annulate. Gills adnate in full-grown specimens, slightly decurrent, some- 

 what crowded, dingy white or cinereous, turning to dark olive, never yel- 

 lew ; in old or wilted specimens changing to a dark brown. In old speci- 

 mens the cap is a reddish brown and the gills are sometimes stained 

 with the purplish brown of the spores. 



This is a very common sjDecies and very abundant in pine and oak woods. 

 I have seen an oak stumjD in Prince George's County, Md., measuring 

 from 3 to 4 feet in height, literally covered with mushrooms of this species. 

 This mushroom has been recorded as suspicious by some writers, j)rob- 

 ably owing to its slightly bitter taste, but I have thoroughly tested its 

 edible qualities, both uncooked and prepared in various ways for the table, 

 using the caps only. It keeps well when dried, and when ground into 

 powder, with the addition of boiliug water and a little pepper and salt, 

 makes a very pleasant and nutritious beverage. It is most abundant in 

 the early autumn, and is gathered in this latitude well into the winter, 

 even when the snow is on the ground. 



Our American plant is less heavy and more graceful in asjject than the 

 same species in England, as figured in English works, but the general 

 characteristics are the same. 



Ag. (Hypholoma) fascicidaris Hudson, recorded as deleterious, is fig- 

 ured in " Cooke's Illustrations." 



Dr. Berkeley thus distinguishes these two species from each other. Cap 

 of svMateritius is obtuse, discoid ; that of fascicidaris, subumbonate. 

 Flesh of the former, compact, dingy- white ; that of the latter, yellow. 

 Stem in sublateritius is " stuffed," attenuated downwards, ferruginous ; 

 stem of fascicidaris hollow, thin, flexuous. The gills in both species are 

 adnate, crowded ; but in fascicidaris they are also linear and deliques- 

 cent, and are yellow in color. 



• Note. — In the Friesian arrangement of the genera of the order Agari- 

 cini, which is adopted by M. C. Cooke, Hypholoma finds place as a sub- 

 genus of the genus Agaricus, spore series Pratelli. Saccardo in his Syl- 

 loge elevates Hypholoma to the rank of a separate genus and places it in 

 his spore series Melanospoi'se. 



Plate IX. 



Agaricus ( Hypholoma) incertus Peck. {Hypholoma incertum.) 



Edible. 



Cap fleshy but fragile, smooth and hygrophanous, moist : at first con- 

 vex, then expanding ; color creamy white. Gills adnate, narrow, crowded, 

 whitish in young specimens, turning to a pinkish dun color, later to a 

 rosy cinnamon, sometimes showing when mature a slightly purplish tint. 

 Stem smooth, slender, long and hollow, with slight striations near the 

 apex, white. Specimens occur in which the stem is obscurely annulate 



