Species details

Solitary amanita

Amanita echinocephala

Poisonous

Description

A large pale Amanita with conspicuous pointed pyramidal warts on the cap, a strong ring, and an enlarged stem base.

Identification features

The cap is white to grey-ochre and covered in pointed warts. Gills are white to cream. The stout stem has a ring and bulbous base, sometimes with ring-like veil remnants.

Identification checklist

Identification requires the whole fruitbody including the stem base. Check the pointed pyramidal warts, free white gills, ring, and shape of the bulbous base.

How to separate similar species

Other pale Amanita can look very similar, especially when young. A. strobiliformis has different, larger veil patches and a different base; incomplete specimens are unsafe to identify.

Habitat

A mycorrhizal species of warmer woodland on calcareous soils; uncommon to rare, fruiting from late summer into autumn.

Fruiting period

August, September, October