Amanita vittadinii

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name	Amanita vittadinii
name status	nomen acceptum
author	(Moretti) Vitt.
english name	"Vittadini Lepidella"
images	1. Amanita vittadinii, the Netherlands. 2. Amanita vittadinii - illustration from thesis of C. Bas 3. Amanita vittadinii, Braník, Prague, Czech Republic. 4. Amanita vittadinii, Braník, Prague, Czech Republic. 5. Amanita vittadinii, near Ubrigia, Spain.
intro	The following description of Amanita vittadinii is based on the revision by Bas (1969) and by more recent research largely carried out by Benjamin Wolfe in the Pringle Lab at Harvard University.
cap	The cap of A. vittadinii is 75 - 170 mm wide, fleshy, from globose via hemispherical to plano-convex, white to pale dingy ochraceous, brownish at the center with age, dry, with an at first inflexed, then straight, nonsulcate, appendiculate, projecting margin. The flesh is white and unchanging or turning slightly yellowish. Pyramidal, subpyramidal, or patch-like volval remnants are present at the center, and appressed, patch- to scale-like remnants are present near the margin; the volval remnants are adnate to detersile and white to pinkish- or grayish-brownish.
gills	The gills are rather crowded, free, rather thick, broad, attenuate, and white, cream, greenish cream, or pale greenish yellow. The short gills are abundant and truncate.
stem	The stem is 100 - 160 × 15 - 25 mm, subcylindrical, mostly somewhat attenuate at the base, solid, white, and slightly brunnescent. Appressed to recurved, flat, membranous scales are concentrically arranged above the ring.
odor/taste	This species has little odor at first, but (to some) the odor becomes sweetish and nauseating. Bertault (1964) reported that the smell was like a biscuit (probably in the British sense of a sweet cake or cookie) and that the odor was why this species (in his experience) was sought after as an edible in Morocco. The taste is said to be indistinct.
spores	The spores measure (9-) 10 - 13 (-15) × (6.5-) 7.5 - 10 (-11) µm (Bas, 1969) and are broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid and amyloid. Clamps are abundant at the bases of basidia.
discussion	Amanita vittadinii is one of the species of section Lepidella that is known to occur without accompanying woody plant symbionts. Bas (1969) established a stirps Vittadinii, a grouping that has continued to grow in subsequent years. This stirps includes the closest relatives of the present species—currently thought to be the following: A. ameghinoi (Speg.) Singer, A. boliviana Bas nom. prov., A. bubalina Bas, A. codinae (R. Maire) Bertault, A. grallipes Bas & de Meijer, A. lilloi Singer in Singer & Digilio, A. prairiicola Peck, A. silvifuga Bas, A.singeri Bas, and A. subcaligata (A. H. Sm. & P. M. Rea) A. H. Sm. ex Tulloss (=A. salmonea Thiers). Amanita vittadinii was also taken as type of Amanita subsection Vittadiniae Bas—a larger grouping of taxa with what Bas (1969) considered very primitive characters. His judgment based on morphological grounds is being born out in the results of molecular studies that show amanitas of subsection Vittadiniae at or near the base of the genus' evolutionary tree. Bas divided subsection Vittadiniae into several stirpes: Vittadinii, Nana (see A. nana) (see A. nana Singer), Nauseosa (see A. nauseosa (Wakef.) D. A. Reid), Thiersii (see A. thiersii Bas), and Hesleri (see A. hesleri Bas). Subsequently, it has appeared that one more single-species stirps may be needed in the subsection. For this stirps, I propose the name stirps Inopinata (see A. inopinata D. A. Reid & Bas). Despite its being reported from around the world, the present species is only confirmed from Europe.—R. E. Tulloss
brief editors	RET

name

Amanita vittadinii

author

(Moretti) Vitt. 1826. Tent. Mycol. Amanita: Ill. 31, pl. 1.

name status

nomen acceptum

english name

"Vittadini Lepidella"

synonyms

≡Agaricus vittadinii Moretti 1826. G. Fis. Chem. Stor. Nat. Med. Arti Pavia 9 (dec. 2): 66.

≡Lepidella vittadinii (Moretti) E.-J. Gilbert. 1925. Bull. Trimestriel. Soc. Mycol. France 41: 304.

≡Aspidella vittadinii (Moretti) E.-J. Gilbert. 1940. Iconogr. Mycol. (Milan) 27, suppl. (1): 79.

=Agaricus colubrinus Krombh. 1831. Naturgetreue Abbild. Essbar. Schädl. Undverd. Schwäm. 1: 71 and (1834) 3: pl. 1 (figs. 10-11).

≡Lepiota columbrina (Krombh.) Sacc. 1887. Syll. Fung. 5: 42.

The editors of this site owe a great debt to Dr. Cornelis Bas whose famous cigar box files of Amanita nomenclatural information gathered over three or more decades were made available to RET for computerization and make up the lion's share of the nomenclatural information presented on this site.

MycoBank nos.

174636, 454256, 207936, 355562, 281960, 284336, 292697

GenBank nos.

Due to delays in data processing at GenBank, some accession numbers may lead to unreleased (pending) pages. These pages will eventually be made live, so try again later.

accession	locus	voucher	source
HQ540068	mtLSU	11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1)	B. Wolfe et al., Pringle Lab., Harvard
JF707941	GH family 3 β-glucosidase gene	11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1)	B. Wolfe et al., Pringle Lab., Harvard
JF699745	endoglucanase gene	11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1)	B. Wolfe et al., Pringle Lab., Harvard
HQ539967	mtSSU	11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1)	B. Wolfe et al., Pringle Lab., Harvard
HQ539757	nrLSU	11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1)	B. Wolfe et al., Pringle Lab., Harvard

lectotypes

A. vittadinii—Moretti. 1826. G. Fis. Chem. Stor. Nat. Med. Arti Pavia 9 (dec. 2): pl. 1.
A. colubrinus—Krombholz. 1831. Naturgetreue Abbild. Essbar. Schädl. Undverd. Schwäm. 1: pl. 1 (figs. 10-11).

lectotypifications

Bas. 1969. Persoonia 5: 349.

revisions

Bas. 1969. Persoonia 5: 349, figs. 26-31.

selected illustrations

Migliozzi in Brunori. 2000. Boll. Gruppo Micol. G. Bresadola 43(2): 65.

intro

The following text may make multiple use of each data field.

The field may contain magenta text presenting data from a type study and/or revision of other original material cited in the protolog of the present taxon. Macroscopic descriptions in magenta are a combination of data from the protolog and additional observations made on the exiccata during revision of the cited original material.

The same field may also contain black text, which is data from a revision of the present taxon (including non-type material and/or material not cited in the protolog). Paragraphs of black text will be labeled if further subdivision of this text is appropriate.

Olive text indicates a specimen that has not been thoroughly examined (for example, for microscopic details) and marks other places in the text where data is missing or uncertain.

The following material is derived from (Bas 1969) and original research of R. E. Tulloss and C. Rodríguez Caycedo unless another author is cited.

pileus

Bas (1969): 75 - 170 mm wide, white to pale dingy ochraceous, brownish over disc in age, "from globose via hemispherical to plano-convex," dry, fibrillose to fibrillose-scaly, "at margin sometimes excoriate with age"; context fleshy; margin non-sulcate, appendiculate, projecting, at first inflexed, then straight; universal veil over disc as pyramidal to subpyramidal warts or patch-like, toward margin appressed and patch- or scale-like, white to pinkish-brownish to grayish-brownish, adnate to detersile. [Bas mentions that the pileipellis is not well-developed (i.e., doesn't have a distinct, clearly defined structure); hence, at the macroscopic level there is nothing to peel.—ed.]

lamellae

Bas (1969): free, rather crowded, white to cream to greenish cream to pale greenish yellow, rather thick, up to 15 mm broad, with edge entire or eroded; lamellulae attenuate in longer examples, truncate in shorter examples, abundant.

stipe

Bas (1969): 100 - 160 × 15 - 25 mm, white ["sometimes greenish according to Gilbert (1941: 374)], slightly brunnescent, subcylindric, above partial veil fibrillose, below with surface splitting into concentrically arranged and appressed to recurved scales, mostly somewhat attenuate at base; bulb lacking; context solid, white, unchanging or turning slightly yellowish [sometimes turning yellow-greenish accordin to Gilbert (see above)]; partial veil pendent, membranous, double, broad, white to stram-yellow (sometimes greenish according to Gilbert (see above), not or vaguely striate above, below fibrillose with warts of universal veil along edge; universal veil in small bits on tips of stipe's recurved scales.

odor/taste

Bas (1969): Odor At first rather weak, later becoming both sweetish and nauseating [biscuit-like according to Bertault (1964: 368)]. Taste indistinct.

macrochemical
tests

none recorded.

pileipellis

Bas (1969): "not very well differentiated, merely a dense layer bewteen trama of cap and volva on cap; not gelatinizing."

peridium micro

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pileus context

not described.

lamella trama

Bas (1969): "bilateral, without terminal inflated cells; diverging hyphae and subcylindric cells 4 - 18 μm wide; hymenopodium with cells up to 30 × 20 μm, rather broad."

subhymenium

Bas (1969): "rather narrow and dense, subramose to subcellular, with rather small cells."

basidia

Bas (1969): 45 - 60 × 11 - 14 μm, 4-sterigmate, with refractive granular contents; clamps abundant.

universal veil

Bas (1969): On pileus: filamentous hyphae "almost completely lacking"; inflated cells dominating, in interwoven chains, subcylindric to elongate-fusiform (rarely ellipsoid, 40 - 125 × 12 - 26 (-40) μm, with chains for the most part more or less periclinally arranged, perhaps more nearly anticlinally arranged over disc; vascular hyphae not described.

stipe context

Bas (1969): longitudinally acrophysalidic; filamentous hyphae abundant 4 - 16 μm wide, with segments long and subcylindric; acrophysalides rather abundant, slenderly clavate, tup to 300 × 35 μm or 400 × 30 μm; vascular hyphae present. [Note: Bas examined the recurved scales on the stipe of this species and found that they were superficial tissue of the stipe with very few acrophysalides.—ed.]

partial veil

not described.

lamella edge tissue

Bas (1969): "not found."

anatomical figures

basidiospores

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Bas (1969): [90/7/-] (9.0-) 10.0 - 13.0 (-15.0) × (6.5-) 7.5 - 10.0 (-11.0) μm, (Q = 1.10 - 1.60; Q = 1.20 - 1.40), with slightly thickened wall, amyloid, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid; apiculus not described; contents as refractive granules or irregular bodies; whitish (or sometimes greenish?) in deposit.

composite of all material revised by CRC: [20/1/1] 9.5 - 12.0 (-14.0) × (7.2-) 7.5 - 9.3 (-10.0) μm, (L = 11.0 μm; W = 8.2 μm; Q = (1.17-) 1.19 - 1.44 (-1.47); Q = 1.34), ??, amyloid, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, sometimes adaxially flattened; apiculus sublateral, cylindric; contents ??; color in deposit not recorded.

ecology

Bas (1969): Terrestrial in fields, open woods, parks, etc.

material examined

Bas (1969): CZECH REPUBLIC: PRAGUE—unkn. loc., 28.viii.1937 Petibok s.n. (PR). HUNGARY: TOLNA—Kolësd, 2.viii.1960 G. Bohus & L. Imreh s.n. (PR). NETHERLANDS: SOUTH HOLLAND—Delft, vii.1942 unkn. coll. s.n. (L), vii.1956 unkn. coll. s.n. (L). SLOVAKIA: NITRIANSKY KRAJ—Komárno Distr. - ca. Komárno, 10.x.1951 M. Deyl (PR). [Note: There are six additional collections from the Delft site in L; however, we do not have collection information for them.—ed.]

RET: CZECH REPUBLIC: PRAGUE—Braník, 2.vii.2009 Michal Mikšik s.n. [J. Borovička BORE39] (PRM 915815; RET 455-7). FRANCE: DEUX SÉVRES—Bouillé-Loretz, 22.x.1979 Boyer s.n. (in herb. J. Mornand 79-188-B1; RET 276-8), J. Mornand s.n. (in herb. J. Mornand 79-189-B; RET 276-9). MAINE-ET-LOIRE—Angers, “La Baumette,” 5.x.1901 Gaillard s.n. (in herb. J. Mornand 79-05-B1, formerly in herb. Gaillard; RET 276-10); Jarzé, “Les Giraudières,” 11.x.1982 Mornand (in herb. J. Mornand 82-110-B1; RET 277-1). GERMANY: SACHSEN ANHALT—Halle, Kollenbey Schafweide, vii.1989 H. Dörfelt s.n. (L; RET 039-5). ITALY: COSENZA—Tarsia, Manca di Gaiarello [ca. 60 m], 1.iii.2007 C. Lavorato 070301-08 (in herb. C. Lavorato; RET 428-9). LIVORNO—Bolgheri, v.1982 Ilario Filippi 072 (in herb. I. Filippi; RET 125-8).

discussion

Bas (1969): "The size of the spores mentioned in the description above is larger than that recorded by Bertault (1964) (8 - 11...13 × 7 - 9 μm) and by Gilbert (1925) (8 - 11 × 7 - 10 μm). But the size of the spores of four collections depicted by Gilbert (1940) ranges between (8.5-) 11 - 14 × (6.5-) 9 - 10.5 μm.

"Locquin (1950: 172) found the wall of the spores of A. vittadinii rather complicated in structure. I found it slightly thickened and had the impression that it may be double."

"Amanita vittadinii in a well-developed stage is one of the most impressive agarics I have seen. It is pure white with a strongly verrucose to scaly cap with appendiculate or even denticulate edge and a cylindrical stem completely covered with curious, broad, membranous, recurving scales beneath a magnificent membranous ring with warty edge. The scaliness of the stem is caused by a peeling of the surface layer provoked by scattered, circular belts of remnants of the volva.

"The type of covering of the cap is rather variable. Sometimes there are conical warts at the centre, passing gradually into scales towards the margin. But mostly the outer layer is more felted and cracks into polygonate patches which may finally disappear completely. In addition to this the surface of the cap underneath these patches is fibrillose-squamulose itself.

"I am under the impression that the microscopical elements in the outer layer of the volva are parallel and arranged in a fairly erect position at the centre, gradually changing their position to radial and more repent towards the margin of the cap. Rather often, however, probably owing to climatological influences, the outer elements of the volva become more or less agglutinated already in the early stages and behave like a continuous layer that cracks into polygonate patches on expansion of the cap. The tissue of these patches is very compressed and difficult to analyze.

"According to Bertault (1964: 368) the species is edible and in great demand in Morocco because of its fine odour. Personally, I found that in the collections from the Netherlands, the smell soon becomes sweetish and sickening."

citations

—R. E. Tulloss & C. Rodríguez Caycedo

editors

RET

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