| Fig. | Page. | Fig. | Page. |
| 1. Lepiota americana, | [48] | 3. Lepiota Cepaestipes, | [46] |
| 2. Lepiota naucinoides, | [45] | 4. Amanita rubescens, | [21] |
LEPIO´TA Fr.
Lepis, a scale.
Section of Lepiota procera.
Pileus generally scaly from the breaking up of the cuticle and the adherence of the concrete veil. Gills free, often very distant from the stem and attached to a cartilaginous collar. Stem hollow or stuffed, its flesh distinct from that of the pileus. Ring at first attached to the cuticle of the pileus, often movable, sometimes evanescent.
On the ground. Several are found in hot-houses and hot-beds, and are probably introduced species.
The universal veil, covering the entire plant when very young, is closely applied to the pileus, which from the breaking up of the cuticle is generally scaly. The stem in most species differs in substance from the pileus. This is readily seen by splitting the plant in half from cap to base. It is easily separated from the cap, leaving a cup-like depression therein. Gills usually white. In some species they are yellow-tinted. In others they become a dingy red when wounded or ageing.
The veil in this genus, being concrete with the cuticle of the pileus, never appears as loose warts or patches, neither is there a volva as in Amanita and Amanitopsis. These three genera are the only ones in the white-spored series having gills free from the stem. In a few species the gills are slightly attached to the stem, but are never decurrent upon it as in Armillaria. When the plant is young it is egg-shaped. It then gradually spreads, becomes convex, and opens until it is nearly flat, with a knob in the center.