Amanita cochiseana - Amanitaceae.org - Taxonomy and Morphology of Amanita and Limacella
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name Amanita cochiseana
name status nomen provisorum
author Tulloss
english name "Cochise's American Caesar"
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  • Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)

    1. Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)

  • Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)

    2. Amanita cochiseana, Chiricahua Mtns., Cochise Co., Arizona, U.S.A.  (RET 426-7)

    • intro This Amanita caesarea-look-alike is known from mountainous, southern Arizona; and, in that region, it is collected for the table.  It is called "Amanita caesarea" in that region because of its habit and coloration, but appears to be rather distantly related to that European species.
    cap The cap of Amanita cochiseana is 60 - 150 mm wide, egg-shaped at first, then convex to broadly convex with an incurved margin, and becoming nearly flat with a decurved margin.  The cap does not develop an umbo.  It is sometimes entirely pale orange at first, soon pale orange-ochre to pale buff to pale orangish buff over an area including the cap's center and orange-brown outside this decolored region (except bright yellow-orange to bright yellow on margin), with orange and brown tints disappearing on exposure, and then becoming entirely intense yellow except for the discolored region in the center (latter remaining as above or becoming nearly white), viscid to dry, often matt (especially in decolored region).  The cap is sometimes shiny.  The cap's flesh is white to pale cream, with a layer of intense yellow just below the cap's skin, a pale yellow area over the gills near stipe, and sometimes with a narrow watery yellow region just above the gills.  The flesh is unchanging when cut or bruised.  The cap's margin is striate for 10% to 20% of the cap's radius.  Volval remnants are usually absent or, occasionally, are present as a single white, membranous, off-center patch.  The cap's skin is often bright orange red to red in cross section even in just below a faded portion of the cap's surface.
    gills The gills of this species are free to narrowly adnate (with or without a decurrent tooth), with a prominent decurrent line on the stem, crowded, yellow to bright (or brilliant) yellow to orange-yellow in mass, yellow to pale yellowish cream in side view, close, and with the edge yellow (often brilliant) and somewhat minutely decorated or not.  Some forking or growing-togteher of the gills has been noted.  The short gills are truncate to subtruncate to rounded truncate, of diverse lengths, common, and unevenly distributed.
    stem The stem is 60 - 120 × 10 - 25 mm, subcylindric to cylindric or narrowing either downward or upward, pointed below, cream to white to pale yellow near the base becoming more intensely yellow upwards, sometimes orangish yellow or yellow-orange above the midpoint (or only above the partial veil), and not flaring at apex.  The stem's surface is decorated with pale yellow, and often rather thin, felted/floccose scales (some with orange tint), with a ground color fading with age, faintly and finely striat below the ring, and faintly and very finely short-hairy above the ring.  The stem's flesh is pale cream to off-white to pale yellow, sometimes more strongly yellow (especially near the surface) in the 20 - 30 mm nearest to the stem's very top, unchanging when cut or bruised, with larva tunnels the same color as surrounding flesh or grayish or brownish gray.  The stem is stuffed with white cottony material and becomes hollow.  The stem's ring is rather near the top of the stem and is copious (flaring beyond the limits of the volva at first and eventually collapsing), skirt-like, bright yellow to yellow orange above and pale yellow to yellowish or orangish tan below, becoming darker orange with age, membranous, usually with regular margin, sometimes tearing, strongly striate above, and felted below.  Often, there is an apparent secondary (lower) ring, often projecting straight out from the stem at first, and sometimes shredded.  (See the description of the volva's internal limb, below.)  This "second ring" often has a ragged edge, is much smaller than the "true ring" and approximately the same color as the "true ring" or yellow or grayish yellow and (e.g.) 20 - 30 mm below the "true ring," and eventually collapses into a thickened wavy line on the stem.  The volva is present as a copious sack, ovoid at first, white, staining slightly from contact with the soil, sometimes becoming a bit grayish in age, thick (with limb 2.5 - 4+ mm thick at mid-height), soft (even cottony) on the exterior, somewhat leathery, 46 - 88 × 28 - 55 mm, and divides into several (often pointed) lobes.  Inside the volva there is a distinct, white internal limb at about mid-height of the main volval limb and attached (easily seen in "button" specimens) to a thin yellow to orangish yellow, felted sheath tha cover much of the stem in the "button".  It is this felted extension of the internal limb that eventually forms the "secondary ring."
    odor/taste The odor is pleasant and faintly fruity or earthy.  The taste was not recorded.
    spores The spores of this species measure (8.2-) 9.0 - 11.9 (-13.6) × (6.0-) 6.8 - 8.1 (-9.4) µm and are broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid (infrequently subglobose, occasionally elongate) and inamyloid.  Clamps are rather common at the bases of basidia.
    discussion Amanita cochiseana is known from Coconino and Cochise Counties in Arizona, U.S.A.  It occurs there in forests contain one or more species of one or more of the following tree genera: fir (Abies), oak (Quercus), and pine (Pinus).

    At present, RET has assigned this species to his stirps Calyptroderma because of its dry-appearing stem and the structure of its subhymenium.  This group of the Caesareae seems to be limited in distribution to the western U.S. and Mexico.

    This species is commonly collected for the table in the region from which it is known.  It is locally called "A. caesareae" due to its superficial resemblance to that European species.—R. E. Tulloss
    brief editors RET

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