Amanita ceciliae
Encyclopedia
Amanita ceciliae, in English commonly called snakeskin grisette, Cecilia's ringless amanita and strangulated amanita, is a basidiomycete
fungus
in the genus Amanita
, section Vaginatae. It is an uncommon fungus found in woods throughout Europe and North America. It is characterised by bearing a large, inedible fruiting body
with a brown cap
, ringless stipe
and grey universal veil
.
is 5–12 cm across, convex, expanding to planoconvex or flat with an upturned, deeply lined margin and a low umbo
. It is grey-brown to brown-black in colour, darker in the centre, and paler towards the margin. Its surface feels smooth, and is slightly sticky when moist. The cap surface is characterised by having loose, fleecy, charcoal-grey patches of volval remnants scattered across it. The patches are easily removed. The margin is strongly striated. The cap colour is often variable, and pale forms are known to exist: Amanita inaurata f. decolora (Parrot) and Amanita ceciliae var. pallida (Ricek). Amanita inaurata var. royeri (Maire) is a cinder black-capped variation.
Gills: Gills
are free, close, and white in colour.
Stem/Stipe: Stem
is 7–18 cm long, up to 2 cm thick and 50-160 x 7-15mm, lightly stuffed and then hollow, tapering slightly toward the top; dingy white with flattened greyish fleecy hairs, often in a zig-zag pattern. It does not bear a ring and has fragile, cottony, brownish or charcoal-coloured oblique girdles of volval remnants around the stem base and lower stem. The volva is whitish to greyish volva, powdery and delicate.
Spores and microscopic features: Spore
s are white, spherical and non-amyloid. They measure 10.2-11.7 µm. A few "giant" spores are commonly found in a mount of gill tissue. Clamps are not found at bases of basidia.
Flesh: White and unchanging when sliced.
Odour: Not distinctive.
Chemical test: The cap surface reaction with potassium hydroxide
(KOH) is negative. Alkalis such as potassium hydroxide are used in the identification of many mushrooms, including boletes, polypores, and gilled mushrooms.
(Carpinus), oak
(Quercus), beech
(Fagus) and birch
(Betula), but it can also rarely occur with conifers: pine
(Pinus), fir
(Abies), spruce
(Picea) and cedar (Cedrus). It has a preference for neutral to calcareous
soils.
In North America, it is found mainly in areas east of the Mississippi River
, but similar mushrooms also occur in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas. They prefer mycorrhizal habitats including hardwoods and conifers. They grow alone, scattered, or gregariously during summer and fall. It is primarily eastern in distribution but also reported in the Pacific Northwest
, the Southwest, and Texas
(with an apparent association with pecan
trees).
There is speculation that North American collections could possibly be an undescribed species differing from the European A. ceciliae.
Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota is one of two large phyla that, together with the Ascomycota, comprise the subkingdom Dikarya within the Kingdom Fungi...
fungus
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
in the genus Amanita
Amanita
The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own...
, section Vaginatae. It is an uncommon fungus found in woods throughout Europe and North America. It is characterised by bearing a large, inedible fruiting body
Sporocarp
Sporocarp can refer to any of several structures whose primary function is the production and release of spores.* Sporocarp , a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures are borne....
with a brown cap
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
, ringless stipe
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
and grey universal veil
Universal veil
In mycology, a universal veil is a temporary membranous tissue that fully envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled mushrooms. The developing Caesar's mushroom , for example, which may resemble a small white sphere at this point, is protected by this structure...
.
Description
Cap: The capPileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
is 5–12 cm across, convex, expanding to planoconvex or flat with an upturned, deeply lined margin and a low umbo
Umbo
Umbo may refer to:*A shield boss* umbo , at the top of some mushrooms*The Umbo of tympanic membrane - a part of the human body*Umbo is the part of a Bivalve shell which was formed when the animal was a juvenile...
. It is grey-brown to brown-black in colour, darker in the centre, and paler towards the margin. Its surface feels smooth, and is slightly sticky when moist. The cap surface is characterised by having loose, fleecy, charcoal-grey patches of volval remnants scattered across it. The patches are easily removed. The margin is strongly striated. The cap colour is often variable, and pale forms are known to exist: Amanita inaurata f. decolora (Parrot) and Amanita ceciliae var. pallida (Ricek). Amanita inaurata var. royeri (Maire) is a cinder black-capped variation.
Gills: Gills
Lamella
-Biology:* Lamella , a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap* Lamella , a plate-like structure in an animal* Lamella , part of a chloroplast* Lamella , a group of land crabs in the family Gecarcinucidae...
are free, close, and white in colour.
Stem/Stipe: Stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
is 7–18 cm long, up to 2 cm thick and 50-160 x 7-15mm, lightly stuffed and then hollow, tapering slightly toward the top; dingy white with flattened greyish fleecy hairs, often in a zig-zag pattern. It does not bear a ring and has fragile, cottony, brownish or charcoal-coloured oblique girdles of volval remnants around the stem base and lower stem. The volva is whitish to greyish volva, powdery and delicate.
Spores and microscopic features: Spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s are white, spherical and non-amyloid. They measure 10.2-11.7 µm. A few "giant" spores are commonly found in a mount of gill tissue. Clamps are not found at bases of basidia.
Flesh: White and unchanging when sliced.
Odour: Not distinctive.
Chemical test: The cap surface reaction with potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide
Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, commonly called caustic potash.Along with sodium hydroxide , this colorless solid is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications. Most applications exploit its reactivity toward acids and its corrosive...
(KOH) is negative. Alkalis such as potassium hydroxide are used in the identification of many mushrooms, including boletes, polypores, and gilled mushrooms.
Distribution and habitat
In Europe, Amanita ceciliae is widely distributed from east to west and north to south, but is infrequently encountered. It often inhabits deciduous forests with hornbeamHornbeam
Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae...
(Carpinus), oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
(Quercus), beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
(Fagus) and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
(Betula), but it can also rarely occur with conifers: pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
(Pinus), fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
(Abies), spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
(Picea) and cedar (Cedrus). It has a preference for neutral to calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
soils.
In North America, it is found mainly in areas east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, but similar mushrooms also occur in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas. They prefer mycorrhizal habitats including hardwoods and conifers. They grow alone, scattered, or gregariously during summer and fall. It is primarily eastern in distribution but also reported in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, the Southwest, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(with an apparent association with pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
trees).
There is speculation that North American collections could possibly be an undescribed species differing from the European A. ceciliae.