GENERA AND SPECIES OF MUSHROOMS 



Gills white; free from stem; rarely tinged with yellow. 



Stem furnished with a collar or ring; bulbous at the base; 

 the bulb as well as the base of the stem is scaly at times from 

 the adhering fragments of the wrapper or universal veil, the 

 remains of which do not form such a well-defined cup or 

 sheath as is the case in some other amanitae, such as Amanita 

 phalloides; white or slightly tinged with yellow; 4 to 6 inches 

 long. 



Spores white; broadly elliptic; .0003 to .0004 inch long. 



The fly amanita is one of our most common poisonous 

 species. It is also very variable in color and in the size of its 

 cap. It is generally a most showy and attractive plant. I 

 have seen a single cap surrounded by a circle of lifeless flies 

 that had sipped the viscid juice from its moist surface and 

 fallen victims to its virulent properties before leaving the 

 place of their fatal repast. . . . Some of the people of 

 northern Asia make an intoxicating liquor of this fungus by 

 steeping it in water. Peck. 



Infusions of it are used as a fly poison. It is a striking and 

 handsome plant because of the usually brilliant coloring of 

 the cap in contrast with the white stems and gills, and the 

 usually white scales on the surface. Atkinson. 



The poisonous properties of this fungus are due to a principle 

 known as muscarin which is used as a medicine and the 

 antidote to which is atropin, an alkaloid extracted from the 

 belladonna plant. 



Amanita phalloides; poison amanita; destroying angel; 

 deadly amanita. Plate III, Species 6. 



On ground, in woods, groves, open places and bushy 

 pastures; July to October; POISONOUS. 



Cap bell-shaped or almost globular when young, becoming 

 nearly plane when mature; surface slightly viscid (sticky) 

 when fresh and moist; smooth or decorated with scattered 



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