Textbook Specimen

Day 357: The Amanitas I found during my hike day before yesterday were so lovely that I can't resist sharing another one with you. I would describe this one as a "textbook example," but for the fact that the cap isn't the brilliant red one normally associates with Amanita muscaria. That said, it is well within the range typical of the species. Age, weather and soil chemistry may all affect an individual mushroom's colour. In this image, the morphological features are readily apparent: the cap bearing remnants of the veil (the "spots"), and beneath it, the annulus (ring) of tissue appears like a tutu around the stipe. The annulus is also a remnant of the veil, breaking free at the rim of the cap as the mushroom expands its "umbrella." At ground level, the cup-like volva is visible with the stipe arising from it. When immature, the veil and volva surround the developing mushroom entirely, giving it an appearance all too similar to edible puffballs. When the two fungi grow in the same area, care must be taken when collecting puffballs to eat. Each one should be cut in half vertically to be sure that the interior tissue is uniform throughout. Amanitas will show evidence of stipe/cap structure in a cut specimen.