MUSHROOMS AND OTHER COMMON FUNGI. 11 



Great care should be taken to avoid this species. Many instances of poisoning are 

 well substantiated, and extreme inconvenience and serious illness have resulted from 

 eating very small pieces of the uncooked mushroom. The gills are slow in assuming 

 the green tinge characteristic of this species, but after being allowed to remain in 

 ordinary room temperature the color is quite noticeable. This fungus occurs mostly 

 on grassy places, such as lawns and parks, during the summer months, frequently • 

 forming large "fairy rings." 



Lepiota naucina. Smooth Lepiota. 



Cap smooth, rarely minutely scaly, white or smoky, almost globose when young, 

 then convex, expanding, and becoming somewhat gibbous; flesh white; gills free 

 from the stem, crowded, white, becoming smoky pink when old; stem rather stout, 

 enlarged below, nearly hollow or loosely stuffed; ring adhering to the stem. 



Cap 1| to 3 inches broad; stem 2 to 3 inches long, 4 to 8 lines thick. (PI. V, fig. 2; 

 from C. G. Lloyd.) 



Prof. Peck describes and discusses a form closely allied to Lepiota naucina which 

 he calls L. naucinoides, the differences consisting in the smoother cap and the shape of 

 the spores. This latter character, being a microscopic feature, is of no practical assist- 

 ance to the amateur. These two forms are both edible, but extreme caution must be 

 used in order not to collect poisonous or deadly white Amanitae for specimens of 

 Lepiota before the pink tinge of the gills is apparent. 



Lepiota procera. Parasol mushroom. (Edible.) 



Cap ovate, then expanded with a distinct, smooth, brown umbo, cuticle early 

 breaking up into brown scales showing the white flesh; gills broad, crowded, white, 

 free, and distant from the stem; stem tubular, long, bulbous, generally scaly or 

 spotted, its substance distinct and free from the cap, in which a cavity is left by its 

 removal; ring large and thick, readily movable when old. 



Cap 3 to 6 inches broad; stem 5 to 12 inches long, about 6 lines thick. (PI. VI; 

 from C. G. Lloyd.) 



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 rachodes. (Edible.) 



Cap fleshy, fragile when mature, globose, expanded or depressed, not umbonate, 

 at first covered with a rigid, continuous, bay-brown cuticle, which remains entire at 

 the center, elsewhere reticulated with cracks or separated into loose scales; flesh 

 white, quickly changing to saffron red upon being cut or broken; gills white, crowded, 

 broad in the center and narrowing toward each end, distant from the stem; stem 

 stout, whitish, hollow, smooth in young plant, bulbous; ring thick, movable, with 

 scales on the under side. 



Cap 2 to 5 inches broad; stem 2 to 4 inches long, about 5 lines thick. (PL VII, 

 fig. 2; fromC. G. Lloyd.) 



This species is closely related to Lepiota procera, of which it is sometimes considered 

 only a variety. It differs in its stouter habit, absence of an umbo, and in the change- 

 able flesh, which becomes tinged with red when broken. 



ARMILLARIA. 



The genus Armillaria is another white-spored agaric having a ring 

 and no volva. The gills are attached to the stem and are sinuate or 

 more or less decurrent. The substance of the stem and cap is con- 

 tinuous and firm. This genus may be distinguished from Amanita 



