THE WHITE-SPORED AGARICS 



21 



with a few fragments of the volva, white, grayish white, sometimes smoky-brown ; 



whether the pileus be white, oyster-color or smoky-brown, the center of the cap 



will be several shades darker than the margin. The plant changes from a knob 



or egg-shape when 



young, to almost flat 



when fully expanded. 



Many plants have a 



marked umbo on the 



top of the cap and 



the rim of the cap 



may be slightly turned 



up. 



The gills are always 

 white, wide, ventri- 

 cose, rounded next to 

 the stem, and free 

 from it. 



The stem is smooth, 

 white unless in cases 

 where the cap is dark, 

 then the stem of those 

 plants are apt to be of 

 the same color, taper- 

 ing upward as in the 

 specimen (Fig n) ; 

 stuffed, then hollow, 

 inclined to discolor 

 when handled. 



The volva of this 

 species is quite vari- 

 able and more or less 

 buried in the ground, 

 where careful obser- 

 vation will reveal it. 



One need never con- 

 found this species with 

 the meadow mush- 

 room, for the spores 

 of that are always 

 purple-brown, while a 

 spore-print of this will 

 always reveal white 

 spores. I have seen a slight tint of pink on the gills of the A. phaloides but the 

 spores were always white. Until one knows thoroughly both Lepiota naucina 

 and A. phalloides before eating the former he should always hunt carefully for 

 the remains of a volva and a bulbous base in the soil. 



Figure ii. Amanita phalloides. Fr. Showing volva at the base, cap dark. 



