THE PURPLE-BROWN-SPORED AGARICS 



315 



Agaricus placomyces. Pk. 

 The Flat-cap Mushroom. Edible. 



Placomyces means a flat 

 mushroom. This is one of 

 our prettiest plants. 



The pileus is broadly 

 ovate, rather thin, at first 

 convex, but when it is fully 

 expanded it is quite flat, 

 whitish, brown in the cen- 

 ter, as will be seen in Figure 

 256, but it is covered with 

 a persistent brown scale. 



The gills are white at 

 first, then pink, turning 

 blackish brown, quite 

 crowded. 



The stem is rather long, 

 and slender, cylindrical 

 stuffed, somewhat bulbous 

 at the base, commonly 

 whitish but at times bears 

 yellow stains toward the 

 base, tapering toward the 

 cap. The veil is quite in- 

 teresting. It is broad and 

 double, loosely joined to- 

 gether by threads, the 

 lower or outer veil break- 

 ing first into regular radi- 

 ating portions. The spores 

 are elliptical, 5-6.5^ long. 

 The caps are two to four 

 inches broad and the stem 

 is three to five inches long. 



They are found in lawns 

 or in thin woods. They are 

 much more abundant in 

 hemlock woods though 

 they are frequently found 

 in mixed woods in which 

 there are hemlock trees. 

 The behavior of the veil 

 is very similar to A. arven- 



FigurE 256. Agaricus placomyces. Two-thirds natural size. 



