Species details
Royal fly agaric
Amanita regalis
Poisonous
Photo: Nina Filippova · CC BY 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A large brown amanita with yellowish to whitish patches, a ring, and several veil bands at the base.
Identification features
Gills are white, stem white to yellowish, and flesh under the cap skin may be yellow-brown.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A large brown amanita with yellowish to whitish patches, a ring, and several veil bands at the base. Gills are white, stem white to yellowish, and flesh under the cap skin may be yellow-brown. Typical habitat: Conifer and mixed woodland in northern and mountain areas, often with spruce and birch.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 6–15 cm, walnut- to dark brown, initially hemispherical, later convex to flat; covered with yellowish to ochre veil patches or warts.
- Hymenophore
- Gills whitish to ochre and crowded.
- Stem
- 8–15 × 1.5–3 cm, ochre to whitish, with a ring and bulbous base.
- Flesh
- Pale, yellow to orange-yellow beneath the cap skin.
- Smell
- Indistinct.
- Taste
- Do not taste.
- Spore print
- Whitish.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 6–15 cm
- Stem height
- 8–15 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1,5–3 cm
Habitat
Conifer and mixed woodland in northern and mountain areas, often with spruce and birch.
Fruiting period
July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Spruce (Picea)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- Mycorrhizal mainly in cooler coniferous woodland, often with spruce.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Amanita muscaria, Amanita pantherina, Amanita excelsa. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Panther cap (Amanita pantherina) DANGEROUS
The panther cap usually has white rather than yellowish warts and a characteristically rimmed bulb.
- Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) DANGEROUS
Fly agaric is usually red to orange-red, although old specimens may fade.