Amanita battarrae

What You Should Know

Amanita battarrae is a rare mushroom wich is distinguished from other ringless Amanita species by the zoned coloring of its marginally grooved cap. The cap is conical bell-shaped, slightly sticky, brown-gray, with a brownish ring and grooved border. The flesh is white, brittle, and does not have any distinct smell or taste. Grows in coniferous forests on acid soils, singly or small groups, from early summer to late autumn.

It is considered a conditionally edible mushroom, but due to the similarity to poisonous species and poor taste UM recommends staying away from this fungus.

Other names: Gray-Zoned Ringless.

Amanita battarrae Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   5 to 12 cm in diameter, varying shades of gray-brown, gradually darkening in the center as the fruiting body matures. The cap is initially oval, then convex, and eventually flattened, but retains a flat hump, is heavily lined around the brim, and usually has a narrow dark band at the beginning of the stripes.

2. Gills

   The gills are milky, crowded, free or occasionally weakly attached. Like other grisettes, there are usually some short gills of variable length and irregular spacing.

3. Stem

   7 to 15 cm long, 0.8 to 1.8 cm in diameter, tapering, white, covered with fine wooly taupe scales, rod-shaped, but not bulbous at the base. There is no ring on the stem, but the base of the stem has white, cystic, persistent inflorescences with brown spots, sometimes buried in the ground or in the leaves. Stem flesh is white.

4. Spores

   Globose, smooth, 11-13µm; inamyloid.

5. Spore Print

   White.

6. Habitat

   Mycorhizal with hardwood trees, particularly oaks but also Ash and Hazel, occasionally also in coniferous woodland.

Amanita battarrae Look-Alikes

1. Amanita vaginata

   Has a gray-brown cap with no distinct area and its stem is smooth and featureless.

2. Amanita fulva

   Has a yellow-orange cap and white gills with a smooth stem.

Amanita battarrae Taxonomy and Etymology

Named Amanitopsis battarrae by French mycologist Jean Louis Émile Boudier in 1902, this rare fungus was given its now recognized scientific name in 1985 by renowned French mycologist Marcel Bon (1925-2014).

The species name battarrae is in honor of the Italian priest and naturalist Giovanni Antonio Battarra (1714 - 1789). Some people refer to this species as the gray-zone Amanita.

Amanita battarrae Synonyms

1. Amanitopsis battarrae Boud., 1902

2. Amanita vaginata var. battarrae (Boud.) E.-J. Gilbert, 1918

3. Amanita vaginata f. battarrae (Boud.) Veselý, 1933

4. Amanita umbrinolutea (Secr. ex Gillet) Bataille

5. Amanita inaurata

6. Amanitopsis vaginata

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: James K. Lindsey (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic)

Photo 2 - Author: 2009-08-20_Amanita_battarrae_(Boud.)_Bon_54495.jpg: (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 3 - Author: Irene Andersson (irenea) (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)