Toadstools, mushrooms, fungi, edible and poisonous; one thousand American fungi How to select and cook the edible; how to distinguish and avoid the poisonous, with full — Edition Insights

species well marked from all others. Inodorous.

On soil in flower beds.

=Spores= elliptical, 7–8×5µ _Massee_; 6×9µ _W.G.S._

Wisconsin, _Bundy_; Minnesota, _Johnson_.

Considered esculent in Europe.

=L. Vittadi´ni= Fr.—in honor of the Italian mycologist. =Pileus= 3–4 in. across. =Flesh= 4–6 lines thick at the disk, becoming very thin at the margin, white; convex then plane, obtuse or gibbous, densely covered with small, erect, wart-like scales, altogether whitish. =Gills= free but rather close to the stem, 3–4 lines broad, rounded in front, thickish, ventricose, with a greenish tinge. =Stem= 2½-3½ in. long, up to ⅔ in. thick, cylindrical, with numerous concentric rings of squarrose scales, up to the superior, large ring; whitish, or the edges of the scales often tipped with red, solid. _Fries._

Intermediate between Lepiota and Amanita.

Noted by Fries as poisonous. It may or may not be, but as a matter of precaution it is described. A large species, pure white, extremely beautiful.

Massachusetts, _Farlow_.

=L. nauci´na= Fr. No translation applicable. =Pileus= 1–1½ in. broad, white, the disk of the same color, fleshy, soft, gibbous or obtusely umbonate when flattened, even, _the thin cuticle splitting up into granules_. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, stuffed, at length _somewhat hollow_, but without a definite tube, _attenuated upward_ from the thickened base, fibrillose, unspotted, white. =Ring= _superior_, tender, but persistent, _adhering to the stem_, at length reflexed. =Gills= free, approximate, crowded, ventricose, soft, white.

There is a prominent collar, as in the Clypeolarii, embracing the stem. Stature and appearance of L. excoriata, but commonly smaller, the superior ring adfixed, etc. _Fries._

=Spores= subglobose, 6–7µ _Massee_.

_L. naucina_ Fr. is the European species which has its American counterpart in L. naucinoides Pk. The variations in the American species are noted under L. naucinoides.

As Amanita phalloides—in its white form—the poisonous white Amanita, resembles L. naucina or L. naucinoides in some stages of its growth and may be confounded with it, careful note should be taken of their external differences. In L. naucinoides the bulb and stem are continuous, each passing into the other imperceptibly; in A. phalloides the junction of stem and bulb is abrupt and remains so, and the bulb is more or less enwrapped in the volva. The ring is also larger than in L. naucinoides and is pendulous, and the gills are permanently white. A certain means of distinguishing between them is by the application of heat as in cooking. On toasting both it will be found that the gills of the Amanita _remain white_, but those of the Lepiota _turn quickly brown_.

=L. naucinoi´des= Pk. No translation applicable. (Plates Plate XV, XII fig. 2, p. 32.) =Pileus= soft, smooth, white or snowy-white. =Gills= free, white, slowly changing with age to a dirty pinkish-brown or smoky-brown color. =Stem= ringed, slightly thickened at the base, colored like the pileus. =Spores= subelliptical, uninucleate, white, 8–10 long×5–8µ broad. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.

Kansas, _Cragin_; Wisconsin, _Bundy_; New Jersey, _Ellis_; Iowa, _Macbride_; New York, _Peck_, 23d, 29th, 35th Rep.; Indiana, _H.I. Miller_, _Dr. J.R. Weist_.

L. naucinoides Pk. is the American counterpart of L. naucina Fr., a European species, excepting that the spores of the latter are described as globose. The caps are ovate when young and usually from 1½-3 in. across when expanded, but occasionally reach 4 in., smooth, but frequently rough or minutely cracked in the center, white or varying shades of white deepening in color at the summit. In a rare form var. squamo´sa, large, thick scales occur which are caused by the breaking up of the cap surface. When young the gills are white or faintly yellow, becoming pinkish or dull brown in age. The pinkish hue is not always apparent. The outer edge of the veil or ring is thickest; usually it is firmly attached to the stem, but movable rings are frequently noticed. When the plant ages the ring is often missing, but traces of it are always discernible. Stem rarely equal, often it is distinctly bulbous, generally tapering upward from a more or less enlarged base, hollow when fully grown, until then containing cottony fibers within the cavity or appearing solid, 2–3 in. long, ¼-½ in. thick.

Its habitat is similar to that of the common mushroom—lawns, pastures, grassy places—though unlike the latter it is found in woods. Until thoroughly acquainted with it, specimens found in woods and supposed to be L. naucinoides should not be eaten. An Amanita might be mistaken for it. It is readily distinguishable from the common mushroom and its allies by the color of the gills and spores which are white, and differences in stem and veil.

It is found from July until after hard frosts. It was first reported edible by Professor Peck in 1875, under the name of Agaricus naucinus.