Amanita ceciliae
The mushrooms are considered edible, but field guides typically advise caution in selecting them for consumption, due to risks of confusion with similar toxic species.Amanita ceciliae was first described by Miles Joseph Berkeley, an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and Christopher Edmund Broome, a British mycologist, in 1854.[3][4] Section Vaginatae consists of mushrooms with special characteristics – such as the absence of a ring, and very few clamp connections at the bases of the basidia.[18] Amanita sinicoflava (occurring in North America) looks quite similar, but it has a sack-like volva, unlike A. ceciliae.This Colombian and Mesoamerican species is often mistaken for A. ceciliae, as both mushrooms have a volva with a weak structure and greying gills.Also, the volval remnants of A. ceciliae converge at the base to form a ring-like zone, unlike A. liquii.Apart from this, the cellular pigments in the sterile strip around the gills and volval remnants are much darker in colour compared to A. ceciliae.[25][26] Amanita ceciliae is considered an edible mushroom and used as food,[27] although many field guides recommend to avoid eating it.[31] It often inhabits deciduous forests with hornbeam (Carpinus), oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus) and birch (Betula), but it can also rarely occur with conifers: pine (Pinus), fir (Abies), spruce (Picea) and cedar (Cedrus).[12] In North America, it is found mainly in areas east of the Mississippi River, but similar mushrooms also occur in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas.It is primarily eastern in distribution but also reported in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas (with an apparent association with pecan trees).[36] There is speculation that North American collections could possibly be an undescribed species differing from the European A. ceciliae.
Scientific classificationEukaryotaBasidiomycotaAgaricomycetesAgaricalesAmanitaceaeAmanitaBinomial nameBroomeSynonymsGilletMycological characteristicshymeniumSpore printmycorrhizalediblebasidiomycetefungusdescribedMiles Joseph BerkeleyChristopher Edmund BroomeCornelis Basfruit bodyuniversal veilSporesamyloidmicrometressectionclamp connectionsbasidiaLouis SecretancommonlyPiacenzavolvalAmanita sinicoflavaAntillesA. liquiipigmentsAppalachian Mountainsedible mushroomdeciduous forestshornbeamsprucecalcareousMississippi RiverPacific NorthwestSouthwestMexicoAzad KashmirList of Amanita speciesA. albocreataA. alienaA. altipesA. apricaA. armeniacaA. augustaA. breckoniiA. chrysoblemaA. diemiiA. eliaeA. farinosaA. frostianaA. gemmataA. gioiosaA. ibotengutakeA. multisquamosaA. muscariaA. nehutaA. orientigemmataA. parcivolvataA. pantherinaA. parvipantherinaA. persicinaA. regalisA. roseotinctaA. rubrovolvataA. velatipesA. virgineoidesA. viscidoluteaA. wellsiiA. xanthocephalaA. arkansanaA. basiiA. calyptratoidesA. calyptrodermaA. caesareaA. caesareoidesA. chepangianaA. hemibaphaA. kitamagotakeA. jacksoniiA. laneiA. princepsA. spretaA. yemaA. zambianaA. arcticaA. arenicolaA. battarraeA. beckeriA. betulaeA. croceaA. flavescensA. fuligineodiscaA. friabilisA. fulvaA. groenlandicaA. islandicaA. lividopallescensA. maireiA. nivalisA. olivaceogriseaA. orientifulvaA. pachycoleaA. pekeoidesA. protectaA. rhacopusA. sinicoflavaA. submembranaceaA. subnudipesA. umbrinoluteaA. vaginataA. velosaA. curtipesA. gilbertiiA. ovoidea