The general appearance of this plant is like A. variegatus or reddish forms of A. multipunctus. The reddish color appears sometimes to fade with age. Peck, 27th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Eagle’s Mere, Pa. In clusters, on birch trees. August, 1898. McIlvaine.
Grows in quantity in the birch forests. The caps are delicious.
P. ornel´la Pk. (Agaricus ornellus Pk., 34 Rep., p. 42.) Pileus convex or nearly plane, slightly squamose, reddish-brown tinged with purple, the margin paler, floccose-appendiculate. Gills moderately close, yellowish or pallid, becoming brown. Stem equal or slightly thickened upward, solid, squamulose, pale-yellow, sometimes expanded at the base into a brownish disk margined with yellowish filaments. Spores brown, elliptical, 6–7.5×4–5µ.
Plant 1–2 in. high. Pileus about 1 in. broad. Stem 1 line to 1.5 lines thick.
Decaying wood. South Ballston, Saratoga county. October.
The scales of the pileus are sometimes arranged in concentric circles. The purplish tint is not always uniform, but in some instances forms spots or patches. Peck, 34th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Specimens, clustered, found by me on railroad ties at Haddonfield, N.J., September, 1897, had caps 1–1½ in. broad, of a dull green without tinge of purple; skin minutely cracked, showing the white flesh in the interstices; stem 1–2 in. long, 3–4 lines thick, slightly thickened upward, pale orange, solid, squamulose; ring floccose; taste when raw, slightly bitter. These were sent to Professor Peck who wrote: “Appears to be a form of P. ornella Pk., but it differs some in color, being more of a green hue than of purple or olivaceous. It is pretty and I would like to know more about it before deciding on it fully.”
I have not since found it. Very palatable when cooked.