About this fungus
Jewelled Amanita is a fungus in the Amanitaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A pale yellow to ochre Amanita whose cap is often deeper yellow or brownish at the centre. Young caps usually carry loose white patches from the universal veil, though rain can leave them almost bare. The edge becomes distinctly lined as the cap expands.
What to check
Check the whole stem, including its buried base. The crowded white gills are free or only narrowly attached, and the white stem ends in a small bulb. Veil tissue usually forms a close collar or short free rim around that bulb rather than a deep sack. A thin white ring may be present higher on the stem, but it is fragile and often disappears.
Variation
Cap colour ranges from creamy yellow to ochre and may fade almost white, while the centre often remains darker. White cap patches can be plentiful on a young mushroom or completely washed away. The ring and the veil remains at the base are also easily lost, so weathered specimens may lack several of the features shown by fresh ones.
Lookalikes
Panther Cap and several other members of Amanita section Amanita share a lined cap edge, white gills, a fragile ring and a rimmed bulb. False Deathcap is usually paler, has a more substantial ring and often has a raw potato-like smell. The name Amanita gemmata is especially uncertain in North America, where several similar local species have been recorded under the European name. Cap colour alone is not enough to separate them.
Habitat and range
Mycorrhizal with trees and most often found with conifers, especially pines, on sandy or acidic ground. It is also reported with hardwoods. The European species fruits from summer into late autumn, while gemmata-like North American fungi can appear from late spring onwards.
Food safety
Poisonous.