Subgenus _Amanita_. The Amanitas are usually large and somewhat watery, the flesh brittle rather than tough. The very young plants are enveloped in a membranous wrapper, which breaks apart with the expansion of the plant, leaving a more or less persistent sheath at the base of the stem. The universal veil is distinct and free from the cuticle of the cap. The cap is convex at first, then expanded; in some species naked and smooth; in others, clothed with membranaceous patches of the volva. The stem is distinct from the fleshy substance of the cap, ringed and furnished with a volva or sheath. In some of the species this sheath is connate with the base of the stem, firm and persistent. In others, it is friable, at length nearly obsolete. The ring is usually persistent, deflexed, more or less prominent, in rare cases pressed close against the stem, and sometimes scarcely distinguishable from it. The gills in most of the species are free from the stems, but there are exceptions to this rule. Spores white. As to geographical distribution, according to M. C. Cooke, seven-eighths of the species are distinctly located in the temperate zone, one-twentieth at a temperate elevation, and only one-twentieth presumably tropical. Out of the eighty species, about sixty are North American and European, and one species is found on the slopes of the Andes, in South America. As heretofore stated, this group among mushrooms is made responsible for most of the well authenticated cases of fatal poisoning by mushrooms. It would be judicious, therefore, for those who are not thoroughly familiar with the characteristics of the edible Amanitas to defer making experiments with them for table use until that familiarity is acquired. Saccardo in his _Sylloge_ describes no less than fifteen edible species of Amanita as found in different parts of the world. Of those I have personally been able to identify but three which are common in this country, and which have been well tested. Specimens of these three species are illustrated in Plates XIV and XIV-1/2 of this pamphlet. They are each and all found in varying abundance in different parts of the United States. [Illustration: Plate XIV. EDIBLE AMANITAS. Figs. 1 to 4 Ag. (Amanita) Caesareus, Scop. (Amanita Caesarea) "Orange Amanita." Figs. 5 to 9 Ag. (Amanita) rubescens. Pers. "The Blusher." "Reddish Brown Amanita." EDIBLE. T. Taylor, del.] PLATE XIV. FIGS. 1 to 4. =Ag. (Amanita) Caesareus= Scop. (=Amanita Caesarea=). "_Orange Amanita_," "_True Orange_." EDIBLE.