''Amanita crocea'', the saffron ringless amanita, is a species of ''

Amanita The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities result ...

'' widely distributed in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Description

* Cap: The cap is free of rings with the volva and has a diameter of 5 – 10 cm, yellow-orange in colour with an apricot tinge at the centre. It expands to become flat or sometimes convex at the umbo, a small raised central area. * Volva: Thick, white, at least 40 – 100 mm wide, saffron orange or a little browner than that in colour in the centre when fresh and paler at the margin. * Gills:

Gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are free and cream in mass (sometimes with a slight salmon or pinkish reflection, and 2 - 3± mm broad.) * Stem/stipe: The stem or stipe is 85 - 230 x 7 – 14 mm, 10 – 15 cm long and 1 - 1.5 cm in diameter, tapering, decorated with paler

fibril Fibrils (from the Latin ''fibra'') are structural biological materials found in nearly all living organisms. Not to be confused with fibers or filaments, fibrils tend to have diameters ranging from 10-100 nanometers (whereas fibers are micro ...

s in a "flame" pattern, with the decoration later becoming orange or brown-orange (darker than the underlying stipe surface) with a membranous sack-like volva at the base. *Spores: The white spores measure (8.0-) 9.4 - 11.8 (-18.8) x (7.5-) 8.5 - 11.0 (-16.0) µm.

Ecology and edibility

The fungi can occur infrequently between July and October in

mycorrhizal A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plan ...

with hardwood trees, particularly birch and beech in clearings. Its odour is sweet-smelling and it has a mildly nutty sweet taste. It has also been reported from Iran. While edible, guides advise not to eat it as many ''Amanitas'' are very

poisonous Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

Similar species

It is similar to ''

Amanita fulva ''Amanita fulva'', commonly called the tawny grisette or the orange-brown ringless amanita, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus ''Amanita''. It is found frequently in deciduous and coniferous forests of Europe, and possibly North America. ...

'' (orange-brown ringless amanita or tawny grisette) and '' Amanita caesarea'' (Caesar's mushroom), belonging to the ''Vaginatae'' and '' Caesareae'' sections of the ''

'' genus respectively. The edible tawny grisette is a

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

located in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

. It was first described from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1821. It is easily confused with the 'Death Cap', though not as substantial. The structure is relatively flimsy and the hollow stem often breaks, even when handled very gently. It has fibres on its stalk usually. The second similar species, the Caesar's mushroom, is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

(a species to which the name of a genus is permanently linked) of the ''Caesareae'' section of the genus ''Amanita''. It has a distinctive orange cap, yellow gills and stem. Similar orange-capped species occur in North America and India. It was known to and valued by the Ancient Romans, who called it Boletus, a name now applied to a very different type of fungus. The word Amanita comes from Greek 'amanites' meaning mushroom and the word Caesarea comes from Latin 'caesarea' meaning caesarean, of, for, or belonging to Caesar, as this mushroom was highly valued by Roman emperors.http://www.eticomm.net/~ret/amanita/species/caesarea.html by R.E. Tulloss.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1574920 crocea Edible fungi Fungi of Europe

Description

Ecology and edibility

Similar species

See also

References