Notes and Brief Articles 



101 



A very handsome and beautifully illustrated handbook of the 

 Amanitas of the eastern United States, by W. C. Coker, appeared 

 last summer as a double number of the Journal of the Elisha 

 Mitchell Scientific Society, published at Chapel Hill, North Caro- 

 lina. This handbook contains the results of the work of years 

 in the vicinity of Chapel Hill and other parts of eastern North 

 America. Dr. Coker and his assistants have collected a great 

 many specimens and made excellent notes and photographs of 

 them. Seven species of Amanitopsis are recognized and nearly 

 thirty species of Amanita, most of them illustrated with halftones. 

 Although some mycologists may not entirely agree with all of 

 Dr. Coker's conclusions, they cannot question his scientific activity 

 and the quality of his photographs. 



A very interesting collection of fleshy and woody fungi was re- 

 cently sent to the Garden for determination by Miss M. McKenny, 

 of Olympia, Washington. The collection contained good dried 

 specimens, colored drawings, complete field notes, and spore 

 prints. Some of the specimens were also dipped in paraffin and 

 sent in a fresh condition ; a method which seems to work very 

 well with firm specimens that are not infested with insects. 

 Among the species in this collection, may be mentioned : Armillaria 

 albolanatipes, a perfectly sterile form of Stropharia ambigua, and 

 a species of V enenarius which seems to lie somewhere between 

 V. pregammatus and V . umbrinidiscus. Miss McKenny also re- 

 ports having tested Stropharia ambigua and found it to be edible ; 

 which is a valuable thing to know, since this species is exceedingly 

 abundant on the Pacific coast. 



