AMANITA PHALLOIDES = appearance, phallus-like.
The Death Cup.
This species is considered the most deadly of all the poisonous mushrooms, and yet it is one of the most beautiful. We place it in the section of white-colored mushrooms, though the cap is sometimes tinged with light yellow and delicate green. Cap 2 to 4 inches broad, ovate, campanulate, then spreading, obtuse, with a cuticle, sticky in moist weather, rarely sprinkled with one or two fragments of the volva, the margin regular, even. Stem 3 to 5 inches long, ½ inch thick, solid, bulbous and tapering upward, smooth, white. Ring superior,
reflexed, slightly striate, swollen, white. Volva more or less buried in the ground, bursting open in a torn manner at the apex, with a loose border. Gills free, ventricose, 4 lines broad, shining white. This species, as well as A. virosa, has a fetid odor when kept. We found it oftener than any other species of Amanita.
AMANITA NITIDA = to shine.
The Shining Amanita.
Cap whitish, 3 to 4 inches broad, somewhat compact, at first hemispherical, covered with angular, adhering warts, which become a dark color (fuscous.) It is dry, shining, the margin even; flesh white. Stem 3 inches long, 1 inch thick, solid, firm, with a bulb-shaped base, scaly, white. Ring superior, thin, torn, slightly striate, covered with soft weak hairs beneath, which at length disappear. Gills free, crowded, wide, nearly ½ inch broad, ventricose, shining white. This was also found in August. There is nothing more beautiful than these white poisonous Amanitas.
LEPIOTA NAUCINOIDES = a nut shell.
The Smooth Lepiota.
Cap a clear white, with sometimes a brownish tint on the disc, 2 to 4 inches broad, smooth. Stem 1 to 3 inches long, ¼ to ⅓ inch thick, growing thicker toward the base, as if it had a bulb, white, hollow, but stuffed with a cottony pith. Gills white, when old they assume a pinkish-brownish hue. Ring has a thick, external edge, but its inner edge is so thin that it often breaks from the stem and becomes movable. It is found in the fields, by roadsides, or in the woods, from August to November. We have not seen a specimen of this mushroom, which is said to be nearly equal to the common mushroom in edible qualities. It is considered to resemble it also in appearance, but Professor Peck says the different color of the gills when the plants are both young will distinguish them, and the thin collar and stuffed stem of L. naucinoides is also different from thick-edged ring and hollow stem of A. campestris. (Psalliota.)
LACTARIUS PIPERATUS = peppery.
The Peppery Lactarius.
Cap white, 4 to 9 inches broad, fleshy, rigid, depressed in centre when young, reflexed margin, at first involute, when full grown the surface becomes funnel-shaped and regular, even, smooth, without zones; flesh white. Stem 1 to 2 inches long, 1 to 2 inches thick, solid, obese, equal or obconical, slightly covered with powder (pruinose), white. Gills decurrent, crowded, narrow, scarcely broader than one line, obtuse at edge, regularly dividing by pairs from below upward (dichotomous), curved like a bow (arcuate), then all extended upward in a straight line, white, with occasional yellow spots. The milk white, unchangeable, plentiful, and acrid. This is common in woods. The cap in one of our specimens turned yellow when old, and was slightly striate at the margin; it was dry and thick and had no odor. The flesh had a whitish-brownish tinge where the cuticle was peeled off. Found it only in August.