42 Thirty-sixth Report on the State Museum. 



cent. The spores in our species are quite small, elliptical or sub-ellip- 

 tical in outline and do not vary greatly in dimensions in the different 

 species. 



Fries groups the European species in two sections which he names 

 "Edules," and "Minores." The former group includes the larger 

 and more fleshy species. Several of them are edible and have long 

 been used as an article of food. No representatives of the" Minores" 

 have yet been found in our State. Of the " Edules " we have several 

 species which may again be divided into two sub-groups depending on 

 their usual habitats. Those which grow in open places, manured 

 grounds or cultivated fields generally have a thicker, firmer pileus and 

 a comparatively shorter stouter stem than those that grow in copses 

 groves and woods. It is among these especially that the most notable 

 succulent " mushrooms " are found. 



Synoptical Table of the Species. 



Growing in fields, open places or cultivated grounds 2 



2. Lamellae at first whitish or pallid 3 



2. Lamellae at first pinkish or flesh colored „ A. campestris. 



3. Lamellae narrow, stem solid A. Rodmani. 



3. Lamellae broader, stem stuffed or hollow „ . A. arvensis. 



1. Growing in woods, copses or groves 4 



4. Stem bulbous 5 



4. Stem not bulbous 6 



5. Pileus smooth A. silvicola. 



5. Pileus squamulose A. placomyces. 



6. Pileus two inches or more in diameter A. silvaticus. 



6. Pileus less than two inches in diameter A. diminutivus. 



Agaricus CAMPESTRIS, L. 

 Common Mushroom. Edible Mushroom. Field Agaric. 



Pileus at first hemispherical or convex, then expanded with de- 

 curved margin or nearly plane, smooth silky floccose or hairy squamu- 

 lose, the margin extending beyond the lamellae, the flesh rather thick, 

 firm, white; lamellae free, close, ventricose, at first delicate pink or flesh 

 color, then blackish-brown, subdeliquescent ; stem equal or slightly 

 thickened toward the base, stuffed, white or whitish, nearly or quite 

 smooth; annulus at or near the middle, more or less lacerated, some- 

 times evanescent; spores elliptical, .00025 to .0003 in. long, .00016 to 

 0002 in. broad. 



Plant 2 to 4 in. high, pileus 1.5 to 4 in. or more broad, stem 4 to 8 

 lines thick. 



Fields, pastures, manured grounds, mushroom beds, etc. 



This is the well-known " edible mushroom," a species which is more 

 extensively cultivated and more generally used as food than any other. 

 With proper attention to its characteristic features there is no need of 



