Coccoli: Amanita lanei

Pileus
Cap 8-25 cm broad, convex, becoming nearly plane in age; margin decurved to plane at maturity, conspicuously striate; surface sticky when moist, smooth, typically partially covered with a thick, white patch of universal veil tissue; color variable: dark-brown, orange brown, (typical form), yellow-brown, lemon-yellow in a spring form, white in a rare variant; colors fading in age, often to buff or pale-tan; flesh white to cream, thick; odor mild.

Lamellae
Gills close, adnexed to free, close, white to cream.

Stipe
Stipe 10-20 cm long, 1.5-4 cm thick, more or less equal, the core hollow to stuffed; surface smooth or with scattered fibrils, color varying from white to pale yellow; partial veil membranous, forming a fragile, pendulous, superior ring; volva thick, white, membranous, sac-like, erect from the stipe base.

Spores
Spores 8-11 x 5-6 µm, elliptical, smooth, nonamyloid. Spore print white.

Habitat
Scattered to gregarious in mixed hardwood/conifer woods; fruiting from late fall to early winter.

Edibility
Edible, but often not recommended due to the possibility of confusion with toxic Amanitas.

Comments
Because this large, beautiful, and edible mushroom could be mistaken for Amanita phalloides (Death Cap), only collectors with years of local experience should consider it for the table. Amanita lanei is recognized by a combination of characters: an orange-brown cap (in the typical form), with a thick white universal veil patch and conspicuously striate margin, hollow stipe, and a thick white volva cup which stands erect from stipe. Amanita phalloides when young and fresh has a yellowish-green to yellowish-brown, smooth cap, the universal veil patch usually thin and appressed, the cap margin not striate or obscurely so, the stipe usually solid, not hollow, and the volva, thin and membranous. While the differences between these two species are considerable, it should be noted that in age they become less obvious, thus mistakes can and have happened.