152 Thirty-fifth Report o^' the State Museum. 



Cuticle of the Pileus Dry. 



PROCERI. 



Annulus persistent, movable, distinct from the volva. 



This tribe is distinguished by its species having a well-developed 

 annulus, which soon breaks loose from its attachment to the stem and 

 thus forms a movable ring upon it, and a distinct cavity or depression 

 in the pileus beneath the umbo for the reception of the stem. 



The only representative thus far found in our State is A. procerus, 

 but A. rhacodes, A. excoriatus, A. mastoideus and A. Morgani have 

 been reported from neighboring States and will probably yet occur in 

 our limits. All the European species of this tribe are classed by Fries 

 as edible. 



Agaricus procerus, Scop. 



Tall Agaric. Parasol Mushroom. 



Pileus at first ovate, then broadly convex or expanded, strongly 

 umbonate, scaly or spotted from the breaking up of the cuticle, whitish 

 alutaceous or brownish, the deflexed margin generally silky-fibrillose, 

 the flesh soft, white ; lamellae close, free or remote, whitish, sometimes 

 tinged with yellow or pink ; stem tall, cylindrical or slightly tapering 

 upward, bulbous, hollow, squamosc or furfuraceous, colored like the 

 pileus, sometimes spotted, the annulus thick, firm, movable, white ; 

 spores large, elliptical, -00055' — 0007' long, -000.35' — 00045' broad. 



Plant 5' — 10' high ; pileus 3' — 6' broad ; stem 4" — 6" thick. 



Fields, pastures, roadsides and occasionally in woods. July to Sep- 

 tember. 



This Agaric resembles a parasol in shape, whence the popular name. 

 It is easily distinguished from the allied species by its long stem, 

 movable ring and prominent umbo. Generally the scales of the pileus 

 are rather broad and distant from each other toward the margin, but 

 closer toward the umbo on which the cuticle usually remains unrup- 

 tured. For this reason the umbo is generally darker colored than the 

 rest of the pileus. Sometimes the scales are appressed and spot-like, 

 again they are slightly reflexed and then they give a rougher appearance 

 to the pileus. They may be brownish, tawny-brown or reddish -brown 

 in color. They often disappear almost wholly from the margin of the 

 pileus which then has a whitish silky appearance. The stem is 

 remarkable for its great length when compared with its thickness and 

 is suggestive of the specific name, procerus. In extreme cases it is 

 nearly or quite a foot long, though rarely more than half an inch thick. 

 In a dried specimen before me the stem is nine inches long and one- 

 fourth of an inch thick. The surface of the stem is in mauv cases 



