Jakob E. Lange: Studies in the Agarics of Denmark. II. 3 



with that of the genuine Amanitas; and he therefore proposes to 

 place it — together with Lepiota illinita a. o. — in a new genus, 

 Amanitella. Likewise Roze has parcelled out the ringless species 

 into another new genus, which he calls Amanitopsis. As long 

 as larger and much more heterogeneous genera are not split 

 up, I do not see any good in carving out new genera of 

 Amanita and shall therefore retain the name in its original 

 Friesian sense. 



Fries' systematic arrangement of the genus A. has been but 

 little altered by later authors, nor ought it probably to be. Still 

 by the introduction of microscopic characters, I think it possible, 

 without materially altering the classification, to draw the 

 boundary-lines a little more precisely and attain to a more 

 satisfactory handling of the genus. 



The classification of Fries rests almost entirely upon the 

 nature of the universal (and partial) veil: whether it forms a 

 volva with a membraneous free edge or is circumcised or rudi- 

 mentary. But in a good many cases it is difficult to decide, to 

 which of these types a species belongs. Thus f. inst. A. Mappa 

 is placed by Fries in group I (with a sheath-like volva), A. 

 pantherina in group II; but as a matter of fact the volva of 

 these two species is circumcised in a very similar way. An 

 examination of the spores of the two species will however at 

 once show, that they really do belong to the two different 

 sections, in which they were placed by Fries. 



For purposes of classification the form and size of the 

 spores appear to me to be, in this genus, the most important 

 of the available microscopic data. For although the spores do 

 not present very striking differences (as is the case in some 

 other genera), still they are sufficiently different (and constant) 

 to be used for dividing the genus in sections. Thus A. lenti- 

 cularis (and illinita) has almost globose and small spores, while 

 in the section Amanitopsis the spores are also globular, but 

 twice as large. In Eu-Amanila two types can be fairly well 

 distinguished: the globular and the ovate; for although the 

 globular spores are not absolutely spheric (but generally taper a 

 little towards the pedicel) and the ovate spores often are very 

 broad, still the outline of the two types is clearly different. The 

 ovate spore characterises the sections II and III of Fries (as 

 well as the South-European edible species of sect. I), while the 



