A M A 



for which purpofe it is preferved in fome countries all the 

 year round; Bulliard records, that he ate two ounces of 

 this fungus raw, without any harm whatever, though he 

 found it fatal when given to cats or dogs. Perfoon mentions 

 1 variety by the name of A. formofa, whofe warts were loofe 

 and yellowifh, the Jlali likewife being yellowifh, very long, 

 a-d loofely fcaly. Alfo another, called A. puella, which 

 is fmaller, moftly naked, or only bordered with the warty 

 i'ubllance ; this is SchasfFer's t. 28. Dr. Withering reduces 

 the two following, perhaps, to the fame fpecies ; but fo 

 many authors have kept them feparate, efpecially Albertini 

 and Schweiniz, that we (hall follow Perfoon in the fame 

 meafure. 



13. A. umbrina. Brown Warty Egg-Agaric. Perf. 

 n. 13, not 12. Albert, and Schw. Confp. 143. (Agaricus 

 verrucofus ; Hudf. 613. Curt. Lond. fafc. 5. t. 72. A. 

 maculatus ; Schxff. Fung. v. 4. 39. t. 90. Fungus mufcas 

 inlerficiens fufcus, macidis albis ; Buxb. Hallenf. 121.) — 

 Head of a footy or tawny brown, flattifh, varioufly ftudded 

 with white warts. Gills, ring, and ftalk white. — More 

 common than the preceding, but often accompanying it, in 

 dry fandy woods, fields and paftures, efpecially under beech- 

 trees, through the autumn. Withering, Curtis, and Light- 

 foot confider this as a mere variety of A. mufcaria, differing 

 in the brown colour of its head, often tihged with yellow, 

 or faintly with red. The fize of the whole plant is ufually 

 iomjwhat fmaller. We have made no particular obferva- 

 tioiis on tliis fubjeft. Colour in this tribe often affords good 

 fpecific charafters, and we (hould, moreover, be careful, in 

 all the departments of natural hiftorj', not to be led away 

 by any one very peculiar mark, like the warts in the prefent 

 inftance, to confider every thing, that has fuch a mark, as 

 one fpecies. Even Linnxus often fell into this error. We 

 know not how the queftion is to be decided refpefting thefe 

 f'lngi, their artifi:cial propagation by feed being attended 

 with fo much difficulty. It is fufficient that we here regifter 

 their names and diftinftions, under the correftion of any 

 perfon who may find good reafons for uniting them. The 

 poifonous quality of A. tnr.brina, with refpeft to flies, is 

 acknowledged in the above fynonym of Buxbaum. Curtis 

 however found the bafe of the ftilk to be the favourite food 

 of a nondefcript fpecies of Tipula, fmaller than the plumofa, 

 whofe larve foon devour that and every other part of the 

 plant. 



14. A. rubefcens. Bluili-coloured Egg- Agaric. Perf. 

 n. 14, not 13. Albert, and Schwein. Confp. 144. (Aga- 

 ricus puftulatus ; SchasfF. Fung. v. 4. 39. t. 91.) — Head 

 convex, opaque, reddifh. Warts crowded, white like the 

 gills. Flelh turning red when broken. — Native of beech 

 woods in Germany, in autumn. We know nothing of its 

 occurrence in Britain, for Br. Withering's fifth variety of 

 the mufcaria may probably be different from what is before 

 as. Albertini and Schweiniz affert that the head znA Jlalk 

 iivariably turn red, fooner or later, after being broken, and 

 that this is a fure fpecific left. The head feems more convex 

 than that of A. umbrina. Its hue, according to the authors 

 juft quoted, is occafionally reddifh, livid, fmoky, or inchn- 

 ir.g to a liver-colour. Stalk two inches high. Tajle fcarcely 

 any. We conceive this to be diftinft from both the forc- 

 ifoing, whatever may be'the cafe between them with regard 

 to each other ; and its ufual appearance is very elegant, 

 owing to the delicate tawny fleih-colour of the head, ftudded 

 v/ith copious white, or pale flefh-coloured, wm-ts. Perfoon 

 has a variety under the name of circinnata, for which he cites 

 with doubt Agaricus myodes, Schaeff. Fung. v. 4. 69. t. 261. 

 The charafter given by Perfoon is, " Head hemifpherical, 

 fomewhat umbihcated, reddifh. Warts oblong, whitifh, 

 circularly difpofed. Gills. flattilh, whitifti. Stalk bulbou-. 



A M A 



fcaly, the coloifr of the head." He adds that tjie JlalL is 

 two niches long, folid, always perforated by worms (or 

 mleas) at the bafe. Gills obovate, fometimes decurrent in 

 a tooth-hke form. Subftance reddifli under the cuticle. 

 Tafte not unplcafant. It occurs, but rarely, in woods durl 

 ing autumn. Schxffer's figure exhibits a molt elegant 

 blufh-coloured fungus, internally red, when cut, which we 

 can have no hefitation in confidering one fpecies with Per- 

 foon's circinnata and rubefcens. 



15. A. virefcens. Greenifh Egg -Agaric. Perf. n. ij, 

 not 14 — « Head fl^fhy, flat, palifli-green. Warts thick, 

 whitifli, with many angles. Stalk ftoutifh, wliite, with 

 fhaggy fcales."— In woods, but extremely rare. Stalk three 

 or four inches long, clothed with foft (haggy fcalee. 

 F/rapper nearly obliterated. Subfl:ance of the head fpongy, 

 from four to fix lines in thicknefs, not unpleafant to the 

 tafte. 



16. A. ampla. Broad Egg-Agaric. Perf. n. 16, not 15. 

 — " Head flefhy, very broad, moufe-coloured ; fmooth at 

 the margin. Warts thickifh, paler. Stalk white, folid, 

 very ftout. Gills narrow, ratlier thick." — Found in fir 

 woods in Germany, but rarely. Perhaps the largeft of its 

 genus. Stalk four or five inches long, tranfverfely fcaly at 

 the fummit. Gills thick, about three lines only in breadth. 

 Head minutely, in fome degree, fibrous, and after the -warts 

 fall off, cellular. Tafte hke the Common Mufliroom, Aga- 

 ricus campejlris. Perfoon. 



17. A. afpera. Rough-headed Egg -Agaric. Perf. n. 17, 

 not 16. Obf. Mycol. V. 2. 38. (" Agaricus afper ; Abbild. 

 der Schwamme, fafc. 3, with a plate." A. verrucofus ; 

 Bulliard t. 316. A. myodes ; Bolt. Fung. v. 4. t. 139, 

 excluding both fynonyms.) — Head hemifpherical, flefhy, 

 compaft, duflvy red, rough with crowded pointed warts. 



Gills white, crowded. Stalk rather bulbous Not rare in 



woods, about July, Auguft, or September, growing dif- 

 perfed. It has been obferved in Germa^.y, France, and 

 England. Perfoon fays the fcent is powerful ; Bulliard, on 

 the contrary, defcribes this fpecies as inodorous, vWth a fait 

 tafte, partaking but little of a mufhrcom flavour, and he 

 prefumes it to be poifonous. This author juftly adverts to 

 the affinity of his plant to our Amanita mufcaria, obferving 

 that it is white or reddifh under the ficin, never, hke tlie 

 mufcaria, yellow. Perfoon in his excellent Obf. Mycol. gives 

 the following accor.nt. " Head at firit ovate, inclining to 

 cylindrical ; when expanded fix inches broad, half an inch 

 thick, compadt in fubltance, ftrong in fcent, often itreaked 

 with white at the margin, from cracks in the cuticle. IVarts 

 fmall, eredt, pointed. Gills, as ufual with this genus, thin, 

 unconne6led. Stalk from four to fix inches high, folid, 

 marked towards the bafe, wth httle fcaly warts, like rudi- 

 ments of the -wrapper. Ring fometimes almofl obhterated, 

 and hanging in fragments to the edge of the head." 



The ivrapper in ail the fpecies of this third fection is, 

 indeed, fo clofely united to the bafe of the jlali, as to con- 

 ftitute a kind of bulb, but there' is a marginal dilatation, 

 lefs vifible in A. afpera than any other, which evinces the 

 true nature of the part in queftion. This fpecies, though 

 generally fo verj' convex, even hemifpherical, appears by 

 Bulliard's plate, to affume a concave cup-ftaped form in 

 advancing towards decay. 



AMARANTHI, the 30th natural order in Juflicu's 

 fyfteni, being the firft of his feventh clafs. See Nycta* 

 GiNES for the charafters of this clafs. The following arc 

 the charafters of the Amaranthi. 



Calyx divided, more or lefs deeply, often furroundcd by 



fcales at the bafe. Stamens definite, fometimes diflind, 



fometiincs monadelphous ; in fome genera there are fcales 



alternate with the filaments ; in others the combined fila- 



P p 2 racntb 



