The light wasn’t good. The skies were dark with an impending thunderstorm and the mushrooms were growing on an embankment under the edge of a thick pine woods. So I used LED lights to take some macro shots.
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The closest identification I can arrive at, based on comparing photographs on mushroom web sites, is American Caesar’s Mushroom (Amanita jacksonii). The caps are the right color – a rich red with minute vertical striations that are clearly visible in the lower image. I’m questioning the identification because they don’t appear to have volvas and I would have thought that the volvas should still be quite visible at this stage of development. Unfortunately we weren’t able to follow the development of the cap to see if the mature cap also resembled Amanita jacksonii.Any thoughts on this identification?
Click on the image to view a larger image
Identification resources:
- Rodham E. Tulloss, Eticomm.net: Amanita jacksonii
- Michael Kuo, MushroomExpert.com: Amanita jacksonii
6 comments:
My goodness, I have a terrible time identifying shrooms! These sure are good looking though.
Yes. I am quite familiar with this one. These are tiny wooden gnome homes. They have been carved with great care by a small woodland gnome for his family. You are so lucky to have come across them.
nellie
Me too. And I'd never risk eating any from the wild - with a couple of exceptions. I'm taking a guess at this one because of its distinctive shape and color. Would love to know if I'm correct.
They do look like little gnome homes. Perhaps that's partly why they attracted me. I can imagine them with tiny doors and windows painted on them. Too bad they lose this charm as they mature.
I have these in my back yard. I also have the fly agaric variety. Would like to know which work for tea. . .but don't want to risk poisoning.
Personally, I wouldn't ingest mushrooms of the genus Amanita in a tea or any other form.
There are sites on the internet that deal with this subject but do it at your own risk!
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