State Museum of Natural History. 43 



and abrupt or depressed, though it sometimes is small and approaches 

 an ovate form. The large bulbs are sometimes split externally in two 

 or three places and are, therefore, two or three-lobed. In such cases 

 the volva is less persistent than usual and its free portion then furnishes 

 merely an acute edge or narrow margin to the bulb. Specimens some- 

 times occur in which the margin of the pileus is narrowly adorned 

 with a slight tomentose villosity, but usually it is perfectly smooth 

 and even. By this character taken in connection with the membran- 

 ous volva and bulbous base of the stem, the species is readily dis- 

 tinguished. Sometimes a strong odor is emitted by it, but usually the 

 odor is slight. Authors generally pronounce this a poisonous and 

 very dangerous species. Its appearance is attractive, but its use as 

 food is to be avoided. 



Agaricus russuloides, Ph. Eussula-like Agaric. Pileus at first ovate, 

 then convex or expanded, at first rough with a few superficial warts, 

 soon smooth, viscid when moist, widely striate-tuberculale on the margin, 

 pale-yellow or straw color ; lamellae close, free, narrowed toward the 

 stem, white ; stem firm, smooth, stuffed, equal or slightly tapering up- 

 ward, bulbous, furnished with a thin subevanescent annulus ; volva 

 fragile, subappressed ; spores broadly elliptical, .0004 in. long, .0003 in. 

 in. broad. 



Plant 2 in. to 3 in. high, pileus 1.5 in. to 2 in. broad, stem 3 

 lines to 5 lines thick. June. 



This rare species was found in grassy places in open woods, 

 several years ago, and has not been met with by me since. It is 

 remarkable for and easily known by the widely striate margin of 

 the pileus. The tuberculate appearance is due to short trans- 

 verse veins or wrinkles which intervene beween and connect the 

 lamellae and give to the surface of the pileus an appearance simi- 

 lar to that seen in many species of Russula. The dried speci- 

 mens look very much like small dried forms of A. ccesareus, but 

 they have not the perfect volva of that species. The bulb is ovate and 

 the volva fragile and easily broken into fragments. Its nearest rela- 

 tionship is with A. muscarius, from which its smoother pileus and 

 peculiar margin at once distinguish it. 



Agaricus muscarius, L. Fly Agaric. Pileus at first ovate or hemi- 

 spherical, then broadly convex or nearly plane, slightly viscid when 

 young and moist, rough with numerous whitish or yelloivish warts, 

 rarely smooth, narrowly and slightly striate on the margin, white, yel- 

 low or orange-red ; lamellae white ; stem equal or slightly tapering 

 upward, stuffed with webby fibrils or hollow, bearing a white annulus 

 above, ovate-lmTbous at the base, white or yellowish ; the volva usually 

 breaking up into scales and adhering to the upper part of the bulb and 

 the base of the stem; spores elliptical, .0003 in. to .0004 in. long, .00025 

 in. to .0003 in. broad. 



Plant 5 in. to 8 in. high, pileus 3 in. to 6 in. broad. June to October. 



The Fly Agaric, or " False Orange" as it is called in France, 

 is a common and variable species. It occurs in thin open woods 

 and in bushy pastures. The fine ornamentation of its warts and 

 its beautiful colors make it a very showy and attractive species. I 

 have not seen it with the bright blood-red or scarlet colors attributed 

 to the European plant, but it is usually more or less orange-colored 

 when young, fading to yellow with advancing age, either wholly 



