tliickish, similar in colour to the cap, b u t darker towai'ds the base, which
is generally attenuated, b u t sometimes equal; rugged, with brown scaly
tufts, generally though not always solid. Veil, ragged, brown, surrounding
the stem in the form of a collar, and remaining for a considerable
time. Flesh, firm, thick, whitish, often with a tinge of yellow or green.
Few names have been more confused than those of A g a r i-
7'icus squamosus and squarrosus, and to clear up all the errors
connected with them would be perhaps impossible. My limits
will only allow me to say, that, in the synonymes quoted, I
have not inserted one authority that I have not minutely examined.
Between A g . squamosus and squarrosus, as described
by W i t h e r i n g I can see no essential difference, although
Mr P u R T O N keeps them distinct; and so convinced is F r i e s
also of this, that’ he retains A g . squamosus of P e r s o o n ,— a
plant with a totally different habit. The figure in Fl. Londi-
nensis is an excellent representation of one of the varieties of
tliis plant, as also is that in S o w e r b y ’s English Fungi.
How desirable it is that the Genus Agaricus should be
divided, every one will be ready to admit. Above 300 pages
of the recent admirable work by M. F r i e s , is given up to concise
descriptions of the species; yet an application of twenty
years has been insufficient to enable him to form new genera
out of such an accumulated mass of materials! N e e s v o n
F s e n b e c k has done something towards the formation of generic
groups; and L in k has in a partial degree also attempted
it. But hitherto nothing completely satisfactory has appeared
on the subject. It may he proper here to mention,
that Mr G r a y has made genera of several of the old divisions
of Agaricus; but in order to produce a systematic effect, he
has been compelled to omit many well known British species.
Fig. 1. Tuft o f plants, natural, size. Fig. 2. A section oj the pileus.