■TR introductory description of the Ama- 

 nita presents the most perfect botan- 

 ical type of a large division of the 

 W"^^ fungus tribe, the Agaricacece, or gill- 

 bearing mushrooms, one of the two 

 great orders of fungi which include the large major- 

 ity of edible species. 



A brief consideration of the general classification 

 of fungi will not be out of place at the head of this 

 chapter. 



CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI 



A fungus is a cellular cryptogamous (flowerless) 

 plant, nourished through its spawn or mycelium in 

 place of roots, living in air, and propagated by spores. 



Fungi — mycetes — are naturally subdivided into two 

 great divisions : 



1. Sporifera — those in which the spores or repro- 

 ductive bodies are jiaked or soon exposed, as shown 

 in illustration on page 79. 



2. Sporidiifera — in which the spores are envel- 

 oped in sacs or asci. These resemble in shape the 

 cystidium of illustration on page 79. 



