164 Notes on Fungi. 



volva. Sometimes it is a distinct white membrane, which in 

 an early stage covers the whole pileus, and which, as the plant 

 swells, bursts and appears at the base of the stem as a lobed 

 cup ; sometimes a large portion of it remains on the pileus in 

 the form of mealy or wart-like patches, while the free portion 

 below is a mere rim ; but sometimes, again, it is incorporated 

 more or less with the base of the stem, being entirely 

 irregular. 



Now, every one who has paid the slightest attention to 

 Agarics must be acquainted with the magnificent fly Agaric, 

 which is such an ornament to our birch woods, with its bright 

 scarlet pileus studded all over with white or yellow warts, and 

 there is such a strong family likeness between the species that 

 it is almost impossible to confound an Amanita with a species 

 of another section. 



Amanita * contains some of the most dangerous fungi, but 

 it also comprises a few of the very best. Amanita ccesarea 

 (Fig. 1), distinguished by its bright smooth pileus free from 

 warts, its capacious volva, and its yellow gills, is confessedly 

 one of the most delicious of fungi, and is the pride of southern 

 markets, where it has been known from the times of the 

 Romans, and is the Boletus of the Satirists, as from its pre- 

 eminent qualities it was often made the vehicle for poison. 

 This lovely species, which has a very close ally in the Hima- 

 layas, north of Calcutta, may some day reward the research of 

 mycologists in the south of England or Ireland, as is the case 

 with the coral-red Clathras. There is a species with white 

 gills in Italy, Agaricus ovoides, which closely resembles it, 

 which appears to possess almost equal excellence. 



In England we have one or two which may be eaten when 

 young, but it must be with caution, as the sub-genus contains 

 several poisonous species. Agaricus vaginatus, which has no 

 ring, and is remarkable for its highly developed volva, and the 

 grooved margin of the pileus, which assumes various colours, 

 though it has an evil report when fully grown, may, according 

 to Yittadini and others, be eaten when young. It is, however, 

 seldom abundant enough to be of any great consequence as 

 an esculent. Dr. Badham considered Agaricus solitarius, 

 which sometimes grows to an enormous size, as excellent, 

 if in good condition, and this comprises, perhaps, all of 

 the section which may be eaten with impunity. I should be 

 sorry to sanction a trial of our more abundant species, even 

 when young, as Agaricus rv.bescens, which sometimes grows in 

 enormous quantities, especially in fir woods, where its red 

 stains at once distinguish it. Agaricus virosus bears its own 



* From afiavirai, a name given to certain poisonous fungi, by Dioscorides and 

 Galen. 



