Amanita vaginata - Grisette

Cap

5 - 10cm diameter; grey, normally retaining no velar remains. Initially egg-shaped, the cap expands  to become flat but always with a small raised central area (an umbo). The edge of the cap is striated (with comb-like radial ridges). Below the pellicle (skin of the cap) the flesh is white and firm.

Gills

White, adnexed (only slightly attached to the stem) or sometimes free; crowded.

Stem

12 - 20cm long and 1 - 1.5cm in diameter, tapering only slightly (narrower near the cap); white or tinged with the cap colour. The stipe usually becomes hollow as the fruitbody matures. 

Volva

There is no stem ring on this Amanita species; however, at the base of the stipe there is a large white sack-like volva.

Spore print

White.

Odour/taste

Not distinctive.

Habitat

Found in deciduous forests and occasionally in mixed woodland.

Season

July to October.

Occurrence

Infrequent.

Similar species

Amanita ceciliae often has a more orange-tinged cap with grey veil fragments, and it has a distinctive snakeskin pattern on the stem.

Amanita caesarea (Caesar's Mushroom) is rarely if ever found in southern Europe; its cap is brilliant orange with a striated margin, and the stipe is yellow.

Amanita crocea has a yellowish-orange cap with an apricot tinge at the centre. It has cream rather than white gills, and a sweet smell and a nutty taste.