mushroom, occurs in the borders of woods or in open places in 
thin woods. It differs from the Field mushroom in its thinner 
cap, its longer stem, and in having an abrupt flattened bulb at the 
base of the stem. Its collar generally resembles exactly the collar 
of the Field mushroom, but plants sometimes occur in which it ap- 
pears to be a single lacerated membrane. For this reason the 
plant has sometimes been referred to the Wood-Inhabiting mush- 
room, Agaricus silvicola. But its affinities appear to me to con- 
nect it more closely with the Field mushroom, and I prefer to 
regard it as a variety of that species, and give it the name Abrupt 
variety, var. abruptus, in allusion to the peculiar character of 
the bulb. It occurs in summer and autumn. I have eaten it and 
know it to be edible. 
The Slightly Reddish mushroom, Agaricus subrufescens, 
when compared with the Common mushroom, will be found to 
differ in its thinner cap, in the-very young gills being whitish, in 
its longer hollow stem, which is frequently thickened or some- 
what bulbous at the base, in its collar which is sprinkled with 
minute flocculent tufts beneath, and in the slender branching 
strings of its mycelium. It is quite as large as the Common 
mushroom. The color of the cap varies from whitish to gray or 
dull reddish-brown, and the color of the gills passes from whitish 
to pinkish, and finally to blackish-brown. It has been success- 
fully cultivated, and was found by Mr. W. Falconer in a wild 
state, growing on a compost heap composed chiefly of leaf mold. 
It is manifestly a rare species, but probably a valuable one, be- 
cause of its capabilities as a cultivated species. It may be culti- 
vated through the summer months, when the cultivation of the 
Common mushroom often ceases to be profitable because of high 
temperature and the attacks of insects. It was found wild in 
autumn. 
While approaching slightly the European Reddish variety of 
the Common mushroom, A. campester var. rufescens, in the 
slight reddish tints sometimes seen on its cap, it at once and de- 
cidedly differs from that plant in its flesh, which does not assume 
a red color when cut or broken. 
The Bleeding mushroom, Agaricus hemorrhoidarius, is easily 
known by the character which has suggested its name. When 
its flesh is cut or broken, the part thus exposed promptly as- 
sumes a dull red color, as if blood were about to issue from the 
wound. Mere bruises of the cap, stem, or gills often cause this 
change of color. This also is a very rare species. In all my col- 
lecting, I have met with it but once. It is also a very uninviting 
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