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LIMACELLA
AMANITOPSIS VAGINATA Fr. Edible
Figure 144, page 89
PILEUS 2-4 in. broad, soft and fleshy, at first ovate, becoming campanulate
or convex, then plane, umbonate, occurring in three color forms — white,
(var. alba Sacc), tawny, (var. fulva Sacc.), or grayish, (var. livida Pk.), surface
glabrous or occasionally bearing fragments of the volva, margin grooved-
striate. flesh white, lamellae free, not close, moderately broad, whitish.
STIPE 3-7 in. long, about )4 in. thick, tapering slightly towards the apex, base
not bulbous, extending some distance into the ground, stuffed, becoming
hollow, surface glabrous or somewhat mealy, whitish, annulus lacking.
VOLVA ample, white, membranous, mostly underground, encasing the base of
the stipe and usually collapsed against it. spores smooth, white, globose,
8-10 M.
Solitary or scattered, on the ground in woods. June-Sept. Fairly common.
Edible but not to be confused with specimens of Amanita from which the
annulus has disappeared, especially the poisonous Amanita spreta Pk. whose
stipe also lacks a bulb.
It seems probable that the three color varieties mentioned above are good
autonomous species. They seem to be entirely distinct without intermediate
forms. Amanitopsis inaurata (Seer.) Fayod has a gray volva and large spores.
LIMACELLA
Limacella is a small genus and most of the species are rather rare. They
were formerly placed in Lepiota, but constitute a fairly well-marked, related
group that seems worthy of generic rank. The fundamental character separat-
ing them from Lepiota is the microscopic structure of the trama of the lamellae,
but they can usually be recognized in the field by the viscid pileus; the stipe,
too, is often viscid. The lamellae are free or in one species shghtly attached
and an annulus is present. The North American species have been studied by
Helen V. Smith (1945) and she recognized twelve species. Two species may be
found fairly often in the Ottawa district.
There does not appear to be much information on the edibihty of Lima-
cella species, but since the genus is generally considered to be closely related to
Amanita, they are probably best avoided or tried very cautiously.
LIMACELLA GLISCHRA (Morg.) Murr.
Figure 147, page 89
PILEUS %-2^/2 in. broad, convex or subumbonate, slimy-viscid, yellowbrown
to reddish brown, flesh white, thick, soft, lamellae free, close to
crowded, white, broad, stipe 2-3 in. long, V8-!4 in. thick, equal or nearly so,
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