74 



MINNESOTA MUSHROOMS 



Agaricus placomyces Scaly Agaricus 



Cap 5-10 cm. wide, whitish, but often so densely covered with tiny brown 

 scales as to be almost wholly dull brown, the margin white at maturity but the disk 

 nearly always brown, convex to flat; stem 7-14 cm. by 8-14 mm., white or whitish, 

 smooth, stuffed or hollow, bulbous, with a large superior ring; gills free, pink, 

 then dark purple-brown, crowded; spores purple-brown, ellipsoid, 4-6 X 3-4/x. 

 The name refers to the flattened cap. 



Common in grassland or woodland, summer and autumn ; excellent. 



Agaricus campester Common or Cultivated Mushroom 



Cap 5-15 cm. wide, white, whitish, grayish to reddish or brownish in some 



forms, smooth, or in some forms 

 silky, hairy or scaly, convex to 

 plane; stem 4-10 cm. by 1-2 cm., 

 whitish, more or less smooth, stuff- 

 ed, ring near the middle, more or 

 less torn ; gi 1 1 s free, pink, then 

 dark brown. broad, crowded ; 

 s p ores purple-brown, ellipsoid, 

 7-9 X 6/*- The name refers to its 

 habit of growing in meadows and 

 pastures. 



Common in grassland from 

 sjn-ing to winter : the standard 

 edible mushroom, and the only one 

 commonly cultivated. It is ex- 

 tremely variable, but it is impos- 

 sible for the beginner to distin- 

 guished its many forms or some of 

 the closely related species. 



Figure 42. Agaricus placomyces 



f^TROniARIA 



Distinguished by the presence of a ring, and the continuity of the stem and 

 cap. The ring is sometimes small, or absent in age. The gills are usually adnate. 

 Our species are all sticky, and with one exception are found on dung or in 

 well-manured soil. They are probably all edible, but the first should be tried very 

 cautiously. The name refers to the ring. 



Key to the Species 



1 . Cap blue-green with a sticky slime ; on the ground 5. aeruginosa 



2. Cap yellowish or yellow; on dung or well-manured soil 



a. Stem stuffed ; gills of one color ; cap convex, then S. stercorariu 



plane 



b. Stem hollow ; gills black spotted or clouded ; cap 



hemispheric S. scmiglobata 



