314 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



is fortified by the absence of any decidedly unpleasant odor or 

 taste, but let him who would eat it beware, for probably there is 

 not a more , poisonous or dangerous species in our mycological 

 flora. To eat it is to invite death. 



The cap is wholly destitute of warts and of striations on its 

 margin. It varies in color, from white to a dark smoky-brown. 

 In the most common form it is white or a very pale greenish- 

 yellow, as if it was white slightly tinged with yellow or green- 

 ish-yellow. I have never seen in it the decidedly green or olive- 

 green colors which it appears often to have in Europe, and which 

 are often indicated in figures of this species. There are two 

 brown forms, one having the cap grayish-brown, as in figures 1 

 and 2, the other having it a dark smoky-brown, as shown in 

 figures 3 to 5. The forms having a grayish or grayish- brown 

 cap sometimes have the center of the cap darker colored or 

 almost black. In Europe there is a white form with a black cen- 

 ter to the cap. 



The gills are persistently white. They are rather broad, rounded 

 at the end next the stem and free from it. 



The stem is white in the white-cap forms, but in those having 

 a dark-brown cap it is usually tinged with brown, but is paler 

 than the cap. The same is true of the collar. These dark-col- 

 ored forms are more frequent in the cool woods of mountainous 

 regions than elsewhere. When young the stem may be stuffed 

 with a cottony pith, but it becomes hollow with age. The bulb 

 at the base of the stem is an important character and should 

 always be taken into consideration in the identification of ihe 

 species. It is very abrupt, broad and distinct. Its breadth is 

 often greater than its length. It is generally narrowly margined 

 on the upper side by the remains of the wrapper. Sometimes 

 this margin is reduced to a mere acute rim. It is distant from 

 the stem, not closely pressed as in the Yernal amanita, and is 

 frequently split or notched. 



The cap is three to five inches broad, the stem three to six 

 inches long and one-third to one-half an inch thick. The bulb 

 is from one to one and a half inches broad. 



The Poison amanita grows in woods, groves, open places and 

 bushy pastures, and may be found from July to October. It is 

 a common fungus. 



