16 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



seldom found on certain species at maturity. On other spe- 

 cies, the veil is well developed and persists both on the margin 

 of the pileus and on the stipe for a considerable length of time. 

 In many species of Amanita, Agaricus, and Lepiota, this per- 

 sistent ring remains, while in some species of Cortinarius the 

 delicate membrane quickly disappears. In Lepiota procera 

 the ring is quite thick and persistent and easily movable on 

 the stem. In some species of Amanita, this membrane makes 

 a delicate curtain which completely covers the hymenial layers 

 on the gills, and which drops around the stem, when ruptured 

 from the margin of the cap. This veil is usually spoken of as 

 the partial veil. 



The genus Amanita possesses both a veil and a volva. A 

 layer of fungus threads completely surrounds the fruit-body in 

 the immature mushroom, forming what is known as the volva, 

 or, as it is sometimes called, the universal veil. As the stem 

 lengthens and the cap expands, this universal veil ruptures in 

 various ways according to the species. In this rupturing, a 

 more or less well defined " cup " is left at the base of the stem, 

 differing in various species. In some cases, the universal veil 

 becomes torn, and persists on the cortex of the cap in differ- 

 ently shaped " warts '" of floccose scales. In Amanita, for ex- 

 ample, the remnants of the ruptured outer veil are white, floc- 

 cose, rather compact scales, which may disappear entirely in 

 the mature plant, while in Amanita solitaria, the scales are 

 found to be thick and conical, but easily rubbed off, and in 

 Amanita ccesarea, frequently no indications of the ruptured 

 veil can be found on the surface of the pileus. 



The vegetative portion of the mushroom is seldom seen by 

 the casual observer. A mass of hyphal threads composing 

 the reproductive or fruiting body is the part noticed, the vege- 

 tative portions being hidden beneath decaying leaves, or rami- 

 fying within the cell structure of the host plant. 



Key for the Analysis of Connecticut Genera of Agaricacecc. 



The Agaricacea? are subdivided into five divisions: these 

 divisions depending upon the color of the spores when depos- 

 ited upon an opaque surface. After collecting, place the 

 mushrooms, gills down, on opaque paper for a while, and an 



