Plate 12, Figure 52.—Amanita muscaria, "buttons," showing different stages of rupture of the volva or universal veil, and formation of inner veil (natural size). Copyright.
Plate 13, Figure 53.—Amanita muscaria. Further stages in opening of plant, formation of veil and ring. Cap yellowish, or orange. Scales on cap and at base of stem white; stem and gills white (natural size). Copyright.
The pileus passes from convex to expanded and nearly flat in age, the margin when mature is marked by depressed lines forming parallel striations, and on the surface are numbers of scattered floccose or rather compact scales, formed from the fragments of the upper part of the volva or outer veil. These scales are usually white in color and are quite easily removed, so that old plants are sometimes quite free from them. The scales are sometimes yellowish in color. The color of the pileus varies from yellow to orange, or even red, the yellow color being more common. Late in the season the color is paler, and in old plants also the color fades out, so that white forms are sometimes found. The flesh is white, sometimes yellowish underneath the cuticle. The gills in typical forms are white, in some forms accredited to this species they are yellowish. The stem is cylindrical, hollow, or stuffed when young, and enlarged below into a prominent bulb. It is white, covered with loose floccose scales, or more or less lacerate or torn, and the lower part of the stem and upper part of the bulb are marked usually by prominent concentric scales forming interrupted rings. These are formed by the splitting of the outer veil or volva, and form the remnants of the volva present on the base of the stem.
The main features in the development of the plant are shown in Figs. 52–54, where a series from the button stage to the mature plant is represented. In the youngest specimens the outline of the bulb and the young convex or nearly globose cap are only seen, and these are covered with the more or less floccose outer veil or volva. The fungus threads composing this layer cease to grow, and with the expansion of the cap and the elongation of the stem, the volva is torn into patches. The upper and lower surface of the inner veil is attached to the edge of the gills and to the outer surface of the stem by loose threads, which are torn asunder as the pileus expands. Floccose scales are thus left on the surface of the stem below the annulus, as in the left hand plant of Fig. 53. The veil remains attached longer to the gills and is first separated from the stem. Again, as in the right hand plant, it may first be separated from the gills when it is later ripped up from the stem.
The fly agaric is one of the well known poisonous species and is very widely distributed in this country, as well as in other parts of the world. In well developed forms there should be no difficulty in distinguishing it from the common mushroom by even a novice. Nor should there be difficulty in distinguishing it from the royal agaric, or Cæsar's agaric (Amanita cæsarea), by one who has become reasonably familiar with the characters and appearance of the two. But small and depauperate specimens of the two species run so nearly together in form, color, and surface characters, that it becomes a matter of some difficulty for even an expert to distinguish them.