_A. verna_; the pileus convex, the annulus broad and entire, and the
stem scaly. These floccose scales are formed as a result of the
separation of the annulus from the outer layer of the stem.

The characters presented in the formation of the veil and annulus in
this species are very interesting, and sometimes present two of the
types in the formation of the veil and annulus found in the genus
_Amanita_. In the very young plant, in the button stage, as the young
gills lie with their edges close against the side of the stem, loose
threads extend from the edges of the gills to the outer layer of the
stem. This outer layer of the stem forms the veil, and is more or less
loosely connected with the firmer portion of the stem by loose threads.
As the pileus expands, the threads connecting the edges of the gills
with the veil are stronger than those which unite the veil with the
surface of the stem. The veil is separated from the stem then,
simultaneously, or nearly so, throughout its entire extent, and is not
ripped up from below as in _Amanita velatipes_.

As the pileus expands, then, the veil lies closely over the edges of the
gills until finally it is freed from them and from the margin of the
pileus. As the veil is split off from the surface of the stem, the
latter is torn into numerous floccose scales, as shown in Fig. 59.

In other cases, in addition to the primary veil which is separated from
the stem in the manner described above, there is a secondary veil formed
in exactly the same way as that described for _Amanita velatipes_.

[Illustration: FIGURE 61.--Amanita verna, small form, white (natural
size). Copyright.]

In such cases there are two veils, or a double veil, each attached to
the margin of the pileus, the upper one ascending over the edges of the
gills and attached above on the stem, while the lower one descends and
is attached below as it is being ripped up from a second layer of the
stem. Figures 59--61 are from plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C.,
in September, 1899.

=Amanita virosa= Fr. =Deadly Poisonous.=--This plant also by some is
regarded as only a form of _Amanita phalloides_. It is a pure white
plant and the pileus is viscid as in the _A. verna_ and _A. phalloides_.
The volva splits at the apex as in _A. verna_, but the veil is very
fragile and torn into shreds as the pileus expands, portions of it
clinging to the margin of the cap as well as to the stem, as shown in
Fig. 62. The stem