Agaricaceae 



Amanita. It is possible that persons may, in a degree, become immune to its poi- 

 son, as they do to arsenic, strychnia, opium, nicotine, or it may be that 

 a portion of the poison is extracted by boiling. It is, however, ex- 

 tremely dangerous to rely upon extracting by any means the poison of 

 the Amanita, and to eat the residue. Acetic acid or vinegar does not 

 destroy the poison ; it dissolves it to an extent and extracts it, and be- 

 comes as poisonous as the plant itself. There is no means of telling 

 how much of the poison remains in the plant after such treatment. The 

 safe plan is to eat, only, of toadstools which do not contain any poison 

 to extract. 



One redeeming virtue, alone, rests with A. muscaria it kills flies. 



A. Frost'iana Pk. in honor of Charles C. Frost. POISONOUS. 

 (Plate VI, fig. 5, p. 6.) Pileus convex or expanded, bright-orange or 

 yellow, warty, sometimes nearly or quite smooth, striate on the margin. 

 Gills free, white or slightly tinged with yellow. Stem white or yellow, 

 stuffed, bearing a slight, sometimes evanescent ring, bulbous at the base, 

 the bulb slightly margined by the volva. Spores globose, 8-io/x. in 

 diameter. 



Plant 2-3 in. high. Pileus 1-2 in. broad. Stem about 2 lines 

 thick. June to October. 



This appears like a very small form of the Fly Agaric, to which, as 

 var. minor, it was formerly referred. The only decided characters for 

 distinguishing it are its small size and globose spores. Our plant some- 

 times grows in company with A. muscaria, but it seems to prefer more 

 dense woods, especially mixed or hemlock woods. It is generally very 

 regular and beautiful and has the stem quite often of a yellow color, and 

 the bulb margined above with a collar-like ring. Peck, 33d Rep. N. Y. 

 State Bot. 



West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Mcllvaine. 



A. Frostiana is found well over the land. It is frequent in shady 

 woods and seems to favor ground under the prevailing tree oak, chest- 

 nut, pine, hemlock, whichever it may be. From the many hundreds 

 I have seen, I think it more likely to be mistaken by the novice for A. 

 Caesarea than A. muscaria, because of its often yellow gills and stem. 

 It is much smaller and thinner than either. In the states I have found 

 it, it is darker than described, being a rich reddish-orange or scarlet. 

 The partial veil or ring is very evanescent but often found upon the 



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