A. rubes´cens Pers.—rubesco, to become red. (Plate [VIII], fig. 2, p. 18. Plate [XII], fig. 4, p. 32.) Pileus about 4 in. broad, dingy-reddish, becoming pale flesh-color, tan, scarcely pure, fleshy, convex, then plane, obtuse, moist but not glutinous in rainy weather and opaque when dry, covered with unequal, soft, mealy, whitish, easily-separating warts, which are smaller, harder and more closely adherent in dry weather; margin even and, when old, slightly striate only in wet weather. Flesh commonly soft, white when fresh, reddening when broken. Stem 4–5 in. long, as much as 1 in. thick, stuffed, somewhat solid, though soft within, conico-attenuated from the thickened base, reddish-scaled, becoming red-white, and without a trace of a distinct volva at the base. Ring superior, large, membranaceous, soft, striate and white within. Gills reaching the stem in an attenuated manner, forming decurrent lines upon it, thin, crowded, soft, as much as ½ in. broad, shining white.
Very changeable, but readily distinguished from all others of the same group by the flesh being reddish when broken; the stem and pileus are commonly spotted-red when wounded. In dry weather it is firmer, flesh reddening more slowly, warts minute. Odor scarcely any. There is a remarkable variety circinata, pileus becoming plane, umber-brown, warts adnate, crowded, roundish. A. circinatus Schum. Stevenson.
Spores spheroid-ellipsoid, 7–8×6µ K.; 8×6µ W.G.S.; 7–9×6–8µ B.; elliptical, 8–9µ long. Peck.
Not reported west of the Mississippi river.
Oak woods, borders and open places. July to September. Indiana, H.I. Miller; West Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, McIlvaine.
It is quite common, often growing in large patches. Recent authors agree upon the edibility and deliciousness of this species. The author knows it to be one of the most plentiful, useful and delicious, after several years of pleasant experience with it.
In July, 1899, at Mt. Gretna, I found, growing from the ground gregariously, a singular fungoid growth from 2–5 in. high; cap hemispherical, 1 in. in diameter, tightly fitting a solid stem of nearly the diameter of the cap. The whole was watery white, and evidently affected by a parasite. It was edible. September 1st Professor Peck wrote to me: “I think I have found the identity of the diseased Agaric, of which you sent me samples some time ago. I mean the one affected by Hypomyces inæqualis Pk. The host is Amanita rubescens, at least sometimes, and probably always.”
The plant is very heavy for its size. The lack of a volva, the dingy color and reddish stains distinctly separate this from any poisonous Amanita.
A. spis´sa Fr.—compact, dense;—of the warts. Pileus umber, sooty or gray, fleshy, somewhat compact, convexo-plane, obtuse, smooth, even, but marked with small, ash-colored, angular, adnate warts; margin even, but often torn into fibers. Flesh firm, white, quite unchangeable. Stem 2–3 in. long, as much as 1 in. thick, solid, turnip-shaped at the base, somewhat rooting with a globoso-depressed not marginate bulb, curt, firm, shining white, at length squamulose with concentric cracks. Ring superior, large. Gills reaching the stem, slightly striato-decurrent, broad, crowded, shining white. Fries.
Spores 14µ W.G.S.; subglobose, 8–10µ C.B.P.; 6µ W.P.; rather pear-shaped, 9–10×6µ Massee.