Scary-lookin' white Amanita...

[Lachy]

Well, I've got another mystery mushie of doom for you guys to have a look at. This one is a pure white Amanita that frequently seems to pop up in native bushland near me after winter rains. All I know is it looks rather beautiful - in a poisonous-looking kinda way - and that I'm certainly not going to eat the thing. In fact, I'm rather hesitant to touch it...

Anyway, the caps are up to six inches across and the gills are white. Any takers?

[Birdman]

Hey Lachy,

According to Bruce Fuhrer' "A field companion to Australian Fungi"

It appears that it is an Amanita, 'Amanita Ananaeceps'.

He states:Amanita Ananaeceps displays its annulus as mealy,

ragged fragments suspended from the cap margin.The caps

and stems from unweathered specimens are covered with powdrey

meal.Caps of A.ananaeceps range in size from 7cm to20cm in diameter

Colour varies from pure white to grey and grey-brown.Perhaps a

complex of closely related species is involved.

Did i win?

[Pixel]

on the contrary to the above comment, i believe this to be an amanita farinacea

but in the book it also states that... "in many characters this species [the A.Ananaeceps] is similar to Amanita farincea but is less variable in size and is grey instead of white."

so i might be wrong.

[Undergrounder]

I vote Amanita ananaeceps because the caps don't look THAT farinaceous (powdery) it looks pretty smooth

The big test though is to break one in half and smell it. If it smells strong and chemically, it's farinaceous, if it smells none-descript, mushroomy, it's ananaeceps.

Edit: A.M. Young "Field Guide to Australian Fungi" also says that farinacea doesn't have warts

Edit again: well big A. muscaria style ones anyway... farinacea has smaller mealy/powdery bumps

Edited July 11, 2008 by Undergrounder

[Lachy]

Thanks for the help guys. Next time I'm walking the dog through that area I'll see if I can determine which species it is.

[mutant]

It sure looks like the mediterranean species A.gracilior, A.baccata etc. If it didn't have the pyramids on the cap it would also remind of the much larger and edible A.ovoidea. I think it belongs to this family of amanitas which are not deadly, actually, some are eaten. I have no broadband net right now to make more research on synonyms etc., but all of this sub-family I have found [A.ovoidea I have also eaten a couple of times] smell similarly, kind of like fishy, not too appetising to be honest I wonder if this smells the same...