8 



face of the soil show a distinct volva at the base of the stem. In the 

 mature plant this disappears, often leaving the slightly bulbous base 

 quite smooth. 



Plate Xm. 



Ag. ( Amanita 1 strobiliformis Fries (Amanita strobiliformis). '' Fir-cone Munh- 



roomy 



Edible. 



Cap fleshy, convex at first, then expanded, covered with persistent white 

 warts, margin even, white : flesh white, firm and compact ; gills rounded 

 behind and free from the stem, white ; stem solid, the bulbous base taper- 

 ing, furrowed with concentric and longitudinal channels at the root, and 

 extending well into the ground, white ; ring large, soon splitting : volva 

 breaking up and appeariug in concentric ridges upon the stem. Spores 

 white. 



This mushroom is very pleasant to the taste when raw as well as when 

 cooked. It is found in light woods or on the borders of woods where the 

 soil is somewhat friable, generally solitary, but sometimes two or three 

 are found clustered together. The plants ai'e sometimes so large that 

 two or three of them would make a very good meal. Specimens have 

 been found with the cap measuring 8 to 9 inches across when expanded, 

 the stem varying from 6 to 8 inches in height, and from 1 to 3 inches in 

 thickness. When youDg the plants are generally snowy white through- 

 out, changing with age to a dingy white or cinereous hue. The specimens 

 figured in the plate formed one of a cluster of three mushrooms of this 

 species found growing in the fir woods of the District of Columbia. 



During some seasons I have found the strobiliformis, or " Fir-cone 

 mushroom," fairly plentiful in some parts of Maryland, and in other sea- 

 sons it has been lare. The whole plant when young is enclosed in a white 

 membranous wrapper. 



Although this species is very generally recognized by mycologists as 

 edible, I would advise great caution in selecting specimens for table use, 

 since there is a dangerous species which might be mistaken for it by one 

 not familiar with the characteristics of both species ; I refer to a form of 

 Amanita muscaria with ochraceous yellow cap which, when faded or 

 bleached by the sun and rain, sometimes approaches, in tint, the dingy 

 white of old or faded specimens of the strobiliformis. Both species have 

 white gills, white stems, and lohite flocculent veil. The volva is evanescent 

 in both, leaving traces of its existence in concentric ridges at the base, 

 and part way up the stem. 



In the species strobiliformis, the flesh of the cap is white throughout, 

 as well as the cuticle. 



In the yellowish muscaria, the flesh immediately beneath the cuticle 

 of the upper surface of the cap is yellowish, frequently deepening at the 

 disk to orange hue. 



