AGARICS WITH WHITE SPORES 



poisonous quality, is Amanita muscaria, the 

 Fly Agaric, perhaps the handsomest mush- 

 room of the forest. The plant may be con- 

 siderably larger than A. phalloides, with a 

 cap varying from yellow to orange red, 

 frosty with soft creamy-white scales or 

 patches. These scales on the cap indicate 

 that the upper portion of the volva breaks 

 into many areas as the plant emerges, and 

 moreover it generally ruptures transver- 

 sally into a number of small incomplete 

 rings which remain at the base of the stem 

 as interrupted volval rings or ridges. The 

 gills and stem are white. The Royal 

 Agaric, Amanita Ccesarea, possesses likewise 

 an orange red cap, but the gills are yellow 

 and the volva cup-like. This species is re- 

 garded as a great delicacy, but it is obvious 

 that it should be omitted by the amateur 

 collector. 



Cortinellus, In Japan one or two species 

 of fungi are commercially grown, and the 

 most important is called the ^'Shiitake," 

 Cortinellus Shiitake. It is grown on wood 



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