Agaricus ^&uginosus. Verdigris Mushroom. 



AGARICUS LinnaiGen. PL Cryptogamia Fungi. 



Fungus horizontalis, fubtus lameliofus. 



Rail Syn. Gen. i. Fungi. 



AGARICUS aruginofus ftipitatus, annulatus, annulo fuperne nigricante ; pileo convexo, cseruleo, viridi 

 vifcofo, lamellis purpureo-fufcis. 



AGARICUS viridis ftipitatus pileo convexo viridi, lamellis albidis, ftipite longo virefcente. Hudfon FL 

 Angl.p. 614. 



AMANITA anulatus, pileo convexo casruleo viridi, lamellis rofeo cceruleis. Hatter, hi/l. n. 2444. 



FUNGUS medius pileo muco aeruginei coloris obducto. Rait Syn. ed. 3. p. 6. Deering CataU Stirp.p t 80. 



FUNGUS pileolo cucullato, vifcido, intenfe viridi, et quail vernigine oblito, inferne lamellis et pediculo 

 albis. Micheli p. 152. 



AGARICUS. Schaf. Icon. tab. 1. 



Solitanus, et caefpitofus in fylvis et pafcuis nafcitur, % Grows fingly, and in clufters, in woods and paftures 

 rarior nobifcum. | f car ce with us. 



STIPES biuncialis, feu triuncialis, ex albo virefcens, % STALK two or three inches high, of a greeniih white 

 fiftulofus, annulatus, infra annulum floc-| colour, hollow, ruffled, below the rufflle 



cofus^ teres, fubfragilis, fupra annulum laevis, | ihaggy, round, fomewhat brittle, above the 



fubftrjatus, ad bafm lanuginofus, raro ftrictus. | ruffle fmooth, and {lightly ftriated, at the 



? bafe woolly, feldom perfeftly ftraight. 



ANNULUb perfiftens, tenuis, fuperne ftnatus, e fufco t RUFFLE permanent, (lender, on the upper fide ftriated 

 nigricans, inferne virefcens. | and of a blackiih purple colour, on the under 



? fide greenifh. 



PILEUS unciam aut duas latus, primo convexo-conicus, | CAP from one to two inches broad, at firft fomewhat 

 ex caerulaeo- viridis^ lubricus et fubvifcidus, J roundifh, yet conical, the colour of verdigris, 



laevis, prope marginem et in margine ipfa | flippery and fomewhat vifcid, fmooth, except 



floccis albidis adfperfus, demum planus aut| near the edge, and on the edge itfelf, where it 



parum concavus, e fufco-lutefcens, cuticula? is covered with a whitim, Ihaggy fubftance, 



facile feparanda. | fi na lly fl at? or a n ttle concave , G f a yellowifti 



• • I brown colour, the cuticle eafily peeled off. 



LAMELLAE numerofae, brevionbus interjectis, e fufco- J GILLS numerous, with fhorter ones intervening, of a 

 purpurafcentes, parum nebulofac, demum ni- $ brownifh purple colour, a little clouded 



gncantes. % fi na l] y blackifh. 



Amidft that variety of colour obfervable in the Fungi, there are few in which the green predominates fo much as 

 in the prefent fpecies: hence it affords an obvious character. But, alas ! in thefe plants of a day, we muft not lay 

 too much ftrefs on colour : nimium ne crede colon cannot be better applied to any fubject. It is, however, chiefly in 

 its decline that it lofes that verdigris green, which on its firft appearance renders it fo confpicuous, the cap being 

 often found of a pale yellowifh brown colour, and fometimes variegated with green, yellow, and black. The vifcidity 

 of the cap is as conftant a character as its green colour, and this alfo is moft obfervable in the young ones, efpecially 

 in the morning, or in mowery weather ; for in a very dry atmofphere the moft vifcid Fungi lofe their vifcidity. 

 Next to the greenefs and vilcidity of the cap, we may remark, that the edge of it, where it breaks from the 

 annulns, is very apt to be ragged : we have alfo found, that the outer fkin of the cap has an unufual tendency to 

 feparate from the flefh. The gills, from the very beginning, are of a purplifh brown colour ; and the annulus or 

 ruffle, while connected to the edge of the pileus, receives from the gills a fine powder, which communicates to the 

 upper part of it a dark brown tint ; this, contrafted with the light colour on the underfide, forms a very confpicuous 

 character. The ftalk below the ruffle is ufually of a blueifh green colour, and Ihaggy. 



This Fungus is not very common with us. Several of them appeared this autumn, in a grafs plat in my garden * 

 and t have obierved twenty or thirty in Earl Mansfield's little wood near the Spaniard, Hampftead-Heath, where) 

 if the feafon be not remarkably unfavourable, they are with certainty to be found about the middle of September. 



It has no acrid or difagreeable tafte; neverthelels, we do not venture to pronounce it an eatable one. 



Ray's defcription, though a fhort one, and Sch^ffer's figure, accord exactly with our phut. Haller quotes 

 Schjeffer : we therefore conclude from that circumftance, as well as from the confonancy of his defcription that 

 our plant is the fame as his; and Micheli, who is alfo quoted by Haller, gives a defcription fo exactly 

 correfponding with Ray's, that we have no doubt but his alfo is the fame as ours. ° Whether our plant be the 

 viridis of Mr. Hudson, we have our doubts ; for he quotes authors who defcribe two different Fund; at the fame 

 time that he quotes Schjeffer, tab. 1, (our plant), and Haller, n. 2444, (our plant), he refers to Micheli, 

 Ray, and Scopoli, who defcribe another Fungus. Scopoli gives to his the name of virens ; part of his Diagn. 

 is Stipes nudus. Ray quotes the Fungus magnus viridis of Sterbeck, and the fyharum a/per efcu/entus, feu ex albo 

 Virefcens of J. Bauhine : and Micheli thus defcribes his, Fungus efculentus, pileo puhinato, viridi, inferne cum pedi- 

 culo albo. This defcription is quoted by Scopoli for his virens. Thus it would appear that thefe two are different 

 fpecies ; we muft leave it to Mr. Hudson to reconcile thefe contradictory fynonyma. 



It could be wifhed, that every Fungus was as diftmcl in its characters as the prefent, we mould then foon fee 

 order fpnng from that chaos in which this tribe of plants has been confidered as fo long involved ; not but that 

 chaos which Linnaeus and other Botanifts have fo much lamented, is rather to be confidered as a creature of their 

 own imagination than as the child of nature. The more we look into thefe variable plants, the more we ore convinced 

 that our ignorance of them depends on our inattention and want of obfervation. Beftow the fame pains on- them 

 as on other plants, obferve them in all their ftates, in all their varieties of fituation, and we mail find that each of 

 them has fome peculiarity of character. The difcovery of this character is what we fhould aim at; but this will 

 not be found in the clofet. We may read over, with the moft fedulous attention, Batarra, Micheli, Gleditsch, 

 and Haller, or turn over the multitudinous plates of Sch;effer to little purpofe : to know the Fungi well we 

 muft watch them daily and yearly ; in ihort we rnuji live with them. 



