Amanita Ochrophylla on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Amanita ochrophylla'' is a
The fruit body is a large stocky buff- or ochre-coloured mushroom sometimes with shades of orange or pink on the stalk or cap. The cap is convex and rounded when young and opening out and flattening to flat-convex or flat. Reaching up to in diameter, the cap is often covered with small thin flat scales that are slightly paler than the cap colour. The thin crowded gills are free, and cream or buff, becoming darker as the mushroom ages. The
fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
of the family Amanitaceae
The Amanitaceae is a family of mushroom-forming fungi. ''Amanita'' Pers. is one of the most specious and best-known fungal genera. The family, also commonly called the amanita family, is in order Agaricales, the gilled mushrooms. The family co ...
native to southeastern Australia. Its large and distinctive buff fruit bodies are common after rainfall.
Taxonomy
English mycologistsMordecai Cubitt Cooke
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (12 July 1825, in Horning, Norfolk – 12 November 1914, in Southsea, Hampshire) was an English botanist and mycologist who was, at various points, a London schoolteacher, a Kew mycologist, curator at the India Museum, jour ...
and George Edward Massee
George Edward Massee (20 December 1845 – 16 February 1917) was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist.
Background and education
George Massee was born in Scampston, East Riding of Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was educat ...
described this species as ''Agaricus ochrophyllus'' in 1889, from a specimen collected from "sandy land near Brisbane". They thought it allied to ''Macrolepiota procera
''Macrolepiota procera'', the parasol mushroom, is a basidiomycete fungus with a large, prominent fruiting body resembling a parasol. It is a fairly common species on well-drained soils. It is found solitary or in groups and fairy rings in pas ...
'' and placed it in the subgenus ''Lepiota''. They described its gills as having the colour of "washed leather". Pier Andrea Saccardo
Pier Andrea Saccardo (23 April 1845 in Treviso, Treviso – 12 February 1920 in Padua) was an Italian botanist and mycologist.
Life
Saccardo studied at the Lyceum in Venice, and then at the Technical Institute of the University of Padua wher ...
named it ''Lepiota ochrophylla'' in 1891. It was placed in the genus ''Amanita'' by Australian mycologist John Burton Cleland
Sir John Burton Cleland CBE (22 June 1878 – 11 August 1971) was a renowned Australian naturalist, microbiologist, mycologist and ornithologist. He was Professor of Pathology at the University of Adelaide and was consulted on high-level po ...
in 1924. Within the genus ''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 ...
'', it is in the subgenus ''Lepidella'', section ''Lepidella'' and subsection ''Gymnopodae''. Molecular analysis showed an close relationship with '' A. proxima''.
Description
The fruit body is a large stocky buff- or ochre-coloured mushroom sometimes with shades of orange or pink on the stalk or cap. The cap is convex and rounded when young and opening out and flattening to flat-convex or flat. Reaching up to in diameter, the cap is often covered with small thin flat scales that are slightly paler than the cap colour. The thin crowded gills are free, and cream or buff, becoming darker as the mushroom ages. The spore print
300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...
is white. The thick stalk has a double ring which helps identify it. The main upper ring is attached high up on the stalk just underneath the gills. It is membranous and can break off. The second ring is smaller and thicker. The solid stalk is up to 15 cm (6 in) high and wide. The large bulbous base is shaped like an inverted cone, and up to 4 cm in diameter.
Under a microscope, the spores are oval-shaped and measure 9.3–10.8 by 5.4–7.4 μm.
The mushrooms have a stale odour, reminiscent of ants.
Distribution and habitat
Found across the southeastern part of the continent, ''A. ochrophylla'' has been recorded from southeastern South Australia, Victoria, throughout New South Wales and Queensland. Forestry records from Tasmania have it recorded predominantly from wet forests. It has been recorded from Mount Wellington. The fruit bodies appear after heavy rainfall. It often appears on roadsides. A field study showed that ''A. ochrophylla'' fruit bodies of identical genetic profile were found up covering areas of up 60 m (200 ft) diameter, suggesting a single genet was responsible, and that hence these units could be up to 60 m (200 ft) diameter in undisturbed eucalypt forest.Toxicity
Its smell would usually preclude people trying to consume it, and its edibility is unknown. At Wedderburn south of Sydney, a Lao family picked and consumed this species, perhaps along with '' A. volvarielloides''. One member suffered poisoning with hepatotoxic effects similar to those of deadly amanitas, with ''A. volvarielloides'' perhaps being the culprit.See also
* List of ''Amanita'' speciesReferences
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15632553 ochrophylla Fungi native to Australia Fungi described in 1889 Fungus species