WHITE-SPORED AGARICS. 127 



brown, or in one form green. I know of the Russula furcata having 

 been eaten in rather small quantities, and while in this case no harm 

 resulted the taste was not agreeable. 



Russula fragilis (Pers.) Fr. This plant is very common in damp 

 woods, or during wet weather from July to September. It is a 

 small plant and very fragile, as its name suggests, much more so 

 than most other species. It is 2-4 cm. high, the cap 2-5 cm. broad, 

 and the stem about i cm. in thickness. 



The pileus is convex, sometimes slightly umbonate, then plane, 

 and in age somewhat depressed. The cuticle peels off very easily. 

 The color is often a bright red, or pink, sometimes purple or violet, 

 and becomes paler in age. It is somewhat viscid when moist, and 

 the margin is very thin and strongly striate and tuberculate, i. e., the 

 ridges between the marginal furrows are>tuberculate. The gills are 

 lightly adnexed, thin, crowded, broad, all of the same length, white. 

 The stem is usually white, sometimes more or less pink colored, 

 spongy within, becoming hollow. The taste is very acrid. 



Russula emetica Fr. Poisonous. This Russula has a very wide dis- 

 tribution and occurs on the ground in woods or open places during 

 summer and autumn. It is a beautiful species and very fragile. The 

 plants are 5-10 cm. high, the cap 5-10 cm. broad, and the stem 1-2 

 cm. in thickness. The pileus is oval to bell-shaped when young, 

 becoming plane, and in age depressed. It is smooth, shining, the 

 margin furrowed and tuberculate. The color is from pink or rosy 

 when young to dark red when older, and fading to tawny or some- 

 times yellowish in age. The cuticle is easily separable as in R. fra- 

 gilis, the flesh white, but reddish just beneath the cuticle. The gills 

 are nearly free, broad, not crowded, white. The stem is stout, 

 spongy within, white or reddish, fragile when old. 



The plant is very acrid to the taste and is said to be poisonous, 

 and to act as an emetic. 



Russula adusta (Pers.) Fr. This plant occurs on the ground in 

 woods during late summer and in autumn. It is 3-6 cm. high, the 

 cap 5-15 cm. broad, and the stem is 1-1.5 cm. in thickness. 



The pileus is fleshy, firm, convex, depressed at the center, and 

 when old more or less funnel-shaped from the upturning of the mar- 

 gin, which is at first incurved and smooth. It varies from white to 

 gray and smoky color. The gills are adnate, or decurrent, thin, 

 crowded, of unequal lengths, white, then becoming dark. The stem 

 is colored like the pileus. The entire plant becomes darker in dry- 

 ing, sometimes almost black. It is near Russula nigricans, but is 

 smaller, and does not have a red juice as R. nigricans has. 



