Scaly Mushroom. Fig. 14.
(Agaricus [Lepiota] procerus.)13.
Agaricus procerus everywhere enjoys a good reputation, and as it is far from uncommon, the lovers of fungi can generally make sure of this species for a treat. When or at what time it was ever sold at Covent Garden Market, I do not know; for although more than one book says it is there displayed for sale, I never saw, or could hear of it. It grows in pastures, and is known by its long bulbous spotted stem, by the ring that will slip up and down, by the very scaly top, and the gills far removed from the insertion of the stalk. When the stem is removed, a large hollow socket remains,—just the place to insert a large piece of butter in the broiling process, when, with pepper and salt, it forms a dish that if once tried must please the most fastidious. I think the plants gathered in the pastures are best. I have sometimes found most enormous specimens growing in fir plantations, but I do not think them equal for the table to the plants which abound in rich meadows. The flesh is a little inclined to change colour; and there is an allied species, A. rachodes, much more robust, but often smaller, that changes colour to a deep yellowish-brown when broken, and has a smooth stem, that cannot be so highly recommended, if it even be wholesome. I have generally found it growing on dark and shady hedge-banks, and know several persons who have eaten it and speak well of it.