Amanita nivalis

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Amanita nivalis
Amanita nivalis Grev 487508.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Amanitaceae
Genus: Amanita
Species:
A. nivalis
Binomial name
Amanita nivalis
Grev. 1826
Synonyms [1]
  • Agaricus nivalis (Grev.) Loudon (1829)
  • Amanitopsis nivalis (Grev.) Sacc., Syll. (1887)
  • Pseudofarinaceus nivalis (Grev.) Kuntze, Revis. (1891)
  • Amanitopsis vaginata var. nivalis (Grev.) Peck, (1894)
  • Vaginata nivalis (Grev.) Kuntze (1898)
  • Amanita vaginata var. nivalis (Grev.) E.-J. Gilbert (1918)
  • Amanita vaginata f. nivalis (Grev.) Veselý (1933)
  • Amanitina nivalis (Grev.) E.-J. Gilbert (1941)
Amanita nivalis
Information icon.svg
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Free gills icon2.svg Hymenium is free
Volva stipe icon.svg Stipe has a volva
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Spore print is white

Amanita nivalis, the snow ringless amanita [2] or mountain grisette, is a species of basidomycote fungus in the genus Amanita .

Contents

Taxonomy

A. nivalis was first described by the Scottish mycologist Robert Kaye Greville in 1826 from specimens found growing at high altitudes in the Scottish Highlands. He gave it the Latin epithet nivalis (of the snow) to indicate the alpine type habitat in which he found it growing rather than to describe its white colour. [3]

Description

Robert Kaye Greville's original drawing of A. nivalis Amanita nivalis Greville.jpg
Robert Kaye Greville's original drawing of A. nivalis

A. nivalis is a small species of fungus which is usually white when young but which becomes tinged with grey or buff as it ages. It is rather variable in appearance over its wide range. The cap is dry, smooth and shiny and may be any size between 2 and 8 centimetres (1 and 3 inches). It becomes slightly sticky when wet. It is hemispherical when young but flattens out with age and develops a slight umbo. Near the rim there are fine radiating striations and the surface of the cap may have a few pieces of the membranous volva adhering to it. The gills are pale cream, broad, fairly crowded and mostly unconnected to the stem. There are a few irregularly arranged shorter gills with truncated ends. The stem is 3.8 to 10 cm (1+12 to 4 in) long and 5 to 12 millimetres (14 to 12 in) wide, hollow and with a smooth surface. There may be a fragile ring but it soon falls off. The base of the stem grows out of a brittle, sac-like volva which is white or pale yellowish-brown. The spores are nearly spherical, being 10.0 to 13.5 micrometres by 8.8 to 12.0 µm. This species is said to have a nondescript odour and flavour. [3] [4]

Distribution and habitat

It grows in subarctic and alpine conditions in Europe and also in Greenland. [3] It is often associated with low growing willows ( Salix spp.) and birches ( Betula spp.). There have been reports of it occurring at high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains in North America. [3] The fruit bodies appear singly or in small groups in both silicaceous and limestone areas in summer. [4]

Conservation

Although the edibility of this species is unknown, because of its rarity, it is best not to gather it. [5]

Related Research Articles

Amanita altipes, also called the yellow long-stem amanita, is a species of agaric fungus found in coniferous woodlands in southwestern China.

<i>Amanita persicina</i> Species of fungus

Amanita persicina, commonly known as the peach-colored fly agaric, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus Amanita with a peach-colored center. Until c. 2015, the fungus was believed to be a variety of A. muscaria.

<i>Amanita vaginata</i> Species of fungus

Amanita vaginata, commonly known as the grisette or the grisette amanita, is an edible mushroom in the fungus family Amanitaceae. The cap is gray or brownish, 5 to 10 centimetres in diameter, and has furrows around the edge that duplicate the gill pattern underneath. Unlike many other Amanita mushrooms, A. vaginata lacks a ring on the stem.

<i>Amanita abrupta</i> Species of fungus

Amanita abrupta, commonly known as the American abrupt-bulbed amanita or the American abrupt-bulbed lepidella, is a toxic species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. Named for the characteristic shape of its fruit bodies, this white Amanita has a slender stem, a cap covered with conical white warts, and an "abruptly enlarged" swollen base. This terrestrial species grows in mixed woods in eastern North America and eastern Asia, where it is thought to exist in a mycorrhizal relationship with a variety of both coniferous and deciduous tree species.

<i>Amanita aestivalis</i> Species of fungus

Amanita aestivalis, commonly known as the white American star-footed amanita, is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Amanitaceae. The cap of the white fruit body is 5 to 8.5 centimetres in diameter. It sits atop a stem that is 8.5 to 16 cm long. The entire fruit body will slowly stain a reddish-brown color in response to bruising. A. aestivalis may be a synonym for A. brunnescens, and may be confused with several other white-bodied amanitas. The fungus is distributed in eastern North America.

<i>Amanita exitialis</i> Species of fungus

Amanita exitialis, also known as the Guangzhou destroying angel, is a mushroom of the large genus Amanita. It is distributed in eastern Asia, and probably also in India where it has been misidentified as A. verna. Deadly poisonous, it is a member of section Phalloideae and related to the death cap A. phalloides. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) are white, small to medium-sized with caps up to 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter, a somewhat friable ring and a firm volva. Unlike most agaric mushrooms which typically have four-spored basidia, the basidia of A. exitialis are almost entirely two-spored. Eight people were fatally poisoned in China after consuming the mushroom in 2000, and another 20 have been fatally poisoned since that incident. Molecular analysis shows that the species has a close phylogenetic relationship with three other toxic white Amanitas: A. subjunquillea var. alba, A. virosa and A. bisporigera.

<i>Amanita australis</i> Species of fungus

Amanita australis is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It produces small- to medium-sized fruit bodies, with brown caps up to 9 centimetres in diameter covered with pyramidal warts. The gills on the underside of the cap are white, closely crowded together, and free from attachment to the stem. The stem, up to 9 cm long, has a ring and a bulbous base. The mushroom may be confused with another endemic New Zealand species, A. nothofagi, but can be distinguished by differences in microscopic characteristics.

<i>Amanita nothofagi</i> Species of fungus

Amanita nothofagi is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. Endemic to New Zealand, the species was first described by mycologist Greta Stevenson in 1962. The fruit bodies have dark brown caps that are up to 13 cm (5.1 in) in diameter and covered with patches of soft greyish-brown scales or warts. The gills underneath the cap are crowded together, free from attachment to the stem, and white, becoming tinged with yellow in age. The stem of the mushroom is 4–14 cm (1.6–5.5 in) long by 0.5–2.5 cm (0.2–1.0 in) thick, and has a ring. The spore print is white, and individual spores are spherical to ellipsoid, measuring 7.5–9 by 7.5–9 micrometres. The mushroom may be confused with another New Zealand species, A. australis, but can be distinguished by certain characteristics. Amanita nothofagi is a mycorrhizal species, and grows in association with native New Zealand trees such as Southern Beech.

<i>Amanita nehuta</i> Species of fungus

Amanita nehuta, also called Maori dust amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae.It has only a dark ring rather than a universal veil and white spores. Abundant in New Zealand, it can be found growing under Leptospermum and Nothofagus species.

<i>Amanita jacksonii</i> Species of fungus

Amanita jacksonii, also known as Jackson's slender amanita, American Slender Caesar, and Eastern Caesar's Amanita, is a North American species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It is a reddish-orange colored mushroom species which can be identified by its yellow gills, large, white, sacklike volva.

<i>Amanita atkinsoniana</i> Species of fungus

Amanita atkinsoniana, also known as the Atkinson's amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The fruit body is white to brownish, with caps up to 12.5 centimetres in diameter, and stems up to 20 cm long. The surface of the cap is covered with brownish conical warts.

<i>Amanita ravenelii</i> Species of fungus

Amanita ravenelii, commonly known as the pinecone lepidella, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The whitish fruit bodies are medium to large, with caps up to 17 centimetres wide, and stems up to 25 cm (10 in) long. The cap surface has large warts and the stem has a scaly, bulbous base. The mushrooms have a unique chlorine like odor.

<i>Amanita rubrovolvata</i> Species of fungus

Amanita rubrovolvata, commonly known as the red volva amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. The fungus produces small to medium-sized mushrooms, with reddish-orange caps up to 6.5 millimetres wide. The stems are up to 10 cm (4 in) tall, cream-coloured above the ring and cream to yellowish below it. The stem ends in a roughly spherical bulb at the base, which is covered with bright orange patches.

<i>Amanita crocea</i> Species of fungus

Amanita crocea, the saffron ringless amanita, is a species of Amanita widely distributed in Europe. It is not recommended for consumption due to its similarity to poisonous species of the genus.

<i>Amanita albocreata</i> Species of fungus

Amanita albocreata, also called the ringless panther or the ringless panther amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It was discovered in 1944, by William Murrill. It is commonly found in northeastern United States and southeastern Canada and elsewhere in North America. This species, that grows about 5 to 15 centimeters in length, is doubted to be fatally toxic. It normally grows between the rainy months of June and August.

Amanita zambiana, commonly known as the Zambian slender Caesar, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Amanita. An edible mushroom, it is found in Africa, where it is commonly sold in markets.

<i>Amanita flavella</i> Species of fungus

Amanita flavella is a species of mycorrhizal fungus from family Amanitaceae. It has a convex lemon-yellow coloured cap up to 9 centimetres in diameter. They can also be yellowish-orange coloured and have crowded pale-yellow gills. The yellowish-white stipe is central and 9 cm tall; it is slightly bulbous, and enclosed into a volva. The yellowish-white ring is flared, ample, and membranous. The spores are 8.5–10 μm long and 6–6.5 μm wide, white, amyloid, and ellipsoid. The species is similar in appearance to A. flavoconia and A. flavipes.

<i>Amanita basii</i> Species of fungus

Amanita basii is a mushroom of the family Amanitaceae.

<i>Amanita spreta</i> Species of fungus

Amanita spreta or the hated amanita is an inedible species of the genus Amanita.

Amanita groenlandica is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It has been placed in Amanita sect. Vaginatae.

References

  1. "Synonymy: Amanita nivalis". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  2. "Standardized Common Names for Wild Species in Canada". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Amanita nivalis". Amanitaceae.org. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  4. 1 2 "Amanita nivalis, beli lupinar" (in Slovenian). Gobarsko društvo Lisička Maribor. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
  5. Boiron, Patrick. "Amanita nivalis Greville". Clic'amanites (in French). Retrieved 2012-12-01.