August 25th. I was
driving home when I spotted a cluster of mushrooms at the edge of the woods by
the road. I knew immediately that they were Caesar’s Amanita (Amanita jacksonii) mushrooms. What surprised
me was the size of the largest one. Its cap was 7 to 8 inches in diameter, the
largest I had ever seen.
The caps of the buds are oval.
As they open, the caps become convex, then flat, and finally depressed as are
the larger mushrooms in this cluster.
The caps of these mushrooms are solid red, without any scales. Mature caps on these mushrooms have marked
striations from the margin towards the center.
Their gills are yellow and
crowded, and free from their stems.
Their stems taper slightly from
the base to the top and are yellow (or orange) with orange-red fibers, often in
zones. Stems have a yellow-to-orange ‘skirtlike’ ring. In addition, one of the
most striking things about this mushroom is that the remains of the volva – the
membrane that encases the growing mushroom – are often visible at the base of
the stem, even when the mushroom is mature.
These
mushrooms may be found east of the Great Plains in the United States where they
have a mycorrhizal relationship with the roots oaks and pines. They fruit in summer and
fall.
Identification
resources:
- Michael
Kuo, MushroomExpert.com: Amanita jacksonii
- Roger’s
Mushrooms: Amanita jacksonii
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