156 REPORT OF THE 8TATK BOTANIST. 



wrapper ruptures in its upper part, the stem elongates and carries 

 upward the cap, while the remains of the wrapper surround the 

 base of the stem like an open sack or loose sheath. The cap is 

 at first red or orange, but with advancing age it fades to yellow 

 on the margin. Sometimes the whole cap becomes yellow. In 

 dried specimens the red color often wholly disappears. The 

 margin, even in the young plant, is marked by distinct impressed 

 parallel radiating lines or striations. The flesh is white but 

 more or less stained with yellow under the separable epidermis 

 and next the line of attachment of the lamellae or gills. Its taste 

 is mild and pleasant. As in most of our other species of Amanita, 

 the cap, when fully expanded, is nearly flat above, and when moist 

 its surface is slightly sticky or viscid. 



The gills are rounded at the extremity next the stem and are 

 free, that is, not attached or grown fast to the stem. They are 

 yellow, and in this respect are unlike the gills of nearly all the 

 other edible species of mushrooms here described. Generally the 

 color of the gills in the mature plant resembles the color of the 

 spores of that plant, but in this species we have an exception. 



The stem and the flabby membranous collar that surrounds it 

 toward the top are yellow. like the gills, though sometimes they 

 are stained in places by darker or saffron-colored hues. The 

 stem of the young plant contains in its center a soft cottony sub- 

 stance or pith, but with advancing age this disappears and the 

 stem is hollow. This character generally holds good in all the 

 species of Amanita here described. In the very young plant the 

 outer edge of the collar is attached to the margin of the cap and 

 thereb}'^ it covers and conceals the gills, but with the elongation 

 of the stem and the expansion of the cap, the collar separates 

 from the margin and remains attached to the stem only. 



The expanded cap is usually three to six inches broad, the stem 

 four to six inches long and a half inch or more in thickness. 

 Sometimes these dimensions are exceeded. 



The plant grows chiefly during rainy weather or just after 

 heavy rains, in July, August and September. It is found in thin 

 woods and seems to be especially fond of pine woods and a sandy 

 sod. It is not common. It sometimes grows in rings or in the 

 arc of a circle. 



