Amanita phalloides

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LOCATION:

Everywhere

DATE FOUND:

Day 1 – 12 August 2023

This first specimen I found on the Entrance Path, solitary in leaf litter.

It had a deep olive to olivaceous-buff cap with white flesh where the skin had been peeled.

The tall stem was also olivaceous-buff, but bitten away to reveal white flesh. The gills were white and also bitten.

It had a white volva and no visible ring.

Most species of Amanita, including A. phalloides, have a ring, but here it may just have been taken off by some small creature.

I found these in a small group near hazel, under a canopy in the Dell.

One was de-capped, leaving the white stem with a high-up annulus visible.

This annulus was large and loose, with striations visible upon closer inspection.

The other had a darker, olivaceous cap.

Although being famed for toxicity to humans, other small creatures appear able to eat this fungus, which explains why it has been bitten all over [1].

These grew in leaf litter on a path verge of the Fen Trail Turnoff, near reeds, nettles and ferns by a boggy drainage ditch.

One had an olivacous buff to bright sulphur-yellow cap, though the other’s was darker.

They both had furry stems with volvas and white rings; the one with the lighter cap had a white stem, while the other had a somewhat darker stem.

One specimen also had a piece of veil remaining on its cap and a white, furry edge.

REFERENCES

[1] Wildlife Trust

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