40 MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE 



The gills are free, with sometimes a little tooth behind, running clown the 

 stem, white, broad in front. 



The stem is white, squamulose, bulb rugulose, ring superior and entire. The 

 spores are 8x6/*. 



When the flesh fs bruised or eaten by insects it assumes a reddish-brown color, 

 and in this respect it resembles A. rubescens. The odor is strong but the taste 

 is not unpleasant. In woods from June till October. The collector should be 

 sure he knows the plant before he eats it. 



Amanita ccusarea. Scop. 



The Orange Amanita. Ediblk. 



I 

 The Orange Amanita is a large, attractive, and beautiful plant. I have 



marked it edible, but no one should eat it unless he is thoroughly acquainted with 

 all the species of the genus Amanita, and then with great caution. It is said to 

 have been Caesar's favorite mushroom. The pileus is smooth, hemispherical, bell- 

 shaped, convex, and when fully expanded nearly flat, the center somewhat elevated 

 and the margin slightly curved downward ; red or orange, fading to yellow on the 

 margin ; usually the larger and well-developed specimens have the deeper and richer 

 color, the color being always more marked in the center of the pileus ; margin dis- 

 tinctly striate ; gills rounded at the stem end and not attached to the stem, yellow, 

 free and straight. The color of the gills of matured plants usually is an index 

 to the color of the spores but it is an exception in this case as the spores are 

 white. 



The stem and the flabby membranceous collar that surrounds it toward the 

 top are yellow like the gills, the depth of the color varying more with the size 

 of the plant than is the case with color of the cap. Sometimes in small and 

 inferior plants the color of both stem and gills is nearly white, and if the volva 

 is not distinct it is difficult to distinguish it from the fly mushroom, which is very 

 poisonous. The stem is hollow, with a soft cottony pith in the young plants. 



In very young plants the edge of the collar is attached to the margin of the 

 cap and conceals the gills, but with the upward growth of the stem and the ex- 

 pansion of the cap the collar separates from the margin and remains attached 

 to the stem, where it hangs down upon it like a ruffle. 



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

 four to six inches long and tapering upward. 



When in the button stage, the plant is ovate; and the white color of the 

 volva. which now entirely surrounds the plant, presents an appearance much like 

 a hen's egg in size, color, and shape. As the parts within develop, the volva 

 ruptures in its upper part, the stem elongates and carries upward the cap, while 



