17 



aio :i pure wliite tliroii^lioiil, aiid both stoiu and piloiiH are covci'od witli 

 small c-halk-white mealy tul'ts. Jieikcloy says, '' this species is })robably 

 of exotic origiu, as it never grows in the open air."' It is also met with 

 in the hothouses of Europe. Specimens have been received from con- 

 tributors who gatliered thorn in greenhouses in ditlerent localities. Tliis 

 species should not be confounded with tlu^ purplish-brown spored mush- 

 room Agaricus (Psalliota) cretaceus, which has pink gills turning to 

 dark brown and is allied to the common meadow mushroom. 



Lepiota cretacea is a delicious mushroom when broiled, or cooked in a 

 c-haiing dish, and served on hot buttered toast.. It has a pleasant taste 

 when raw. 



Lepiota Morgwii Peck, the '■'■Green- Spored Lepiota^' is an exception 

 to the general type of Lepiotas in the color of its gills and spores. It is 

 western and southern in its range. This species is described by Peck in 

 the Botanical Gazette of March, 1897, p. 187, as follows : " Pileus fleshy, 

 soft, at tirst sub globose, then expanded or depressed, white, the brown- 

 ish or alutaceous cuticle breaking up into scales except on the disk ; 

 lamelloe close, lanceolate, remote, white, then green; stem firm, equal, or 

 tapering upwards, sub-bulbous, smooth, webby-stuffed, whitish, tinged 

 with brown, anuulus rather large, movable ; flesh both of the pileus and 

 stem white, changing to reddish, and then to yellowish hue when cut or 

 bruised ; spores ovate, sub-elliptical, mostly uninucleate, .0004 to .0005 

 inches long, .0003 to .00032 broad, sordid green. 



" Plant 6 to 8 inches high, pileus 5 to 9 inches broad, stem to 12 lines 

 thick. Open dry grassy places. Dayton, Ohio. A. P. Morgan." 



AGARICINI. 



Genus Cortinarius Fries. This genus is distinguished by a cob-web- 

 like veil, dry persistent gills, which in the mature plants become dis- 

 colored, and pulverulent with the rusty or ochraceous-colored spores. 

 The veil is very delicate, resembling a spider's web. It is not concrete 

 with the cuticle of the cap, but extends from its margin to the stem, in 

 the young plants sometimes concealing the gills, but disappearing as the 

 cap expands. Sometimes a few filaments are seen depending from the 

 margin of the cap or encircling the stem. 



In the young plants of this genus the gills vary very much in color. 

 They are whitish, clay-color, violet, dark purple, blood-red, etc., according 

 to species, but, as the plants mature, the gills become dusted with the 

 rust- colored falling spores, and with age usually become a rusty 

 ochraceous, or cinnamon color. The stem in some of the species is dis- 

 tinctly bulbous and in others equal, cylindrical, or tapering. In identi. 

 fying the species it is necessary, in order to ascertain the true color of 

 the gills, to examine the plants at ditl'erent periods of growth. 



The genus Cortinarius is a large one, and contains many beautiful 

 species. It is mainly confined to temperate regions. Not a single 



I 



