WHITE-SPORED AGARICS. 83 



this is left on the base of the stem and then resembles a short, free 

 limb of a volva, and suggests a species of Amanita. The scales, 

 however, are concrete with the pileus, and the species appears to 

 show a closer relationship with Lepiota. 



ARMILLARIA Fr. 



In the genus Armillaria the inner veil which forms a ring on the 

 stem is present. The stem is fibrous, or the outer portion cartilagin- 

 ous in some species, and not easily separable from the substance of 

 the pileus (continuous with the hymenophore), and the gills are 

 attached to the stem, sinuate, or decurrent, spores white. Peck, 

 43rd Report N. Y. State Mus., p. 40-45, describes 6 species. 



Some of the species resemble very closely certain species of Ama- 

 nita or Lepiota, but can be distinguished by the firm continuity of 

 the substance of the stem and cap. 



Armillaria mellea Vahl. Edible. This is one of the most common of 

 the late summer and autumn fungi, and is widely distributed over 

 the world. It grows about the bases of old stumps or dead trees, or 

 from buried roots. Sometimes it is found attached to the living roots 

 of trees. The plant occurs in tufts or clusters, several to many indi- 

 viduals growing together, the bases of their stems connected with a 

 black rope-like strand from which they arise. The entire plant is 

 often more or less honey colored, from which the plant gets its specific 

 name. Its clustered habit, the usually prominent ring on the stems, 

 and the sharp, blackish, erect scales which usually adorn the center 

 of the cap, mark it as an easy plant to determine in most cases. 

 The colors and markings, however, vary greatly, so that some of the 

 forms are very puzzling. The plant varies in height from lo-i 5 cm., 

 the cap from 5-10 cm. broad, and the stem 4-10 mm. in thickness. 



The pileus is oval to convex and expanded, sometimes with a slight 

 umbo or elevation at the center. The color varies from honey color 

 to nearly white, or yellowish brown to dull reddish brown, usually 

 darker on the center. In typical forms the pileus is adorned with 

 pointed dark brown, or blackish, erect, scales especially abundant 

 over the center, while the margin is often free from them, but may 

 be marked with looser tloccose, brownish, or yellowish scales. Some- 

 times there are no blackish pointed scales anywhere on the cap, only 

 loose floccose colored scales, or in some forms the cap is entirely 

 smooth. The margin in old specimens is often striate. The pileus 

 is usually dry, but Webster cites an instance in which it was viscid 

 in wet weather. 



The gills are attached to the stem squarely (adnate) or they are 



