i8 
Colorado Experiment Station 
ground. The remains of this covering, known as the volva, forms 
a sheath or coating of loose scales around the base of the stem 
after the fungus is full grown, but as it is usually hidden under the 
surface of the soil, the base of the stem should be carefully dug up 
in order to show this character. In some of the Amanitas, more¬ 
over, small portions of the upper part of the volva remain as loose 
patches or warts upon the top of the cap and thus help in the iden¬ 
tifying of the specimen. 
just as the fungus emerges from the volva, by the rapid length¬ 
ening of the stem, a second or inner membrane may be seen which 
joins the margin of the cap or pileus to the upper part of the stem 
and covers the gills from view. By the spreading of the pileus, this 
membrane is torn loose from its margin and clings as a loose ring 
upon the upper part of the stem, where it may be found in most 
species as long as the fungus lasts. 
The following descriptions refer principally to the mature 
plant. 
The Deadly Amanita (Amanda phalloides) — Poisonous. 
Cap —Two to three inches broad; varying in color from nearly 
pure white to smoky brown in different varieties; smooth, often 
with one or more small patches of the whitish volva sticking to it. 
Gills —Wide, numerous, white. 
Spores —White. 
Stem —Three to five inches high, enlarged at base, white or 
tinged with the color of the cap, pithy or hollow. 
Ring —Curtain-like, near upper end of stem. 
J 7 olva —Cup-like or sheath-like, white or yellowish white. 
Occurs in woodlands or recently cleared ground where leaf 
mold abounds. While this fungus has not been seen in this,state 
by the author, it should be looked for and carefully avoided, as it 
is one of the most poisonous plants known, when eaten. 
The Fly Amanita (Amanita muscaria)—Poisonous. 
(See colored plate.) 
Cap —Two to four inches broad, bright orange or light scarlet, 
thickly sprinkled with small, yellow-white warts or fragments of 
the volva which stick closely to the smooth surface. 
Gills —Usually white or sometimes faintly tinged with yellow, 
broad, numerous. 
Spores —White. 
Stem —Three to six inches long, enlarged and coated with 
scaly fragments of the volva at the base, pithy, becoming hollow 
white or tinged with pale yellow. 
