Amanita albocreata

Amanita albocreata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Amanitaceae
Genus:	Amanita
Species:	A. albocreata
Binomial name
Amanita albocreata (G.F.Atk.) J.E.Gilbert (1941)
Synonyms[1]
Amanitopsis albocreata G.F.Atk. (1902) Vaginata albocreata (G.F.Atk.) Murrill (1913)

Amanita albocreata
Mycological characteristics
	gills on hymenium
	cap is flat or convex
	hymenium is free or adnate
	stipe has a volva
	spore print is white
	ecology is mycorrhizal
	edibility: not recommended

Amanita albocreata, also called the ringless panther,^[2] is a species of fungus in the Amanitaceae family. It is commonly found in northeastern United States and southeastern Canada and elsewhere in North America. This species, that grows about 5 to 15 centimeters in length, is doubted to be fatally toxic. It normally grows between the rainy months of June and August.^[3]

Taxonomy

First described in 1902 by George Francis Atkinson under the name Amanitopsis albocreata,^[4] the species was transferred to Amanita in 1941 by Jean-Edouard Gilbert.^[5]

Description

• Cap: The lengths of the cap can vary from 2 centimeters to 5 or 8 centimeters. It can appear convex or shield-shaped. The cap's disc has been seen colored white to pale yellow, with easily removed flaky patches or warts of whitish volva remnants.^[3] The center can be tan or creamy yellow in color. Akin to its relative Amanita frostiana, the cap feels smooth and sticky when moist.^[6]
• Gills: Gills can be free or slightly adnate. They are about 3 - 10.5 millimeters broad, with a minutely flocculose edge. The short gills are truncate to excavate-truncate with or without an attenuate "tooth" at the juncture with the flesh of the cap. They are cream to pale cream in color.
• Stem/ Stipe: The stem, or stipe, measures 80 - 120 x 6 - 8 millimeters. It lacks a ring but consists of a volva. The notable bulb (dimensions 15 - 22 x 12 - 20 millimeters) bears a distinct white collar as do some species with annulate stems, like other Amanita species Amanita multisquamosa, Amanita velatipes and Amanita pantherina.
• Spores and microscopic features: The spores measure (7.3-) 7.7 - 9.5 (-11.6) x 6.6 - 8.4 (-9.4) µm and are globose to subglobose or occasionally broadly ellipsoid and inamyloid. Clamps are rare at bases of basidia.^[7]
• Flesh: This mushroom has thin and sticky flesh under the cap.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

This fungus is found in the hardwood-hemlock (Tsuga) forest of the northeastern U.S.A. and southeastern Canada and of boreal forest at least as far north as the Island of Newfoundland. Commonly it is found in coniferous and deciduous forests or open lush green grasslands.^[3]

Toxicity

The toxicity of this species is unknown.^[2]

See also

• List of Amanita species

References

1. "Amanita albocreata (G.F. Atk.) E.J. Gilbert 1941". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
2. R. E., Tulloss. "Amanita albocreata G. F. Atk. "Ringless Panther"".
3. Phillips, Roger. "Amanita albocreata". Rogers Mushrooms.
4. Atkinson GF. (1902). "Preliminary notes on some new species of fungi". Journal of Mycology. 8 (3): 110–9. doi:10.2307/3752544.
5. Gilbert E.-J. (1941). "Iconographia mycologica, Amanitaceae". Iconographia mycologica. 27 (1): 259.
6. Kauffman C. H. (1918). The Agaricaceae of Michigan (1 ed.). W.H. Crawford, state printers. p. 622.
7. Metzler S., Metzler V. (1992). Texas Mushrooms-a field guide. Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 331. ISBN 0-292-75126-5.

External links

• Amanita albocreata in Index Fungorum