20 



Plate III. 

 Marasmius oreades Fries. " Fairy Ring MuHhroomy 



Edible. 



Cap fleshy, convex at first, then nearly plain, pale yellowish red, or 

 tawny red when young, fading to yellow or buff as the plant matures, 

 slightly umbonate, flesh Avhite ; gills broad, wide apart, rounded or 

 deeply notched at the inner extremity, slightly attached to or at length 

 free from the stem, unequal in length, whitish or creamy yellow in color ; 

 stem slender, solid and tough, whitish, generally one to two inches in 

 length and one-fourth of an inch in thickness, showing a whitish down, 

 easily removed, not strigose or villose, as in the Marasmius urens. Spores 

 white. 



This species is usually found in open grassy places, sometimes in rings, 

 or in parts of rings, often in clusters, and writers generally agree as to 

 its agreeable taste and odor. When proj^erly cooked its toughness dis- 

 appears. 



Prof. Peck describes two mushrooms which are somewhat similaf in 

 appearance to the '•'■Fairy Ming,'^ and which might be taken for it by 

 careless observers, viz., the Naucoria semi-orbicularis, sometimes grow- 

 ing in company with it, and the Collybia dryophila, a wood variety which 

 is sometimes found in open places. 



The first of these may be distinguished from the oreades, by the rusty 

 brown color of the gills, its smooth stem and rusty colored spores. In 

 the second the gills are much narrower and the stem is very smooth and 

 hollow. 



The Marasmius urens as described by European authors has a pale 

 buff cap, not umbonate but flat, and at length depressed in the centre, 

 from one to two inches across. The gills are unequal, free, very crowded ; 

 cream color, becoming brownish. The stem is solid and fibrous, densely 

 covered with white down at the base. It is very acrid to the taste. In 

 habit of growth it is subcsespitose ; sometimes found growing in company 

 with the M. oreades. 



Prof. Peck says of M. urens that he has not yet seen an American speci- 

 men which he could refer to that species with satisfaction. Our expe- 

 rience, so far, is the same as that of Prof. Peck. 



Marasmius j^et'onatus has a reddish buff cap, with crowded thin gills, 

 creamy, turning to reddish brown ; the stem solid and fibrous, with yel- 

 lowish filaments at the base. It is acrid in taste and is usually found 

 among fallen leaves in woods. 



Explanation of Plate III. 



lu Plate III, Fig. 1 represents an immature plant ; Fig. 2, cap expand- 

 ing with growth ; Fig. 3, cap further expanded and slightly umbonate ; 

 Fig. 4, mature specimen, cap plane or fully expanded, margin irregular 

 and smooth, stem equal, smooth and riugless ; Fig. 5, section showing- 

 gills broad, free, ventricose, unequal, and flesh white ; Fig. 6, spores 

 white. 



