8 



I 



the term Agaricus to the g-roup of fungi to which it was originally ap- 

 plied by Liunseus, viz., the common field mushroom Agaricus campester, 

 and its allies, represented by Agaricus arvensis, Agaricus Rodmani, etc., 

 or, as Prof. Peck more definitely states it, " to those of the gilled mush- 

 rooms which have brown spores, free gills, a stem bearing a ring, gills 

 generally pink- colored in the early stage, and brownish black when fully 

 matured." M. C. Cooke, the distinguished English mycologist, prefers 

 to retain the geJius Agaricus with its original subgenera intact, succeeded 

 by the other genera of Agaricini, as in the Hymenomycetes Europei of 

 Fries, giving as his reason the belief " that for purposes of classification 

 features should be taken which are present and evident in the specimens 

 themselves, and are not dependent on any of their life-history which can- 

 not be presented in the herbarium." 



In a work such as the present, which is designed to be popular in char- 

 acter rather than purely technical, it is deemed advisable to select as a 

 basis for classification that system which is most accessible to reference 

 by the general reading public. Saccardo's Sylloge, while exhaustive in 

 character and of inestimable value to the mycologist, is written in Latin, 

 and is, moreover, a very expensive work — facts which render it practically 

 unavailable to the general public. 



In the compilation of this series of pamphlets I have adopted the classi- 

 fication of M. C. Cooke, which, as regards the Hymenomycetes, the family 

 containing most of the fleshy fungi, is, with exceptions noted, in accord 

 with that of Saccardo. M. C. Cooke's hand-book of fungi is of conve- 

 nient size and form for ready reference. 



For the convenience, however, of those who may wish to familiarize 

 themselves with both systems, a synopsis of Saccardo's Genera of Hy- 

 menomycetes will be given later. 



STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGARICINI. 



Bj'- far the greater number of the Agaricini have both cap and stem. 

 The form of the cap, as well as that of the stem, varies somewhat in the 

 different genera and species. Those which are terrestrial in habit are 

 generally of an umbrella-like shape, while those which grow upon trees 

 and decayed tree-stumps are apt to be one-sided or semi-spherical. 



In many of the parasitical mushrooms the stem is absent. Where the 

 stem is present it is either an interrupted continuation of the hymen- 

 ophore or fleshy substance of the cap, or else is supported separately as 

 a pillar on which the cap rests, a more or less distinct line of demarcation 

 showing where the fibers terminate. Sometimes it is quite easily de- 

 tached from the cap socket, as in the Lepiota procerus. It may be hollow 

 or stuffed, solid or fibrillose. It varies in length and thickness. In some 

 species it is smooth and polished, in others rough and hairy, reticulated, 

 etc., sometimes tapering, sometimes distinctly bulbous at the base. 



The spores of the species differ in color and are usually globular or ob- 

 long in shape. All of these characteristics assist in determining the 

 species. 



