Amanita gemmata

Taxobox
name = Gemmed mushroom

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image_caption = A young gemmed mushroom; due to dry and warm conditions, the hat is rather pale.
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
subclassis = Hymenomycetes
ordo = Agaricales
familia = Amanitaceae
genus = "Amanita"
species = "A. gemmata"
binomial = "Amanita gemmata"
binomial_authority = (Fr.) Claude Casimir Gilletmycomorphbox
name = Amanita gemmata
whichGills = free
capShape = flat
hymeniumType=gills
stipeCharacter=ring
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=white
howEdible=poisonous

The gemmed mushroom ("Amanita gemmata") is a mushroom of the genus "Amanita", a genus of fungi including some of the most deadly mushrooms, as well as notably psychedelic mushrooms. "A. gemmata" resembles the false death cap, tawny grisette and panther cap mushrooms. Its pileus (cap) is a more bright color than in the former and more yellow than that of the latter two.

The cap is 3–7 cm (1-3 inches) in diameter, domed in young and flat in old specimens. It is pale yellow in dry weather, becoming a bright corn color, lighter towards the furrowed margin, and somewhat slimy in high humidity. There are few and rather large flakes of the white velum present. The gills are white , as is the stipe (stem). The lower end of the latter is usually thickened, but does not feature a prominent sheath as found in the death cap.

The gemmed mushroom occurs in forest. It favors sandy and slightly acidic soild and often forms mycorrhiza with rootlets of the Norway Spruce ("Picea abies"). In Central Europe, it is found between June and October and in California it is found in December.

Two recent molecular studies show that "Amanita gemmata" is part of a subgroup within "Amanita" with its close relatives the fly agaric ("Amanita muscaria"), "A. farinosa" and "A. roseitincta" [cite journal |quotes=no |author=Moncalvo, J.-M., D. Drehmel & R. Vilgalys |year=2000 |title=Variation in modes and rates of evolution in nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal DNA in the mushroom genus "Amanita" (Agaricales, Basidiomycota): phylogenetic implications |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=16 |pages=48–63 |doi=10.1006/mpev.2000.0782] [cite journal |quotes=no |author-Drehmel, D., J.-M. Moncalvo & R. Vilgalys |year=1999 |title=Molecular phylogeny of "Amanita" based on large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and character evolution |journal=Mycologia |volume=91 |pages=610–618 |doi=10.2307/3761246 |author=Drehmel, Dennis] .

Amanita gemmata is a hallucinogenic mushroom which contains ibotenic acid and muscimol. [ (Beutler & Der Marderosian 1981; Chilton & Ott 1976) ]

References

External links

* [http://www.erowid.org/plants/amanitas/amanitas_gemmata.shtml Erowid - Amanita Gemmata]
* [http://www.erowid.org/plants/amanitas/amanitas.shtml Erowid - Psychoactive Amanitas]