Amanita fulva

Description

Amanita fulva is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Amanita. This medium-sized agaric has a distinctive tawny cap and white gills, no ring, and usually without cap patches but with volval bag. It grows solitary or scattered on soil in mixed woodlands, favoring birch in deciduous and coniferous forests of Europe, and North America.

It is one of the few edible species in the genus Amanita. Though this particular species is considered edible, it must be identified with care as other members of the genus Amanita are deadly poisonous. Some sources indicate Amanita fulva as potentially toxic only when raw. Ultimate Mushroom does not recommend collecting and eating this fungus.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4-10 cm; oval to convex, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; sticky at first or when wet; tawny brown to brown; sometimes with a few scattered white to tawny patches; bald; the margin prominently lined or grooved.

2. Gills

   Free from the stem or slightly attached to it; whitish; close or nearly crowded; short-gills infrequent.

3. Stem

   7-16 cm long; 0.5-1.5 cm thick; slightly tapered to apex; bald or slightly hairy; whitish to pale brownish; without a ring; the base enclosed in a sacklike, white volva that fits loosely around the stem and often discolors tawny brown.

4. Flesh

   White throughout; soft; unchanging when sliced.

5. Spores

   The spores are white, 9 × 12 μm or (9.0-) 10.0 - 12.5 (-19.3) x (8.2-) 9.3 - 12.0 (-15.5) μm in size, globose; nonamyloid.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Habitat

   Mycorrhizal with hardwoods or conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains.

8. Season

   July to October.

Look-Alikes

1. Amanita caesarea

   The cap is orange with a striated margin. The stem is orange-yellow.

2. Amanita crocea

   The cap is yellowish-orange and has an apricot tinge at the center. Gills are creamy-white. The stem is often hollow in mature mushrooms. The odor is sweet and tastes resemble nutty.

3. Amanita vaginata

   Very similar but the cap is grayish.

History

In 1774 Jacob Christian Schaeffer described this species and named it Agaricus fulvus.

In 1815 Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries transferred to another genius and named it Amanita fulva.

The specific epithnet fulva means reddish brown.

Synonyms

1. Amanitopsis fulva (Fr.) W.G. Sm.

2. Amanita vaginata var. fulva (Fr.) Gillet, 1874

3. Amanitopsis vaginata var. fulva (Fr.) Sacc., 1887

4. Vaginata fulva (Fr.) A.H. Sm., 1949

5. Amanita ochraceomaculata Neville, 2000

6. Agaricus fulvus Schäff.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: GLJIVARSKO DRUSTVO NIS from Serbia (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Anton Ehrola (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Ralf Roletschek (talk) - Fahrradtechnik auf fahrradmonteur.de (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 5 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)