ATKINSON: SIX SPECIES OF AMANITA 247 
tinguished. from the robust, white, 4-spored species, not only 
by its 2-spored basidia, but by its more slender form. In nearly 
all cases one can distinguish it by size alone from small forms of the 
robust, 4-spored species, without a microscopic examination. 
However, in several hundred specimens I have examined during 
the last ten or more years I have not found a single case of a 
variation in the 2-spored character of the basidia. It is a very 
distinct genetic type and represents a good species. This inter- 
pretation is reinforced by the fact that, in several of the genera 
of the agarics, there are a number of constantly 2-spored species. 
Another species, Amanita cothurnata,* is interpreted by some 
as specifically identical with Amanita pantherina.{ Amanita 
cothurnata is entirely white, or, rarely, in some individuals there is 
a tinge of umber over the center of the pileus, or now and then 
individuals are found with a slight tinge of yellow at the center. 
The volva is circumscissile in both species. The white calyptra 
is torn into small floccose patches which are distributed quite 
regularly over the surface of the pileus. In Amanita pantherina 
the pileus is a dark smoky brown, and these white patches on the 
dark background are suggestive of the spotted appearance of the 
panther, whence the name pantherina. The lower part of the 
volva in both species is ‘“‘cothurnate’’ or “booted” concrete with 
the stem, the “limb” in Amanita cothurnata terminating in a 
thick, regular shoulder or roll, like the top of a closely fitting 
buskin. This species differs from Amanita pantherina chiefly 
in its color, and in its more slender habit, as can be seen from 
these lantern-slide reproductions of photographs. 
At maturity the granular content of the oval, or short-ellipsoid 
spores usually disappears and is replaced by a large globose oil drop 
of about the same dimensions as the transverse diameter of the 
spore. This large glistening oil drop is very distinct in contrast 
with the nearly transparent, thin, spore wall, which is rather 
Studies of Am. Fungi, Mushrooms, Edible, etc., rst edition, p. бо. f. 59. — 1900; 
2d ed. тоот). It is, however, quite different from the Amaniia verna of France 
(Agaricus vernus Fr. ex Bull. Champ. Fr. pl. 108) as I have found from specimens 
since collected in France 
* Amanita cothurnata Atkinson, Stud. Am. Fungi, Mushrooms, etc., 1st edition, 
р. 66. 7. 68, 69. 1900; 2d ed. тоо 
T Coker, W. C. Jour. Elisha Sedi Sci. Soc. 33: 46. 1917. 
