SoMt; Colorado Mushrooms 
L 9 
Ring —Soft and clinging, often breaking and disappearing in 
old plants, yellowish white. 
Volva —Soft, breaking up into scales or fragments which cling 
loosely to the enlarged base of the stem and sometimes disappear 
in old plants. 
Occurs almost entirely among trees in moist places in gulches 
and mountain parks or in forests of Lodgepole pine. It is not un¬ 
common, but is so striking in appearance with its brilliantly co* 
ored cap adorned with whitish warts that it can scarcely be mis¬ 
taken for any other fungus. While perhaps not quite so deadly as 
the first species, it is very dangerous when eaten and has taken its 
toll of lives in almost every country of the world. The common 
name, “Fly Amanita,” which has been applied to this plant, is due 
to its poisonous effect upon flies. The writer has seen specimens 
of this mushroom, left to dry in the open air, which were sur¬ 
rounded by a circle of dead flies that had fed upon this natural fly 
poison. 
Undoubtedly, other species of Amanitas occur occasionally in 
our state, but any person who becomes familiar with the two de¬ 
scribed should have little or no difficulty in recognizing them as 
belonging to this genus. Any umbrella-shaped fungus which has 
zvhite spores, a ring on the stem and a volva at the base of the stem 
is an Amanita and should not be eaten. These characters, together 
with the fact that these fungi are confined to woodlands or the near 
proximity of trees or recently cleared forest should make it readily 
possible to entirely avoid them. 
The Lepiotas. 
The Lepiotas closely resemble the Amanitas in certain respects, 
as they have white spores and a ring on the stem, while the cap is 
in most species scaly at maturity. The volva, however, is entirely 
lacking and this furnishes the most important distinguishing char¬ 
acter between the two genera. The scales on the cap of a Lepiota, 
moreover, are part of the cap itself, the outer layer of which be¬ 
comes broken up as the cap enlarges. The ring, also, is better de¬ 
veloped than in the Amanitas and in some species becomes free 
from the stem and capable of being moved up and down. 
Morgan's Lepiota (Lepiota Morgani )— Dangerous. 
Cap —Four to eight inches broad, sometimes larger; rounded 
and later flattened; whitish with numerous brownish or yellowish 
scales, thicker at the center. 
Gills —Crowded, not quite reaching the stem, whitish at first 
then becoming greenish in color. 
