State Museum of Natural History. 47 



stem and even margin of the pilens separate this species from white 

 forms of A. muscarius. Authors generally agree in calling it an 

 edible species. 



STEM DESTITUTE OF AN ANNULUS. 



Agaricus Tolvattis, Pk. Volvate Agaric. Pileus convex, then 

 nearly plane, slightly striate on the margin, hairy or -floccose- scaly, 

 white or whitish, the disk sometimes brownish, lamellae close, free, 

 white; stem equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed, minutely 

 floccose-scaly, whitish, inserted at the base in a large, firm, cup- 

 shaped, persistent volva; spores elliptical, .0004 in. long, .0003 in. 

 broad. 



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

 3 to 4 lines thick. July and August. 



This species is quite rare. It grows in woods and open places and is 

 easily distinguished from all others by the absence of the annulus and 

 the presence of the large somewhat'cup-shaped persistent volva. The pil- 

 eus is not smooth as is usually the case in the species with a persistent 

 membranous volva, but is more or less scaly with minute tufts of 

 fibrils or tomentose hairs. Sometimes the margin is not very dis- 

 tinctly striate. The color varies from white to brownish. The lam- 

 ella?, which are white in the fresh plant, in the dried specimens 

 assume a dull cinnamon-brown hue, except on the edge which remains 

 white and is more or less floccose. A volvaceus, Bull., has a similar 

 volva, but its spores and lamellae are pinkish or flesh-colored and it 

 belongs, therefore, to the subgenus Volvaria. 



Agaricus vaginatus, Bull. Sheathed Agaric. Pileus at first ovate 

 or subcampanulate, then convex or nearly plane, smooth, rarely 

 adorned with a few fragments of the volva, slightly viscid when young 

 or moist, deeply and distinctly striate on the thin margin, very variable 

 in color; lamellae free, white or whitish ; stem rather slender, equal or 

 slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, fragile, nearly smooth or 

 minutely mealy-squamulose, not bulbous; surrounded at the base by the 

 more or less elongated sheathing flabby volva; spores globose, shining, 

 .0003 in. to .0004 in. in diameter. 



Plant 4 in. to 7 in. high, pileus 2 in. to 4 in. broad, stem 2 lines 

 to 4 lines thick. Woods and copses, sometimes on much decayed 

 wood. June to October. 



This, like our other common species A. muscarius and A. phalloides 

 is very variable. The pileus is generally smooth, but sometimes, es- 

 pecially in young plants, it is adorned with one or more irregular frag- 

 ments of the volva. The thin margin is rather widely striate and the 

 striae are so deep and distinct that the margin has sometimes been de- 

 scribed as "sulcate" and "pectiifcate-sulcate." The prevailing colors are 

 grayish-brown, livid-brown and tawny or ochery-brown with their inter- 

 mediate shades. The flesh and lamellae are white or whitish, and the stem 

 is generally paler than the pileus. Both it and the pileus are some- 

 what fragile and the plant is easily broken unless handled with care. 

 The pileus is sometimes slightly prominent or umbonate in the center, 

 but it is nearly plane and quite regular. In very wet weather this 

 and many other species sometimes have the margin a little raised or 

 re flexed so that the pileus appears concave or depressed in the center. 

 The volva is so fragile that unless care is taken in gathering the 



