Puffballs are a type of fungus featuring a ball-shaped fruit body that bursts on contact or impact, releasing a cloud of dust-like spores into the surrounding area. Puffballs belong to the division Basidiomycota and encompass several genera, including Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage.
Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the death cap, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, but introduced to other parts of the world since the late twentieth century, A. phalloides forms ectomycorrhizas with various broadleaved trees. In some cases, the death cap has been introduced to new regions with the cultivation of non-native species of oak, chestnut, and pine. The large fruiting bodies (mushrooms) appear in summer and autumn; the caps are generally greenish in colour with a white stipe and gills. The cap colour is variable, including white forms, and is thus not a reliable identifier.
The name destroying angel applies to several similar, closely related species of deadly all-white mushrooms in the genus Amanita. They are Amanita virosa in Europe and A. bisporigera and A. ocreata in eastern and western North America, respectively. Another European species of Amanita referred to as the destroying angel, Amanita verna - also referred to as the 'Fool's mushroom' - was first described in France in 1780.
The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. The genus is responsible for approximately 95% of fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is α-Amanitin.
Amanita caesarea, commonly known as Caesar's mushroom, is a highly regarded edible mushroom in the genus Amanita, native to southern Europe and North Africa. While it was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1772, this mushroom was a known favorite of early rulers of the Roman Empire.
The blusher is the common name for several closely related species of the genus Amanita. A. rubescens, or the blushing amanita, is found in Europe and eastern North America, and A. novinupta, also known as the new bride blushing amanita, is found in western North America. Both their scientific and common names are derived from the propensity of their flesh to turn pink upon bruising or cutting.
Amatoxin is the collective name of a subgroup of at least nine related toxic compounds found in three genera of poisonous mushrooms and one species of the genus Pholiotina. Amatoxins are very potent, as little as half a mushroom cap can cause severe liver injury if swallowed.
Amanita gemmata, commonly known as the gemmed amanita or the jonquil amanita, is an agaric mushroom of the family Amanitaceae and genus Amanita. The fruit body has a cap that is a dull to golden shade of yellow, and typically 2.5–12 centimetres in diameter. The cap surface is sticky when moist, and characterized by white warts, which are easily detached. It is initially convex, and flattens out when mature. The flesh is white and does not change colour when cut. The gills are white and closely spaced. The stem is pale yellow, and measures 4–12 cm long by 0.5–1.9 cm thick. The partial veil that covers the young fruit body turns into the ring on the stem at maturity. The spore print is white. It resembles numerous other species.
Calvatia sculpta, commonly known as the sculpted puffball, the sculptured puffball, the pyramid puffball, and the Sierran puffball, is a species of puffball fungus in the family Agaricaceae. Attaining dimensions of up to 8 to 15 cm tall by 8 to 10 cm wide, the pear- or egg-shaped puffball is readily recognizable because of the large pyramidal or polygonal warts covering its surface. It is edible when young, before the spores inside the fruit body disintegrate into a brownish powder. The spores are roughly spherical, and have wart-like projections on their surfaces.
Amanita abrupta, commonly known as the American abrupt-bulbed amanita or the American abrupt-bulbed lepidella, is a possibly 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.
Amanita daucipes is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae of the mushroom order Agaricales. Found exclusively in North America, the mushroom may be recognized in the field by the medium to large white caps with pale orange tints, and the dense covering of pale orange or reddish-brown powdery conical warts on the cap surface. The mushroom also has a characteristic large bulb at the base of its stem with a blunt short rooting base, whose shape is suggestive of the common names carrot-footed lepidella, carrot-foot amanita, or turnip-foot amanita. The mushroom has a strong odor that has been described variously as "sweet and nauseous", or compared to an old ham bone, or soap. Edibility is unknown for the species, but consumption is generally not recommended due its position in the Amanita subgroup Lepidella, which contains some poisonous members.
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.
Amanita regalis, commonly known as the royal fly agaric or the king of Sweden Amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. A. regalis has a scabby liver-brown cap and a stem which is yellow-ochre at the base, with patches or rings of patches. The fruit bodies somewhat resemble the smaller A. muscaria, which it was formerly regarded as a variety of.
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.
Saproamanita thiersii, commonly called Thiers' lepidella, is a North American saprotrophic basidiomycete fungus in the genus Saproamanita. It is a white, small mushroom. Its cap is convex, measuring 3.5–10 centimetres across, and the stipe is 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long. The spore print is white.
Amanita ceciliae, commonly called snakeskin grisette, strangulated amanita, and the Cecilia's ringless amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Amanita. First described in 1854 by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome, it was given its current name by Cornelis Bas in 1984. It is characterized by bearing a large fruit body with a brown cap 5–12 cm (2.0–4.7 in) across. The cap has charcoal-grey patches, which are easily removable. The stipe is 7–18 cm (2.8–7.1 in) long, white in colour, and there is no ring on it. It is slightly tapered to the top, and has irregular cottony bands girdling the base. The universal veil is grey. Spores are white, spherical in shape, non-amyloid, and measure 10.2–11.7 micrometres. The mushrooms are considered edible, but field guides typically advise caution in selecting them for consumption, due to risks of confusion with similar toxic species. A. ceciliae is found in woods throughout Europe and North America, where it fruits during summer and autumn.
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 princeps, the head man slender Caesar, is a species of agaric fungus in the genus Amanita. It is found in tropical China, Southeast Asia, and the Malay Peninsula down to Singapore. It is edible, and is collected in the wild and sold in local markets. Many incidents of mushroom poisoning have occurred among Laotian and Hmong immigrants to North America, since it is easily confused with Amanita phalloides, the death cap, in both appearance and odor.
Amanita groenlandica is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. It has been placed in Amanita sect. Vaginatae.
