REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 



253 



Amanita Pers. 



In the genus Amanita the very young plant is enveloped in a 

 membrane or a tomentose wrapper which is ruptured by the 

 growth of the plant. In some species the remains of the rup- 

 tured wrapper persist about the base of the stem, forming a kind 

 of cup or sheath ; in others, a part of the wrapper is carried up 

 on the surface of the cap and adheres to it in small irregular 

 patches or in the shape of numerous small warts or prominences 

 which are easily separable from it. It sometimes happens that 

 these superficial warts are washed off by heavy rains. The cap 

 in most of the species is regular and broadly convex or nearly 

 flat when mature, and in some instances it is slightly sticky or 

 viscid when moist. The gills are free from the stem and the 

 stem is furnished with a membranous collar. These plants are 

 generally large and attractive in appearance. Inasmuch as our 

 most dangerous species belong to this genus it is very important 

 that the specific characters of the edible ones should be thor- 

 oughly understood by those who would use them for food. Mis- 

 takes here are attended with too much risk to be lightly made. 

 Some would counsel the rejection of all species of Amanita 

 because of the presence in it of some poisonous ones ; but it would 

 be as reasonable to say we will eat no parsnips because the poison 

 hemlock belongs to the same family, or no potatoes, tomatoes or 

 egg plant because the deadly night shade is closely related. The 

 only thing necessary is the ability to separate the good from the 

 bad in one case just as we do in the other. 



Amanita caesarea Scop. 

 Orange Amanita. 



Plate 15. 



Pileus glabrous, striate on the margin, red or orange, fading to 

 yellow on the margin ; lamellae yellow ; stem annulate; loosely 

 3heathed at the base by the ruptured membranous white volva, 

 yellow; spores elliptical, white, .0003 to .0001 in. long. 



The Orange amanita is a large, attractive and beautiful species. 

 When very young the cap and stem are contained in a white 

 membranous envelope or wrapper not very much unlike a hen's 

 3gg in size, shape and color. As the parts within develop, the 



