Agaricaceae 



PILOSACE Fr. 



PUosace. Hymenium differentiated from the stem. Gills free from the stem ; 



general and partial veil both absent, 



(Plate > CV.) hence there is no ring on the cen- 



tral stem. Spores purple-brown. 

 A peculiar genus, with the habit 

 of Agaricus, but without a trace of 

 a ring. Massee. 



P. eximius Pk., 24th Rep. N. Y. 

 State Bot. , is the only species thus 



SECTION OF PILOSACE ALGERIENSIS. 



far reported in America. Edible qualities unknown. 



STROPHA'RIA. 



Gr. a sword-belt. (Referring to the ring. ) 



stropharia. Flesh of stem and pileus continuous. Veil present, when ruptured 

 forming a distinct ring on the stem. Gills more or less adnate. 



On the ground or epiphytal. 



Separated from all the genera of the purple-spored series but Agari- 

 cus by the presence of a distinct ring, and from that by the continuity 

 of flesh in stem and pileus, and by the gills not being free. Pileus 

 somewhat fleshy, sometimes viscid. 



The species belonging to this genus are rather small, and from their 

 habitats are frequently passed or overlooked. Yet many of them are 

 common and plentiful. Those which have been tested are excellent and 

 worth seeking in their season. The entire genus has been under a 

 cloud. Writers upon it assert some of its members to be dangerously 

 poisonous. So far as carefully tested by the writer no doubtful one has 



348 



