(Amanita muscaria var. flavivolvata)
DESCRIPTION:
A. muscaria var. flavivolvata is a variety of red Fly Agaric. Its Cap is bright to blood red with a yellowish universal veil. This universal veil will entirely cover the youngest mushrooms, will form yellowish spots or warts on mature mushrooms, and may eventually wash or wear off with age. These spots often form concentric circles, although they may also appear randomly.
The Stalk is 5-20 cm (2-7"), has a ring and a bulbous base with rows of cottony patches. It is 1-3 cm (1/4 - 1 1/4") in diameter at the base, narrowing slightly towards the cap. The stalk is white to cream colored; smooth to somewhat scaly.
The Universal Veil which causes the white spots on the cap also often forms concentric circles (usually 2-4) on the lower stalk at the top of the bulb. Additionally, a membranous Partial Veil usually forms a thin, persistent, median to superior, skirtlike ring on the stalk.
Gills are free or slightly attached, crowded, broad, whitish.
Spore Print is white. Spores are 9-13 x 6.5-9 microns, broadly elliptical, smooth, colorless, and nonamyloid.
HABITAT:
On the ground, under pine, spruce, fir, birch, live oak. They may grow solitary, scattered, densely, or in large rings in forests and at their edges. Often found in coastal pine forests.
RANGE:
Common in Western North America. Has a more southern distribution than some other A. muscaria varieties, but still quite common in northern California.
SEASON:
In N. America these fruit from July - October; Fall to early spring in California.
COMMENTS:
Named the Fly Agaric because of it's use, when mixed with milk, as a method of killing houseflies. Its color may fade drastically with age, especially in direct sunlight or after a soaking rain. A. muscaria is notable for its ability to concentrate vanadium - a rare, malleable, ductile metal used to add tensile strength to steel - from the soil.
LINKS
Mushroom Observer : A. muscaria var flavivolvata
MykoWeb : A. muscaria flavivolvata
A. muscaria var. flavivolvata is a variety of red Fly Agaric. Its Cap is bright to blood red with a yellowish universal veil. This universal veil will entirely cover the youngest mushrooms, will form yellowish spots or warts on mature mushrooms, and may eventually wash or wear off with age. These spots often form concentric circles, although they may also appear randomly.
The Stalk is 5-20 cm (2-7"), has a ring and a bulbous base with rows of cottony patches. It is 1-3 cm (1/4 - 1 1/4") in diameter at the base, narrowing slightly towards the cap. The stalk is white to cream colored; smooth to somewhat scaly.
The Universal Veil which causes the white spots on the cap also often forms concentric circles (usually 2-4) on the lower stalk at the top of the bulb. Additionally, a membranous Partial Veil usually forms a thin, persistent, median to superior, skirtlike ring on the stalk.
Gills are free or slightly attached, crowded, broad, whitish.
Spore Print is white. Spores are 9-13 x 6.5-9 microns, broadly elliptical, smooth, colorless, and nonamyloid.
HABITAT:
On the ground, under pine, spruce, fir, birch, live oak. They may grow solitary, scattered, densely, or in large rings in forests and at their edges. Often found in coastal pine forests.
RANGE:
Common in Western North America. Has a more southern distribution than some other A. muscaria varieties, but still quite common in northern California.
SEASON:
In N. America these fruit from July - October; Fall to early spring in California.
COMMENTS:
Named the Fly Agaric because of it's use, when mixed with milk, as a method of killing houseflies. Its color may fade drastically with age, especially in direct sunlight or after a soaking rain. A. muscaria is notable for its ability to concentrate vanadium - a rare, malleable, ductile metal used to add tensile strength to steel - from the soil.
LINKS
Mushroom Observer : A. muscaria var flavivolvata
MykoWeb : A. muscaria flavivolvata