''Amanita chrysoblema'', with the common name American fly agaric, white variant, is a
basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''
Amanita''. Although named ''chrysoblema'', it is traditionally thought to be an ''
Amanita muscaria
''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...
'' variant, a group of fungi commonly known as fly agarics.
''A. chrysoblema'' is an uncommon fungus, distinguishable by an off-white to silvery-white cap with white warts. The cap has cuts on the side, but is otherwise similar to the usual fly agaric form.
The fungus is
poisonous due to high levels of
ibotenic acid
Ibotenic acid or (''S'')-2-amino-2-(3-hydroxyisoxazol-5-yl)acetic acid, also referred to as ibotenate, is a chemical compound and psychoactive drug which occurs naturally in ''Amanita muscaria'' and related species of mushrooms typically found i ...
and
muscimol.
Taxonomy
This white fly agaric was first described by science in 1880 by Peck, who classified it as an ''Amanita muscaria'' variant as ''A. muscaria var. alba''. In 1918, Kauffmann named it ''Amanita chrysoblema'' during a study from Michigan, but the var. alba (or var. albus) name has been used in parallel to this since then.
[Amanita chrysoblema]
/ref>
It is possible that this Amanita is not a muscaria, or fly agaric, but a species in its own right. This issue is currently under scientific scrutiny. The muscaria classification, may stem from it being wrongly treated as a white variant of the '' Amanita muscaria var. flavivolvata''.
References
chrysoblema
Poisonous fungi
Fungus species
{{Amanitaceae-stub