FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLED MUSHROOMS 



warty patches; margin rarely striated; flesh extremely 

 poisonous but not objectionable to the taste, sometimes with 

 a disagreeable odor; smooth; varying in color from pujre white 

 to yellow, yellowish-green, smoky-olive, gray, brown or 

 blackish; i>^ to 5 inches broad. 



Gills white; free from stem; broad; bellied, sometimes 

 adnexed (adjacent to stem). (Murrill.) 



Stem usually white; sharply bulbous at the base; with a 

 wide ring near the upper end; usually white; smooth or 

 slightly scaly; stuffed or hollow; 2>^ to 6 inches long; with a 

 volva or cup at bottom. 



Spores white; smooth; globular; hyaline (glassy); 7-10 

 microns in diameter. 



The poison amanita is very variable in the color of the cap 

 and yet is so definite in its structural characters that only the 

 most careless observer would be likely to confuse it with any 

 other species. There is, however, a sort of deceptive char- 

 acter about it. It is very neat and attractive in its appearance 

 and "looks as if it might be good enough to eat." This 

 appearance is fortified by the absence of any decidedly 

 unpleasant odor or taste, but let him who would eat it beware, 

 for probably there is not a more poisonous or dangerous 

 species in our mycological flora. To eat it is to invite death. 



The differences between Amanita phalloides and the 

 common mushroom are these: 



Poison amanita. Gills persistently white; stem equal to or 

 longer than the diameter of the cap; with a hroad distinct bulb 

 at the base. 



Common mushroom. Gills pink, becoming blackish-brown; 

 stem shorter than the diameter of the cap, with no bulb at the 

 base. Peck. 



Since the Amanita Phalloides occurs usually in woods, or 

 along borders of woods, there is little danger of confusing it 

 with edible mushrooms collected in lawns distant from the 

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