| Amanita sphaerobulbosa
Hongo "Asian Abrupt-bulbed Lepidella"
Technical description (t.b.d.) BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The
fruiting bodies of A.
sphaerobulbosa
are
usually small. The cap is 20-40 mm wide, convex to applanate, white to
creamy, and with an appendiculate margin. It is covered with white
volval remnants, conical to subconical, small, ca. 1 mm high;
its context is white. The
gills of this species are free to subfree, crowded, white to
cream-colored; and the short gills are attenuate and of diverse
lengths. The
stipe is 50 - 80 x 5 - 8 mm, subcylindric to attenuate upwards; its
surface is white to dirty white. The stipe's basal bulb is 15 - 25 mm
wide, subabrupt to abrupt, marginate, with the upper margin covered
with whitish, small volval remnants. The annulus is membranous and
superior, persistent or fugacious. Spores
measure (7.0-)
8.0-10.5 (-11.5) ×
(6.5-) 7.0-9.5 (-10.0) µm
and are globose,
subglobose to broadly ellipsoid,
and amyloid. Clamps are present on the bases of basidia. Amanita sphaerobulbosa was originally described from Japan. It may also occur in China, but no authentic material has been examined. It occurs in mixed forests with broad-leaved trees and conifers. Amanita
sphaerobulbosa has been reported as the cause of severe poisoning
in Japan. The symptoms suggest the amino acid syndrome known
from A.
smithiana Bas.
Amanita
sphaerobulbosa is very similar to A.
abrupta
Peck, and the names have often been regarded as synonyms. Undoubtedly,
they are very closely related to each other. However, the spores of A.
abrupta are much narrower. Furthermore, in A.
sphaerobulbosa,
many hyphae and inflated cells, especially in the upper part of volval
remnants on pileus, are vascular (oleiferous), i.e.,
with refractive contents; this is not the case in A. abrupta. Return to Section Lepidella page. Last change 14 March 2006. |