TAXONOMY 



277 



the surface of the ground as a button similar to that of the edible 

 mushroom. This enlarges and assumes a dumbbell shape. The 

 whole button is covered by an ouster veil, known as the velum univer- 

 sale, which encloses the pileus, gills and stipe. As the stipe lengthens 

 more rapidly than the pileus, the upper part of the veil is stretched 

 and finally breaks in its middle portion. The lower part remains as 



FIG. 146. The deadly amanita, Amanita phalloides. Note the cup at the base 

 of the stipe. (Gager, from photo by E. M. Kittredge^ 



a cup, out of which the stipe grows. The upper part is carried up as 

 shreds adhering to the margin of the pileus. The lower part is 

 called the volva or death cup. The annulus present is a false annulus, 

 for it represents a peeling down of the upper part of the stipe. Both 

 have chalk-white gills, a white stipe, and white spores. 



