Amanita constricta - Amanitaceae.org - Taxonomy and Morphology of Amanita and Limacella

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name	Amanita constricta
name status	nomen acceptum
author	Thiers & Ammirati
english name	"Great Gray-Sack Ringless Amanita"
images	1. Amanita constricta, northern California, U.S.A. 2. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval patch on stipe, northern California, U.S.A. 3. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval, Del Norte Co., California, U.S.A. (RET 817-8) 4. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval, Del Norte Co., California, U.S.A. (RET 817-8)
intro	The information below is based on a type study and other original research of RET.
cap	The cap of A. constricta is 50 - 130 mm wide, convex when young, becoming plano-convex to plane, eventually subumbonate to umbonate in age, with a strongly sulcate to tuberculate striate margin (20 - 25% of the radius). The cap is brown to brownish gray, the disc at times is as dark as Chaetura black, often with inconspicuous dark radial streaks. The flesh is white, sometimes becoming faintly pinkish with exposure (see discussion below). The volva is absent or present as a membranous fibrillose patch over the cap's center; it is white to buff to (eventually) smoke gray. Although I have never seen it, the volva is said to bruise salmon color when moistened (see discussion below).
gills	The gills are close to crowded, adnate to decurrent by a short hook when young, becoming free, white at first, becoming gray, and drying tan to sordid tan to brownish gray. The gills are moderately broad with the edge usually gray and fibrillose. The short gills are in several ranks.
stem	The stem is 100 - 160 (-200) mm long, 7- 17 mm wide at the apex, white, cylindric or narrowing upward, and exannulate. The flesh is white, stuffed, becoming hollow. The membranous volva soon begins to turn gray and become structurally weaker; although I have never observed this, it is said to bruise reddish or salmon when wet then fade back to its previous coloration (see discussion below).
spores	The spores measure (7.2-) 9.5 - 12.8 (-19.0) × (6.2-) 8.2 - 11.5 (-17.8) µm and are inamyloid and globose to subglobose to broadly ellipsoid (occasionally ellipsoid). Clamps are probably absent from bases of basidia.
discussion	Associated with Pacific coastal species of oak and arbutus as well as Douglas Fir. Described originally from California, this species range probably extends into southwestern Canada. The original description was based on collections of several different species including A. protecta Tulloss & G. Wright and undescribed taxa. Since there is distinct rusty or ochraceous staining in all parts of A. protecta, this could be the source of the claim that the volva of A. constricta stains. The original description's statement that the cap of the present species can be gray may also result from inclusion of A. protecta in the original concept of A. constricta. At present, no taxa are known to me that appear particularly closely related to A. constricta. The reader may wish to compare the taxa similar to A. submembranacea (Bon) Gröger.—R. E. Tulloss
brief editors	RET

name

Amanita constricta

author

Thiers & Ammirati. 1982. Mycotaxon 15: 163.

name status

nomen acceptum

english name

"Great Gray-Sack Ringless Amanita"

MycoBank nos.

261724

GenBank nos.

Due to delays in data processing at GenBank, some accession numbers may lead to unreleased (pending) pages. These pages will eventually be made live, so try again later.

accession	locus	voucher	source



MK258722	nrITS	19.i.2003 Howard Higley s.n. [Tulloss 1-19-03-Ba] (RET 366-6)	L. V. Kudzma, Annandale, NJ
MK258723	nrITS	26.x.2013 Jack Waytz s.n. (RET 615-8)	L. V. Kudzma, Annandale, NJ
MK258724	nrITS	27.x.2013 J. Waytz s.n. [McAdoo 12] (RET 615-9)	L. V. Kudzma, Annandale, NJ
MK258725	nrITS	3.i.2018 Ronald L. Pastorino 1-3-18B (RET 817-8)	L. V. Kudzma, Annandale, NJ
MN755846	nrITS-LSU	27.x.2010 Buck McAdoo 212 (RET 662-7)	S. D. Russell et al., Purdue Univ.
MN755847	nrITS-LSU	21.x.2004 Buck McAdoo pg. 358#1 (RET 662-1)	S. D. Russell et al., Purdue Univ.
MZ503638	nrITS-LSU	20.xii.2011 Noah Siegel s.n. (RET 601-1)	S. D. Russell et al., Purdue Univ.
OK285336	nrITS	11.xii.2014 Mikeal s.n. (RET 667-8)	S. D. Russell, Marion, IN

holotypes

SFSU

type studies

Tulloss. 1994. Mycotaxon 52: 321.

revisions

Tulloss, here

intro

The following text may makes multiple use of each data field.

The field may contain magenta text representing data specifically from a type study by Tulloss.

The same field may also contain black text, which will represent a revision of the species by Tulloss. Paragraphs of black text will be labeled if further subdivision of this text is appropriate.

Olive text indicates a specimen that has not been thoroughly examined (for example, for microscopic details) and marks other places in the text where data is missing or uncertain.

The following is based on the field notes with the holo- and paratypes, on the text of the protolog, and on original research of R. E. Tulloss.

pileus

Tulloss (1994): 50 - 130 mm wide, gray to brownish gray, Pale Mouse Gray to Light Drab Gray to Drab to Hair Brown, disc at time as dark as Chaetura Black, often with inconspicuous dark radial streaks, convex when young, becoming plano-convex to plane, eventually subumbonate to umbonate in age; context white except next to the pileipellis where it is gray to drab, sometimes become faintly pinkish on exposure especially in young basidiomes, 5 - 17 mm thick at disc, thinning toward margin; margin decurved at first, soon plane to undulate, slightly uplifted in age, en-tirely becoming rimose, strongly sulcate to tuberculate striate (0.2 - 0.25R); universal veil absent or as a membran-ous somewhat fibrillose patch over disc, typically less than 1 mm thick, sometimes breaking up around the edges in age, white to buff to Smoke Gray or sometimes with pale vinaceous shades, bruising salmon color when wetted, slowly returning to white.

lamellae

Tulloss (1994): close to crowded, adnate to decurrent by a short hook when young, becoming free, white at first becoming gray, Smoke Gray to Pallid Mouse Gray to Pale Drab Gray, drying tan to sordid tan to brownish gray, (grayer than 7.5YR 6/6 to 10YR 5/4 to 10YR 7-8/4), moderately broad; edge usually gray, fimbriate; lamellulae in several ranks.

stipe

Tulloss (1994): 100 - 160 (-200) mm long, 7 - 17 mm wide at apex, white, cylindric or narrowing upward, apex longitudinally striate or pruinose, becoming appressed fibrillose below, stipipellis often rupturing and forming rings of appressed fibrillose scales which are gray and darken when bruised; context white, stuffed, becoming hollow; exannulate; universal veil membranous, white to pale buff or pale yellow, bruising reddish when wet then fading, becoming gray and submembranous at maturity and then rather easily fragmented and sometimes remaining in large patches in substrate or on lower stipe, adnate to stipe for one-third to one-half of limb length, then flaring in a manner suggesting an annulus, collapsing with age.

odor/taste

Tulloss (1994): Odor and taste not distinctive.

macrochemical
tests

Breckon (1968)—on exposed context of the lower stipe and bulb unless otherwise noted: Concentrated H₂SO₄ - turning lamellae pink to lilac, but not always; FeSO₄, 15% KOH, Melzer’s Reagent - negative; 3% phenol - positive; tincture of guaiac - varying from strongly and rapidly positive to weakly and slowly positive; phenolaniline - rapidly positive. Any variable reactions must be questioned because Breckon had as many as four taxa mixed together among the collections cited under the present species in his thesis.

pileipellis

Tulloss (1994): 200^± µm thick; thin layer at surface gelatinized; upper 40^± µm incompletely gelatinized; upper 80 - 95 µm hyaline to pale yellowish; lower portion light brownish orange (mounted in 10% NH₄OH); filamentous, undifferentiated hyphae 2.2 - 8.5 µm wide, criss-crossed, largely uncurving, many subradially arranged, a few containing red-brown granules (mounted in 3% KOH); vascular hyphae not observed.

pileus context

Tulloss (1994): filamentous, undifferentiated hyphae 1.5 - 14.0 µm wide, branching, very loosely interwoven; acrophysalides dominating, subglobose to pyriform to ellipsoid to broadly clavate to clavate, up to 129 × 74 µm; vascular hyphae 6.0 - 17.5 µm wide, loosely coiling.

lamella trama

Tulloss (1994): bilateral, with divergence obscured by plentiful hyphae parallel to the hymenial surface and the tangled nature of the subhymenial tree except near the edge of the lamella; central stratum having boundaries somewhat difficult to define because of density of subhymenium and fact that divergence begins within central stratum and many hyphae of the subhymenial base diverge at very shall angles which are maintained for relatively long distances, sometimes imperfectly rehydrating and then dense and brown to orange-brown, with w_cs = 110 - 145 µm in cases of most complete rehydration (65 - 85 µm in most common degree of moderate rehydration, 30 - 55 µm in poorly rehydrating trama); with hyphae of subhymenial base diverging at angles from very shallow to over 60°; filamentous, undifferentiated hyphae 1.8 - 9.8 µm wide, sometimes coiling, interwoven, frequently branching, with central stratum and subhymenial base including intercalary inflated cells [thin-walled, subventricose to ventricose to subclavate to clavate to broadly clavate to irregular, up to 53 × 35 µm (most often about half this width)]; divergent, terminal, inflated cells not observed; vascular hyphae 2.5 - 12.5 µm wide, occasionally branching, infrequent to somewhat common to common.

subhymenium

Tulloss (1994): w_st-near = 80 - 140 µm in cases of most complete rehydration [(25-) 30 - 80 µm in most common degree of moderate rehydration, 0 - 30 µm in poorly rehydrating trama]; w_st-far = 110 - 175 µm in cases of most complete rehydration (60 - 105 µm in most common degree of moderate rehydration, 35 - 60 µm in poorly rehydrating trama); a complexly interwoven structure comprising frequently septate, frequently branching hyphae, with segments uninflated or partially inflated (or occasionally inflated and then clavate to subpyriform to somewhat irregular, e.g., 19 × 14 µm), with hyphae of the subhymenium occasionally running parallel to the hymenial surface (sometimes in rather dense clusters) within 10 µm of bases of longest basidia, with basidia often arising from uninflated segments (80% or more of cases examined), but also from any type of cell cited, with 1/2 to 2 1/2 (rarely 3) cells between base of short basidiole and longest nearby basidium/ ole, with cell immediately below some short basidioles uninflated (9.0 - 21 × (2.5 ) 3.2 - 6.8 µm) to narrowly clavate or with short branch giving rise to second basidiole (12.6 - 20 × 5.8 - 8.8 µm) to ellipsoid or pyriform (7.5 - 10.0 × 7.8 - 11.8 µm).

basidia

Tulloss (1994): 54 - 78 × 8.5 - 19.5 µm, thin-walled, dominantly 4-, but occasionally 1- or 2-sterigmate; sterigmata up to 16.0 × 3.5 µm; clamps rather rare to rather common.

[This report of clamps is unlikely to be correct.—ed.]

universal veil

Tulloss (1994): On pileus, upper portion: filamentous, undifferentiated hyphae 1.5 - 8.2 µm wide, occasionally in fascicles, often collapsed; inflated cells dominating, thin-walled, clavate to broadly clavate to subpyriform to ellipsoid, often pale brownish or pale orange-brown, terminal, single, up to 46 × 33 µm, collapsed; vascular hyphae not observed. On pileus, lower portion (adjacent to pileipellis): hyphae more frequent; all elements extensively compressed. On stipe about 10 mm above base: structures similar to those on pileus; inflated cells (collapsed and partially gelatinized) and fragments of same easily dissociated from surface leaving mostly tangled hyphae; inflated cells up to 95 × 67 µm, with walls thin or up to 0.8 µm thick, with unbroken cells often not pigmented; vascular hyphae 3.0 - 6.0 µm, scant, fragmentary.

stipe context

Tulloss (1994): longitudinally acrophysalidic; filamentous, undifferentiated hyphae 1.5 - 11.5 µm wide, branching, plentiful; acrophysalides thin-walled, plentiful, up to 271 × 45 µm, those of broader diameter often broadening rapidly close to basal septum; vascular hyphae 2.8 - 10.5 µm wide, loosely coiling.

lamella edge tissue

not described

basidiospores

send to graphing tool

Tulloss (1994): [454/23/9] (7.2-) 9.5 - 12.8 (-19.0) × (6.2-) 8.2 - 11.5 (-17.8) μm, (L = (10.3-) 10.4 - 11.8 μm; L' = 11.0 μm; W = (8.8-) 9.0 - 10.5 (-10.9) μm; W' = 9.9 μm; Q = (1.0-) 1.04 - 1.25 (-1.56); Q = (1.06-) 1.07 - 1.17 (-1.18); Q' = 1.12).

composite of data from all material revised by RET: [513/26/12] (7.2-) 9.5 - 12.8 (-19.0) × (6.2-) 8.2 - 11.5 (-17.8) µm, (L = (10.3-) 10.4 - 11.7 (-11.8) µm; L’ = 11.0 µm; W = (8.8-) 9.2 - 10.5 (-10.9) µm; W’ = 9.9 µm; Q = (1.0-) 1.04 - 1.25 (-1.56); Q = (1.06-) 1.09 - 1.17 (-1.18); Q’ = 1.12), colorless, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, inamyloid, globose to subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, occasionally ellipsoid, in some specimens frequently lacrymoid, adaxially flattened (often strongly so), often swollen at one end, suceptible to conversion to crassospores on occasion (Tulloss 1-19-03-Ba); apiculus sublateral, cylindric to truncate-conic, at times quite prominent; contents mono- to multiguttulate to granular; white in deposit.

ecology

from type study of (1994): Single to scattered to gregarious. Along the Pacific Coast of the U.S.A., apparently limited to coastal forest, under hardwoods such as coastal spp. of Quercus (e.g., Q. agrifolia) and Arbutus menziesii, on occasion under Pseudotsuga menziesii or in mixed woods of P. menziesii and Q. agrifolia or under Umbellularia californica in an area of mixed Quercus and Umbellularia. The holotype was collected under Quercus and A. menziesii.

California: In wet soil with Picea, Pinus, and Lithocarpus densiflorus (Tanoak) or in forest dominated by Picea sitchensis.

material examined

RET: U.S.A.: CALIFORNIA—Del Norte Co. - Jedediah Smith St. Pk., Howland Hill Tr. [41.7844° N/ 124.1035° W, 213 m], 3.i.2018 Ronald L. Pastorino 1-3-18B [mushroomobserver #305220] (RET 817-8, nrITS seq'd.). Humboldt Co. - Prairie Creek Redwoods St. Pk. [1.4154° N/ 124.0455° W, 146 m], 15.i.2014 Hunter Sezen s.n. [mushroomobserver #162877] (RET 666-9, nrITS & nrLSU seq'd.). Marin Co. - Alpine Lk., 20.xii.1963 Harry D. Thiers 11146 (paratype, SFSU); Muir Woods Nat. Mon., 1.i.1967 D. E. Madden 904 (paratype, SFSU), 25.i.1967 Gary A. Breckon 881 (paratype, SFSU), 31.i.1967 G. A. Breckon 906 (paratype, SFSU). Mendocino Co. - W of Navarro, Cameron Rd., 19.i.2003 Howard Higley s.n. [Tulloss 1-19-03-Ba] (RET 366-6, nrITS seq'd.). San Mateo Co. - San Francisco Watershed, 22.xii.1963 H. D. Thiers 11184 (paratype, SFSU), 11.i.1965 H. D. Thiers 12064 (paratype, SFSU), 22.i.1965 G. A. Breckon 302 (holotype, SFSU; isotype, NY 00618736), 22.ii.1965 H. D. Thiers 12211 (paratype, SFSU), 6.i.1967 G. A. Breckon & H. D. Thiers [Breckon] 674 (paratype, SFSU). Solano Co. - Green Valley, 1.iii.1968 Walter J. Sundberg 1167 (paratype, SFSU). Unkn. Co. - Redwoods Nat. Pk., Davison Rd., 20.xii.2011 Noah Siegel s.n. (RET 601-1, nrITS-LSU seq'd.). OREGON—Clackamas Co. - unkn. loc., Riverside Tr., 20.v.1987 Wanda Caruthers s.n. [Tulloss 5-20-87-WC1] (RET 244-9), 24.v.1987 W. Caruthers s.n. [Tulloss 5-20-85-WC1] (RET 244-8). WASHINGTON—Pacific Co. - Ilwaco, 11.xii.2014 Mikeal No-Line s.n. [mushroomobserver #193286 ] (RET 667-8, nrITS seq'd.). Whatcom Co. - Bellingham, Stimpson Nature Preserve, 21.x.2004 Buck McAdoo pg. 358#1 (RET 662-1, nrITS-LSUJ seq'd.), 27.x.2010 Buck McAdoo 212 (RET 662-7, nrITS-LSUJ seq'd.), 26.x.2013 Jack Waytz s.n. (RET 615-8, nrITS seq'd.), 27.x.2013 J. Waytz s.n. [McAdoo 12] (RET 615-9, nrITS seq'd.).

discussion

Large lacrymoid spores (not uncommon in some specimens) are extremely difficult to measure accurately because the large end tends to sink producing a foreshortening of the spore as viewed, preventing a lateral view, and making the process of spore measurement for this taxon extremely tedious. Lacrimoid spores were not measured unless they could be viewed fully in focus in optical cross-section of a lateral view. This methodological decision tends to produce a lower than actual Q for specimens in which lacrimoid spores occur with any frequency. In the specimens with lacrimoid spores, subglobose to globose spores were always present and in equal or greater number than the lacrimoid ones. As a consequence, the distribution of Q for spores measured from these specimens is often distinctly bimodal.

nrITS sequences in GenBank attributed to Amanita constricta
At this writing (2.xii.2018), I find seven (7) nrITS sequences attributed to A. constricta in GenBank. For three of these, the attribution is clearly incorrect:

HQ650724 - a collection from British Columbia with nrITS a 100% match for A. obconicobasis.
JN182881 - a collection from China with nrITS very close to that of A. lignitincta and distant from that of A. constricta.
KF007934 - a Tennessee collection from the Great Smoky Mountains Nat. Park with nrITS identical to that of many of our nrITS sequences derived from samples of A. rhacopus.

This leaves four sequences that are mutually consistent if trimmed tightly to include only nrITS. If this is not done, apparent errors occurring outside of nrITS affect the results. The remaining sequences that RET believes represent A. constricta are these:

AY228351 (material from UBC herb.)
AY750165 (material from Univ. of Washington)
DQ384583 (material from UBC)
EU597073 (material from Vancouver Island).
To these four sequences were added seven from morphologically genetically identified collections in the Roosevelt herbarium as follows:

RET 366-6
RET 615-8
RET 615-9
RET 662-1
RET 662-7
RET 666-9
RET 817-8

The eleven (11) sequences were aligned to observe variation in pairwise genetic distance within the group. Sequence length ranged from 493 - 495 characters.

The range of genetic distance is 0.0 - 0.6 (-0.8)%. Only one pairwise comparison yielded 0.8%. . Fifteen (15) of the 28 non-self comparisons were in the range of 0.0 - 0.2% (maximum difference involving one nucleotide), and 23 of 28 were in the range of 0.0 - 0.4% (maximum difference involving two nucleotides).

The types of variations were recorded as follows:

a variable length "AT" repeat ca. character 160 accounted for the difference in sequence lengths.
three (3) possible SNPs occurred as follows: an A/G SNP at character 20, a C/T SNP at character 307, and an A/G SNP at character 346.

Material explicitly excluded from the species
Material originally sent to, or collected by, RET under the name Amanita constricta and now excluded from that species has mostly not been been identified with a published or provisional name. The exceptions to date (20.xii.2020) is one collection of A. crassiputamen (RET 289-8).

Two other species have probably been mistaken for A. constricta in the past—Amanita calisorora and A. constrictisorora.

Some collections of Amanita protecta were inadvertently included among the paratypes of the present species.

Others have been temporarily coded as follows:

Amanita sp-constricta01 (RET 366-5) from Mendicino Co., California
Amanita sp-constricta03 (GenBank MK580747, Mycoportal 3951995) from Monterey Co., California
Amanita sp-constricta04 (RET 279-10) from Skamania Co., Oregon

citations

—R. E. Tulloss

editors

RET

Information to support the viewer in reading the content of "technical" tabs can be found here.

name	Amanita constricta
name status	nomen acceptum
author	Thiers & Ammirati
english name	"Great Gray-Sack Ringless Amanita"
images	1. Amanita constricta, northern California, U.S.A. 2. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval patch on stipe, northern California, U.S.A. 3. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval, Del Norte Co., California, U.S.A. (RET 817-8) 4. Amanita constricta, mature graying volval, Del Norte Co., California, U.S.A. (RET 817-8)
photo	RET - (1-2) Sonoma Mycological Association (SOMA) winter foray, Sonoma Co., California, U.S.A. (RET 366-6) Ronald L. Pastorino - (3-4) Jedediah Smith State Park, Del Norte Count, California, U.S.A. (RET 817-8)

name	Amanita constricta
bottom links	[ Keys & Checklists ] [ Pacific coastal states (USA) & region key ]

name	Amanita constricta
bottom links	[ Keys & Checklists ] [ Pacific coastal states (USA) & region key ]

Spore data for collections
provisionally identified as: Amanita constricta Thiers & Ammirati

Spore data sets and their composite

Each spore data set is intended to comprise a set of measurements from a single specimen made by a single observer; and explanations prepared for this site talk about specimen-observer pairs associated with each data set. Combining more data into a single data set is non-optimal because it obscures observer differences (which may be valuable for instructional purposes, for example) and may obscure instances in which a single collection inadvertently contains a mixture of taxa.

basidiospore definition

Spore Measurements by Collection

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