The illustrations of this species show neither warts nor traces of a volva and we should 
think a beginner would naturally think it was a Lepiota should he meet a specimen. 
The occurrence of this species in the U. S. is exceedingly doubtful. Curtis lists it from 
N. C. but he questions his own determination and Bundy (extremely poor authority) reports 
it from Wisconsin. 
SUBGENUS AMANITOPSIS. 
Ring 1 none. Saccardo has separated the species devoid of a ring from the 
genus Amanita under the name Amanitopsis hut inasmuch as it only complicates 
the system of classification we have preferred to retain them under one genus. " 
Fig. 7. Amanita vaginata, (from photograph.) 
Section 6. 
Volva persistent, pres¬ 
ent when the plant is ma¬ 
ture, though in some spe¬ 
cies so deeply in the 
ground that it is apt to 
be overlooked. 
KEY. 
Pileus deeply sulcate.'- 
Pileus striate (not sulcate)f 
Pileus with even margin.{ 
"Spore globose. Pileus with 
few warts, . . 29 vaginata. 
-Spores globose. Pileus war= 
ty. Gills somewhat ad= 
nate,.30 velosa. 
-Spores elliptical, 
31 agglutinata. 
{Margin striate, volva large, 
32 volvata. 
{Margin even. Gills adnate, 
33 adnata. 
{Margin even. Gills free, 
34 pusilla. 
29. Amanita vagi¬ 
nata. Pileus naked or 
with a few warts; deeply 
sulcate. Volva lax. Gills 
free. (See Stevenson, p. 
11 .) 
T There is no more common 
species in this country nor 
one that is more variable. 
The beginner is sure to make 
several species of it. It is re¬ 
corded from every section. 
Cal. to the Atlantic. It varies 
in size from a couple of inches 
to ten inches, and in color 
from light umber to tawny 
orange. We have near Cin¬ 
cinnati two colors which no 
one at first would suppose 
could be the same species: 
first deep umber in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity of the city 
where 1 have never found the 
next; second, a bright orange 
tawny color about 20 miles 
south in Kentucky where it 
seems to be the only form to 
occur. The volva of this spe¬ 
cies is deep in the ground and 
will only be noticed by dig¬ 
ging up the plant. 
^Besides according to Stevenson the ring is present in vaginata. He makes the rather 
paradoxical statement, “the ring though obsolete is present, more or less conspicuously at the 
base of the stem, disclosed in the volva.” We have never seen any trace of a ring. 
8 
