Amanita virosa    (Fr.) Bertill. 

common name(s) : Destroying Angel 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Agaricales/Amanitaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Agaricales/Amanitaceae [sub-genus:Lepidella section:Phalloideae ]  

synonyms: Amanita verna ss.auct. 

edibility : deadly poisonous

photo gallery of  Amanita virosa
photo gallery of  Amanita virosa potential confusions with  Amanita virosa toxicity of Amanita virosa genus Amanita  

The cap is white, ochre at the centre, with a central umbo; its margin is smooth. The cap surface is smooth.

The stem is white, with fluffy surface, bulbous, with a white sheathing volva, and a fragile ring.

The flesh is unchanging; its taste is mild; the odour is faint, of radish or yeast, then fetid for old specimens; its texture is fibrous.

The gills are white, free, crowded . The spore print is white. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in coniferous (sometimes deciduous) woods, on a rather acid soil, with beech, fir, spruce, pine, blueberry tree.

The fruiting period takes place from June to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 8 cm (between 2.5 and 15 cm)
  height of stem approximately 12 cm (between 5 and 18 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 12 mm (between 5 and 20 mm)

Chemical tests : flesh becoming yellow when in contact with potash (KOH).

Distinctive features : entirely white; sheathing sac-shaped volva at stem base; bell-shaped cap then with a broad umbo; stem with shaggy surface and with a fragile ring sometimes still attached to cap margin; flesh turns golden yellow when in contact with caustic soda; with conifers

Amanita virosa is quite rare and localised in the forest of Rambouillet, and is infrequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Amanita virosa in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Amanita virosa in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18