Amanita citrina

What You Should Know

Amanita citrina is an inedible mushroom with a fleshy pale yellow, or sometimes white cap. It is a very common mushroom that grows in most parts of mainland Europe and North America.

Although known to contain the toxin alpha-amanitin and bufotenin but if eaten in normal amounts the concentration is so low that it is unlikely to have any significant effect on a healthy adult. Anyway, Ultimate Mushroom doesn't recommend collecting and eating this mushroom.

Other names: False Death Cap, Citron Amanita.

Amanita citrina Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4–10 cm (1.5–4 in) across, covered in irregular patches, pale yellow or white.

2. Gills

   Thick, narrow, initially weakly attached, later free, initially white, later yellowish.

3. Stem

   The stem is 5-12 cm high, 1-2 cm in diameter, initially bulbous, later cylindrical, with a large yellowish or brownish bulbous thickening at the base, hollow, white-yellowish. The ring is wide, hanging, smooth, flaky above, yellow, and sometimes disappearing. The volva grew to the stem, initially white, later yellow-brown or brown.

4. Flesh

   The flesh is soft, white, and yellow under the skin.

5. Spores

   8-11 * 7-9 μm, broadly oval or almost round, with a smooth surface.

6. Spore Print

   White.

7. Odor and Taste

   The taste is unpleasant, with the smell of radish or raw potatoes.

8. Habitat

   Found in deciduous and coniferous woodlands in Europe and North American oak and pine forests.

9. Season

   Summer to Autumn.

Amanita citrina Look-Alikes

1. Amanita virosa

   The veil pieces are left on the cap until maturity. The cap remains slightly domed, its pedicle ring is usually high and not very large, and there is no pungent odor.

2. Amanita phalloides

   It retains fragments of the veil on its cap, which develops a sickening sweetness as it ages.

3. Amanita porphyria

   Is an inedible or mildly poisonous mushroom that tends to have a darker cap.

Amanita citrina Taxonomy and Etymology

In 1762 Jacob Christian Schaeffer described this species and named it Agaricus citrinus.

In 1797 Christiaan Hendrik Persoon transferred it to Amanita citrina.

The specific epithet citrina is a literal illustration of the lemon-yellow tinge of the caps.

Varieties:

1. A. citrina var. citrina - the main variety, with a yellowish-green cap.

2. A. citrina var. alba (Gillet) E.-J. Gilbert, 1918 - white-capped. It is noticed that when the main or white variety spreads, the other gives way to it.

3. A. citrina var. grisea (Hongo) Hongo, 1959 - gray-capped.

4. A. citrina var. lavendula Coker, 1917 - has a grayish-yellow cap.

Amanita citrina Synonyms

1. Amanita mappa (Batsch) Fr., 1838

2. Amanita bulbosa var. citrina (Schaeff.) Gillet, 1874

3. Amanita mappa var. citrina (Schaeff.) Rea, 1922

4. Amanitina citrina (Schaeff.) E.-J. Gilbert, 1940

5. Venenarius mappa (Batsch) Murrill, 1948

6. Amanita venenosa Pers., 1818

7. Amanita venenata Pers., 1818

8. Agaricus bulbosus

9. Agaricus citrinus

10. Agaricus mappa

11. Amanita virosa

12. Amanitina citrina

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Katarzyna Kawka (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 2 - Author: Jason Hollinger (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Photo 3 - Author: Thomas Pruß (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 4 - Author: Taken by me user debivort, (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 5 - Author: Аимаина хикари (Public Domain)