IS94-] 357 I Fill low. 
Europe, but 1 would call attention to the occurrence in this 
country of certain edible fungi having a taste of almonds. In 
the first place, it shouW be said that I was unable to distinguish 
the odor of almonds in the fungi received from Colonel Rives, 
but it is a well-known fact that the odors of fungi are short-lived. 
The almond taste was w^ell marked and very agreeable, and wdien 
cooked the fungi seemed to me more delicate and palatable than 
the ordinary cultivated form of Ag. campestris. The almond 
taste naturally suggested that the fungi in question were of the 
sj^ecies to which the late M. A. Curtis, an authority on the 
subject, gave the name of Ag. amygdalinus. An account of the 
edible properties of this fungus was given by Curtis in the Journal 
royal horticultural society, 1870, and reprinted in W.Robinson's 
Mushroom culture, p. 147. It is there stated that Ag. amygdali- 
nus is a new species closely allied to Ag. arvensis, and that the 
taste of almonds is lost on cooking, as was the case also in the 
specimens sent from AVashington. Tiie name Ag. amygdalinus 
first occurs in Curtis's list of the fungi in tlie Geological and 
natural history survey of North Carolina, p. 90,. 1867, and is later 
given by Cooke and Berkeley in Fungi, their nature and uses, 
p. 88, 1875, and by Ravenel in South Carolina, resources and popu- 
lation, institutions and industries, p. 355, 1883. In none of the 
citations given is there a technical description of Ag. amygdolinus 
and we can only say that the species designated by Curtis under 
that name is closely related to Ag. aroensis and characterized by 
its peculiar taste. If I am correct in believing that no descrip- 
tion of Ag. amygdalinus has ajipeared in print, the name cannot 
be accepted by botanists. In this connection it is of interest to 
know that in Curtis's copy of Ravenel's Fungi Caroliniani Exsic- 
cati, Vol. Ill, No. 3, is a specimen which according to the label 
is Ag. fahaceus Berk. There is a note in Curtis's handwriting 
stating that this number is Ag. amygdalinus Curtis. Further- 
more, in the Cuitis herbarium there are five specimens marked 
Ag. amygdalinus^ viz., "1243, in arvis arenosis, June, Society 
Hill; 1236, in hortis et sylvis, May, 1849, Society Hill, 1045, 
Rich soil in gardens, Nov. Santee Canal, Ravenel; 886, Sprague, 
Mass." ; also two unnumbered specimens collected in Aug. and 
Sept., 1849. In the case of the first named specimen the name 
was originally written Ag. arvensis and afterwards corrected to 
Ag. amygdalinus. In the other cases, the name first written was 
Ag. fahaceus changed later to Ag. amygdalinus. 
