Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa)
Index Fungorum Amanita citrina Pers.
MycoBank Amanita virosa Bertill
White poisonous mushroom, stinking Fly Agaric. Its resemblance to the Death Cap is also reflected in the English name of the mushroom — False death cap (false pale toadstool).
vīrōsus, a, um 1) covered with slime; 2) strongly smelling, 3) poisonous. From vīrus, i n 1) slime; mucous juice; animal seed; 2) poisonous secretion, poison; 3) poisonousness, acrimony, bitterness; pungency; 4) unpleasant odor, stench; 5) sharp taste, pungency; acrimony, bitterness + -ōsus.
Agaricus virosus Fr., Epicr. syst. mycol. (Upsaliae): 3 (1838) [1836-1838]
Amanita phalloides var. virosa (Bertill.) Sartory & L. Maire, Compendium Hymenomycetum, Amanita: 93 (1922)
Amanita virosa var. aculeata Voglino, Boll. Soc. bot. ital., 1894: 120 (1894)
Amanita virosa var. levipes Neville & Poumarat, Fungi europ. (Alassio) 9: 600 (2004)
Amanitina virosa (Bertill.) E.-J. Gilbert, in Bresadola, Iconogr. mycol., Suppl. I (Milan) 27: 78 (1940)
4–8 cm in diameter. Pure white; in young mushrooms egg-shaped, covered together with the rudimentary stipe by a white universal veil; with age it opens to bell-shaped with an inrolled margin and semi-expanded, often developing asymmetrically, which sometimes gives the impression of a "jauntily bent" appearance. Surface smooth, rarely covered with large flaky remnants of the universal veil, not very conspicuous against the white background. Cap margin dense, not striate. Hymenophore lamellate. Gills crowded, white, free, fairly broad, fragile. In young mushrooms covered by a white veil.
8–12 cm high and 0.5–1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, white, covered with white peeling scales in the form of "collars"; in the upper part of the stipe, noticeably higher than in other Amanita species, there is a white shaggy ring, a remnant of the partial veil. In the lower part — a tuberous thickening and a wide white volva, often hidden in the litter.
Flesh white, yellowish, fragile.
Weak, reminiscent of rotting potatoes.
Spore print white. Spores nearly spherical, smooth.
It grows ubiquitously; Amanita virosa is encountered infrequently but quite steadily in coniferous and mixed forests, forming mycorrhiza, apparently with spruce. The Destroying Angel typically grows singly. It prefers sandy soils.
Amanita virosa resembles the white form of the Death Cap, Amanita phalloides. Confusing these mushrooms is not particularly dangerous — both species are deadly poisonous. In terms of color similarity, the White Lepidella, Amanita alba, could be at risk of confusion — but it lacks a ring, has a relatively smooth stipe, and a cap margin that is striate due to the gills showing through. It is difficult to discuss the resemblance mentioned in literature to certain species of Agaricus and especially Macrolepiota.
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