SOME COMMON MUSHROOMS AND HCW TO KNOW THEM 37 



AGAEICUS PI.ACOMYCES. FI.AT-C'AP MUSHROOM. (En)rBLB) 



In tliis specios tlic c.ip is (hiii, at first l)r(tii(lly ovate, convex or cxitanded 

 and flat in ajje. whitish, adorned with nunuMous minute, brown scales, wliicii 

 boconio crowded in the center, forniinu a lar;re l)rown patch; tlie Kills are 

 close, white, tlien i)inkish, finally hlackisli brown; the veil is broad; the ring 

 is larfje. In the early statues, according to Atkinson,'^ a portion of the veil 

 fre(iuently encircles the stipe like a tul)e, whih- a part remains still stretched 

 over the gills. Tlie stem is smooth, stuffed or hollow, bulbous, white or 

 whitish, the bulb often stained with yellow. 



The cap is 2 to 4 inches broad ; the stem is 3 to 5 inches long and one-fourth 

 to one-half inch thick. 



This species frequents hemlock woods, occurring from July to September 



AGABICUS BODMANI. IMIDMAN'S AGARIC. (EDIBLE) 



In this species the cap is firm, rounded, convex, then nearly plane, white, 

 becoming suhochraceous, smooth or cracked into scales on the disk, margin 

 decurved ; the flesh is white; the gills are narrow, close, white, pink or 

 reddish jtink. finally blackish brown; the stem is solid, short, whitish, smooth, 

 or slightly mealy, squamulose above the ring; the ring is double, sometimes 

 appearing as two collars with space between. 



The cap is 2 to 4 inches broad ; the stem is 2 to 3 inches long and 6 to 10 

 lines thick. 



Afjarlcus rodnmni may easily be mistaken for A. cnmpestris, but can be 

 distinguished by the thicker, firmer flesh, narrower gills, which are nearly 

 white when young, and the peculiar collar, which appears double. This 

 species grows on grassy ground, often springing from crevices of unused 

 pavements or between the curbing and the walk. It is to be found principall.v 

 from May to July. 



AGARICUS SUBRUFESCENS. (EIDIBLE) 



In this species the cap is at first deeply hemispherical, becoming convex 

 or broadly expanded, silky, fibrillose, and minutely or obscurely squamulose, 

 whitish, grayish, or dull reddish brown, usually smooth and darker on the 

 disk ; the flesh is white, unchangeable ; the gills are at first white or whitish, 

 (hen pinkish, finally blackish brown; the stem is rather long, often somewhat 

 thickened or bulbous at the base, at first stuffed, then hollow, white; the 

 annulus is flocculose or floccose squamose on the lower surface. Two addi- 

 tional characters that assist in identification are the mycelium, which forms 

 slender branching rootlike, strings, and the almondlike flavor of the flesh. 



The cap is 3 to 4 inches broad ; the stem is 2% to 4 inches long. 



The plants often grow in large clusters of 20 to 30 or even 40 individuals. 

 They occur in the wild state and have also been reported as a volunteer 

 crop in especially prepared soil. Specimens collected in the vicinity of 

 Washington, D. C, were found growing near the river on a rocky slope rich 

 in leaf mold. Agaricus subrufesccns is considered a very excellent edible 

 species. 



STROPHARIA 



The *ijenus Stropliaria is easily recotjnized among the purple-spored 

 agarics. It is clistingiiished from Agaricus by its usually adnate gills 

 and the continuity of the flesh of the cap and stem. A ring is always 

 present in young plants but often absent at maturity. The edibility 

 of species of this genus is a disputed point among mycophagists. 



^Atkinson, Geokge F. studies of American fungi, p. 24, 2d ed. 1003. 



