A. Frostiana is not always yellow gilled.
The family is not a large one, not over thirty members complete its
circle. Every feature, every part of its several members, should be
thoroughly known before the intimacy of eating. While at least nine of
the family are not only edible but delicate and sapid, far better will
it be to leave all alone than to make a mistake. A piece of a poisonous
variety the size of a dime will often cause serious disorders if eaten.
Many persons have died from eating very small quantities.
Because of its ovate or button-like form when young, it is frequently
mistaken for the common field mushroom; even experienced mycophagists
have been deceived by it. No other poison has so puzzled scientists.
Other varieties of fungi may interfere with digestion, but to the
Amanitæ all deaths from toadstool-eating are traceable. Its subtle
alkaloid is absorbed by the system, and in most cases lies unsuspected
for from six to twelve hours, then its iron grip holds to the death. For
centuries it has defied all remedies. The problem has been partially
solved. At Shenandoah, Pa., August 31, 1885, a family of five were
poisoned by toadstools; two died, three lived. Noting the sad account in
the newspapers, I at once wrote to Shenandoah for specimens of the fungi
eaten and a description of the treatment. I promptly received from Dr.
J.E. Schadle (now Professor Schadle), the physician in charge of the
cases, a box containing two harmless varieties and several fine
specimens of the Amanita phalloides, all of which were gathered on the
same spot and by the same person who gathered the toadstools doing the
poisoning. They told the tale. A remarkably full and interesting account
of the cases was sent to me by Dr. Schadle. After exhausting all other
remedies, and after two of the five had died, he administered
subcutaneously, by hypodermic injection, sulphate of atropine—a product
of the deadly nightshade analagous to belladonna—1⁄180 to 1⁄60 of a
grain at a dose. It proved to be an antidote and saved the lives of the
remaining three.
The action of atropine in arresting the deadly work of poisoning by
amanitine had been foreshadowed by Schmidberg and Koppe, and dwelt upon
in numerous published articles by Mr. Julius A. Palmer, to whom more
than any other is due the branding of the murderous members of the
Amanita family; but for the first time atropine was used upon the human
system to ward their blows.
All of the species herein described are found in the United States. Of
the twenty-seven, nine are edible, nine are either known to be deadly or
are so closely allied to deadly species that it is unsafe to class them
as other than poisonous until absolute proof is obtained of their
harmlessness. The remaining nine I have not seen, neither is there any
record of their qualities.
ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.
* Volva opening at the top or splitting all around, leaving a manifest,
free border at the base of the stem. Pileus naked or with broad
membranaceous patches.
** Volva splitting regularly all round the lower portion, persistent,
more or less closely embracing the base of the bulbous stem. The upper
portion being adnate to the pileus appears on it by expansion as
scattered, thick warts.
*** Volva friable, entirely broken up into wart-like scales, therefore
not persistent at the base of the stem, which is at first
globose-bulbous, becoming less so as it lengthens. Pileus bearing mealy
patches, soon disappearing or with small, hard, pointed warts.
**** Volva rudimentary, flocculose, wholly disappearing.
* _Volva bursting at top, etc._
=A. viro´sa= Fr.—_virus_, poison.
Shining white. =Pileus= 3–4 in. broad, fleshy, _at first conical and
acute_, afterwards bell-shaped, then expanded, naked, viscous in wet
weather, shining when dry, _margin_ always even, but most frequently
_unequal_, turned backward and inflexed. =Flesh= white, unchangeable.
=Stem= 4–6 in. long, _wholly stuffed_, almost solid, split up into
longitudinal fibrils, cylindrical from the bulbous base, often
compressed at the apex, _torn into scales_ on the surface, springing
from a _lax, wide, thick volva_, which bursts open at the apex. =Ring=
close to the top, lax, silky, splitting up into floccose fragments.
=Gills= free, thin, narrow, narrowing at both ends, but a little broader
in front, not decurrent on the stem (although the apex of the stem is
often striate), crowded, somewhat floccose at the edge. _Fries._
The pilei are most frequently oblique, extended and lobed on one side as
in Hygrophorous conicus, scarcely ever depressed. The pileus rarely
becomes yellow. The fragments of the veil often adhere to the edge of
the gills.
[Illustration: Grouped by F.D. Briscoe—Studies by C.
McIlvaine. PLATE VI.]
FIG. PAGE. FIG. PAGE.
1. AMANITA SPRETA, 11 4. AMANITA MUSCARIA, 14
2. AMANITA PHALLOIDES (WHITE 7 5. AMANITA FROSTIANA, 16
VAR.),
3. AMANITA PHALLOIDES (BROWN 7 6. GYROMITRA ESCULENTA, 546
VAR.),
In woods. Uncommon. August to October.
Fetid, poisonous. _Stevenson._
=Spores= spheroid or subspheroid, 10–16µ, _K._; 8µ _W.P._; sub-globose,
8–10µ _Massee_.
POISONOUS.
I think it a variety of A. phalloides.
=A. phalloi´des Fr.= _Gr._—phallus-like. (Plate VI, figs. 2, 3, p. 6.)
=Pileus= 3–4 in. broad, commonly shining white or lemon-yellow, fleshy,
oval bell-shaped, then expanded, _obtuse_, covered over with a pellicle
which is _viscid_ (not glutinous) in wet weather, naked, rarely
sprinkled with one or two fragments of the volva, the _regular margin
even_. =Stem= 3–5 in. long, ½ in. and more thick, solid downward,
bulbous, hollow and attenuated upward, _rather smooth_, white. =Ring=
_superior_, reflexed, slightly striate, swollen, commonly entire, white.
=Volva= more or less buried in the soil, bulbous, _semifree_, bursting
open in a torn manner at the apex, with a lax border. =Gills= free,
ventricose, 4 lines broad, shining white. _Fries._
=Pileus= very variable in color, commonly white or yellow (A. citrina
Pers.), becoming green (A. viridis Pers.), olivaceous and occasionally
variegated with tiger spots; in late autumn with the disk almost black
but whitish round the margin. Odor somewhat fetid, but little remarkable
as compared with that of A. virosa.
In woods. Frequent. August to November.
A very POISONOUS and dangerous species. _Stevenson._
=Spores= 8–9µ _W.G.S._; 8–10µ _B._; 7–9µ diam. _Massee_; globose, 7.6×6µ
_Peck_.
=Pileus= at first ovate or subcampanulate, then expanded, slightly
viscid when young and moist, smooth or rarely adorned by a few fragments
of the volva, _even on the margin_, white, yellowish-brown or
blackish-brown. =Lamellæ= rather broad, rounded behind, free, white.
Stem equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed or hollow, smooth or
slightly floccose, ringed, _bulbous_, the ruptured volva either
appressed loose or merely forming a narrow margin to the bulb.
=Plant= 4–8 in. high. =Pileus= 2–5 in. broad. =Stem= 3–6 lines thick.
This species is common and variable. It occurs everywhere in woods and
assumes such different colors that the inexperienced mycologist is apt
to mistake its different forms for distinct species. With us the
prevailing colors of the pileus are white, yellowish-white,
grayish-brown and blackish-brown. It is remarkable that the form with a
greenish pileus, which seems to be common enough in Europe, does not
occur here. Fries also mentions a form having a white pileus with a
black disk. A somewhat similar form occurs here, in which the pileus is
grayish-brown with a black disk. Some of the variously colored forms
were formerly taken to be distinct species, in consequence of which
several synonyms have arisen, of which A. virescens Fl. Dan., Amanita
viridis Pers., and Amanita citrina Pers., are examples. A. verna Bull.
is a variety having a white pileus, a rather thick annulus and an
appressed volva. It sometimes occurs early in the season; hence the
specific name. It also occurs late in the season and runs into the
typical form so that it is not easy to keep it distinct. The flesh and
the lamellæ are white, the stem is white, pallid or brownish, and the
annulus is either white or brownish. The bulb is generally very broad
and abrupt or depressed, though it sometimes is small and approaches an
ovate form. The large bulbs are sometimes split externally in two or
three places and are, therefore, two- or three-lobed. In such cases the
volva is less persistent than usual and its free portion then furnishes
merely an acute edge or narrow margin to the bulb. Specimens sometimes
occur in which the margin of the pileus is narrowly adorned with a
slight woolly hairiness, but usually it is perfectly smooth and even. By
this character, taken in connection with the membranous volva and
bulbous base of the stem, the species is readily distinguished.
Sometimes a strong odor is emitted by it, but usually the odor is
slight. Authors generally pronounce this a poisonous and very dangerous
species. Its appearance is attractive, but its use as food is to be
avoided. _Peck_, 33d Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Common in woods and recently cleared woodlands. Frequent over the United
States. June to frost.
An exceedingly _poisonous, dangerous_, seductive species, responsible
for most of the deaths from toadstool eating; because in its white form
it is mistaken for the common mushroom—Agaricus campester. The real
fault is with the collector, who should never eat any fungus found in
the woods, believing it to be the mushroom. The mushroom does not grow
in the woods. Neither has it _white gills_, nor _white spores_, nor a
_volva_ at the base of the stem as have Amanitæ.
The caps of A. phalloides vary in color—white, oyster-color, smoky
brown. The color of the commonest form is from white to a light hue of
greenish yellow. The center of the cap, whatever may be the prevailing
color, is usually several shades darker. In shape, the cap changes from
a knob in youth, through the shapes of expansion, until it becomes fully
spread, when it is umbrella-shaped, or almost flat. Some forms have a
slightly raised portion or umbo in the center of the cap. The gills are
white, of good width, rounded next to the stem and free from it.
The stem conforms in color to the cap, but in lighter shades.
White-capped varieties have white stems. The stem has a sudden broad,
distinct bulb at the base. On the upper side of the bulb there is
usually a margin or rim. The stem tapers more or less toward the cap,
from which it is easily separable. The cup, wrapper or volva is torn or
split or irregular at the upper part, and is not pressed to the stem as
in some forms.
Professor Peck, in his 48th Report, gives the following excellent
synopsis of differences between the poisonous Amanita and edible fungi,
for which it could only by great stupidity be mistaken:
_Poison amanita._ =Gills= persistently white. =Stem= equal to or longer
than the diameter of the cap, with a broad, distinct bulb at the base.
_Common mushroom._ =Gills= pink, becoming blackish-brown. =Stem= shorter
than the diameter of the cap, with no bulb at the base.
From all forms of the edible Sheathed amanitopsis the Poison amanita
differs in its distinctly bulbous stem, in having a collar on the stem
and in the absence of striations on the margin of the cap.
From the edible Reddish amanita, it is easily separated by the entire
absence of any reddish hues or stains and of warts upon its cap.
From the Smooth lepiota its distinct, abrupt and marginal bulb at once
distinguishes it.
=A. ver´na= Bull.—_vernus_, of spring. A variety of A. phalloides.
POISONOUS. White. =Pileus= ovate then expanded, somewhat depressed,
viscid, margin orbicular, even. =Stem= stuffed then hollow, equal,
floccose, closely sheathed with the free border of the volva. =Ring=
reflexed, swollen. =Gills= free. =Pileus= glabrous, even on the margin,
white, viscid when moist. =Gills= white. =Stem= ringed, white, floccose,
stuffed or hollow, closely sheathed at the base by the remains of the
membranous volva, bulbous. =Spores= globose, 8µ broad.
In woods. Spring and summer.
The Vernal Amanita scarcely differs from white forms of the A.
phalloides except in the more persistent and more closely sheathing
remains of the wrapper at the base of the stem. It is probably only a
variety of that species, as most mycologists now regard it, and it
should be considered quite as dangerous. I have not found it earlier
than in July, although in Europe it is said to appear in spring, as its
name implies. _Peck_, 48th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Common over the United States. West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
May to November. It appeared at Mt. Gretna, Pa., on May 28, 1899.
_McIlvaine._
The absence of a ring separates white forms of A. volvata and A.
vaginata.
The virulence of its poison is the same as that of A. phalloides.
=A. magnivela´ris= Pk.—_magnus_, large; _velum_, veil. =Pileus= convex
or nearly plane, glabrous, slightly viscid when moist, even on the
margin, white or yellowish-white. =Gills= close, free, white. =Stem=
long, nearly equal, glabrous, white, furnished with a large membranous
white annulus, sheathed at the base by the appressed remains of the
membranous volva, the bulbous base tapering downward and radicating.
=Spores= broadly elliptical, 10×6–8µ.
=Pileus= 3–5 in. broad. =Stem= 5–7 in. long, 4–6 lines thick.
Solitary in woods. Port Jefferson, Suffolk county. July.
The species resembles Amanita verna, from which it is separated by its
large persistent annulus, the elongated downwardly tapering bulb of its
stem, and especially by its elliptical spores. _Peck_, 50th Rep. N.Y.
State Bot.
I have not seen this species. Its resemblance to A. verna is enough to
place the ban upon it until it has been tested.
=A. map´pa= Fr.—_mappa_, a napkin. From the volva. =Pileus= 2–3 in.
broad, commonly white or becoming yellow, slightly fleshy,
convexo-plane, obtuse or depressed, orbicular, _dry_, margin for the
most part even. =Stem= 2–3 in. long, 3–5 lines thick, stuffed then
hollow, almost equal above the bulb, rather smooth, white. =Ring=
superior, soft, lax, here and there torn. =Volva= regularly _circularly
split_, somewhat obliterated; the globoso-bulbous base united with the
stem, with an acute and distant margin; the portion covering the pileus
divided into broad, irregular, somewhat separating scales. =Gills=
annexed, crowded, narrow, shining, white. _Fries._
=Odor= stinking. The color is that of A. phalloides, with which A.
virosa exactly agrees, more rarely straw color, lemon-yellow, becoming
green.
In mixed woods. Frequent. _Stevenson._
=Spores= spheroid, 7–10µ _K._; 8–9×6–8µ _B._; subglobose, 7–9µ diameter
_Massee_.
New York woods and fields, common, September to October, _Peck_, 22d
Rep.; North Carolina, _Curtis_; New England, _Frost_; Minnesota,
_Johnson_; Ohio, _Morgan_; District Columbia, _Miss Taylor_.
POISONOUS.
Probably but a variety of A. phalloides.
=A. spre´ta= Pk.—_spreta_, hated. (Plate VI, fig. 1, p. 6.) =Pileus=
subovate, then convex or expanded, smooth or adorned with a few
fragments of the volva, substriate on the margin, whitish or pale-brown.
=Gills= close, reaching the stem, white. =Stem= equal, smooth, annulate,
stuffed or hollow, whitish, finely striate at the top from the decurrent
lines of the lamellæ, not bulbous at the base, but the volva rather
large, loose, subochreate. =Spores= elliptical, generally with a single
large nucleus, 10–13×6–8µ.
=Plant= 4–6 in. high. =Pileus= 3–5 in. broad. =Stem= 4–6 lines thick.
Ground in open places. Sandlake and Gansevoort. August. _Peck_, 32d Rep.
N.Y. State Bot.
This is a dangerous species, because containing a deadly poison and
resembling the most common forms of Amanitopsis, therefore likely to be
mistaken for them. Specimens sent by me to Professor Peck were
identified as his species. I add my own description.
=Pileus= oval, broadly umbonate, date-brown toward and on umbo, soft,
dry, smooth, more or less sulcate on edge. =Flesh= white, thin, except
at center. =Stem= tapers rapidly above ring and at base,
white-reddish-brown toward middle, narrows toward volva from which it is
almost free at the base, hollow, furfuraceous above ring. =Gills= white,
crowded, free. =Ring= white, thin, persistent, but at times hard to
distinguish because clinging to stem. =Volva= free, fitting close, upper
margin thin, lower part quite thick, making stem appear bulbous, which
it is not. White forms occur.
Not as virulent as A. phalloides, but like it in its POISONOUS effects.
It differs from Amanitopsis in having a ring.
Grows in woods and on wood-margins.
Angora woods, West Philadelphia. On ground in mixed woods, open and
grassy places in wood and wood-margins. August to September.
_McIlvaine._
=A. recuti´ta= Fr.—having a fresh or new skin. =Pileus= convex then
plane, _dry_, smooth, frequently bearing fragments of the volva, margin
nearly even. =Stem= stuffed then hollow, attenuated, _silky_, volva
circumscissile, becoming obliterated, margin closely pressed to stem;
ring distant, white. =Gills= striate-decurrent.
In pine woods. Common.
No report upon quality.
=A. Cæsa´rea= Scop.—king-like. (Called by the Greeks _Cibus Deorum_,
food of the gods.) CAUTION. =Pileus= 3–8 in. across, hemispherical, then
expanded, free from warts, distinctly striate on the margin, red or
orange becoming yellow. =Gills= free, yellow. =Stem= 4–6 in. long, up to
¾ in. thick at base, slightly tapering upward, yellowish, flocculose,
stuffed with white fibrils or hollow, with a conspicuous yellowish ring
or veil. =Volva= white, large, distinct and membranous. =Spores=
elliptical, 8–10µ _Peck_.
Open woods, under pines on lawns. July to October.
Reported from North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland,
New Jersey, Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York. _Peck_,
Rep. 23, 32, 33, 48.
This emperor of fungi is the most showy of its race. It grows to 10 in.
in height. The cap reaches 8 in. in diameter and the stem over 1½ in. in
thickness. In very much smaller specimens about the same proportions
occur. The cap is at first ovate, then hemispherical, then expanded. It
has no warts or scales upon it. The margin is distinctly striate. The
flesh is white, yellow or reddish under the skin; next to the gills it
is usually yellow.
The stem tapers upward from the socket at its base. It is yellowish and
covered with loose fibrils of darker hue. The ring is white, but
frequently tinged with yellow. In taste and smell it is mild. Open woods
is its favorite habitat, yet it is found growing luxuriantly under
pines, maples, elms, on lawns. It is not often found, but when it is, it
is solitary, or in groups or rings. In the latitude of Philadelphia it
is found from July until October 1st. Further south its stay conforms to
temperature, and it is more frequent. There is no doubt of its rare
edibility abroad, and of its being eaten in America.
A specimen believed to be it should never be eaten until carefully
distinguished from A. muscaria and A. Frostiana, which have warts or
scales on the cap (which sometimes are not discernible after rain),
white gills, and a volva which soon breaks up into fragments or scabs.
Appearing like a small form of A. muscaria, to which it was formerly
referred, is A. Frostiana Pk. (Frost’s Agaric). It closely resembles
small A. Cæsarea, especially in the yellow tinge of stem, ring and
gills. The volva and ring (persistent in A. Cæsarea) soon disappear, but
are traceable by fluffy fragments, or yellow stains. It is extremely
poisonous.
The differences, concisely, are these: A. Cæsarea (Orange Amanita).
=Cap= smooth, though occasionally with a few fragments of the volva as
patches upon it. =Gills= yellow. =Stem= yellow. =Volva= usually
persistent, sometimes breaking up into soft, fluffy masses.
_A. muscaria_ (Fly Amanita). Poisonous. =Cap= covered with remains of
the volva as scales or wart-like patches. =Gills= white. =Stem= white or
light-yellow. =Volva= not persistent, breaking up into fluffy fragments
or scales.
_A. Frostiana._ Poisonous. Smaller and more delicate than the two
preceding. =Cap= smooth or with yellow scales or wart-like patches.
=Gills= yellow or tinged on edge with yellow. =Stem= white or yellow,
the ring evanescent, but always leaving a yellow mark on stem. =Volva=
yellow, breaking up into yellow fluffy fragments.
Far better for the amateur to let the A. Cæsarea, and anything
resembling it, respectfully alone.
New York, _Gansvoort_. Circle forty feet in diameter. _Peck_, 32d Rep.;
Maryland. There is not a doubt that this fungus can be eaten with
impunity, _Banning_; Alabama, abundant. Edible. Alabama Bull. No. 80.
Rogues and Cordier, French writers, regard it as the finest and most
delicate of fungi, the perfume and taste being exquisite.
The writer has not had opportunity to eat A. Cæsarea. If such should
occur he would go about it very cautiously. No suspicion attaches to it
abroad, but evidence is accumulating in the hands of the writer (not yet
convincing) that either locality may render it poisonous or that A.
muscaria varies so much in appearance as to deceive even the expert into
mistaking it for A. Cæsarea. It is possible that A. muscaria is, at
times, in certain localities, harmless; but no such exception as this is
noted in the entire fungoid realm. It is not so common that collectors
should mourn its waste. It is better, far, to let it alone.
** _Volva splitting regularly all around; pileus bearing thick warts,
etc._
=A. musca´ria= Linn.—_musca_, a fly. (Plate VI, fig. 4, p. 6. Plate IX.)
POISONOUS. =Pileus= 4 in. and more broad, normally at first blood-red,
soon orange and becoming pale, whitening when old, globose, then convex
and at length flattened, covered with a _pellicle_ which is _at first
thick_, and in wet weather _glutinous_, but which gradually disappears,
and sprinkled with thick, angular, separating fragments of the volva;
_margin_ when full-grown _slightly striate_. =Flesh= not compact, white,
_yellow under the pellicle_. =Stem= as much as a span long, shining
white, firm, torn into scales, at first stuffed with lax, spider-web
fibrils, soon _hollow_; the _adnate base of the volva_ forms an ovate
bulb, which is _marginate with concentric scales_. =Ring= very soft,
torn, even, inserted at the apex of the stem, which is often dilated.
=Gills= free, but reaching the stem, decurrent in the form of lines,
crowded, broader in front, white, rarely becoming yellow.
Var. _rega´lis_, twice as large. =Stem= stuffed, _solid when young_, as
much as 1–2 in. thick, becoming light-yellow within; the volva
terminates in 8–10 concentric squamoso-reflexed rows of scales. =Pileus=
very glutinous, bay-brown or the color of cooked liver. =Gills=
yellowish.
Var. _formo´sa_, soft, fragile. =Pileus= at first _lemon-yellow_, with
mealy, lax, yellowish, easily-separating warts, often naked. =Gills=
often becoming yellow. A. formosa, with the warts rubbed off.
Var. _umbri´na_, thinner and _more slender_. =Stem= hollow, often
twisted, bulb narrowed. =Pileus= at first _umber_, then livid, with the
exception of the disk, which is dingy-brown. =Gills= at length remote.
_Stev._
[Illustration:
Photographed by Dr. J.R. Weist. PLATE IX.
AMANITA MUSCARIA.
]
=Pileus= at first ovate or hemispherical, then broadly convex or nearly
plane, slightly viscid when young and moist, _rough with numerous_
_whitish or yellowish warts_, rarely smooth, narrowly and _slightly
striate on the margin_, white, yellow or orange-red. =Gills= white.
=Stem= equal or slightly tapering upward, stuffed with webby fibrils or
hollow, bearing a white ring above, _ovate-bulbous_ at the base, white
or yellowish; the volva usually breaking up into scales and adhering to
the upper part of the bulb and the base of the stem. =Spores=
_elliptical_, 8–10x6–8µ.