ebb 
State MusrEum or NATURAL HISTORY. 47 
stem and even margin of the pileus separate this species from white 
forms of A. muscarius. Authors generally agree in calling it an 
edible species. 
STEM DESTITUTE OF AN ANNULUS. 
Agaricus volvatus, Pk. Volvate Agaric. ileus convex, then 
nearly plane, slightly striate on the margin, hairy or floccose-scaly, 
white or whitish, the disk sometimes brownish, lamellx close, free, 
white; stem equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed, minutely 
floccose-scaly, whitish, inserted at the base in @ large, firm, cup- 
- shaped, persistent volva; spores elliptical, .0004 in. long, .0003 in. 
broad. 
Plant 2 in. to 3 in. high, pileus 2 in. to 3 in. broad, stem 
3 to 4 lines thick. July and August. 
This species is quite rare. It grows in woods and open places and is 
easily distinguished from all others by the absence of the annulus and 
the presence of the large somewhat cup-shaped persistent volva. The pil- 
eus is not smooth as is usually the case in the species with a persistent 
membranous volva, but is more or less scaly with minute tufts of 
fibrils or tomentose hairs. Sometimes the margin is not very dis- 
tinctly striate. The color varies from white to brownish. The lam- 
ellz, which are white in the fresh plant, in the dried specimens 
assume a dull cinnamon-brown hue, except on the edge which remains 
white and is more or less floccose. A volvacews, Bull., has a similar 
volva, but its spores and lamelle are pinkish or flesh-colored and it 
belongs, therefore, to the subgenus Volvaria. 
Agaricus vaginatus, Bull. Sheathed Agaric. Pileus at first ovate 
or subeampanulate, then convex or nearly plane, smooth, rarely 
adorned with a few fragments of the volva, slightly viscid when young 
or moist, deeply and distinctly striate on the thin margin, very variable 
in color; lamellz free, white or whitish ; stem rather slender, equal or 
slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, fragile, nearly smooth or 
minutely mealy-squamulose, not bulbous; surrounded at the base by the 
more or less elongated sheathing flabby volva; spores globose, shining, 
.0008 in. to .0004 in. in diameter. 
Plant 4 in. to? in, high, pilens 2 in. to 4 in. broad, stem 2 lines 
to 4 lines thick. Woods and copses, sometimes on much decayed 
wood. June to October. 
This, like our other common species A. muscarius and A. phalloides 
is very variable. The pileus is generally smooth, but sometimes, es- 
pecially in young plants, it is adorned with one or more irregular frag- 
ments of the volva. ' The thin margin is rather widely striate and the 
striz are so deep and distinct that the margin has;sometimes been de- 
scribed as “sulcate” and “pectinate-sulcate.” The prevailing colors are 
grayish-brown, livid-brown and tawny or echery-brown with their inter- 
mediate shades. The flesh and lamellz are white or whitish, and the stem 
is generally paler than the pileus. Both it and the pileus are some- 
what fragile and the plant is easily broken unless handled with care. 
The pileus is sometimes slightly prominent or umbonate in the center, 
but it is nearly plane and quite regular. In very wet weather this 
and many other species sometimes have the margin a little raised or 
reflexed so that the pileus appears concave or depressed in the center. 
The volva is so fragile that unless care is taken in gathering the 
