10 CIRCULAR 143, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
easily separable from the cap, in which it leaves a cuplike depression. 
The gills are usually free and are white when young, but certain 
species are pink or green when mature. The ring may be fixed or 
free, and when the plant is young it is readily seen, but before 
FIGURE 7.—Amanitopsis vaginata. (From G. F. Atkinson) 
maturity it may have disappeared. This genus contains some of 
the finest edible species as well as some extremely dangerous ones. 
LEPIOTA PROCERA. PARASOL MUSHROOM. (EDIBLE) 
(Fig. 8) 
In the parasol mushroom the cap is ovate, then expanded with a distinct, 
smooth, brown umbo, the cuticle early breaking up into brown scales showing 
the white flesh; the gills are broad, crowded, white, free, and distant from 
the stem; the stem is tubular, long, bulbous, generally scaly or spotted, its 
substance distinct and free from the cap, in which a cavity is left by its 
removal; the ring is large and thick, readily movable when old. 
The cap is 8 to 6 inches broad; the stem is 5 to 12 inches long and about 
6 lines thick. 
This very attractive and graceful species may be collected in pastures, lawns, 
gardens, thin woods, or roadsides. It occurs singly or scattered, appearing 
during summer and early fall, and is considered an excellent edible species. 
LEPIOTA MORGANI. GREEN GILL, (POISONOUS) 
(Fig. 9) 
In this species the cap is fleshy, globose when young, expanded to plane or 
slightly depressed, not umbonate, white with a yellowish or brownish cuticle, 
