| Amanita ananiceps | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Amanitaceae |
| Genus: | Amanita |
| Species: | A. ananiceps
|
| Binomial name | |
| Amanita ananiceps | |
Amanita ananiceps is a species of agaric fungus in the family Amanitaceae native to Australia.
Taxonomy[edit]
The species was initially described in 1844 by English naturalist Miles Joseph Berkeley as Agaricus (Amanita) ananaeceps, the specimen having been collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn in 1805 in Tasmania.[1] Italian mycologist Pier Andrea Saccardo placed it in the genus Amanita in 1887.[2] Australian mycologist Alec Wood spelt its species name ananaeceps in his 1997 monograph of Australian Amanita.[3] Within the genus Amanita, it is in the subgenus Lepidella, section Lepidella and subsection Solitariae.[3] It is possibly the same species as Amanita farinacea, and if so, farinacea takes precedence.[4]
Description[edit]
The fruit body has a white or cream cap, which is convex and rounded when young and opening out and flattening to flat-convex or flat to around 8 centimetres (3 inches) in diameter. It is covered in large irregular patches of the veil, also coloured cream.[3] These often hang over the edge of the cap and fragments can litter the ground near the mushrooms.[4] The crowded white gills are free. The stipe is up to 12 cm (4+1⁄2 in) high and 2 cm wide. The fragile ring is often present in younger mushrooms, but falls off. The swollen base of the stipe is smooth.[3] The flesh is white and has a mealy smell.[4]
Under a microscope, the spores are oval-shaped and measure 8.1–12.9 by 6.3–9.9 μm and are strongly amyloid.[3]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
A. ananiceps has been recorded from New South Wales, Tasmania,[3] and Western Australia.[4] It is found in eucalypt forest.[4]
Toxicity[edit]
The edibility is unknown, but is possibly poisonous.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Berkeley, Miles Joseph (1848). "Decades of Fungi: Decade XX. Australian Fungi". London Journal of Botany. 7: 572–80 [p. 572].
- ^ Saccardo, Pier Andrea (1887). "Agaricinae, Leucosporae, Pleurotus". Sylloge Fungorum (in Latin). 5. Padua, Italy: Sumptibus Auctoris: 18.
- ^ a b c d e f Wood, Alec E. (1997). "Studies in the genus Amanita (Agaricales) in Australia". Australian Systematic Botany. 10 (5): 723–854 [792]. doi:10.1071/sb95049.
- ^ a b c d e f Bougher, Neal L.; Syme, Katrina (1998). Fungi of Southern Australia. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. p. 156. ISBN 1-875560-80-7.
