Species details
Caesar's mushroom
Amanita caesarea
Extra caution required
Photo: Archenzo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
An orange-red amanita with yellow gills and stem and a white sac-like volva.
Identification features
Young specimens are enclosed in a white universal veil and may resemble deadly amanitas. The species is protected in Slovenia and must not be collected there.
Identification checklist
The mature fruitbody has a smooth orange-red cap with a strongly striate margin, yellow gills, a yellow stem, and a large yellow ring. A large white sac-like volva surrounds the base. Young fruitbodies are completely enclosed in a white universal veil.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 8–20 cm, initially enclosed like an egg, later orange-red, smooth, with a distinctly radially striate mature margin.
- Hymenophore
- Gills are crowded, broad, yellow to golden yellow, and free from the stem.
- Stem
- 8–15 × 1–2 cm, yellow, cylindrical, with a large hanging yellow ring; the base is enclosed by a large white sac-like volva.
- Flesh
- White, yellowish just beneath the cap skin; no conspicuous colour change when cut.
- Smell
- Mild and pleasant when fresh; decaying fruitbodies may smell unpleasant.
- Spore print
- Whitish to slightly yellowish.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 8–20 cm
- Stem height
- 8–15 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1–2 cm
Habitat
In warm open deciduous woodland, especially with oak and sweet chestnut.
Fruiting period
June, July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Beech (Fagus), Sweet chestnut (Castanea), Oak (Quercus)
- Soil
- Calcareous
- Notes
- A warmth-loving mycorrhizal species of open deciduous woodland, especially in milder climates.
Distribution
- Notes
- A European warmth-loving species, more frequent in southern and warmer regions.
How to separate similar species
Fly agaric has white gills and stem and usually white warts on the cap. Death cap has white gills and stem with a greenish to olive cap. Closed 'eggs' of deadly amanitas can look very similar from the outside.
Similar species
- Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) DANGEROUS
Fly agaric has white gills and stem and usually white warts; it lacks the large free white sac-like volva.
- Death cap (Amanita phalloides) DANGEROUS
Death cap has white gills and a white stem; confusion between young closed 'eggs' can be life-threatening.
Conservation
- Protected species
- Yes
- Red list
- R – rare species
- Notes
- The species is legally protected in Slovenia under the regulation on protected wild fungi. On the Slovenian Red List: R – rare species.
Interesting facts
Did you know? Caesar's mushroom is one of Europe's most distinctive amanitas because of its orange-red cap, yellow gills, and large white volva.