Today we are going to talk about a type of mushroom that is not edible and that we should not confuse with another species within its group. It's about the Citrine amanita. This type of mushroom is commonly confused with others of the same group since it has a similar appearance. Something that makes this mushroom unique is that it has a citrine yellow color and smells like radish. This makes its identification somewhat easier, however, it is not advisable to be confused at the time of collection as it can cause serious health problems if it is confused with another toxic species.
Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to explain everything you need to know about Citrine amanita and how to recognize it with the naked eye.
Key features
Hat and foils
This type of mushroom has a hat that evolves from a globose to a flat convex appearance. Depending on the age in which we find this mushroom, we will see that its hat has one shape or another. If we see that the silk already has a flattened hat, it is that it was in its adult stage. The diameter of this hat usually varies between 4 and 12 centimeters in diameter. In some more developed specimens you can see the odd inch in size.
The cuticle of the hat is yellowish in color and gives a citrine appearance. There is usually a great variation in the intensity of colors that They range from almost white to lemon yellow. Sometimes we find some specimens that have a greenish-colored hat. It is this variety of colors that makes it easily confused with other species within the group of amanitas. The meat can be easily separated and sometimes we find remnants of the universal veil. These remains, unlike the rest of the hat, usually have a dirty white color in very irregular plates both in size and shape.
Although the hat it is quite fleshy and fragile, it tends to become somewhat softer with advanced age. It has a curved margin that evolves flat but is not striated. These aspects are essential when learning to differentiate this mushroom from the rest.
It has white blades that have yellow reflections. They are sheets that are quite wide in size, they are free and numerous. The smaller ones have the measure. They have a flowery edge and are also of the same color.
Pie and meat
Its stem is cylindrical in shape and white to very light yellow. It is a foot with a straight appearance. The length of the foot is usually between 5 and 15 centimeters in height. Its diameter is between 1 and 2 centimeter in diameter. The foot is full when it is young. However, as it develops into adulthood it ends up becoming almost hollow.
One of the ways we also have to differentiate this mushroom from the rest is that it has a hanging ring on the foot. It has a fairly high position and has the same color as the foot. The ring is broad and somewhat grainy around the edge. It has some stretch marks on its upper part. The foot widens when it reaches the lowest part and we can find a spherical bulb surrounded by a white circumcised volva. If we say to cut the foot we see that its color does not vary when the specimen is young. However, if we cut off the foot of the Citrine amanita When the specimen is adult we can see that the foot is slightly red in its central part. All these are small indicators that can differentiate this mushroom from others.
As for its meat, it has a white color, tending to yellowish. It is something similar to what happens with the foot. Its texture is thick and tender and it has a somewhat sweet but unpleasant taste. Its smell is reminiscent of radish and potato depending on the state of the specimen.
Ecology and area of distribution of the Citrine amanita
This mushroom is a coniferous and deciduous mycorrhizal species. It is a species that is quite abundant and can appear below almost any type of tree. Except for the winter time when temperatures are much lower than normal, we can find this plant almost throughout the year.
It needs a higher degree of humidity and we can find these specimens, and often under coniferous trees and all those that have deciduous leaves. Although it is not a mushroom that is toxic in its consumption, we can confuse this mushroom with other species of amanitas that are very toxic for it, its consumption is not advisable. If we analyze its gastronomic quality we see that it is scarce. If we returned to this, it is easy enough to be confused with other mushrooms in its group, we see that it is not worth collecting.
In addition, if we get to consume it by mistake, we must have a bitter and unpleasant taste.
Main confusions of the Citrine amanita
We have already mentioned that this mushroom can easily be confused with other species within its group. The ones that can be most confused with are the white amanitas. This is because it is quite similar in color and appearance. We are going to analyze each of the most frequent possible confusions that we find with this type of mushroom:
- Amanita phalloides: this mushroom is very easy to confuse with the other as it also has a white hat. The main difference with Amanita citrina is the volva. His volva this saquiform, membranous and uncircumcised type. Also in the cuticle we can find some shades of green and some radial fibrils with a darker color. This mushroom is deadly to humans. Therefore, we must totally avoid its consumption.
- fly agaric: it is a mushroom that has an elastic and membranous back. Unlike the Amanita citrina, it has a scaly foot and a misshapen white hat. These characteristics are what we must use in order to differentiate one species from another. The importance of knowing how to differentiate Amanita virosa from citrine is that it is very toxic.
- fly agaric: it is the species within the group of amanitas that most resembles it. The main difference is that the volva membranous is not circumcised. We must not confuse this mushroom since it is very toxic if it is consumed.
- amanita gemmata: this one has a yellow hat like the Amanita citrina in its older age but it has stretch marks. In addition, it has white plates that are evident to the naked eye and as a vanishing ring. This mushroom is somewhat toxic.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about Amanita citrina.