Jan. 1905] 
Agaricus Amygdalinus M.A. C. 
15 
“Ag. Amygdalinus M. A. C. Peach-Kernel Mushroom. 
“This is fortunately a species that can be determined without mis¬ 
takes ; it is equal in flavor to the best. Indeed, when cooked it cannot 
be distinguished from the Pink-Gill. (Some persons pronounce this in¬ 
ferior to the Pink Gill, and pretend that they can distinguish them when 
cooked. I doubt it. Dr. Warren thinks it superior.) It resembles that 
very much in appearance, and is easily mistaken for it; but its strong 
odour and taste of peach-kernels or bitter almonds will at once determine 
it from all others. When cooked this peculiar flavor is dissipated en¬ 
tirely. To those who are fond of Mushrooms in a crude state this will 
be superior to all others, leaving an exceedingly pleasant after-taste on 
the palate. This does not affect grassy lands so much as the preceding 
species [ Ag. Camp.], but is most common in cultivated manure grounds, 
as in gardens, also about stables and in the borders of rich woods. It 
is from 2-8 in. broad in the cap, according to the richness and mellow¬ 
ness of the soil, with a stem 2-6 in. high gradually enlarged to the base. 
The colour is whitish or yellowish-white in smaller specimens. In larger 
ones it is somewhat rusty, with small fibrous patches of the skin which 
partially detaches from the cap in nearly concentric circles. The gills 
are white before coming flesh or pink coloured, then changing to brown 
and black. The veil is much thicker and heavier than in the other [Ag. 
Camp.], detaching itself from the margin of the cap, and falling down 
upon the stem, where it hangs like a collar for a day or two. 
“Comes up in its proper places during Summer and Fall after rains.” 
Coloured plates of both forms — the large and the small — 
made by Rev. C. J. Curtis accompany this work. 
As no one since Curtis and Ravenel seems ever to have found, 
in the Southern States, any plant approaching Ag. amygdalinus 
as before known, such great uncertainty surrounded the subject 
that C. W. Hyams, in his paper on Edible Mushrooms of North 
Carolina, is prompted to say rather paradoxically: 
“This plant is listed by Curtis, but no description of it can be found, 
and it is a very doubtful species at best. I have found no plant in this 
state which could possibly be this one. It is therefore admitted entirely 
upon his authority.” 
For several years, the writer has had under observation and 
study a plant which agrees in every particular with Curtis’s 
description, and the accompanying plate of the small form of 
Ag. amygdalinus; so that I am convinced that it is the same plant 
as the one known to Curtis. As it appears in this locality I would 
describe it as follows: 
Pileus moist, convex, expanded, slightly umbonate, 4 cm. in diam¬ 
eter ,yellow shading to cream, silky fibrillose becoming floccose squamu- 
lose, squamules yellow, umbo smooth deep yellow, margin extending be¬ 
yond lamellae and sometimes fringed with remains of veil; flesh thin 
3-4 mm. thick at umbo becoming thin to margin; stripe 3J-4 cm. long, 
bulbous, curving, tapering upward, stuffed, yellow floccose below veil, 
smooth and silky above. Gills adnate to free, white then pink to brown, 
becoming chocolate-brown. Veil superior pendant, thick, persistent floc¬ 
cose externally. Spores elliptical apiculate 3.5 fi -4 n x 4.5 a*-5 a* 1 dark 
brown in colour. 
x Note. For the above spore measurements I am indebted to Mrs. 
Flora Patterson of the Agricultural Department. 
