FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLED MUSHROOMS 



with brown, spot-like scales; when young, the cap is brownish 

 or reddish-brown and somewhat resembles an egg in shape. 

 Its peel soon breaks up into numerous fragments and as the 

 cap expands, these become separated except on and near the 

 center of the cap; flesh soft, slightly tough and white; mild 

 odor and flavor; 3 to 5 inches broad. 



Gills white or yellowish- white; close together; their inner 

 extremity so far from the stem that there is a clear space 

 about it. 



Stem very long in proportion to its thickness; with a 

 rather thick, firm collar or ring which, when matiire, generally 

 becomes loosened and movable upon it; bulbous at or near 

 the base; with scales or brownish dots below the ring at 

 times; hollow or pithy; 5 to 10 inches long. 



Spores white; large; elliptic; .0005 to .0007 inch long. 



The parasol mushroom is a very neat, graceful and attrac- 

 tive species. The cap sometimes becomes fully expanded but 

 usually it maintains a convex form like an opened umbrella or 

 parasol. 



There is no poisonous species with which it can be con- 

 fused. The very tall, slender stem with its bulbous base, 

 the peculiarly spotted cap with its prominent darker colored 

 umbo (knob) and the broad space or basin about the insertion 

 of the stem and between it and the gills, easily distinguish 

 this mushroom. 



The parasol mushroom has been highly commended and is 

 evidently a first-class edible species. Peck. 



This handsome edible species is found in thin soil in mead- 

 ows, pastures and open woods from New England to Alabama 

 and west to Nebraska. It is widely distributed in Europe 

 and Asia where it is highly esteemed as an article of food, in 

 some places being dried in quantity for winter use. On 

 account of its scaly cap and bulbous stem, it must be care- 

 fully distinguished from species of Amanita. Murrill. 

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