30 A PLAIN AND EASY ACCOUNT 



ance, that it would be almost impossible to mistake any 

 unwholesome species for the true Parasol Mushroom. 



The most delicate of the Lepiotas is one found in 

 Northamptonshire (.4. gracilentus). It has also a 

 thin cuticle breaking up into scales or patches. The 

 stem is long, hollow, and slightly bulbous ; but, unfor- 

 tunately, it is too unfrequent to be of any service as a 

 source of food. In all of the four species of Lepiota 

 now named, the pileus is fleshy and scaly ; the ring is 

 moveable ; the base of the stem more or less bulbous ; 

 and the gills are distant from the stem. 



The sub-genus Armillaria is a small one, and con- 

 tains but one species said to be edible. The three 

 other species found in Britain are either local or 

 uncommon. The veil is but partial, the substance of 

 the hymenophorum, on which the gills are arranged, is 

 continuous with the stem, and the gills are not free as 

 in Lepiota. Varieties occasionally occur from which 

 the ring is absent, at least in some of the species, if 

 not in all. 



The very common fungus Agaricus melleus, which 

 constitutes the one edible species of this sub-group 

 (PL 3), is found growing in dense tufts on dead stumps. 

 It is of a pale reddish-brown colour with a tint of 

 yellow, and is much eaten on the Continent, though 

 possessed of an acrid taste when raw. The pileus, 

 when fully developed, presents a level, plane surface, 

 clad with fibrous scales. The stem is elastic, the gills 

 white and mealy, hooked or toothed at the end. 



Reports are various as to the qualities of this species ; 



