Amanita pallidobrunnea

The following is based on the original description by Wood (1997).

The cap of A. pallidobrunnea is up to 70 mm wide, cream-gray to pallid brown to gray-brown, darker in the center, convex then plane, sometimes becoming depressed in the center, smooth, dry, with a striate margin (about 1/3 of the radius according to text; 1/6 of radius according to illustration). Volval remains are absent.

The gills are free, thin, crowded, white to rather pale cream, with a minutely roughened and white edge. The short gills are present in at least one series.

The stem is up to 90 × 10 mm, cylindric, white, undecorated or finely granular over the entire length. No ring is present. The saccate volva is widely flaring, white or (rarely) off-white.

The spores measure (8.6-) 10.0 - 12.5 × (7.1-) 7.7 - 9.6 (-11.1) µm and are broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid and inamyloid. Clamps are absent at bases of basidia.

Wood describes the mushroom as occurring in tall open forests and sclerophyll forests from the state of New South Wales, Australia. A sclerophyll forest in the Australian bush is a forest of hard-leaved plants including Eucalyptus in the overstory (wikipedia).

Wood's observation that the subhymenium of this species is noncellular (i.e., not comprising inflated cells suggestive of plant tissues) will probably be important in its classification.  For the moment readers may wish to compare the present species to Amanita mairei Foley of Europe and taxa related to it.  Unfortunately the cap skin of A. pallidobrunnea remains undescribed.  A more complete description of the volva and cap skin will assist in the future placement of the present species (see, for example, A. dunicola Guzmán). —R. E. Tulloss and L. Possiel