Other - Amanita hunting advice?

[ashroomer]

SWIM is thinking of searching for Amanita muscaria var. flavivolvata (the North American subspecies) and was wondering are there any deadly amanita species that look similar to this seemingly unique mushroom?

[Potter]

Sure there are.

Go get your self a STACK of mushroom hunting books, i mean all of them you can get your hands on, read them ALL, every last page, until you understand how to hunt mushrooms, then decide if your ready.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Not very helpful, at least name one such species if you know it.

[Potter]

Sorry this took so long, I've read so many mushroom books in the past year...

Amanita parcivolvata (Peck) Gilbert

Only the lack of partial veil and ring separate this species from A. muscaria, as both of these features can be washed away by rain, this can easily be overlooked. Information concerning the toxicity of this species is suspected but not confirmed.

Amanita frostiana (peck) Sacc.
While on the small size (cap 1"-3") this species can mimic the color and patterns of A. muscaria.

from the book Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States, Besset et.al. 2007
I'll try and get some pics scanned at some point, but that's not going to be easy.

[ashroomer]

Thank you.

ashroomer added 73 Minutes and 36 Seconds later...

Are there any species similar in appearance to Amanita gemmata or pantherina? SWIM was thinking about those too.

[Routemaster Flash]

Originally Posted by ashroomer

Thank you.

ashroomer added 73 Minutes and 36 Seconds later...

Are there any species similar in appearance to Amanita gemmata or pantherina? SWIM was thinking about those too.

I'd avoid A. gemmata like the plague. Reports on its toxicity seem to vary wildly - some authors say it has the same toxins/psychoatives as A. muscaria (i.e. a large 'body load', but nothing fatal) whereas Roger Philips describes it as 'deadly poisonous': http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/galle...k~bid~5540.asp

That doesn't sound like great odds to me. Plus you'd have to know what you were doing to tell them apart from A. phalloides. Plus it's pretty rare.

[Potter]

A. frostiana (in Rogers, this is a yellow mushroom, while in Basset, it's bright red)
A. crenulata
A. flavorubescens
A. franchetti
A. citrina

As you can see, recent books have opened up the possibility that these mushrooms may not be as easy to discern as previously thought. Unfortunately until someone can fund chemical analysis we do not know what sort of poisons they contain, some may be edible, some may be identical in profile to the more desireable ones, some may be deadly. Many of these are rare, but is it worth the risk.

Once again I suggest getting every availible book (well new ones, anything over ten years old should be held with careful consideration), even ones for areas outdside of your locality, just so you know what's out there.

The other safe bet is to get a 1,000x oil immersion lens microscope and learn how to look at spores, all of the above species can be differentiated with spore microscopy, though that's going to be a hell of a language set to learn... Probably best to find a professional teacher for such things.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good job adding something tangible to the thread

[Phungushead]

Photos of some common amanita muscaria lookalikes (of course there are more,
but just to give an idea)...

Amanita flavoconia:
flavoconia.jpg flavoconiacornell.jpg

Amanita frostiana:
frostiana.jpg

Amanita subfrostiana:
subfrostiana.jpg

Amanita flavorubescens
flavorubescens.jpg


The most noticeable feature which distinguishes amanita muscaria from
these other species, and probably the most critical characteristic when ID'ing
muscarias in general, is the concentric rings around the volva:
muscariavolva.jpg muscaria01.jpg

And I will say it again - the importance of being VERY careful when identifying
any mushroom cannot be stressed enough.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent addition, thankyou for the pictures and warnings

[ashroomer]

Thanks.

[BloodyMuffin]

Swim just found himself an Amanita flavorubescens. leme tell you, he doesnt hunt shrooms for tripping at the moment so he wasnt going to eat it anyway, but it took him about 45 minutes to positively identify what it was with no prior knowledge on teh subject. other than a difference in the color which could be caused by a multitude of factors, it could be mistaken as A muscaria. there are other distinctions, but the point is be extremely careful even with something as identifiable as A muscaria. Swim would advise that if hunting for this kind of mushroom instead of a type with psilocybin that you stick with A muscaria as others are even less easy to identify.