Amanita rubescens

What You Should Know

Amanita rubescens has a cap with a cuticle that is generally vinous, wine red, or bright pink, with colored scales of reddish gray or wine red. The gills are white, sometimes pitted with vinous in old age. The stem is thick, cylindrical or slightly tapered towards the top, white in color with a tendency towards vinous, often finely punctuated with vinous, and has a falling veil ring. The base of the stem is covered in a very burst scaly volva, surrounding a distinct bulb. The flesh also bruises pink when exposed to air.

The species is highly variable in color, which can range from very pale and almost whitish to quite dark depending on humidity conditions and the age of fruiting. This color polymorphism can lead to confusion with other dangerous Amanita species.

It is widely distributed and common in Eastern North America. It grows from June to November in deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, both singly and in groups.

It is believed that this mushroom is safe to eat when cooked and has a good taste. To confirm that it is not confused with a poisonous mushroom, break off the cap and check if the flesh turns wine red. If it does, it is safe to consume. This mushroom can also be distinguished from poisonous ones by its warts and ring on the stem. Poisonous mushrooms have a smooth ring and white stem, while this mushroom has a ridged ring and a red stem.

In 1797 Christiaan Hendrik Persoon described this species. The specific epithet rubescens means reddening which refers to the color change from white to pinkish red when cut or damaged.

Other names: Blusher, Eurasian Blusher, Perlpilz (German), Parelamaniet (Netherlands), Muchomůrka Růžovka (Czech Republic), Cuc or Cuci or Plopenchi or Borșgombă (Romania).

Amanita rubescens Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4–20 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex or flat; dry or slightly sticky; adorned with numerous felty warts that are bright yellow and densely packed at first, but soon spread and fade, becoming pinkish, grayish or dull tan; surface dull brassy yellow to dull brown when young, becoming flushed with red shades, and eventually turning reddish-brown to tan or brown; the margin typically not lined.

2. Gills

   Free from the stem or narrowly attached to it; white, sometimes discoloring reddish; close or crowded; short-gills numerous.

3. Stem

   5–18 cm long; 1–3 cm thick; more or less equal, or sometimes slightly enlarged toward base; the base indistinct to bulbous; generally without universal veil remnants; without a rim; white at first, becoming stained pinkish to dirty red; bald or finely hairy; with a fragile, persistent ring.

4. Flesh

   White throughout, discoloring slowly pale pinkish red, especially around wormholes.

5. Odor and Taste

   The odor is sweetly fungoid. The taste is faint then becomes slightly acrid.

6. Spores

   White.

7. Spore Print

   White.

8. Season

   June to November.

9. Habitat

   Mycorrhizal, primarily with oaks, but versions are found under pines and other conifers, as well; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; widely distributed.

10. Microscopic Features

    Spores 6–10.5 x 4–7µm; smooth; ellipsoid; amyloid. Basidia 4-spored; without clamps. Pileipellis a cutis or ixocutis of hyphae 2–7 µm wide. Lamellar trama bilateral; subhymenium cellular.

Amanita rubescens Look-Alikes

1. Amanita excelsa

   Very similar in cap color. The flesh doesn't change color when cut.

2. Amanita caesarea

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

3. Amanita muscaria

   Some variations have orange-brown caps while others are silvery. The veil fragments are pure white.

4. Amanita pantherina

   The cap has a brown color. The flesh does not turn pink when cut.

Amanita rubescens Synonyms and Varietes

• Amanita verrucosa Lam., 1783

• Agaricus adnatus Schumacher (1803), Enumeratio plantarum in partibus Saellandiae septentrionalis et orientalis, 2, p. 260

• Agaricus circinatus (Persoon) Schumacher (1803), Enumeratio plantarum in partibus Saellandiae septentrionalis et orientalis, 2, p. 251

• Agaricus crassipes O.F. Müller (1780), Flora danica, 14, p. 7, tab. 831, fig. 2

• Agaricus magnificus Fr. 1857

• Agaricus margaritiferus Batsch (1783), Elenchus fungorum, p. 57

• Agaricus muscarius var. ß rubens (Scopoli) F.H. Wiggers (1780), Primitiae flora holsaticae, p. 98

• Agaricus myodes Schaeffer (1774), Fungorum qui in Bavaria et Palatinatu circa Ratisbonam, 4, p. 69, tab. 261

• Agaricus pustulatus Schaeffer (1774), Fungorum qui in Bavaria et Palatinatu circa Ratisbonam, 4, p. 39, tab. 91

• Agaricus rubens Scopoli (1772), Flora carniolica, Edn 2, 2, p. 416

• Agaricus rubescens (Persoon) J. Otto (1816), Versuch einer auf … Anordnung und Beschreibung der Agaricorum, p. 39

• Agaricus rubescens var. ß circinatus (Persoon) Weinmann (1836), Hymeno et Gastero-mycetes hucusque in imperio Rossico observatos recensuit, p. 7

• Agaricus verrucosus Bulliard (1786), Herbier de la France, 7, tab. 316

• Amanita annulosulphurea (Gillet) Seyot 1930

• Amanita circinata (Persoon) Gray (1821), A natural arrangement of British plants, 1, p. 600

• Amanita incarnata ss. Gillet (1874), Les hyménomycètes, ou description de tous les champignons (fungi) qui croissent en France, p. 45

• Amanita magnifica (Fr.) Gillet 1874

• Amanita marci Dupain (1928), Bulletin de la Société mycologique de France, 44(1), p. 113 (nom. inval.)

• Amanita pseudorubescens Herrfurth (1936), Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde, 14(6), p. 77, tab. 1

• Amanita pustulata (Schaeffer) J. Schröter (1889), in Cohn, Kryptogamen-flora von Schlesien, 3(1), p. 678

• Amanita radicata Voglino, 1894

• Amanita rubens (Scopoli) Quélet (1886), Enchiridion fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia vigentium, p. 4

• Amanita rubens var. circinata (Persoon) Saccardo (1915), Flora italica cryptogama. Pars 1: Fungi. Hymeniales, 1(14), p. 45

• Amanita rubescens f. annulorosea A.G. Parrot (1960), Amanites du Sud-Ouest de la France, p. 91

• Amanita rubescens f. exannulata A.G. Parrot (1960), Amanites du Sud-Ouest de la France, p. 90

• Amanita rubescens Persoon (1797), Tentamen dispositionis methodicae fungorum, p. 67 (basionyme) Sanctionnement : Fries (1821)

• Amanita rubescens var. alba Coker 1917

• Amanita rubescens var. alutacea Gillet 1874

• Amanita rubescens var. annulosulphurea Gillet 1874

• Amanita rubescens var. circinnata Pers. 1801

• Amanita rubescens var. communis Alb. & Schwein. 1805

• Amanita rubescens var. congolensis Beeli 1935

• Amanita rubescens var. elegantissima Naveau 1923

• Amanita rubescens var. genuina Gillet 1874

• Amanita rubescens var. gracilis Gillot & Lucand (1889), Société d'histoire naturelle d'Autun, Bulletin, 2, p. 147

• Amanita rubescens var. incarnata Gillet 1874

• Amanita rubescens var. magnifica (Fr.) Rea 1922

• Amanita rubescens var. ß circinata Persoon (1801), Synopsis methodica fungorum, p. 255

• Amanita rubescens var. sulphureoannulata Gillet

• Amanita rubescens var. verrucosa (Bulliard) Gillet (1874), Les hyménomycètes, ou description de tous les champignons (fungi) qui croissent en France, p. 45

• Amplariella rubescens (Persoon) E.-J. Gilbert (1940), Iconographia mycologica, 27, supplément 1(1), p. 78

• Hypophyllum vinosum Paulet (1808) [1793], Traité des champignons, 2, p. 357, tab. 161, fig. 1-4

• Limacium rubescens (Pers.) J. Schröt., 1889

• Venenarius rubens (Scopoli) Murrill (1913), Mycologia, 5(2), p. 75

Amanita rubescens Video

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