BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The cap of A. japonica is 55 - 80 mm wide, convex then plane, dry, at first moderately dark gray to pale buffy gray, felted-subflocculose, with an appendiculate, nonsulcate margin.  The flesh is soft. The cap is rather densely set with paler, floccose-felted, subpyramidal, adnate warts; later, the colored surface of the cap breaks into vaguely delimited, thin patches between which whitish flesh shows.  Warts and spots diminish in size and become less distinct towards the margin.

The gills are close to subdistant, nearly free, sometimes with slight decurrent teeth, rather broad, and white.  The short gills are subtruncate to attenuate.

The stem is 80 - 170 x 7 - 15 mm, attenuate upward, solid, white, floccose, with flocculose-pulverulent to small, vague, scale-like, pale buffy gray volval remnants on the lower half.

The spores measure 9 - 10.5 x 5.5 - 6.5 µm (Bas, 1969) and are ellipsoid to elongate and amyloid.  Clamps are frequent at the bases of basidia.

This species was originally described from Japan.  It also occurs in southern China and Thailand.

For similar species see the list for Bas' stirps Solitariae on the Amanita cokeri (E.-J. Gilbert & Kühner) E.-J. Gilbert page. -- R. E. Tulloss

Photograph: Dr. Zhu L. Yang (Taiwan)