290 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [ocroBER 
buttons which were shipped to me, and which opened in transit or 
after reaching here, this inner veil did not separate from the stem, but 
remained as fundamental tissue clothing the stem (jig. 7, where the 
outline of the cortex of the stem is shown within). 
_ The stem is stout and comparatively short. The volva is circum- 
scissile, but the lower half, which remains attached to the base of the 
stem, is large, with an ample, stout, free limb forming a large sac-like 
structure resembling that of the Amanitas with apical dehiscence, 
though the edge is more even. Within the basal portion of the volva 
and surrounding the stem there is often present a narrow collar or 
secondary sheath, the origin and nature of which, to my knowledge, 
have never been carefully described in any Amanita, for it is usually 
overlooked. 
This inner collar or secondary sheath I have studied carefully in 
Amanita caesarea of Europe, while studying the higher fungi in the 
Jura Mountains of France, from specimens collected at Besangon and 
Arbois, in September, 1905. PLOWRIGHT? has called attention to 4 
similar inner collar in specimens of Amanitopsis spadicea, and pro- 
posed to employ it in separating this species from A. livida, the two 
being usually brought together under this name, but he offered no- 
suggestion as to its significance or origin. I have observed it and 
studied its origin also in Amanitopsis livida Richon & Roze and do 
not think that much specific importance can be attached to it, since 
it varies so in strength in different specimens and is often so obscure 
when it remains, as it sometimes does, closely applied against the 
base of the stem. Great credit, however, is due to Mrs. BALLEN for 
having made such careful observations on the presence and nature 
of this interesting structure in the California Amanita, the more S° 
since there is no published description of such a structure, and her 
observations, though later than mine on Amanita caesarea and 
Amanitopsis livida, were entirely independent of them, and made 
before she had called my attention to the existence of this species. 
Longitudinal sections of the young plants when in the more 
advanced “egg” stage show all of the principal parts well formed. 
The pileus and stem when cut or bruised often turn a pale straw 
> Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 1897-8:40. See ATKINSON, Mushrooms, edible, 
poisonous, etc. 75. st ed. 1900, Ithaca. 2d ed. rgor, Ithaca, and 1993; New York. 
