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American Ceasar's Mushroom
Scientific Name: Amanita hemibapha
Family Name: Amanitaceae
Edibility: Edible with caution
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Caps: 5 - 12 cm wide; convex to nearly flat with age; usually with a knob in the center; sticky; reddish orange or yellowish orange; with shallow grooves near the edge. Flesh thin, soft, pale yellow or white. Gills: Free of the stalk or nearly so, closely spaced; yellow; covered by a yellow partial veil in young specimens. Stalk: 7 - 15 cm long, 5 - 20 mm thick; yellow, sometimes with cup at the base. Spore Print: White. Fruiting: Solitary or in groups on the ground in mixed woods; summer, fall. Range: Throughout Eastern North America. Family: Amanitaceae. Comments: Also knows as Amanita umbonata, Amanita jacksonii, and Amanita caesarea; the nomenclature of this species is currently under study. Be certain that a specimen is not Amanita muscaria. The white sac-like cup is distinctive. Similar Species: False Caesar's Mushroom (Amanita parcivolvata; edibility unknown) has a red to orange-yellow cap and yellow patches; it has no ring or sac-like cup. [Bessette, Alan and Sundberg, Walter J., Macmillan Field Guides; Mushrooms; A quick reference guide to mushrooms of North America, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1987]