Yellow Patches

Amanita flavoconia

Also known as Yellow Wart, Orange Amanita, Yellow-dust Amanita.

Yellow PatchesJimmie Veitch / CC BY-SA 3.0

About this fungus

Yellow Patches is a fungus in the Amanitaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.

A small to medium eastern North American Amanita with a yellow-orange to orange cap bearing loose yellow patches.

What to check

Excavate the whole base. The upper stem usually has a yellowish skirt-like ring, while the bulb carries powdery or flaky yellow universal-veil remains rather than a persistent bag-like volva. White free gills and a white spore print fit the genus but are not distinctive.

Lookalikes

Amanita frostiana, Amanita flavorubens and yellow or orange forms of Amanita muscaria can overlap in appearance. The colour and arrangement of veil material help, but weather may remove it and microscopy can be necessary. Never identify an Amanita from cap colour alone.

Habitat and range

Mycorrhizal in broad-leaved, conifer and mixed woodland in eastern North America, often reported with hemlock and spruce. It is not a general European Amanita name.

Food safety

Inedible.

Further reading

Wikipedia · MushroomExpert.com

A glimpse of the research.

Weather response

A repeatable weather association was found in the records, alongside the usual seasonal pattern.

Higher or lower ground?

Records tended to come from higher ground relative to other fungal records in the study.

These are patterns in recorded observations, not rules, forecasts or identification evidence. Local conditions and recording patterns can affect the findings.

Read six species examples →