Appalachian Mushrooms. Walter E. Sturgeon

surface smooth to scurfy, flocculose; brown, stained bulb at the base that may have patches of the universal veil along the upper rim; bulb is often prominent and usually has one or more wedge-like vertical clefts

      SPORE PRINT: White

      ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary or gregarious in soil or humus under conifers and broadleaf trees, especially oaks; summer and early fall; common

      EDIBILITY: Not recommended; possibly poisonous, and there are similar toxic species

      COMMENTS: Whitish forms have been called Amanita aestivalis (not illustrated), which may be a distinct species. Amanita brunnescens caps can be white and have been described as a variety, namely, as Amanita brunnescens var. pallida. Collections from the same site can have both brown and whitish caps. Compare with Amanita submaculata (p. 17), which has a sweet odor and lacks a prominent basal bulb on the stem.

       Amanita brunnescens

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amanita submaculata Peck

       SYNONYM: None

       COMMON NAME: None

       FAMILY: Amanitaceae

      CAP: Up to 4 in. wide; gray or dark grayish brown, remaining dark at the center and gray toward the margin; convex becoming almost flat; surface tacky when wet, bald, or with a single tissue patch or a few warts toward the cap center, at times with small, longitudinal, whitish spots, most commonly near the margin

      FLESH: White to grayish, thin, unchanging when damaged; odor sweet, fruitlike, at times resembling that of Pleurotus pulmonarius (p. 116); taste unknown

      GILLS: White, free or barely reaching the stem; close to crowded, edges even; covered at first with a whitish partial veil

      STEM: Up to 6 in. long; whitish with brown to dark brown fibrils; solid; tapering slightly upward from a small basal bulb that may have a few universal veil warts; surface fibrillose, may show orangish-brown stains, especially after handling; partial veil forms an apical skirt-like ring

      SPORE PRINT: White

      ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks; solitary to scattered in broadleaf woods and mixed woods of oaks and pines; summer and fall; occasional

      EDIBILITY: Unknown

      COMMENTS: The sweet odor is unusual in the genus Amanita. The cap resembles that of Amanita brunnescens (p. 16), a species with a prominent bulb and raw potato odor. Remnants of the universal veil may be visible in the soil around the base of the stem.

       Amanita submaculata

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amanita rubescens Pers.

       SYNONYM: Provisional name: Amanita amerirubescens Tulloss

       COMMON NAMES: Blusher, American Blusher

       FAMILY: Amanitaceae

      CAP: Up to 5-1/2 in. wide; pale tan or yellowish at first, becoming brown with sordid reddish areas; bell shaped at first then convex, becoming flat in age; surface dry or slightly sticky in wet weather; bald, adorned with yellow to gray warts, which are remnants of the universal veil

      FLESH: White, staining pinkish red to reddish brown when damaged, this discoloration can often be observed around larvae tunnels; thick; odor and taste mild

      GILLS: White or slightly pinkish, staining slowly reddish brown when damaged; free or barely reaching the stem; close; edges even; covered at first by a thin partial veil

      STEM: Up to 7 in. long; whitish or with ruddy staining especially near the base; solid; equal or tapering up from a turnip-shaped bulb; smooth or slightly hairy, with a persistent skirt-like ring near the apex

      SPORE PRINT: White

      ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; on soil, litter, and moss in forests and lawns under oaks and pines and in mixed woods; gregarious to scattered; summer and fall; very common

      EDIBILITY: Edible but not recommended owing to possible confusion with poisonous look-alikes

      COMMENTS: The American cluster of Blusher species differs from the European mushroom originally given this name. As of this writing no new names have been given to several of these variants, including this one, which is a common species in the Appalachians. Historically Amanita rubescens was considered a very variable species. Now it is known that several—possibly many—species have been lumped under this name. There is a white form with less prominent, sordid, reddish staining. Similar seriously poisonous species include Amanita velatipes (p. 15) and Amanita pantherina (not illustrated).

       Amanita rubescens

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amanita abrupta Peck

       SYNONYM: Lepidella abrupta (Peck) E.-J. Gilbert

       COMMON NAME: American Abrupt-bulb Lepidella

       FAMILY: Amanitaceae

      CAP: Up to 3-1/2 in. wide; white, at times tan at the center; surface dry with white or tan pointed or cone-shaped warts that are separable patches of the universal veil; the warts may be washed off in wet weather and on aged caps; convex, becoming flat; surface floccose; margin is not striate and may become cottony

      FLESH: White; firm, not staining; odor mild at first becoming unpleasant, resembling spoiled meat in age; taste unknown

      GILLS: Whitish or at times with a pale orange cast; close to subdistant; free or barely reaching the stem; edges even or flocculose; covered at first by a white partial veil

      STEM: Up to 5 in. long; white; solid with a flimsy skirt-like ring that is smooth on top and often shaggy underneath; nearly equal or slightly tapering upward, with an abrupt white or brown stained bulb at the stem base, which often has a cleft-like depression; surface bald to floccose

      SPORE PRINT: White

      ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; found throughout the Appalachians; it is found on soil and litter in conifer, broadleaf, and mixed forests; summer and fall; fairly common

      EDIBILITY: Possibly poisonous

      COMMENTS: Amanita abrupta is a member of the Lepidella section of Amanita. Members of this common section are often large and white with numerous warts or a powdery covering on the caps. Compare with Amanita cokeri (not illustrated). The abrupt nonrooting bulb is a key identification feature. Amanita cokeri is a more robust species.

       Amanita abrupta