Fruiting body having a combination of some of the following characteristics:
Stalk growing out of a cup of cottony tissue called a volva (all white-spored mushrooms with a volva go here) Cap with scattered patches or flakes of the same sort of tissue as the volva (see second picture), easily peeled off Annulus (skirt-like ring on stalk)
Annulus always present
Either volva present, sack-like and cap either white or olive brown, or
Stalk with a basal bulb and cap either greyish brown or yellow
Here are the characters that distinguish this species from the others in its group. For its more general characters, see higher up on the page. If there's just a few words or a microscopic feature here, a more thorough description can be found above.
Diagnosis
Prominent, slightly rimmed basal bulb which is split vertically in several places around the edge
This mushroom was originally thought to be a variety of Amanita brunnescens, but has since been recognized as a separate species. There is, however, also a recognized A. brunnescens v. pallida (Krieger) which differs mainly in having the slightly virgatecap of Amanita brunnescens (as you can see, the spore sizes are very similar. This variety intergrades with the "original" Amanita brunnescens. These intermediate mushrooms have splotches of the brownish color on the cap, that fade out at the edges. They look a lot like what happens when you touch a drop of ink to wet paper. Whether A. brunnescens v. pallida will stay separate from Amanita aestivalis is anyone's guess. In any case, it's not a distinction that a non-professional should get real stressed about making
Agaricales Order
Amanita Genus
Phalloideae Section
