Amanita porphyria, also known as the grey veiled amanita or the porphyry amanita,[1] is a fairly common, inedible mushroom of the genus Amanita found in Europe and North America.
| Amanita porphyria | |
|---|---|
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| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Amanitaceae |
| Genus: | Amanita |
| Species: | A. porphyria
|
| Binomial name | |
| Amanita porphyria | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Amanita porphyria | |
|---|---|
 | Gills on hymenium |
 | Cap is convex |
 | Hymenium is free |
 | Stipe has a ring and volva |
 | Spore print is white |
 | Ecology is mycorrhizal |
 | Edibility is inedible |
Taxonomy
editThis fungus was described in 1805 under the current name, Amanita porphyria, by Johannes Baptista von Albertini and Lewis David de Schweinitz in their work Conspectus Fungorum in Lusatiae superioris agro Niskiensi crescentium e methodo Persooniana ("An overview of fungi growing in the area of Niesky in Upper Lusatia, according to the methodology of Persoon").[2] The name was then sanctioned by Fries, meaning that the name Amanita porphyria is given priority even if the normal nomenclatural rules would give precedence to another name – and indeed the Danish mycologist Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher had already described the same species as Agaricus gracilis in 1803. The sanctioning can be shown in the author string by means of a colon as in the following: "A. porphyria Alb. & Schwein. : Fr."[3][2]
The epithet porphyria comes from the Ancient Greek word porphúra (πορφύρα), meaning the Tyrian purple dye. This colour may be seen in the cap of the mushroom (though it is not always evident).[4]
Description
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The smooth cap is hemispherical when young and later flat, sometimes with grey patches of veil.[5][6] It is about 4–10 centimetres (1+1⁄2–4 inches) in diameter,[7][8][6] and brown with either a purplish or a greyish hue.[7][9][6][5][10]
As normal in the genus Amanita, the gills are whitish and free from the stem and the spores are white. The gills darken when bruised.[11]
The stem is 5–12 cm high and 0.6–1.5 cm thick, with a basal bulb which may[7][8][9] or may not[10] be surrounded by a white membranous volva.[6] The fragile ring is grey-violet[7][8] or blackened.[6][5]
The flesh is white with a smell of raw potato[7][6][10] or radish.[7][8]
The amyloid[8] spores are almost spherical with a diameter of 8–10 μm.[6][10]
Similar species
editA. porphyria is similar in overall shape and smell to the very common A. citrina, but the cap colour is different and the ring has a grey/violet coloration.[7] It can also be confused with the panther cap (A. pantherina)
Distribution and habitat
editA. porphyria usually grows on poor soil under coniferous trees, especially spruce,[10] but also fir,[8] hemlock,[9] and some deciduous ones such as birch.[6] It is mycorrhizal, living in symbiosis with the trees.[9]
It occurs from summer to autumn and is commoner in mountains or further to the north.[7][8] In Europe it is very common in boreal or hemiboreal forests but less so in temperate areas.[6] It is also found in northern North America from east to west. There was some uncertainty whether North American specimens should really be classified under a different name,[9] but there is now firm DNA evidence that all the variants actually belong to the same species.[12] It has also been recorded in Australia.[13]
Toxicity
editA. porphyria is not suitable for consumption. More importantly, it can easily be confused with much more poisonous species, such as the death cap Amanita phalloides [5]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Standardized Common Names for Wild Species in Canada". National General Status Working Group. 2020.
- ^ a b Hewitt, David; Karakenian, Jason; Amram, Peter; Schmull, Michaela (January 2016). "An Early Mycota: Johannes Baptista von Albertini and Lewis David von Schweinitz's Conspectus fungorum in Lusatiae superioris agro Niskiensi crescentium, with a Translation of the Latin Introduction into English". Bartonia; Proceedings of the Philadelphia Botanical Club. 69: 47–61. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ "Amanita porphyria page". Species Fungorum. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert. "πορφύρα". A Greek-English Lexico. Perseus Digital Library. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ^ a b c d Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-55407-651-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Knudsen, H.; Vesterholt, J., eds. (2018). Funga Nordica Agaricoid, boletoid, clavarioid, cyphelloid and gasteroid genera. Copenhagen: Nordsvamp. p. 383. ISBN 978-87-983961-3-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bon, Marcel (1987). The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-Western Europe. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 298. ISBN 0-340-39935-X.
- ^ a b c d e f g Eyssartier, G.; Roux, P. (2013). Le guide des champignons France et Europe (in French). Belin. p. 296. ISBN 978-2-7011-8289-6.
- ^ a b c d e Kuo, M. (May 2013). "Amanita porphyria". the MushroomExpert.Com Web site. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
- ^ a b c d e Læssøe, H.; Petersen, Jens (2019). Fungi of Temperate Europe. Princeton University Press. p. 362. ISBN 9780691180373.
- ^ Trudell, Steve; Ammirati, Joe (2009). Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press Field Guides. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-88192-935-5.
- ^ Tulloss, RE; Possiel, L. (2020). "Amanita porphyria". www.amanitaceae.org. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
- ^ "Amanita porphyria Alb. & Schwein". Atlas of Living Australia. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 2020-04-13.
Further reading
edit- E. Garnweidner. Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe. Collins. 1994.
External links
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Media related to Amanita porphyria at Wikimedia Commons