7\ MAM IT A. 



Albert, and Schw. Conlp. 143. (Agaricus bulbofus ; 

 Schaff. Fung. v. 4. 61. t. 241. With. v. 4. ,217. A. 

 ovoides albus ; Bulliard t. 364. Leucomyces fpeciofior ; 

 Battar. Arim. 28. t. 6. f. A.) — White in every part. Head 

 convex. Stalk elongated, tapering ; bulbous at the bafe. 



Frequent from fpring to the end of autumn, in rich foil, 



in woods, gardens, about hot-beds, &c. Its fi»e is confi- 

 derable. Bulliard fpeaks of his plant as having a very 

 agreeable flavour, and therefore %ve prcfume it to be one of 

 the eatable /anfi. In the fouth of France it is known by 

 the name of ylgaric oronge blanche, to diftinguifti it from the 

 j1. oronge -vrai ; fee n. 1 1 . The bulbous bafe of the nearly 

 fo'.id Jiali is a charaAeriftic mark. The t-ing is broad, 

 loofely pendulous, permanent. Head almoft hemifphericai, 

 rarely with a /lightly indicated bofs. SchsfFer's plate is too 

 much coloured. The giHs, if not abfolutely white, are 

 fesii-peliucid, or watery, in their appearance. ^' 



9. A. citr'ma. Lemon-coloured Egg-Agaric. Perf. n. 8, 

 not 7. Difp. Meth. 66. Albert, and Schwein. Confp. 143. 



fAgaricus citrinus ; Schacff. Fung. v. 4. 1 1. t. 20.) — Head 

 mooth, convex, lemon-coloured. Stalk and gills white. — 

 This is defcribed as not unfrequent on the continent, in 

 beech or oak woods, where the ground is fandy. Whether 

 it be found in England, we are doubtfal. Mr. Sowerby has 

 exhibited in his t. 286, a pale yellow variety of Agaricus 

 mufcarlus, fee n. 13, for Schasffer's citrinus ; but this is not 

 quite conclufive to us. Perfoon cites Agaricus Mappa, 

 Willd. Berol. 381. Batfch. Elench. 57, as a vaaety of the 

 prefent Amar.itc, diilinguifhed by a darker colour of the 

 head, and yellow gills : he fpeaks alfo of brownilh warts on 

 the head. Willdenow fays the gills of his plant ai-e whitirti. 

 Albertini and Schweiniz, accurate praflical obfervers, fay, 

 " we find the warta upon the head not very rare. The ring, 

 and frequently the Jlali, is diftinguifhed by a palifh lemon- 

 colour. The whole fungus is fometimes half a foot high, in 

 which cafe the head is four inches broad, or more." Per- 

 foon notices appai-ently a ftill different variety, on rotten 

 trunks of trees, diftinguifhed by its elegant fulphnr-colour, 

 flattifh head, and acrid flavour. 



10. A. viridis. Green Egg-Agaric. Perf. n. 9, not 8. 

 Difp. Meth. 67. Albert, and Schwein. Confp. 143. (Aga- 

 ricus bulbofus; Bulliard t. 2, and t. 577. Fungus phal- 

 loides annulatus, fordid^ virefcens et patulus ; Vaill. Parif. 

 74. t. 15. f. 5.) — Head convex, dull green, moftly naked. 

 Stalk and gills white. — Found in fandy moift fhady woods, 

 from Auguft to Oftober, in France and Germany. The 

 •wrapper is inflated, whitifli. Head four or five inches broad, 

 convex, not boffed, of a more or lefs bright green, varie- 

 gated occafionally with brown, and turning olive-brown in 

 decay, v.'hen, according to Bulliard, it exhales an intolerable 

 cadaverous fmell, being a very dangerous fpecies, though 

 when young deilitute of any bad icent or flavour. The 

 head fometimes retains fragments of the wrapper., in the 

 form of v/arts or broad patches, but this feems far from 

 being univerfal or frequent. 



II. A. citfarea. Imperial Egg-Agaric. Perf. n. 10, 

 not 9. (A. aurantiaca; Perf. n. 11, not 10. Agaricus 

 cscfarius ; Scop. Cam. v. 2. 419. Schiff. Fung. v. 4, 64. 

 t. 247. A. aurantiacus ; Bulliard t. 1 20, Fungus pianos 

 orbicularis aureus ; Bauh. Pin. 371. Mich. Gen. 186. t. 77. 

 f. 1. F. ovinus ; Sterbeeck Fung. 64. t. 4. f. D, E, F. 

 Funeorum efculentorum genus 17 ; Cluf. Hift. v. 2. 272.) 

 — Head convex, naked, deep orange-coloured; ftriatedatthe 

 margin. Gills yellow, convex. AVrapper dilated upv/ards. 

 — Native of Italy, France, Camiola, Bohemia, &c., but 

 never obferved in England. The 'wrapper is v/hite, with a 

 dilated entire border. Stalk hoUow, nearly cylindrical, yel- 



lowifli-white, or pale yellow, irom loui' to fi.-i incliCb higL, 

 Head from four to iix inches wide, almoft hemifphericai 

 when young, of a rich deep orange, fmooth and naked, 

 fcarcely ever warty, ftriated near the edge, turning brownifli 

 or purplifh in fading, as in Schjeffer's figure, where it is 

 drawn fomewhat bofled, which we have never feen. The 

 gills are ufually of a deltcRte lemon-colour, as well as the 

 ring. Perfoon rightly fufpefted his A. csfarea and aurantiaca 

 not to be diftinft fpecies ; they do not appear to us to be 

 even varieties, Schseffor's plant being only in a more forward 

 (late than BuUiard's. We retain the oldeft fpecific name, 

 which is that of Scopoli. It ferves to commemorate a.i 

 hiftorical faft, that the emperor Claudius was murdered by 

 poifon given with this fungus, to which the Romans applied 

 the name of Boletus, and which Nero called " the food of the 

 gods," becaufe Claudius had eaten it, who was fubfequently , 

 like his facred compeers, become a god ! The Agaric before 

 us is efteemed the moft delicious and delicate of all fungi. 

 The writer of this has examined and eaten it in Italy, where 

 it is far from rare in fummer, though fo much in requeft, as 

 to find a place chiefly at the tables of the great. Clufius 

 tells of his fuppofing fome foup, at a diftinguifhed man's 

 table in Hungary, made of this fungus, to have been 

 coloured with faffron. Dr. Withering has confounded 

 SchaefFer's plate with Agaricus xerampclinus of the fame 

 author, v. 4. 49. t. 214. Sowerb. Fung. t. 31. With. v. 4. 

 214. Hence he was led into the further miftake of fup- 

 pofing, as his A. xerarKpelinus, though eatable, is ftrong and 

 difagreeable, that Agaricus deliciofus was what Claudius 

 feafted upon. The latter is indeed a very favoury food, but 

 deftined to the vulgar in France and Italy, being by far 

 more abundant than our Amanita cxfarca. The overfight 

 committed by Dr. Withering, refpefting this famous fungus, 

 and his ov/n, as well as SchaefFer's, Agaricus xerampclinus., 

 is the more remarkable, as the latter has neither a wrapper 

 nor a ring. Such errors are rare in this excellent writer. 

 Mr. Sowerby has avoided the fame miftake, though he has 

 not explained it. We decline citing Ehela Ciceronis, Battar. 

 Fung. Arimin. 27. t. 4, C, becaufe no ring is there ex- 

 prefl'ed ; but we do not doubt the identity of the plant. 



Seft. 3. Stalk with an chliterated wrapper at the bafe, and 

 a ring at the upper pari. Warts on the head fmall, and gene- 

 rally equal. To this fedlion Perfoon gives the name of J^fyo- 

 perda, becaufe fome of the fpecies are ufed for killing flies. 

 All of them perhaps are dangerous. 



12. A. mufcaria. Fly Egg-Agaric. Perf. n. i:, not 1 1. 

 Albert, and Schwein. Confp. 143. (Agaricus mufcarius ; 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 1640. Hudf. 612. With. v. 4. j 84. Schsff. 

 Fung. V. 4. 13. t. 27, 28. Sowerb. Fung. t. 286. A. 

 pfeudo-aurantiacus ; BuUiard t. 122. Fungus bulbofus, e 

 volva erumpens, pileolo fupema parte aureo, ad oras ftriato, 

 inferna, et annulate pediculo, albis, radice bulbofa ; Mich. 

 Gen. 188. t. 78. f. 2. Fungi lethales ; Ger. Em. 1581, fig. 

 on the left, at the bottom.) — Head fcarlet, ftiining, convex, 

 at length flattifti, varioufly ftudded with white warts. Gills, 

 ring, and ftalk pure white. AVrapper with fcarcely any 

 remaining border. — Common in v/oods in autumn, efpecially 

 under fir-trees. A large fpecies, confpicuous for the fplen- 

 did orange-red hue of its fattin-like head, contrafted vnth 

 the ffali and gills, and with the prominent angular white or 

 cream-coloured warts, fcattered, more or lels abundantly, 

 over its furface. Thefe warts are formed from the wrapper, 

 torn off" clofe to the bafe of the flali, which Bulliard well 

 obferved, as a fpecific mark between this and our laft. It 

 is highly important to difcriminate them, A. mufcaria being 

 venomous in a great degree. When dried, it renders milk 

 poifonous to flies and bugs, killing them very expeditioufiy ; 



for 



