Amanita aureomonile

Amanita aureomonile is a curious species apparently known only from association with Colombobalanus (Trigonobalanus) in Andean Colombia.  It has been tentatively placed in Amanita sect. Phalloideae. I know of only the two specimens in the holotype collection.  The species was originally described in (Tulloss, Ovrebo & Halling, 1992).  Macroscopic data on this species is rather limited.

The cap of A. aureomonile is 20 - 25 mm wide, bright yellow for most of its surface (darker in the center).  The cap flesh is less than 1 mm thick and about the same color as the surface of the cap.  In the known specimens, there was no volva on the cap.

The gills of this species are free, close, white, narrow, about 2 mm broad, and occasionally forking.  There are short gills, but their frequency and form were not recorded.

The stem of this species is approximately 45 × 3 mm (length includes bulb), pale yellow, subcylindric, and bears a small, bright yellow, superior annulus.  The stem has a subglobose bulb.  The bulb bears a white, fleshy, limbate volva (further details not known).

Odor and taste have not been reported for this species.

The spores measure (5.0-) 5.5 - 7.5 (-7.8) × (4.8-) 5.0 - 6.5 (-6.8) µm, are globose to subglobose to broadly ellipsoid (infrequently ellipsoid), and are amyloid. Clamps are relatively common at bases of basidia.

The question of proper placement of this species in Amanita is open.  Clamps on basidia is a very uncommon trait in sect. Phalloideae —indeed, clamps are usually not found in brightly pigmented species with amyloid spores—in sections Phalloideae and Validae.  It is not known if A. aureomonile actually contains amatoxins or other poisons.  There is no evidence that the species is used in any way in Colombia.
—R. E. Tulloss