Species pages:  The core of taxonomic information on this site is presented on "species pages" as described in the introduction, above.  By clicking on the name of a section in the following annotated list, the viewer of this page will be transferred to an alphabetical list of all species (and some infraspecific taxa) accepted by the editors in the selected section.  A few names are provisional, and a few are in common usage despite being invalid.  For information about names misapplied in various geographic areas and for more information concerning (at least) the number of unnamed taxa in those areas, the viewer is directed to the "Keys & Checklists" link in the site navigating column (pale yellow) to the left.  The Amanita Studies site's checklists/picture books provide illustration-based access to the same species pages that are accessible taxonomically here as well as by use of the intrasite search function.

The family Amanitaceae R. Heim ex Pouzar is typified by the genus Amanita and presently comprises four genera: Amanita, Amarrendia Bougher & Lebel, Limacella Earle, and Torrendia Bres.  Recent (including some unpublished) molecular studies concur with the morphological view that Limacella is a distinct genus; however, Amarrendia and Torrendia seem rather likely to comprise hypogeous and secotioid (respectively) species that evolved from multiple ancestors in multiple sections of the genus Amanita.

The genus Amanita is divided into two subgenera (well-supported both morphologically and molecularly) and seven sections according to a conservative viewing of modern taxonomy.  In his publications, Yang has made the segregation of Amanita sect. Caesarea from sect. Vaginatae for a number of years.  The editors are now in agreement on this point, and the web site has been changed to reflect a genus with seven sections.  NEW

To continue with a taxonomic summary of the Amanitaceae, scroll down or select a taxonomic grouping from the following links/lists:

I. Subgenus Amanita
Taxa of this subgenus have spores that do not darken when exposed to iodine
(e.g., when mounted in Melzer's Reagent) -- inamyloid spores.  Section names follow usage of
Corner and Bas (1962) and Bas (1969) as emended in Yang (1997).

• Section Amanita - Taxa of this section have a primordium in which the developing cap and stipe take up a part that is offset toward the top of the primordium and disproportionately smaller than in the mature basidiome.  This usually results in the taxa having a prominently bulbous base to their stipes at least  prior to maturity or aging.  The type species of Amanita (Amanita muscaria) belongs to this section.  Almost all species in this section lack a membranous, saccate universal veil (volva) enclosing the stipe's bulbous base.  The few taxa presently known to have such a universal veil are limited to South America; however, similar taxa may be found (for example) in Africa, Australia, and India.  A number of the taxa in this section contain compounds causing the Pantherine Syndrome in humans and other animals.
• Section Vaginatae - Taxa of this section have a primordium in which the stipe is centered vertically and expands over its total length leaving no unexpanded bulb at the stem base in mature material.  A cupulate volva on the stipe base should not be mistaken for a bulb.  Longitudinal sectioning of basidiomes can help clarify the situation.  While it is not a fundamental defining character of this section, many of the taxa have membranous saccate universal veils (volvas).  The taxa that lack such a universal veil are distributed nearly world wide and have a universal veil that is friable or submembranous.
  
  The type species of this section is Amanita vaginata (Bull. : Fr.) Lam. (1783 ["1784"]).
•   Section Caesareae - Taxa assigned to this section were considered to belong to section Vaginatae by Corner and Bas (1962).  The editors and other contemporary taxonomists consider the group of taxa fitting the definition of section Vaginatae, but having a membranous partial veil, to be assignable to the present taxon.  It is proposed that the type species of both Amarrendia and Torrendia both are assignable to section Caesareae.  A world key to the species of section Caesareae is available (over 540 Kb PDF) on this site (here).
  
  The type species of this section is Amanita caesarea (Scop. : Fr.) Pers. (1801).

II. Subgenus Lepidella
Taxa of this subgenus have spores that darken (faintly to intensely) when exposed to iodine (e.g., when mounted in Melzer's Reagent) -- amyloid spores.  Section names are used in the sense of Corner and Bas (1962) and Bas (1969) with the exception of moving taxa of what is now sometimes called subsect. Mappae (A. asteropus, A. brunnescens, A. bulbosa, A. porphyria, A. sinocitrina, etc.) from their previous placement in sect. Phalloideae to the currently accepted placement in sect. Validae.

• Section Lepidella - Taxa of this section include some with the characters judged "most primitive" or "least derived" in Amanita.  Unpublished molecular studies support the hypothesis these same species are basal to the Amanita evolutionary tree.  Hence, from two very different perspectives, there is some support for the idea that the earliest Amanita we might today consider to belong in the genus (were we to see it) would be an entity we would also consider to belong in section Lepidella.  The margin of the pileus of species in this section is always appendiculate at first.  The stipe base very infrequently has a small and rather weakly membranous limb arising from a basal bulb; however, for the majority of taxa in the section, this is not the case.  Beyond the definition provided by the last two sentences, there are a number of other characters that, while not shared by all members of the section are notable field characters that are often present.  Outside of Australia and Africa, few of these taxa have basidiome pigmentations other than in the gray, brown, or black ranges.  In fact, a majority of the taxa are white or pallid.  Taxa often have flocculent material on them that comes off on the fingers of collectors; the partial veil (annulus or ring) is often weakly structured and may not persist to maturity of the basidiome; and many taxa also exhibit an odor.  These odors range widely ("anise" or "garlic" to "stale tiger urine"), but many are rather unpleasant. While some species in this section may be edible, a growing number have been found to contain amino acids that are severely toxic to the human kidney and liver.
  
  The type species of this section is Amanita vittadinii (Morreti) Vitt. (1826).
• Section Amidella - Taxa of this section have an appendiculate cap margin combined with a robust, multi-layered universal veil that is found in mature material as a saccate volva on a totally elongating stipe.  The innermost layer of the volva is often left on the pileus as fine flocculence or as a thin layer looking like cracked paint.  Some Amanita "rules of thumb" such as "if the pileus (cap) margin is striate and the short gills (lamellulae) are squarely cut off (truncate), then the spores will be inamyloid" are thoroughly violated by species of this section.  Morphological and molecular evidence both suggest that this section arose from an ancestry among the limbate-volva'd taxa of section Lepidella.  The number of taxa assignable to this section is rather small.  They are clustered into two or more groups.  The type species is A. volvata.  It is a North American taxon with very similar taxa present in western Europe and eastern Asia.  This group of taxa often exhibit pink to brick-colored bruising/staining reactions.  A smaller number of taxa (limited to Eurasia as far as is known) are pure white except for yellow to tan developing on the exterior of the volva.  South America and a number of island regions (e.g., New Zealand) apparently lack taxa in this section.  The situation in Australia is not well understood, although several taxa are probably assignable to section Amidella.  It is possible that some taxa there are modern representatives of taxa that were intermediary between sections Lepidella and Amidella.  Some older keys say that gills of members of this section dry a very dark color.  Experimentation indicates that this is not true if a specimen is dried quickly with relatively low ambient humidity.
  
  The type species of this section is A. volvata Peck (Lloyd) (1898).
• Section Phalloideae - This section is defined in part by the cap margin's lacking friable, appendiculate material.  All known species are annulate and all but one [A. longitibiale Tulloss et al. (1995)] bear a limbate volva attached to the top of the stipe's basal bulb.  All known species lack clamps at the bases of basidia.  Pileus coloration ranges widely from pure white to bright colors to the pointilliste or marbled appearance seen in the type species -- A. phalloides (Fr. : Fr.) Link (1833).  Many, but not all, of the taxa in this section contain one or more amatoxins and/or phalloidin.  The amatoxins are not destroyed by heat and are the principal cause of death by Amanita poisoning.  Specimens thought to belong to this section, should be checked for (1) a complexly layered volva that is saccate (rather than limbate), which would suggest placement in section Amidella, or (2) a very thin, weak, and (sometimes) short volval limb that may have a powdery inner layer left on the mushroom's cap, which would suggest placement in (for example) subsection Limbatulae Bas (1969) of section Lepidella.
• Section Validae - This section is defined in part by the cap margin's lacking friable, appendiculate material and the absence of a membranous universal veil.  All known species are annulate.  All known species lack clamps at the bases of basidia.  Pileus coloration ranges widely from pure white to a variety of bright colors.  Two distinctive groups within the section exhibit striking staining of the flesh when they are bruised or sectioned.  Many of the taxons of this section that have been tested contain a hemolytic compound that is destroyed by heat.  If material is ingested uncooked, gastrointestinal distress with a rather rapid onset may be experienced  Hence, in several parts of the world, species in this section are commonly eaten, but never ingested raw.
  
  The type species for this section is Agaricus validus Fr. (1838) {now considered (by some authors) a posterior synonym of Agaricus excelsus Fr. : Fr. (1821) [= A. excelsa (Fr. : Fr.) Bertill. (1866)]}.

---

Biogeography of Amanita 

Publications (PDFs) and links

---

Methodology for Mophological Studies

• Glossary - from Agriculture Canada site
• Tulloss' Form for Notes on Fresh Material [ FOR YOUR USE ]

• Blank form  [PDF, 112 Kb]
• Form filled in for a species of sect. Vaginatae  [PDF, 524 Kb]
• Form filled in for a species of sect. Validae  [PDF, 962 Kb]

• Recording Forms for Macrochemical Spot Testing (t.b.d.)

• Form for Phenoloxidase Spot Testing (developed by C. Marr, RET, & A. Montoya-Esquivel) Blank form (t.b.d.)
  .
• Form for Phenoloxidase Spot Testing filled in for a species of sect. Vaginatae (t.b.d.)

• Meaning of Biometric Variables - a few terms used in Tulloss' descriptions of spores and microscopic anatomy

• Methodology for Collecting, Annotating, Macrochemical Testing, etc. of Species of Amanita - unrefereed publication from the Great Smoky Mtns. fungal ATBI "Butterflies of the Soil" project (prepared in 1999 by Tulloss et al.).

• Summary of Tulloss' Methodology - unrefereed publication in Italian (Tulloss, 2000b), here in the original English.  [PDF, approx. 320 Kb]

• Tripartite Similarity Index - an implementation of the similarity metric developed by Tulloss (1997) is available on-line.

---

Nomenclatorial studies (t.b.d)

-

---

Partial bibliography - Mostly Twentieth Century (worldwide) and originally based on the bibliography in A Seminar on Amanita (Tulloss, 1998). This is a work in progress.

 

---

Extended bibliography (t.b.d.)

---

The number of visitors since 1999 exceeds