FLOWERLESS PLANTS 



451 



Two or three amanitas are edible, notably A. rubescens 

 and A. ctzsaria, but the variations in size, color, and other 

 characteristics that occur, as they grow under different 

 conditions of soil and weather, are so great, and their resem- 

 blance to the poisonous species so close, that we must pass 

 them over to the specialists. 



A. rubescens is dingy red, and the flesh quickly turns red when 

 broken. The gills are white, and there is scarcely any trace of a cup 

 at the base of the stem, since nearly the whole of the volva is carried up 

 and remains as warts scattered over the cap. A. ccesaria, the imperial 

 agaric, cibus deorum, reddish or orange 

 fading to yellow with age, is one of the 

 most beautiful and " delicious " of mush- 

 rooms. While its cap resembles some- 

 what A. muscaria in color, it rarely has 

 any flocks from the volva on it, and the 

 gills are bright yellow. 



FIG. 185. COMMON MEADOW 

 MUSHROOM 



From Figs. 179 and iSo.we see 

 the general characteristics of this 

 group of deadly plants. No one 

 infallible rule or test can be given 

 to distinguish an edible from a 

 poisonous agaric ; but the death 

 cup or a scaly bulbous stem, the veil 



or annulus, and the white spores, taken together, indicate 

 that a specimen belongs to the amanita family and must 

 be avoided. These poisonous mushrooms are common in 

 the woods but occur on open meadows or lawns. The 

 common meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris, the spe- 

 cies raised for markets, has brown spores, flesh-colored to 

 dark-brown gills, and, since it is not inclosed in a volva or 

 sac in its early stages, it has no cup at base of stem or 



