44 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Viola papilionacea domestica (Bickn.) Poll, 

 Streets and waste places of Port Jefferson. August. This so 

 called variety is so unlike the typical form of the species that to 

 most minds it would be far more satisfactory to consider it a dis- 

 tinct species unless there are connecting forms. 



EDIBLE FUNGI 



Lepiota cepaestipes Sow. 



ONION-STEMMED LEPIOTA 



PLATE 87, FIG. 1-5 



Pileus thin, fleshy in the center, ovate or obtusely conic, be- 

 coming campanulate or expanded, broadly umbonate, soon squamu- 

 lose except in the center, dry, plicate striate on the thin margin, 

 white, the umbo and squamules brownish, flesh white, taste mild; 

 lamellae thin, narrow, close, free, white; stem slender, enlarged 

 toward the base, slightly mealy pruinose or glabrous, stuffed or 

 hollow, white, the slight annulus sometimes evanescent; spores 

 white, .0003-. 0004 of an inch long, .0002-.0003 broad. 



The onion-stemmed lepiota takes its name from the peculiar 

 shape of the lower part of the stem. There is an enlargement below 

 the middle which gives the stem a shape similar to that of the flow- 

 ering stem of an onion. The flesh of the cap is thin except in the 

 center where it is thickened into a prominence or umbo. On the 

 margin it is very thin and marked by closely placed radiating fur- 

 rows or striations with narrow ridges or folds between them. The 

 surface of the cap is covered by a dense flocculent coat or veil which 

 soon breaks into minute scales or points and with the expansion of 

 the cap they give it a roughened or dotted appearance. The veil 

 however remains entire on the umbo and gives it a brownish color. 

 The cap is dry, flexible and slightly tough. The gills are closely 

 placed side by side and do not reach the stem. They are minutely 

 floccose on the edge and white while young and fresh, but they 

 assume a brownish hue with age or in drying, similar to that as- 

 sumed by the gills of the smooth lepiota, L. naucinoides^ 

 under the same conditions. 



The stem is rather long and except in the enlarged part is scarcely 

 thicker than the stem of an ordinary tobacco pipe. Occasionally 

 the enlargement is absent and the diameter of the stem is about the 

 same from top to bottom. In the young plant it is stuffed with a 

 webby pith, but usually it becomes hollow with age. The surface 

 is covered with a slight mealiness but this may disappear when the 

 plant is old. It is white or whitish. This mushroom generally 



