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thus differing from those of the common mushroom. The warts 
on the cap also distinguish it. I have not found this species 
common here, but it is very abundant in many localities, both in 
this country and in Europe, 
The death-cup and its remains on the surface of the cap should 
always be looked for, and no mushroom of this group should be 
eaten by the beginner, although some of them are most excellent. 
fe) 
learn to know it accurately. The cap is fawn-colored or brownish, 
and its surface is broken up into broad, thick scales, which, being 
a part of the cap, do not separate readily. In the amanita the 
“scales” are parts of the roof of the death-cup and may be easily 
removed from the cap. The parasol mushroom also differs from 
amanita in having a free and movable, instead of a fixed, ring, 
and in having no cup nor fragments of a cup at the base of the 
stem, although the base is swollen. This excellent variety grows 
in thin woods or along the edges of fields. It is one of the best 
to dry for winter use. 
The oyster mushroom, found in dense clusters on decayed 
logs in woods, can hardly be mistaken for any poisonous kind. 
It is attached to the log by its side or by a very short stem, and 
is white throughout, with a slight grayish or brownish tinge. A 
very nearly related edible species, the sapid pleurotus (Pl. 55, 
g. 5), which cannot be distinguished from the oyster mushroom 
by the amateur, grows especially on elm logs in this vicinity. 
The “‘ink-caps”’ are abundant and excellent, and it is almost 
impossible to confuse them with poisonous species on account of 
the peculiar way they have of melting into a black fluid when 
mature. e glistening ink-cap grows abundantly about stumps 
and dead trunks, especially of elm, and appears very early in the 
season. It grew last year on buried wood under a tree in my 
yard, the small, light buff caps appearing by the hundreds in 
dense clusters after rains from April to November. When seen 
in the early morning, when the plants were a and fresh, they 
glistened as though dusted with powdered mica. Later in the 
day, the caps expanded and turned black on ie under side and 
