The chief distinguishing mark of this species is the abrupt, nearly globose, bulbous base of the stem. This is somewhat flattened above and is sometimes longitudinally split on the sides. The small warts of the pileus are easily separable, and in mature specimens they have often wholly or partly disappeared. The remains of the volva are not present on the bulb in mature dried specimens, which indicates that the species should be placed in the same group with A. rubescens, A. spissa, etc. The latter species have the bulb of the stem similar to that of our plant, but the color of the pileus and other characters easily separate it. Peck, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 24, No. 3.
Alabama, Underwood; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, McIlvaine. July to September.
This species is edible and quite equal in quality to A. rubescens. Great care should be exercised in distinguishing it.
A. nit´ida Fr.—niteo, to shine. Pileus when flattened 4 in. broad, whitish, fleshy, somewhat compact, at first hemispherical, wrapped up, the thick volva forming a floccose crust, then broken up into thick, remarkably angular, adhering warts, which become brownish, dry, shining, without a glutinous pellicle, margin always even. Flesh white, quite unchangeable. Stem 3 in. long, 1 in. thick, solid, firm, conico-attenuated, with a bulb-shaped base, squamulose, white. Ring superior, thin, torn, slightly striate, white, villous beneath, at length disappearing. Gills free, crowded, very broad, as much as ½ in., ventricose, shining white. Fries.
Menands. Albany county. Our plant is more slender than the typical form, and has smaller but more numerous warts, but in other respects it exhibits the characters of this species. Peck, 43d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
California, H. and M.; Maryland. Common in nearly every woods in Maryland. Banning.
From its likeness to poisonous species it should be suspected.
A. prairiic´ola Pk—prairie, colo, to inhabit. Pileus thin, convex, slightly verrucose, white, more or less tinged with yellow, even on the margin. Flesh white. Gills rather broad, subdistant, reaching the stem, white. Stem equal or slightly tapering upward, somewhat squamose toward the base, white or whitish, the annulus persistent. Spores large, broadly elliptical, 12–14µ long, 7–9µ broad.
Pileus 1.5–3 in. broad. Stem 2–2.5 in. long, 2–4 lines thick.
Bare ground on open prairies. Kansas. September. E. Bartholomew.