STROPHARIA. 405 



inferior, soon stained with the dark spores ; spores elliptical, 

 ends rather acute, blackish-purple, 12 x 6 /t. 



Agaricus (Stropharia) semiglobatm, Batsch, Elench., fig. 110 ; 

 Fries, Hym. Eur., p. 287 ; Cke., Hdbk., p. 200 ; Cke., Illustr., 

 pi. 539. 



On dung. 



Smaller and more slender than S. stercoraria, stem hollow, 

 straight, about 3 in. long, 1 line thick, equal, even, glabrous, 

 yellowish, apex paler, becoming spotted with black by the 

 spores, the rest smeared with the glutinous veil terminating 

 abruptly above in an incomplete (not membranaceous) viscid 

 ring that is distant from the pileus. Pileus rather fleshy, 

 hemispherical, not expanded, very obtuse, usually about 

 H in. broad, even, viscid, yellow. Gills adnate, very broad, 

 plane clouded with black: Spores as in S. stercorarim, 

 purple-brown. Although occurring everywhere, yet varying 

 little. (Fries.) 



Solitary or gregarious, stipes 3-6 in. high, 2-3 lines 

 thick, pale yellowish, hollow, more or less crooked, somewhat 

 incrassated at the base, firm, glutinous, furnished with a 

 ring, and generally dotted with black immediately beneath 

 the pileus. Pileus half an inch to one inch and a half in 

 breadth, exactly hemispherical, rarely becoming in large 

 specimens plano-convex, yellow or pale reddish orange, very 

 shining, and smooth, the flesh thin and white. Lamellae 

 rather numerous, broad, fixed, horizontal (extending in a 

 straight line, or nearly so, from the margin of the pileus to 

 the stipes), beautifully mottled with the purplish-black 

 sporidia. (Grev.) 



B. SPINTKIGEEI. 



Stropharia caput-Medusae. Fr. 



Pileus 1-2 in. across, fleshy, fragile, ovate then expanded, 

 often lacunose, squamulose, discoid, umber-brown at the 

 centre, circumference dingy ochraceous ; gills adfixed, 3 lines 

 broad, ventricose, clay-colour then pale umber ; stem 2-4 in. 

 long, up to in. thick, whitish, below the ring with concen- 

 trically arranged imbricated, squarrose squamules, smooth 

 above the superior, persistent ring ; hollow ; spores purple- 

 brown, elliptic- fusiform, 10 x 4 p. 



