Springtime Amanita (Amanita velosa)

Amanitas can be delicious or deadly, but they are arguably the prettiest of all gilled mushrooms. The young specimens emerge from their "egg" with patches of membrane left covering the cap and forming the cup (volva) at the base. The mature specimens often have brilliant cap colors, delicate skirts and cups, and are substantial enough to be tempting (unlike the pretty but smaller waxy caps). It is always a delight to find them, in all of their guises, although many are best left alone.

The Springtime amanita shown above as well as its cousins, the Coccora and Grisettes are wonderful table mushrooms. The amanita family is however, more notorious for its deadly species, such as the Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) pictured to the right.

Finally, rounding out the family portrait, is the Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria, left), known both from its use in fairy-tale illustrations as well as for its hallucinogenic and toxic properties.

(This picture is a composite showing the same mushroom in an early and then more mature stage.)

Phylum: Basidiomycota (spores produced on basidia)

Class: Homobasidiomycetae (substantial mushrooms)

Subclass: Hymenomycetes (release spores gradually)

Order: Agaricales (umbrella-like mushrooms)

Family: Amanitaceae