3. AGARICUS PLACOMYCES, 345

AGAR´ICUS. _Agaricon_, a Greek name for fungi, said to be derived from the name of a town, Agara. =Pileus= fleshy, flesh of the stem different from that of the pileus, furnished with a distinct ring. =Gills= at first enclosed by the veil, free, rounded behind, at first white or whitish, in some species this stage lasting but a short time, then pink or reddish, at length dark purplish-brown from the spores. =Spores= brown, brownish or reddish-purple. On the ground, generally in pastures, meadows or manured ground, a few species occur in woods. Analogous with Lepiota of the white-spored series. Stropharia also bears a ring and has similar colored spores, but is separated by the flesh of stem and pileus being continuous and the gills being more or less adnate. Formerly in Agaricus as sub-genus Psalliota (_psallion_, _psalion_, in poetry, a ring). When Psalliota was raised to generic rank it was given the name of the great genus Agaricus as a mark of distinction on account of its including the most widely known and useful mushroom of the world—Agaricus campester. The name Psalliota is not in modern use. Old Agaricus included many subgenera and consequently many more species. Now it contains but few. All of them are highly flavored and of marked excellence. Before the subgenera under Agaricus were promoted to full generic standing it was customary to state the name of a species thus: Agaricus (Psalliota) campester. Agaricus (Stropharia) semi-orbicularis. This was lengthy and clumsy. In the older books this form prevails. Often, however, the subgenus is omitted before the name, which compels the student to look up the subgenus to which the species belongs. The older books are therefore puzzling to modern students, who find there simply the name Agaricus to guide them. The present genus of a known species in old Agaricus can be easily found by looking in the index for its specific name. The name of the genus follows it in parentheses. All of the genus can be cooked in any desired way. ANALYSIS OF SPECIES. * Gills at first or very soon pink or rosy. ** Gills at first brownish or gray. *** Gills at first white or whitish. * _Gills at first or very soon pink or rosy._ =A. campes´ter= Linn.—_campus_, a field. (Plate XCI, fig. 4 (3 figs.) fig. 5, section, p. 332). =Pileus= at first hemispherical or convex, then expanded with decurved margin or nearly plane, smooth, silky floccose or hairy squamulose, the margin extending beyond the lamellæ, the flesh rather thick, firm, white. =Lamellæ= free, close, ventricose, _at first delicate pink or flesh color_, then blackish-brown, _subdeliquescent_. =Stem= equal or slightly thickened toward the base, _stuffed_, white or whitish, nearly or quite smooth. =Ring= at or near the middle, more or less lacerated, sometimes evanescent. =Spores= elliptical, 6–8×4–5µ. =Plant= 2–4 in. high. =Pileus= 1.5–4 in. or more broad. =Stem= 4–8 lines thick. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =Spores= spheroid-ellipsoid, 9×6µ _K._; 6×8µ _W.G.S._ The varieties of A. campester are numerous. All of them are edible and vary but slightly in their excellence. Var. _al´bus_ Berk.—_albus_, white. A very common wild form. =Cap= 2–4 in. across, smooth or slightly fibrillose. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, ⅓-⅔ in. thick, white or whitish. Spring to autumn, in rich grassy places. Sometimes very large. It is cultivated. Var. _gri´seus_ Pk.—_griseus_, gray. =Cap= grayish, silky, shining. =Ring= vanishing. Reported from Virginia. Var. _prati´cola_ Vitt.—_pratum_, a meadow; _colo_, to inhabit. Meadow variety. =Cap= covered with reddish scales. =Flesh= pinkish. Parade ground, Mt. Gretna, Pa. Var. _umbri´nus_ Vitt.—_umber_, dark brown. =Cap= brown, smooth. =Stem= short, minutely scaly. “Var. _rufes´cens_ Berk.—_rufescens_, becoming red. =Pileus= reddish, minutely scaly. =Gills= at first white. =Stem= elongated. =Flesh= turning bright red when cut or bruised. This departs so decidedly from the ordinary characters of the type, especially in the white color of the young gills, that it seems to merit separation as a distinct species.” _Peck_, 36th Rep. Var. _villa´ticus_ Brond.—belonging to a villa. =Cap= scaly. =Stem= scaly. Var. _horten´sis_ Cke.—growing in gardens. =Cap= brownish or yellowish-brown, covered with fibrils or minute hairs. This is a cultivated species. “Var. _Bu´channi_. =Cap= white, smooth, depressed in center, the margin naked. =Stem= stout. =Ring= thin, lacerated. A rare variety, sometimes occurring in mushroom beds. “Var. _elonga´tus_—elongated. Long-stemmed variety. =Pileus= small, smooth, convex, the margin adorned with the adherent remains of the lacerated veil. =Stem= long, slender, slightly thickened toward the base. =Ring= slight or evanescent. This is also a variety of mushroom beds. “Var. _vapora´rius_. Green-house variety (A. vaporarius Vitt.) =Pileus= brownish, coated with long hairs or fibrils. =Stem= hairy-fibrillose, becoming transversely scaly. Conservatories, cellars, etc. Not differing greatly from Var. hortensis.” _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. The A. campester is known the world over as the common mushroom. It is cosmopolitan, appearing in pastures and rich places from spring and until long after severe frosts. It is the sweet morsel of gourmets. Indirectly it has done more damage than the assembled viciousness of all other toadstools. It is by mistaking the young button forms of the deadly Amanita for the button forms of the common mushroom that most cases of fatal toadstool poisoning are brought about. It is, also, usually the persons who think they know the mushroom, and can not be deceived, that get poisoned. If two rules are observed danger can be avoided. (1) Never eat a fungus gathered in the woods believing it to be the mushroom. The typical A. campester does not grow in the woods; species of Agaricus somewhat resembling it do. (2) Look at the gills; those of the mushroom are at first a light-pink which rapidly, as the plant matures, darken to a dark-brown, purplish-brown, or purplish-black. This is due to the ripening of the spores. Those of the Amanita are constantly white. Pages could be written upon the mushroom and its culture, and recipes for the cooking of it would fill a volume. One important thing is omitted from them all—it is culinary heresy to peel a mushroom. Much of the flavor lies in the skin, as it does in that of apples, apricots, peaches, grapes, cherries and other fruits. The mushroom should be wiped with a coarse flannel or towel until the skin is clean. See chapter on cooking, etc. Lafayette B. Mendel, in American Journal of Physiology, March, 1898, gives the following analysis of A. campester: Two varieties of the common mushroom were collected in New Haven. Fifteen specimens of one variety weighed 1½ ounce, an average weight of 43 grains each. The analysis gave: _a._ _b._ Water 87.88% 92.20% Total solids 12.12 7.80 Total nitrogen in dry 4.42 4.92 substance Ash in dry substance 11.66 17.18 =A. comp´tulus= Fr.—_comptus_, gaily adorned. =Pileus= 1–1½ in. broad, _yellowish-white_, slightly fleshy, convex then plane, obtuse, _adpressedly fibrilloso-silky_, becoming even. =Flesh= thin, soft, of the same color as the pileus. =Stem= 2 in. long, 2–3 lines thick, _hollow_, stuffed with floccules when young, _somewhat attenuated_, even, smooth, white, becoming somewhat light yellow. =Ring= medial, torn, _fugacious_, of the same color. =Gills= rounded-free behind, crowded, soft, broader in front, _flesh-color_ then _rose_, not dingy-flesh-color except when old. Closely allied to A. campestris, but constantly distinct in its more beautifully colored gills. _Fries._ Cultivated ground. Menands. August. _Peck_, Rep. 41. Closely allied to A. campestris, from which it may be separated by its smaller size, the yellowish hue of the dry plant and by the smaller spores. _Peck_, 41st Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Mt. Gretna, Pa. Parade ground, with A. campester; Haddonfield, N.J. August to frost. _McIlvaine._ A. comptulus appears frequently in the latitude of Philadelphia. It is a neat species, but not substantial in flesh. Here it usually grows close to the ground. The ring is very evanescent. Its edible qualities are those of A. campester. =A. silvat´icus= Schaeff.—belonging to woods. =Pileus= thin, at first convex or bell-shaped, then expanded, _gibbous or subumbonate_, fibrillose or variegated with a few thin tawny brownish or reddish-brown _spot-like adpressed scales_, whitish, brownish or smoky-gray, the disk sometimes tinged with red or reddish-brown, the flesh white or faintly reddish. =Lamellæ= thin, close, free, narrowed toward each end, reddish, then blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, _equal or slightly tapering upward_, hollow, whitish. =Spores= elliptical, 5–6.5×4–5µ. =Plant= 3–5 in. high. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 4–6 lines thick. Woods. Summer and autumn. Not common. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Massachusetts, _Farlow_; Minnesota, _Johnson_; California—edible, _H. and M._ West Virginia, 1881–1885, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. August to frost. In pine and mixed woods. _McIlvaine._ Edible, _Curtis_. Edible, _Peck_. In taste and smell A. silvaticus resembles A. silvicola, but is stronger. It is a frequent but not common species in the localities where I have found it. Quantities of it have not occurred, but myself and friends have eaten it for years, knowing no distinction in effect between it and allied species. Its strong taste requires that it be well cooked. It does not lose its high flavor, which may be objectionable to some. I prefer using its juices as a flavoring. =A. diminuti´vus= Pk.—diminutive. =Pileus= thin, fragile, at first convex, then plane or centrally depressed, sometimes slightly umbonate, whitish or yellowish, faintly spotted with small thin silky appressed brownish scales, the disk brownish or reddish-brown. =Lamellæ= close, thin, free, ventricose, brownish-pink becoming brown, blackish-brown or black. =Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, smooth, pallid. =Annulus= thin, persistent, white. =Spores= elliptical 5×4µ. =Plant= 1.5–2 in. high. =Pileus= 1–1.5 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 lines thick. Woods. Croghan and Sandlake, N.Y. August. Autumn. This is a small but symmetrical and beautiful Agaric. It is perhaps too closely related to the preceding species (A. silvaticus), of which it may possibly prove to be a mere variety or dwarf form. Its pileus is quite thin and fragile. Usually the darker or reddish hue of the disk gradually loses itself in the paler color of the margin, but sometimes the whole surface is tinged with red. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Chester county; West Philadelphia, Pa., September; Mt. Gretna, Eagle’s Mere, Pa., August. _McIlvaine._ I have found A. diminutivus so intimately associated with A. silvaticus that its being a dwarf form of the latter seemed more than probable. Its edible qualities are the same. =A. Rod´mani= Pk. =Pileus= rather thick, firm, at first convex, then nearly or quite plane, with decurved margin, smooth or rarely slightly cracked into scales on the disk, white or whitish, becoming yellowish or subochraceous on the disk, the flesh white, unchangeable. =Lamellæ= close, _narrow_, rounded behind, free, reaching nearly or quite to the stem, _at first whitish then pink or reddish-pink_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= short, subequal, solid, whitish, smooth below the ring, often scurfy or slightly mealy-squamulose above; ring variable, thick or thin, entire or lacerated, at or below the middle of the stem. =Spores= broadly elliptical or subglobose, generally uninucleate, 5–6×4–5µ. =Plant= 2–3 in. high. =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 6–10 lines thick. Grassy ground and paved gutters. Astoria, L.I. _Rev. W. Rodman_. Washington Park, Albany. May to July. This species is intermediate between A. campestris and A. arvensis, from both of which it may be distinguished by its narrow gills, solid stem and smaller, almost globose, spores. In size, shape of the pileus and general appearance it most resembles A. campestris, but in the whitish primary color of the gills and in the yellowish tints which the pileus often assumes, it approaches nearer to A. arvensis. * * * _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. I can now add my own testimony to that of Mr. Rodman as to its edibility. Its flesh is firm but crisp, not tough, and its flavor, though not equal to that of the common mushroom, is nevertheless agreeable, and its use as food is perfectly safe. _Peck_, Rep. 49. This species has grown freely for several years at Hull and Cohasset, Mass. It is usually found about June 1st, and is not seen again until early autumn. It is the handsomest mushroom I have seen, and its edible qualities are on a par with its appearance. _Macadam._ =A. hæmorrhoida´rius= Shulzer. _Gr_—discharging blood. =Pileus= 4 in. across, reddish-brown, fleshy, ovate then expanded, _covered with broad adpressed scales_, margin at first bent inward. =Flesh= when broken immediately blood-red. =Stem= 4 in. high, 1 in. thick, soon hollow, fibrillose, the solid base somewhat bulbous. =Ring= superior, large. =Gills= free, approximate, crowded, rosy-flesh-color, at length purple-umber. Very striking, 3–4 in. high. The pileus and the white stem become spotted blood-red when touched. The stem when young is adpressedly squamulose below, when full grown mealy, becoming smooth. _Fries._ =Spores= purple-brown, 7–8×5µ Massee; brown, elliptical, 5–6×4µ _Peck_. A rare or overlooked plant in United States, first recorded by Professor Peck, who found it but once, growing under a hemlock tree. Rep. 45. Nebraska, _Clements_; West Virginia; Eagle’s Mere and Mt. Gretna, Pa. In hemlock and mixed woods. Autumn. _McIlvaine._ =Cap= 2–4 in. across. =Stem= 3–4 in. long, up to ¾ in. thick. Every part of the plant turns red and has a congested appearance when bruised. The flesh is white but immediately becomes red when broken. It is a frequent but not common species, growing singly, or in small clusters. In flavor and substance it is equal to any mushroom. =A. mari´timus= Pk. =Pileus= very fleshy, firm, at first subglobose, then broadly convex or nearly plane, glabrous, sometimes slightly squamose with appressed spot-like scales, white becoming dingy or grayish-brown when old. =Flesh= whitish, quickly reddening when cut, taste agreeable, odor distinct, suggestive of the odors of the seashore. =Lamellæ= narrow, close, free, pinkish becoming purplish-brown with age, the edge white. =Stem= short, stout, firm, solid, equal, sometimes bulbous, white, the annulus delicate, slight and easily obliterated. =Spores= broadly elliptic, purplish-brown, 7–8µ long, 5–6µ broad. =Pileus= 2–8 in. broad. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, .6 in. thick. Sandy soil near salt water, Lynn, Mahant and Marblehead, Mass. June to December. _R.F. Dearborn._ This is a very interesting and an excellent mushroom. Dr. Dearborn writes that he has used it on the table for fourteen years and that it is the only mushroom that he has ever eaten in which the stem is as good as the cap. He considers it the most hearty and satisfying of all the numerous species that he has ever eaten. Both its taste and odor is suggestive of the sea. The latter is quite strong, and perceptible by one riding along the road by whose side the mushrooms are growing. They sometimes grow in semicircles and attain a larger size in warm weather than in the colder weather of autumn. They are most abundant in August. The flesh, when cut or broken, quickly assumes a pink or reddish hue on the freshly-exposed surface. This is a very distinctive character and with the maritime habitat makes the species easy to recognize. Another species, Agaricus hæmorrhoidarius Kalchb. exhibits a similar change of color in its wounded flesh, but is of very rare occurrence with us, does not, so far as ascertained, grow near the sea, has a darker cap and a long hollow stem. The stem in the maritime mushroom is short and solid. Its collar is very slight and easily destroyed. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, No. 2, F. 1899. =A. Califor´nicus= Pk.—=Pileus= at first subconical, becoming convex, minutely silky or fibrillose, whitish, tinged with purple or brownish-purple on the disk. =Flesh= whitish. =Gills= close, free, pink becoming purplish, then blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, solid or stuffed, equal or tapering upward, distinctly and rather abruptly narrowed above the entire externally silky ring, pallid or brownish. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 5–6×4–5µ. =Pileus= 1–3 in. broad. =Stem= 1.5–3 in. long, 2–4 lines thick. Under oak trees. Pasadena. January. _McClatchie._ This fungus is similar in size, shape and habitat to A. hemorrhoidarius, but it is unlike that species in color, in the adornment of the pileus and in its color not changing where bruised or broken. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 22–5 My. 95. =A. Elven´sis= B. and Br.—Name from river Elwy, Wales, where first found. Tufted. =Pileus= 4–6 in. or more across, subglobose then hemispherical, fibrillose, broken up into large persistent brown scales, areolate in the center, margin very obtuse, thick, covered with pyramidal warts. =Stem= at first nearly equal, at length swollen in the center, and attenuated at the base, 4–6 in. high, 2 in. thick in the center, fibrillose and areolate below, nearly smooth within the pileus, solid, stuffed with delicate threads. =Ring= thick, very large, deflexed, broken here and there, warted in areas beneath. =Gills= rather crowded, ¼ in. broad, free, of a brownish flesh-color. =Spores= elliptic oblong, 8×4µ. Under oak trees, etc. Edible, delicious eating. Flesh of pileus ¾ in. thick, red when cut. _Massee._ California, _H. and M._ Edible. _Cooke_, 1891. =A. f[oe]dera´tus= Berk. and Mont.—confederated. =Pileus= fleshy, thin, at first ovoid then bell-shaped, finally convex, somewhat umbilicate with the center slightly depressed, margin hanging down (when dry involute), fragments of the veil hanging from the margin, tawny, scaly with minute, scattered, white, persistent granules, 2–3 in. broad, ¾-1½ in. high. =Stem= stout, hollow, stuffed with fibers, gradually increasing in size to the base; below the ring rough from the ruptured bark, 4 in. high. =Ring= superior, broad, reflexed, torn, persistent. =Gills= linear, medium broad, at first pinkish-lilac, when adult brownish, edge white, pulverulent, adnate, gradually attenuated toward the margin. =Spores= dingy-brown, ovoid oblong, 10µ long. Somewhat cespitose. Elegant. On the ground in pastures. July. Columbus, Ohio. _Sullivant_, Mont. Syll., p. 121. Edibility not reported. I have not seen this species. =A. xylo´genus= Mont. _Gr_—produced on wood. =Pileus= membranaceous, at first ovoid, then conical, bell-shaped, umbonate, finally convexo-plane, smooth, pale-yellow, center brownish, margin split, striate when dry, 1½-2½ in. broad, 1¼ in. high. =Stem= cartilaginous, white, 3 in. high, ¼ in. thick, gradually thickened toward the base, hollow. =Ring= of medium size, inferior, erect or reflexed. =Gills= free, remote, lance-shaped, rounded behind, attenuated toward the margin, pink as in A. campester. =Spores= spherical, colorless, hyaline, 5–7.5µ. On dead wood. August. Columbus, Ohio. _Sullivant._ Mont. Syll., p. 122. Edibility not reported. I have not seen this species. ** _Gills at first brownish or gray._ =A. argen´teus= Brændle—of silver. =Pileus= thin, convex becoming nearly plane, slightly silky or glabrous, pale grayish white or grayish brown, shining with a silvery luster when dry, the margin sometimes striate, at first incurved, often revolute when old. =Flesh= whitish, becoming blackish where cut. =Lamellæ= close, free, at first brownish becoming blackish brown or black with age. =Stem= short, glabrous, solid, often narrowed toward the base, the annulus slight, evanescent. =Spores= broadly elliptic, 7–10µ long, 6µ broad. =Pileus= 1–2 in. broad. =Stem= 1–1½ in. long, ¼-⅜ in. thick. Lawns and grassy places in rich soil. Often associated with Stropharia bilamellata Pk. After rains from April to November. Washington, D.C. _F.J. Brændle._ This is a small mushroom, peculiar in having the young gills of a dark color and in the absence of any pink hues. The gills sometimes become moist and manifest a tendency to deliquesce. The drying specimens emit a strong but not unpleasant odor. Mr. Brændle says that their edible quality is excellent and that it is not impaired by drying. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899. =A. praten´sis= Schaeff.—a meadow. =Pileus= 2–3½ in. across, ovoid then expanded, becoming smooth or sometimes broken up into scales more or less concentrically arranged, whitish, then grayish. =Flesh= thick in the center, thin toward the margin, white. =Gills= free, rounded behind, about ¼ in. broad, grayish, then brown. =Stem= about 2 in. long, ½-⅔ in. thick, base thickened, smooth, whitish. =Ring= median, simple, usually deciduous. =Stem= becoming more or less hollow. =Spores= elliptical, apiculate, 6×3.5µ. On pastures and woods. Distinguished by the grayish gills becoming brown without any intermediate pink or fleshy tinge, and in being rounded behind, the median deciduous ring, and the more or less hollow stem. _Massee._ California. Common. Edible. _H. and M._ Not elsewhere reported. =A. achi´menes= B. and C. _Gr_—an amber-colored plant. =Pileus= 4–6 in. broad, pallid or yellowish-white, smooth like kid leather, but studded with warty excrescences especially toward the center. =Stem= 4–6 in. high, 3–4 lines thick, white, stuffed with floccose fibers, furnished toward the apex with a large deflexed ring. =Gills= broad, crowded at first, whitish then ash-colored and dingy-brown, free. =Spores= brownish, oval or ovate. A splendid species allied to A. fabaceus, but differing in its paler spores, warty cap, ample ring, etc. On the earth. Solitary. June. _S.C. Ravenel._ Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, 1849. I have not seen this species. =A. faba´ceus= Berk.—relating to beans. =Pileus= 4–5 in. across, thin, almost submembranaceous, umbonate, conical when young, becoming nearly plane as it expands, white, viscid when moist; epidermis smooth, tough, feeling like fine kid leather, turning yellow when bruised. =Stem= 3–4 in. high, ⅓ in. thick, white, smooth, with the exception of a few fibrilla, equal except at the base. =Veil= large, at first covering the gills and connecting the margin with the stem, white, externally floccose. =Gills= crowded, very thin, not ventricose, free, brown when young, then darker brown, at length almost black like the dark part of a bean flower. A fine species allied to A. arvensis. When young it has a peculiar but not unpleasant smell. On the ground, amongst dead leaves in open woods. Waynesville, September 10, 1844. Hooker’s London Jour. of Botany, 1847. Described by Berkeley from specimens collected by Thomas G. Lea, in the vicinity of Cincinnati. On ground among old leaves in woods. Common. =Pileus= 3–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–4 in. high. =Spores= brown, nucleate on one side, small, 5.5µ long. _Morgan._ This is among the most delicious species for the table. Fresh specimens have a distinct taste and odor of peach kernels or bitter almonds which is nearly lost in cooking. Am. Jour. Science and Arts, 1850. _Curtis._ Ohio, _Lea_, _Morgan_; North Carolina, _Curtis_; South Carolina, _Ravenel_; Massachusetts, _Sprague_. *** _Gills at first whitish._ =A. arven´sis= Schaeff.—belonging to cultivated ground. HORSE MUSHROOM, PLOWED-LAND MUSHROOM. (A. Georgii Sow., A. pratensis Scop., A. edulis Krombh., A. exquisitus Vitt.) =Pileus= at first convex or conical, bell-shaped then expanded, at first more or less floccose or mealy, then smooth white or yellowish. =Flesh= white. =Gills= close, free, generally broader toward stem, _at first whitish, then pinkish_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= equal or slightly thickened toward the base, smooth, _hollow or stuffed_ with a floccose pith; ring rather large, thick, the lower or exterior surface often cracked in a radiate manner. =Plant= 2–5 in. high. =Pileus= 3–5 in. or more broad. =Stem= 4–10 lines thick. Cultivated fields and pastures. Summer and autumn. This species is so closely related to the common mushroom that it is regarded by some authors as a mere variety of it. Even the renowned Persoon is said to have written concerning it: “It appears to be only a variety of A. campestris.” Fries also says that it is commonly not distinguished from A. campestris, but that it is diverse in some respects; its white flesh being unchangeable, its gills never deliquescing, remaining a long time pale and not becoming dark-red in middle age. Berkeley says of it: “A coarse but wholesome species, often turning yellow when bruised.” _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. =Spores= spheroid-elliptical, 9×6µ _K._; 11×6µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, 8–10×5–6.5µ _Peck_. Indiana, _H.I. Miller_; Minnesota, _B.L. Taylor_; West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, _McIlvaine_. Unless the numerical system of John Ph[oe]nix to express degrees of quality is adopted by a mycophagists' congress, and one species of fungus is chosen as the standard of excellence, the comparative excellence of species will never be settled. English epicures shun A. arvensis; the French prefer it. Berkeley says it is inferior to the common mushroom; Vittadini says it is very sapid and very nutritious. So opinion varies. Individual tastes must decide excellence. Comparison never will. Toadstools differ in substance, texture and taste as one meat or vegetable differs from another. Beef could not be chosen as the standard for meats, or cabbage as the standard for vegetables. Agaricus arvensis is good. [Illustration: Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine. PLATE XCIV.] PAGE. AGARICUS MAGNIFICUS. PECK, 342 A new species of Agaricus. =A. magni´ficus= Pk.—magnificent. (Plate XCIV.) =Pileus= 5–15 cm. (2–6 in.) broad, fleshy, thick, convex, becoming nearly plane or centrally depressed, bare, often wavy and split on the margin, white or whitish, often brownish in the center. =Flesh= 1.5–2 cm. (½ in.) thick in the center, thin on the margin, white, unchangeable. =Gills= numerous, rather broad, close, free, ventricose, white becoming dark purplish brown with age, never pink. =Stem= 10–15 cm. long (4–6 in.), about 2.5 cm. thick (1 in.), firm, stuffed with cottony pith, bulbous or thickened at the base, fibrillose, striate, minutely furfuraceous (covered with scurf) toward the base, ringed, pallid or whitish, the ring thin, persistent, white. =Spores= small, elliptic, 5–6µ long, 3–4µ broad. Gregarious or cespitose; thin woods, Mt. Gretna, Pa. August. _Charles McIlvaine._ A large fine species distinguished from its near allies by the absence of pink hues from the gills. Mr. McIlvaine remarks that it has an anise-like flavor and odor and that when young the whole fungus is tender and high flavored, but when full grown the caps only are edible. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 26, F. 1899. =A. silvic´ola= Vitt.—_silva_, a wood; _colo_, to inhabit. (Plate XCI, fig. 2, p. 332.) (A. arvensis, var. abruptus Pk.; now A. abruptus Pk.) =Pileus= convex or sub-bell-shaped, sometimes expanded or nearly plane, _smooth, shining_, white or yellowish. =Gills= close, thin, free, rounded behind, generally narrowed toward each end, _at first whitish, then pinkish_, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= _long_, cylindrical, stuffed or hollow, white, _bulbous_; ring either thick or thin, entire or lacerated. =Spores= elliptical, 6–8×4–5µ. =Plant= 4–6 in. high. =Pileus= 3–6 in. broad. =Stem= 4–8 lines thick. Woods, copses and groves or along their borders. Summer and autumn. _Peck_, 36th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Very good eating, though scarcely as highly flavored as the common mushroom. _Peck._ West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, June to frost. _McIlvaine._ A. silvicola, by many authors considered a variety of A. campester, is, seemingly, becoming common. Professor Peck in 46th Rep. has made the abrupt bulb and its usual double veil distinctive marks which ally it to A. arvensis. He therefore calls it var. abruptus. As this book goes to press Professor Peck writes me that he concludes var. abruptus to be a good and distinct species. It is therefore given as such. While familiar with it since 1881, I never found it in quantity until 1898, at Mt. Gretna, Pa. There, among the straw and rubbish of abandoned camps on wood margins, it grew in great quantity; sometimes singly, at others in crowded clusters. When growing singly it exhibits all the characteristics of its description; when clustered, the stems are not always bulbous. The caps are thin but fleshy, brittle and bear a disproportionate width to the stem—like a plate on a pipe stem. The caps when mature are usually tinged with yellow and are spread flat; the ring is large, often double, yellowish, often torn, fragments of it frequently hang from the cap margin; the bulb when perfect is small, abrupt, as if it had once been round but the stem pushed into it. It has a strong spicy mushroom odor and taste, and makes a high-flavored dish. It is delicious with meats. It is the very best mushroom for catsup. Mixed with Russulæ or Lactarii or other species lacking in mushroom flavor, it enriches the entire dish. The stems, excepting of the very young, are tough. Larvæ do not infest A. silvicola. Its habit of growth shows it to be cultivatable. It has but one draw-back. Growing as it does in woods and in the presence of the poisonous Amanita, it is possible for the careless collector to confound the two. The Amanitæ have larger bulbs, cups at the base, and _white gills_; the A. silvicola has no volva, has whitish gills when very young only, they become pinkish, then a marked blackish-brown. =A. creta´ceus= Fr.—_creta_, chalk. =Pileus= 3 in. and more broad, wholly _white_, fleshy, lens-shaped-globose when young, then convexo-flattened, obtuse, dry, _sometimes even_, sometimes rivulose chiefly round the margin from the cuticle _separating into squamules_. =Flesh= thick, white, unchangeable. =Stem= 3 in. long, 3–6 lines and more thick, _hollow, stuffed with a spider-web pith_, firm, attenuated upward, even, smooth, not spotted, white. =Gills= free, then remote, ventricose but _very much narrowed toward the stem_, crowded, _remaining long white_, becoming dingy-brown only when old. _Fries._ =Spores= 3×4µ _W.G.S._; 5–6×3.5µ _Massee_. Under certain conditions the spores are white. _M.J.B._ In lawns and rich ground. North Carolina, on earth and wood. Edible, _Curtis_; Minnesota, rare, _Johnson_; California, _H. and M._; Ohio, _Lloyd_; Kentucky, _Lloyd_, Rep. 4; New York, _Peck_, Rep. 22. =A. subrufes´cens= Pk.—_sub_, under; _rufescens_, becoming red. =Pileus= at first deeply hemispherical, becoming convex or broadly expanded, silky fibrillose and minutely or obscurely scaly, whitish, grayish or dull reddish-brown, usually smooth and darker on the disk. =Flesh= white, unchangeable. =Lamellæ= at first white or whitish, then pinkish, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= rather long, often somewhat thickened or bulbous at the base, at first stuffed, then hollow, white; the annulus flocculose or floccose-scaly on the lower surface; mycelium whitish, forming slender branching root-like strings. =Spores= elliptical, 6–7µ _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Indiana, _H.I. Miller_, 1898; Haddonfield, N.J., _McIlvaine_. June 2, 1896, I found several specimens of a fungus new to me, and sent them to Professor Peck for identification. He pronounced it a dwarf form of his species A. subrufescens. The cluster grew on a florist’s compost pile at Haddonfield, N.J. Its flesh has a flavor like that of almonds. This species is now cultivated and has manifest advantages over the marketed species—it is easier to cultivate, very productive, produces in less time after planting the spawn, is free from attacks of insects, carries better and keeps longer. Amateurs are likely to succeed in growing it, and to have goodly crops of mushrooms instead of disappointments. =A. placo´myces= Pk. _Gr_—a flat cake. (Plate XCI, fig. 3, p. 332.) =Pileus= thin, at first convex, becoming flat with age, whitish, brown in the center and elsewhere adorned with minute brown scales. =Lamellæ= close, white, then pinkish, finally blackish-brown. =Stem= smooth, annulate, stuffed or hollow, bulbous, white or whitish, the bulb often stained with yellow. =Spores= elliptical, 5–6.5µ long. =Cap= 2–4 in. broad. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, ¼ to nearly ½ in. thick. It grows in the borders of hemlock woods or under hemlock trees from July to September. It has been eaten by Mr. C.L. Shear, who pronounces it very good. I have not found it in sufficient quantity to give it a trial. This mushroom is very closely related to the wood mushroom or silvan mushroom, Agaricus silvaticus, a species which is also recorded as edible, but which is apparently more rare in our state (New York) than even the flat-cap mushroom. This differs from the silvan mushroom in its paler color, in having the cap more minutely, persistently and regularly scaly, and in its being destitute of a prominent center. In the silvan mushroom the scales, when present, are few, and they disappear with age. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot. Mrs. E.C. Anthony, Gouverneur, N.Y., June, 1898, writes: “In great abundance on lawn, tumbling over one another in their haste to make their appearance. One of the largest, which did not have half a chance to display its proportions, would probably measure 7 in., perhaps more. When mature they crack across the top, showing the white flesh. The gills are pink, stem white, solid and bulbous. There is no perceptible odor when fresh.” Indiana, _H.I. Miller_, edible, good. Specimens sent to me by Mrs. Anthony, though not fresh, were eaten by me. They very much resembled the common mushroom, but probably, owing to their condition, were not so tender. I have not found the species. The illustration is after a painting by Mrs. E.C. Anthony. =A. varia´bilis= Pk.—variable. (Plate XCI, fig. 1, p. 332.) =Cap= 2–6 in. across, ovate, bell-shaped, irregularly convex and wavy, margin incurved but never striate, smooth, minutely fibrillose, with few remaining floccose scales; mature plant pure white, when young distinctly tinged with lilac and here and there with yellow when mature, slightly, broadly umbonate and depressed around umbo, cracks along gills. =Flesh= thick in center, very thin, even membranaceous toward margin, spongy, unchangeable. =Gills= free, close, thin, flaccid, ventricose, narrow next stem, but few short, pure-white when young, then dark-umber without purple tinge. =Stem= equal, tubed, white, silky, smooth above ring, rippled and minutely furfuraceous (scurfy) below, flocculose-furfuraceous when young, densely hairy at base, and occasionally slightly expanding, but not bulbous, densely cespitose with a coarse, white, root-like mycelium. =Veil= heavy at first, mottled with yellow scales beneath; as cap expands veil becomes thin, like tissue paper, ruptures at both stem and margin leaving torn ring on stem and appendiculate fragments on edge of cap. =Spores= shed in great quantity, rich dark umber-brown without shade of purple. =Taste= strong like almond. =Smell= slightly of musk, like the running mycelium of A. campester. Found at Mt. Gretna, Pa. _Charles McIlvaine._ I have never found worms in this species. It is very prolific and its habitat shows that it can be cultivated. Its freedom from worms and lasting carrying quality will make it commercially valuable. It grew in an old roofless stable from September until after several frosts, in enormous quantity, 25 or 30 pounds in a patch. It differs from A. subrufescens in not having a shade of red about it, in its very distinct light-lilac cap when full grown, and in its snow-white youth. The young gills are pure white as are the caps. The stems sometimes taper upward, but they are usually remarkably equal. It is delicate when cooked and of excellent flavor. =A. tabula´ris= Pk.—relating to boards. =Pileus= 5–10 cm. broad, very thick, fleshy, firm, convex, deeply cracked in areas, whitish, flesh whitish, tinged with yellow, the areas pyramidal, truncate, the sides horizontally striate, their apices sometimes tomentose. =Lamellæ= narrow, close, free, blackish-brown when mature. =Stem= short, thick, solid. =Spores= broadly elliptical, 7.5–9µ long, 6–7.5µ broad, generally containing a single large nucleus. In clay soil by roadsides. Craig, Colorado. August. _E. Bethel._ This species is remarkable for the peculiar upper surface of the pileus which is broken into pyramidal areas. The sides of these are marked by parallel lines in such a way that they appear as if formed by small tablets placed one upon another, each successive tablet being a little smaller than the one immediately preceding it. Only dried and broken specimens have been seen by me and the notes of the collector do not give the color of the young lamellæ. There is a trace of a thick ring on the broken stem of one specimen. _Peck_, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 25, No. 6, 1898. Not elsewhere reported. Edible qualities not given. [Illustration] =PILOSACE= Fr. (Plate XCV.) [Illustration: SECTION OF PILOSACE ALGERIENSIS.] Hymenium differentiated from the stem. =Gills= free from the stem; general and partial veil both absent, hence there is no ring on the central stem. =Spores= purple-brown. A peculiar genus, with the habit of Agaricus, but without a trace of a ring. _Massee._ P. eximius Pk., 24th Rep. N.Y. State Bot., is the only species thus far reported in America. Edible qualities unknown. [Illustration] STROPHA´RIA. _Gr_—a sword-belt. (Referring to the ring.) =Flesh= of stem and pileus _continuous_. =Veil= present, when ruptured forming a distinct ring on the stem. =Gills= more or less _adnate_. On the ground or epiphytal. Separated from all the genera of the purple-spored series but Agaricus by the presence of a distinct ring, and from that by the continuity of flesh in stem and pileus, and by the gills not being free. =Pileus= somewhat fleshy, sometimes viscid. The species belonging to this genus are rather small, and from their habitats are frequently passed or overlooked. Yet many of them are common and plentiful. Those which have been tested are excellent and worth seeking in their season. The entire genus has been under a cloud. Writers upon it assert some of its members to be dangerously poisonous. So far as carefully tested by the writer no doubtful one has been encountered, and one—semiglobata—has been eaten by himself and friends since 1881, notwithstanding its dangerous reputation. The division between this genus and Agaricus is not always sharply defined. S. æruginosa, S. semiglobata and S. stercoraria were formerly placed in Psalliota, now Agaricus. ANALYSIS OF TRIBES. _A._ VISCIPELLES (_viscum_, bird-lime; _pellis_, a skin). Page 349. Pellicle of the pileus even or scaly, generally viscid. * Mundi—_mundus_, clean. Not growing on dung. ** Merdarii—_merda_, dung. Ring often incomplete. _B._ SPINTRIGERI (Stropharia spintriger). Pileus without a pellicle, but fibrillose, not viscid. None known to be edible. _A._ VISCIPELLES. Pellicle of the pileus even or scaly. * Mun´di—_not growing on dung._ (Plate XCVI.) [Illustration: STROPHARIA ÆRUGINOSA. Natural size. (After Stevenson.) ] =S. ærugino´sa= Curt.—_ærugo_, verdigris. =Pileus= fleshy, but not compact, convex-bell-shaped then flattened, somewhat umbonate (obtuse when larger), _with very viscid pellicle_, the ground color yellowish but _verdigris from the azure-blue slime_ with which it is more or less covered over, becoming pale as the slime separates. =Stem= _hollow_, soft, equal, _at the first scaly_ or fibrillose _below the ring, viscid, becoming_ more or less _azure-blue green_. =Ring= distant. =Gills= adnate, plane, 2 lines and more broad, not crowded, soft, whitish then dusky, becoming somewhat purple. The above are the essential marks of this species. Variable in form, sometimes cespitose. The typical and handsomest form is gathered in soaking weather in later autumn in shaded woods; it is large (pileus and stem 3 in. and more), stem squarrose with white spreading scales, intensely verdigris or azure-blue-pelliculose and very glutinous. From this there is a long series of forms with the gluten more separating (on the separation of the gluten the pileus becomes yellow), and the scales alike of the pileus and stem rubbed off. Finally, a smaller form occurs in open meadows, stem scarcely 2 in. long, only 2 lines thick, becoming azure-blue-green and without scales, pileus 1–2 in. broad, pale verdigris soon light yellowish, less viscid. In this form the ring is incomplete, while in the typical form it is entire, spreading, and persistent. In woods, meadows, etc. Common. July to November. _Stevenson._ =Spores= ellipsoid or spheroid-ellipsoid, 8×4–5µ _K._; 5×7µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, 10×5µ _Massee_. POISONOUS. _Stevenson._ “There is a white variety, in which the pileus is perfectly white from the first.” _Cooke._ S. æruginosa has been noted here by Schweinitz in Pennsylvania, Curtis in North and South Carolina, Frost in Vermont and Massachusetts, Harkness and Moore, California, Morgan, Ohio. The qualities of the American representatives are not reported. I have not seen the species. As it is asserted to be poisonous by European writers it may be. M.C. Cooke says: “It has the reputation, which is somewhat general on the continent, of being poisonous, but probably this is only assumed from its disagreeable taste and repulsive appearance.” Collectors are cautioned to look out for it, and not to eat of it carelessly. I can find no case of poisoning by this species reported. It presents another case of “Not proven.” ** Merda´rii—_ring often incomplete._ =S. stereora´ria= Fr.—_stercus_, dung. =Pileus= 1 in. broad, yellow, fleshy, but thin at the margin, hemispherical then expanded, obtuse, orbicular, with a viscid pellicle, naked, smooth, even or at length slightly striate only at the margin. =Stem= 3 in. and more long, 2–3 lines thick, stuffed with a separate fibrous pith, equal, clothed to the ring (which is scarcely 1 in. distant from the pileus, viscous, narrow, but somewhat spreading) with the flocculose veil which is at the same time viscous (so that it appears as if smooth), yellow. =Gills= adnate, very broad behind, 2 lines broad, somewhat crowded, dusky-umber or dusky-olivaceous, of one color, quite entire. Stem silky-viscous when moist, when dry becoming even, shining and yellowish-white, and without a manifest veil. The gills are truncate and somewhat decurrent. _Fries._ =Spores= 17×13µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, 18–20×8–10µ _Massee_. West Virginia, 1881–1885; Pennsylvania; New Jersey. June to November. _McIlvaine._ I have enjoyed this species, which is common, since 1881. It is usually conspicuous upon droppings and manure piles. It also occurs on richly-manured ground, in wood and field, usually single; sometimes two or three are united. Caps and stems are edible, but do not cook in the same time. It is better to cook the caps only. They are delicious. (Plate XCVI_a_.) [Illustration: SECTION OF STROPHARIA SEMIGLOBATA. Natural size. (From Massee.) ] =S. semigloba´ta= Batsch.—_semi_, half; _globus_, a ball. =Pileus= commonly ½ in. broad, _light-yellow_, slightly fleshy, hemispherical, not expanded, very obtuse, even, _viscous_. =Stem= about 3 in. long, 1 line thick, tubed, slender, firm and straight, equal, even, smooth, becoming yellow, paler at the apex, powdered with the spores, otherwise smeared with the glutinous veil which is abrupt above terminating in an _incomplete_ (not membranaceous) viscous, distant _ring_. =Gills= adnate, _very broad_, plane, _clouded with black_. =Spores= dusky-purple. _Stevenson._ =Spores= blackish-purple, 13×8µ _W.G.S._; elliptical, ends rather acute, 12×6µ _Massee_. Grows on dung, rich lawns and pastures. April to November. A common, frequent, solitary species, easily recognized by its hemispherical cap, dark mottled gills. At first sight it resembles Naucoria semiorbicularis. The caps are equal to any mushroom. I have eaten it since 1881. M.C. Cooke says: “It was Sowerby who drew attention to this species as dangerous, and intimated that it had been fatal. Since that period we are not aware of any further evidence against it.” It is tender, good and harmless. [Illustration] [Illustration: Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C. McIlvaine. PLATE XCVII.] FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.