flesh membranaceous. Stem fistulose. Gills brown, 

 then purple-black, ascending, ventricose, serrate, adnate. Odour- 

 less. Taste nauseous. Spores purple. 



Ohs. Berkeley says it is certainly poisonous. The principle seems to e 

 irritant.— PT. D. H. 



Genus AGARICUS. Sub-genus STROPHARIA. 



(XXI.) AGARICUS SEMIGLOBATUS ; Stropharia semiglobata ; 

 The Skull-cap. 



