EDIBLE AGARICS 



MEADOW MUSHROOM 

 Agaricus campestris 



Perhaps the one species which enjoys the widest 

 range of popular confidence as the " mushroom " in 

 the lay mind, as distinguished from " toadstool," is the 

 Agaricus campestris, known as the " meadow mush- 

 room " (Plate 5). It is the species commonly exposed 

 in our markets. Its cultivation is an 

 "The" important industry, but it often yields 



mushroom an enormous spontaneous harvest in 

 its native haunts. The plate shows 

 a cluster of the mushrooms in their various stages 

 of development, the detached specimen below rep- 

 resenting the semi -opened condition in which the 

 fungus is usually gathered for market. It will be ob- 

 served that the base of the stem is entirely free from 

 any suggestion of a volva or cup. As its popular 

 name implies, this species in its wild state is one of 

 the voluntary tributes of our late summer and autumn 

 meadows and pastures, though it may occasionally 

 frequent lawns, shrubberies, and barn-yards. In size 

 it varies from two to three and a half 



Description inches across the pileus or cap, which is 



Campestris either smooth or slightly rough, scaly, 

 or scurfy, and creamy white or tawny in 

 color, according to age or variety. The most im- 

 portant distinguishing feature of this species is the 

 color of the gills. If we break away the " veil " in the 



