Amanita subcokeri - Amanitaceae.org - Taxonomy and Morphology of Amanita and Limacella
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name Amanita subcokeri
name status nomen provisorum
author Tulloss
english name "False Coker's Lepidella"
images
  • Amanita subcokeri, ?? U.S.A.Amanita subcokeri, ?? U.S.A.

    1. Amanita subcokeri, ?? U.S.A.

  • Amanita subcokeri with clearly double partial veil, Jamesburg Twp. Pk., ca. Helmetta, Jamesburg, Middlesex Co., New Jersey, U.S.A.Amanita subcokeri with clearly double partial veil, Jamesburg Twp. Pk., ca. Helmetta, Jamesburg, Middlesex Co., New Jersey, U.S.A.

    2. Amanita subcokeri with clearly double partial veil, Jamesburg Twp. Pk., ca. Helmetta, Jamesburg, Middlesex Co., New Jersey, U.S.A.


  • 3. Amanita subcokeri, Bashakill Wildlife Mgmt. Area, Wurtsboro, Sullivan Co., New York, U.S.A.


  • 4. Amanita subcokeri, Morgan-Monroe St. For., Monroe Co., Indiana, U.S.A.  (RET 535-4)



  • 5. Amanita subcokeri, note the double ring, Morgan-Monroe St. For., Monroe Co., Indiana, U.S.A.  (RET 535-4)


  • 6. Amanita subcokeri, note apparent single ring, Belleplain St. For., Cape May Co., New Jersey, U.S.A.  (RET 714-9)

    • intro For sometime after the descripton of A. cokeri, this species was confused with it.  Fresh material A. subcokeri can be distinguished in the field by its unique odor, its tendency to pinkish staining (especially on the upper bulb), and its tendency to retain its smaller warts on the cap.  There is also a distinct difference in spores size and shape between the two species.
    cap The dry, white, plano-convex cap of Amanita subcokeri is 71 – 137 mm wide, shiny to moderately shiny, and lacks radial grooves around its edge.  The flesh of the cap is white, 7-15 mm thick above the stem, and thins evenly towards the cap's edge.  The edge of the cap is decurved to incurved and sometimes is decorated with a short curtain-like extension of the cap's skin.  The volva is present on the cap as pyramidal warts over much of the cap and as small scales or powder near the cap's edge.  Remnants of the volva are usually grayish to white to cream, often darkening to brick or brown at the tip.  They tend to be especially moveable in wet weather, sometimes sliding off the cap in groups.  They are not easily removed when the mushroom is dry.
    gills The gills are free to very narrowly attached, close to subcrowded to crowded, with color ranging from white to slightly dingy yellowish cream.  The can be up to 12 mm broad—wide enough to project below the cap's margin.  The plentiful short gills vary considerable in shape—from almost squarely cut-off to staircase-like.
    stem The stem of A. subcokeri measures 56 - 80 (-130) × 11 - 17.5 (-25) mm and is white, occasionally with brick stains or spots (especially in wounds).  The stem's 42 - 84 × 22.5 - 43 mm bulb carrot- or spindle- or narrowly turnip-shaped and maybe doglegged.  The bulb is usually coarsely scaly on the upper part with the scales in up to eight rows; the scaly region often shows red-brown or brick stains or spots  The white flesh of the stem is usually solid and exhibits staining like the flesh of the cap.  The volva is present in small bita that are firmly attached to the outer edges of the scales; it is also sometimes present as smears on the lower stem or as rings encircling the top of the bulb.  The skirt-like ring on the stem can often actually be two rings joined at their free edges. The underside of the single (or combined) ring(s) is attached to the stipe by many fibers in a manner reminiscent to that seen in A. abrupta.
    odor/taste The odor is similar to a combination of burnt sugar and cedar wood that may be difficult to detect at first, but is stronger when the mushroom is approaching maturity.  The odor may become unpleasant with age.  Taste has not been reported for A. subcokeri.
    spores The spores of this species measure (8.0-) 10.5 - 14.3 (-19.0) × (5.2-) 5.9 - 7.5 (-10.9) μm and are amyloid and ellipsoid to elongate to cylindric; clamps can be found at bases of basidia.
    discussion This species is known from as far north as Massachusetts on the Atlantic Seaboard, as far west as Indiana, and (in the Appalachian Mountains) as far south as Tennessee and South Carolina.

    Amanita subcokeri occurs in diverse soil types in mixed forests.  Possible symbionts include species of birch (Betula), pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus) and Basswood (Tilia)) as well as Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), Shellbark Hickory (Carya laciniosa), and American Beech (Fagus grandifolia).

    Since the ranges of A. cokeri and A. subcokeri overlap (at least from New Jersey southward in the U.S. Atlantic coastal states), we suggest that the reader also refer to the description of A. cokeri.—R. E. Tulloss
    brief editors RET

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