margin;
usually the larger and well-developed specimens have the deeper and
richer color, the color being always more marked in the center of the
pileus; margin distinctly striate; gills rounded at the stem end and not
attached to the stem, yellow, free and straight. The color of the gills
of matured plants usually is an index to the color of the spores but it
is an exception in this case as the spores are white.

The stem and the flabby membranaceous collar that surrounds it toward
the top are yellow like the gills, the depth of the color varying more
with the size of the plant than is the case with color of the cap.
Sometimes in small and inferior plants the color of both stem and gills
is nearly white, and if the volva is not distinct it is difficult to
distinguish it from the fly mushroom, which is very poisonous. The stem
is hollow, with a soft cottony pith in the young plants.

In very young plants the edge of the collar is attached to the margin of
the cap and conceals the gills, but with the upward growth of the stem
and the expansion of the cap the collar separates from the margin and
remains attached to the stem, where it hangs down upon it like a ruffle.

The expanded cap is usually from three to six inches broad, the stem
from four to six inches long and tapering upward.

When in the button stage, the plant is ovate; and the white color of the
volva, which now entirely surrounds the plant, presents an appearance
much like a hen's egg in size, color, and shape. As the parts within
develop, the volva ruptures in its upper part, the stem elongates and
carries upward the cap, while the remains of the volva surrounds the
base of the stem in the form of a cup.

When the volva first breaks at the apex, it reveals the point of the cap
with its beautiful red color and in contrast with the white volva makes
quite a pretty plant, but with advancing age the red or orange red fades
to a yellow. In drying the specimens the red often entirely disappears.
In young, as well as in old plants, the margin is often prominently
marked with striations, as will be seen in Figures 28 and 29. The flesh
of the plant is white but more or less stained with yellow next to the
epidermis and the gills, which are of that color.

The plant grows in wet weather from July to October. It grows in thin
woods and seems to prefer pine woods and sandy soil. I have found it
from the south tier of counties to the north of our state. It is not,