Plate 25, Figure 81.—Lepiota procera. Grayish brown to reddish brown, gills and flesh white (3/4 natural size). Copyright.
The pink color of the gills of this lepiota has led certain students of the fungi into mistakes of another kind. This pink color of the gills has led some to place the plant among the rosy spored agarics in the genus Annularia, where it was named Annularia lævis by Krombholtz (vide Bresadola Funghi Mangerecci e velenosi, p. 29, 1899). It fits the description of that plant exactly. The pink color of the gills, as well as the fact that the gills turn brownish when dry, has led to a confusion in some cases of the Lepiota naucina with the chalky agaric, Agaricus cretaceus. The external resemblance of the plants, as shown in various illustrations, is very striking, and in the chalky agaric the gills remain pink very late, only becoming brown when very old.
Lepiota procera Scop. Edible.—The parasol mushroom, Lepiota procera, grows in pastures, lawns, gardens, along roadsides, or in thin woods, or in gardens. It is a large and handsome plant and when expanded seems not inappropriately named. It is from 12–20 cm. or more high, the cap expands from 5–12 cm., while the stem is 4–7 mm. in thickness. It occurs during summer and in early autumn.
The pileus is oval, then bell-shaped, convex and nearly expanded, with usually a more or less prominent elevation (umbo) at the center. Sometimes it is depressed at the center. It is grayish brown or reddish brown in color on the surface and the flesh is whitish. As the cap expands the surface layer ceases to grow and is therefore cracked, first narrow chinks appearing, showing white or grayish threads underneath. As the cap becomes more expanded the brown surface is torn into scales, which give the cap a more or less shaggy appearance except on the umbo, where the color is more uniform. The torn surface of the pileus shows numerous radiating fibres, and it is soft and yielding to the touch. The gills are remote from the stem, broad and crowded. The spores are long, elliptical, 12–17 µ long. The stem is cylindrical, hollow, or stuffed, even, enlarged below into a prominent bulb, of the same color as the pileus, though paler, especially above the annulus. The surface is usually cracked into numerous small scales, the chinks between showing the white inner portion of the stem. The ring is stout, narrow, usually quite free from the stem, so that it can be moved up and down on the stem, and is called a movable ring.
Figure [81] is from plants (No. 3842, C. U. herbarium) collected in a garden at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.
A closely related plant, Lepiota rachodes Vitt., has smaller spores, 9–12 × 7–9 µ. It is also edible, and by some considered only a variety of L. procera. It is rare in this country, but appears about Boston in considerable quantities "in or near greenhouses or in enriched soil out of doors," where it has the appearance of an introduced plant (Webster, Rhodora, 1: 226, 1899). It is a much stouter plant than L. procera, the pileus usually depressed, much more coarsely scaly, and usually grows in dense clusters, while L. procera usually occurs singly or scattered, is more slender, often umbonate. L. rachodes has a veil with a double edge, the edges more or less fringed. The veil is fixed to the stem until the plant is quite mature, when it becomes movable. The flesh of the plant on exposure to the air becomes a brownish orange tint.
Figure 82.—Lepiota americana. Scales and center of cap reddish or reddish brown. Entire plant turns reddish on drying (natural size). Copyright.
Lepiota morgani Pk.—This plant occurs from Ohio, southward and west. It grows in grassy places, especially in wet pastures. It is one of the largest of the lepiotas, ranging from 20–40 cm. high, the cap 20–30 cm. broad, and the stem about 2 cm. in thickness. The pileus, when fully expanded, is whitish, with large dark scales, especially toward the center. The ring is large, sometimes movable, and the gills and spores are greenish. Some report the plant as edible, while others say illness results from eating it.