BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Amanitaceae

Blusher, Amanita rubescens

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Amanitaceae

Height to 7"

Cap is cream-colored to red-brown with pale or dark pinkish scale patches, up to 6" in diameter. Shape is ovoid, becoming convex to flat, with a slight rising knob in the center. Gills are free or slightly attached. Stalk is smooth, white above fading to reddish-brown toward the basal bulb, with a white to pinkish membranous collar ring. When bruised, the flesh is pink or red. Spore print is white. The Blusher is found in open woodlands with good sun during the fall or winter in eastern North America or California. Edible with caution for poisonous look-alikes.