The cylindrical or barrel-shaped pileus is characteristic of the shaggy-mane mushroom. As the pileus elongates the stem does also, but more rapidly. This tears apart the connection of the margin of the pileus with the base of the stem, as is plainly shown in Fig. 33. In breaking away, the connecting portion or veil is freed both from the stem and from the margin of the pileus, and is left as a free, or loose, ring around the stem. In the shaggy-mane the veil does not form a thin, expanded curtain. It is really an annular outer layer of the button lying between the margin of the cap and the base of the stem. It becomes free from the stem. As the stem elongates more rapidly than the cap, the latter is lifted up away from the base of the stem. Sometimes the free ring is left as a collar around the base of the stem, still loosely adherent to the superficial layer of the same, or it remains for a time more or less adherent to the margin of the pileus as shown in the plant at the left hand in Fig. 33. It is often lifted higher up on the stem before it becomes free from the cap, and is then left dangling somewhere on the stem, or it may break and fall down on the sod. In other instances it may remain quite firmly adherent to the margin of the pileus so that it breaks apart as the pileus in age expands somewhat. In such cases one often searches for some time to discover it clinging as a sterile margin of the cap. It is interesting to observe a section of the plants at this stage. These sections can be made by splitting the pileus and stem lengthwise through the middle line with a sharp knife, as shown in Fig. 35. Here, in the plant at the right hand, the "cord" of mycelium is plainly seen running through the hollow stem. The gills form a large portion of the plant, for they are very broad and lie closely packed side by side. They are nowhere attached to the stem, but at the upper end round off to the cap, leaving a well defined space between their ends and the stem. The cap, while it is rather thick at the center, i. e., where it joins the stem, becomes comparatively thin where it spreads out over the gills. At this age of the plant the gills are of a rich salmon color, i. e., before the spores are ripe, and the taste when raw is a pleasant nutty flavor, reminding one of the meat of fresh green hickory nuts. In a somewhat earlier stage the edges of all the gills are closely applied to the stem which they surround. So closely are they applied to the stem in most cases that threads of mycelium pass from the stem to the edge of the gills. As the cap expands slightly in ageing, these threads are torn asunder and the stem is covered with a very delicate down or with flocculent particles which easily disappear on handling or by the washing of the rains. The edges of the gills are also left in a frazzled condition, as one can see by examining them with a good hand lens.