The Amanitaceae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
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 ...
-forming
fungi
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 ...
. ''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 consists primarily of the large
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
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 resul ...
'', but also includes the smaller genera ''
Amarrendia'', ''
Catatrama'', ''
Limacella'', ''
Limacellopsis'', ''
Saproamanita'', ''
Torrendia'' and ''
Zhuliangomyces''. Both ''
Amarrendia'' and ''
Torrendia'' are considered to be synonymous with ''Amanita'' but appear quite different because they are secotioid.
The species are usually found in woodlands. The most characteristic emerge from an egg-like structure formed by the
universal veil
In mycology, a universal veil is a temporary membranous tissue that fully envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled mushrooms. The developing Caesar's mushroom (''Amanita caesarea''), for example, which may resemble a small white sphe ...
.
This family contains several species valued for edibility and flavor, and other deadly poisonous ones. More than half the cases of mushroom poisoning stem from members of this family. The most toxic members of this group have names that warn of the poisonous nature, but others, of varying degrees of toxicity, do not.
Some notable species
* ''
Amanita caesarea'', Caesar's mushroom
* ''
Amanita muscaria'', fly agaric
* ''
Amanita rubescens'', blusher
* ''
Amanita pantherina'', panther cap
* ''
Amanita phalloides'', death cap.
* ''
Amanita velosa'', orange spring amanita.
* ''
Amanita virosa'', destroying angel
* ''
Limacella bangladeshana'', first limacella in Bangladesh
* ''
Limacella solidipes'', ringed limacella
See also
*
List of Agaricales families
*
List of ''Amanita'' species
*
List of Basidiomycota families This is a list of families in the phylum Basidiomycota of kingdom Fungi. The Basidiomycota are the second largest phyla of the fungi, containing 31515 species. The phylum is divided into three subphyla, the Pucciniomycotina (rust fungi), the Ustilag ...
References
External links
''Amanita'' studies site with 510+ taxa treated
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Amanitaceae