BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Amanitaceae

Caesar’s Mushroom, Amanita caesarea or Amanita umbonata

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Amanitaceae

Height to 7"

Cap is up to 8" wide, convex, and becoming flattened, with a finely striated margin. Surface is bright red-orange, darkest in the center, fading overall with age. Stalk is smooth or with small scales and colored as the cap, with a membranous collar that hangs skirtlike under the cap. At the base is a white, saclike volva. Gills are free or partly attached, cream or yellowish. Spore print is white. The Caesar’s Mushroom grows singly or in fairy rings in pine or oak woodlands in eastern and southwestern North America during the summer and fall. It is edible with caution to avoid poisonous look-alikes. Also known as the American Caesar’s Mushroom.