Species flashcards

Description

Cap: 6–15 cm across; hemispherical when young, then convex and finally flattening. White to cream at first, later pinkish, ochre, fawn-brown to greyish-brown. The dry surface bears large, flat, brownish, triangular or trapezoid veil remnants.

Gills: Free and crowded, white to pale cream, sometimes slightly pinkish in age.

Stem: 10–20 cm tall and 1–2.5 cm thick, cylindrical and slightly widening towards the apex. Whitish to cap-coloured, finely floccose above and floccose-scaly below. The ring is white, fragile and evanescent. The base is enclosed in a large, thick, brownish membranous volva.

Flesh: White, staining salmon, reddish and finally reddish-brown with damage or age. Smell faint and taste unremarkable.

Spores: Spore print white; spores smooth, amyloid, ellipsoid to elongate ellipsoid, usually 9–13 × 6–8 µm.

Occurrence: A mycorrhizal species fruiting from summer to autumn in warm oak woodland, usually on calcareous or well-drained soil, singly or scattered. A rare species.

Edibility: Inedible. The species is protected in Hungary, where collecting it is prohibited.

Lookalikes: Similar to the scaly amanita. The large-scaled amidella is smaller, its flesh reddens then browns when damaged, it bears brownish veil remnants, and it develops a large membranous volva.

Note: Amanita may refer to the Amanus Mountains of Cilicia or a Greek expression for mountain mushrooms. Lepiota derives from the Greek lepís, scale, while the suffix -oides expresses resemblance and refers to the scaly cap pattern.

Species description: Scientifically described by Jean-Baptiste Barla in 1886.

Taxonomy

1. PhylumBasidiomycota
2. ClassAgaricomycetes
3. OrderAgaricales
4. FamilyAmanitaceae
5. GenusAmanita

• Species: Amanita lepiotoides
• Synonym: Amanitopsis lepiotoides
• Authority: Jean-Baptiste Barla (1886)
• English name: Large-scaled amidella
• Ecological status: mycorrhizal
• Edibility: inedible
• Protection status: protected in Hungary