Amanita vernicoccora - Amanitaceae.org - Taxonomy and Morphology of Amanita and Limacella
[print] [map]
name Amanita vernicoccora
name status nomen acceptum
author Bojantchev & R.M. Davis
english name "Ballen's Spring American Caesar"
images


  • 1. Amanita vernicoccora, very mature, Cedar Pk. Tr., Sierra Springs, El Dorado Co., California, USA.



  • 2. Amanita vernicoccora, very young, Harden Flat, Tuolumne Co., California, USA.


  • 3. Amanita vernicoccora, pallid button, Aptos, Santa Cruz Co., California, USA.



  • 4. Amanita vernicoccora, pallid button, Aptos, Santa Cruz Co., California, USA.

    • intro This description is based on original research of R. E. Tulloss.
    cap The pale yellow to pale orange cap is 60 - 220 mm wide and is convex to planoconvex.  The cap's flesh is primarily off-white with a yellow region a few mm thick below the cap's skin. Sometimes the flesh is darker or watersoaked below the cap's skin.  Watersoaked regions are sometimes present on the region of the cap near the top of the stem and at the attachments of the gills.  The flesh often becomes pale yellow or tan when cut or bruised.  The cap is 7.5 - 21 mm thick above the stem and thins evenly to very near the cap's edge— with only the last few mm of the flesh membranous.  The edge is decorated with short grooves.  Volval remnants may be present as a single thick white membranous patch almost completely covering the cap; the patch can become brown with age and is easily separated from the cap.
    gills The gills are free to narrowly attached with a descending line on the top of the stem.  They are slightly crowded, sometimes forking, and 6-12 mm broad with an edge that is slightly tufted or has minute projections.  The short gills are plentiful, squarely cut off, of diverse lengths and are sometimes free from both the stem and cap edge.
    stem The pale yellow to cream white stem is 56 - 159 x 12 - 37 mm and becomes pale beige or brown when damaged.  The stem narrows upward, is broadest near the midpoint, and flares at the top.  The stem's base comes to a rounded point.  Below the ring the stem's surface is smooth or is covered with thin threads.  The white to off-white flesh of the stem sometimes becomes pale yellow when cut or bruised.  The stem is hollow to stuffed loosely with cottony threads in its central cylinder which is 5-13 mm in diameter.  The pale yellow to white colored membranous ring is near the top of the stem, it is striate on the upper surface and cottony underneath.  The membranous volva is saclike and 1.5 - 5 mm thick at midheight.  The volva has an uneven edge, flares broadly with age or sometimes collapses on the stem.  There is a distinct internal limb present which is 3 - 6 mm thick at its base.
    odor/taste Although some people report that they can detect no odor in material of this taxon, others (including RET) detect a strong fishy odor and taste in older material or when mushrooms of this species are cooked.  The mushroom is EDIBLE; however, great care should be taken not to confuse this species with deadly poisonous taxa such as A. ocreata and A. phalloides.
    spores Spores of this species measure (9.0-) 9.5 - 12.4 (-17.2) × (5.5-) 6.0 - 7.8 (-9.8) µm and are ellipsoid to elongate (rarely cylindric) and inamyloid.  There are clamps at the bases of basidia.
    discussion This species has been called the "pale spring variant" of A. calyptroderma; however, both morphological and molecular studies support the fact that A. vernicoccora is a distinct species.

    This species is known from the Pacific Coastal states of the U.S.  It appears to be associated with conifers such as Pine (Pinus) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) at higher elevations and with Coastal Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) at lower elevations near the coast.  Other possible associated woody plants that have been reported are Fir (Abies), Spruce (Picea), and Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii).

    The reader may wish to compare this species with A. calyptroderma, A. cochiseana, A. tuza, A. sp-M36, and A. sp-NM07—species classified provisionally in Amanita stirps Calyptroderma.

    RET wishes to thank two generous, long-time collectors/correspondents for supplying much of the material for the study of this taxon— Janet E. Lindgren and Ronald Pastorino.  Thanks also go to Nathan Wilson (originator of mushroomobserver.org) who helped stir up interest in improving knowledge of the present species and related taxa by creating a project on "the spring calyptroderma" on the mushroomobserver.org site.—R. E. Tulloss
    brief editors RET

    [top]