Sunday, July 17, 2011

American Caesar’s Mushroom (Amanita jacksonii)?

I saw a couple as we were driving along Hwy 44 but they were orange rather than red; not good specimens. And then, as we drove along the pinewoods section of Anthony Shoals Road in the Broad River Wildlife Management Area, I spotted a cluster that was a brilliant red color. Too good to pass up. So we backed up and got out.

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
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6 comments:

  1. Mike B.July 17, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    My goodness, I have a terrible time identifying shrooms! These sure are good looking though.

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  2. Nellie from Beyond My GardenJuly 17, 2011 at 9:27 PM

    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

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  3. JSKJuly 17, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    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.

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  4. JSKJuly 17, 2011 at 9:49 PM

    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.

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  5. DougJuly 21, 2012 at 4:52 PM

    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.

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  6. JSKJuly 21, 2012 at 11:02 PM

    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!

    ReplyDelete