REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 



259 



Our State is favored with at least two very good edible species, 

 both of which are easily recognized, if the generic characters are 

 kept in mind. 



Pileus thin, umbonate, adorned with brown spot-like scales ; 

 lamellae white or yellowish-white, free, remote from the stem ; 

 stem very long, annulate, hollow, bulbous ; spores large, ellipti- 

 cal, .0005 to .0007 inch long. 



The Parasol mushroom is a very neat, graceful and attractive 

 species. When young the cap is brownish or reddish-brown and 

 somewhat resembles an egg in shape. Its reddish-brown epider- 

 mis soon breaks up into numerous fragments, and as the cap 

 expands these become more and more separated from each other, 

 except on and near the central boss or umbo. As the cap is 

 paler beneath the epidermis it appears, when expanded, to be 

 variegated by brown spots or scales. The paler surface has a 

 somewhat silky or fibrillose appearance, minute fibrils radiating 

 from the center toward the circumference. The cap sometimes 

 becomes fully expanded, but usually it maintains a convex form 

 like an opened umbrella or parasol. This form, together with 

 the prominent umbo and the long slender stem, is very suggest- 

 ive of the common name of this fungus. The flesh is soft, dry, 

 slightly tough and white. It has no unpleasant odor or flavor. 



The gills are whitish or slightly tinged with yellow. They are 

 closely placed side by side, narrower toward the stem than 

 toward the margin, and their inner extremity is so far from the 

 stem that a conspicuous clear space is left about it. 



The stem is very long in proportion to its thickness and is, 

 therefore, suggestive of the specific name procera. It has a 

 rather thick, firm collar, which in the mature plant generally 

 becomes loosened and movable on it like a ring. At the base it 

 swells out and forms a bulb. Generally the part below the collar 

 is variegated by numerous small brownish dots or scales, but 

 these are by no means a constant character. The stem is hollow 

 or it sometimes contains a soft cottony or webby pith. 



Cap scaly, umbonate 



Cap smooth, Dot umbonate 



L. procera. 

 L. uaucinoides. 



Lepiota procera Scop. 

 Parasol Mushroom. Tall Lepiota. 



Plate 18. 



