Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi / How to select and cook the edible; how to distinguish and avoid the poisonous, with full botanic descriptions. Toadstool poisons and their treatment, instructions to students, recipes for cooking, etc., etc.

by Charles McIlvaine; Robert K. Macadam

Section of Amanita Phalloides.

Pileus somewhat fleshy, convex then expanded. Gills free. Universal veil at first enclosing the entire plant, which as it grows bursts through, generally carrying the upper part on the pileus, where it appears as patches or scales, the remainder enclosing the stem at the base as a volva, either in a cup-like form, closely adherent or friable and evanescent. The partial veil in youth extends from the stem to the margin of the pileus, enclosing the gills; when ruptured it depends from the stem as a ring. Stem furnished with a ring, and different in substance from that of the pileus. Spores white.

On the ground.

The nearest allied genus, Amanitopsis, is separated by the absence of a ring, and Lepiota by its lack of a volva; Volvaria, Acetabularia and Chitonia, possessing volvas, are distinguished by the color of their spores.

Amanitæ are the most beautiful and conspicuous of fungi. While there are comparatively few species of them, the individual members are plentiful in appearing from spring until the coming of frost. They are solitary or gregarious in growth. Occasionally two or three are found together. They frequent woods, groves, copse, margins of woods and land recently cleared of trees. They are seldom found in open fields. A careful study of all their botanic points should be the first duty of the student of fungi. Familiarity with every characteristic of the Amanitæ will insure against fatal toadstool poisoning, for it is the well-grounded belief of those who have made thorough investigation that, with the exception of Helvella esculenta, now Gyromitra esculenta, the Amanitæ, alone, contain deadly poisons.

No Amanita, or piece of one, should be eaten before its identity is fully established and its qualities ascertained by referring to the descriptions herein given or to the opinion of an expert.

They are the aristocrats of fungi. Their noble bearing, their beauty, their power for good or evil, and above all their perfect structure, have placed them first in their realm; and they proudly bear the three badges of their clan and rank—the volva or sheath from which they spring, the kid-like apron encircling their waists, and patch-marks of their high birth upon their caps. In their youth, when in or just appearing above the ground, they are completely invested with a membrane or universal veil, which is distinct and free from the skin of the cap. As the plant grows the membrane stretches and finally bursts. It sometimes ruptures in one place only and remains about the base of the stem as the volva. When such a rupture occurs the caps are smooth. In most species portions of the volva remain upon the cap as scruff or warts—pointed or rough—or as feathery adornment; any or all of which may in part or whole vanish with age or be washed away by rain.

Extending from the stem to the margin of the cap, and covering the gills, is the partial veil—a membranaceous, white texture of varying thickness. As the cap expands this veil tears from it. Portions frequently remain pendant from the edges, the rest contracts to the stem as a ring, or droops from it as a surrounding ruffle, or, if of slight consistency, may be fugacious and disappear, but marks, remains, or the veil itself will always be traceable upon the stem.

The Amanitæ are of all colors, from the brilliant orange of the A. Cæsarea, the rich scarlet or crimson of the A. muscaria, to the pure white of the A. phalloides in its white form.