Today we are going to talk about a type of mushroom that, although not very successful in the kitchen, is collected quite frequently. It's about the Ovoid amanita. It is a type of mushroom widely collected by all those who have a mushroom gathering fiction. Although it is a poor edible, it is used for some garnishes and some mushroom creams.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about Ovoid amanita and its properties.
Key features
This mushroom has a large hat. In some copies you can see how it exceeds 20 centimeters in diameter. This hat has a globose appearance that turns into a spherical shape as it develops. When it reaches maturity and the adult stage it becomes convex in shape, although it does not usually become flattened until the specimen is old. If we see a specimen with the hat completely flattened, it is because it is already in its old age and its consumption is not very important, since it has lost a large amount of nutritional quality.
The color of the hat is pure white and sometimes you can see something shiny. Its cuticle does not usually present traces of volva. However, it does present some traces of the veil around the edges. It has tight blades also with a white color and with respect to the foot they are free. These sheets form a kind of circle around the foot.
The foot of the Ovoid amanita it is centrally positioned, cylindrical in shape and quite thick. It is white in color and has floury scales of the same color. It has a not very consistent ring with a colorless and fleeting mealy appearance. In the foot we can see a fairly consistent membranous volva that has the shape of a sac. This returns if it can vary in colors between white or yellowish ocher.
As for the meat, it has a white color and is quite thick and compact. Its flavor is mild and it has an odor that is barely perceptible.
Habitat and area of distribution of the Ovoid amanita
This species of mushroom can be found more frequently under lhe planifolio forests where holm oak trees are especially abundant. It can also be found under conifers since it is an autumnal species that is not too frequent. Therefore, it is not a mushroom that is easy to find even if it is expressly collected. It is usually a mushroom that is collected by "accident" since it is close to other mushrooms within the group of amanitas.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is an edible species but of poor quality. Its use is not highly recommended for several reasons. The first reason is because it is not a very good specimen for the kitchen, and the second is because it can be easily confused with other species of mushrooms that are toxic and even deadly.
Since it is a risk that is not interesting to take given its poor quality for the kitchen, its specific collection is not recommended. That is, if it is collected because it can be identified quite easily by the experienced collector, nothing will happen since it is an edible mushroom. Nevertheless, it is not at all recommended to collect by those fans who still do not have enough experience to know how to identify one species from another with the naked eye. The confusion of these species can end in a serious health problem.
La Ovoid amanita It almost always grows on dry calcareous soils and preferably, we will find it under holm oaks and oaks. Regarding its growing season, we can see that, depending on the temperatures and rainfall that have occurred during the year, it can grow from late summer to early autumn. If the weather stays somewhat warmer but with enough humidity, we can see it almost close to winter.
Possible confusions of the Ovoid amanita
As we have mentioned previously, this type of mushroom is usually easy to confuse with other species with a similar appearance that are toxic and even deadly. One of the main confusions of the Ovoid amanita is fly agaric. It is a type of mushroom that belongs to the same group but has a smaller hat and a membranous ring. It is the species of amanita that most resembles it, although it can be differentiated in the size of the hat, the membranous ring and in that it does not have traces of the veil on the edge of the hat. In addition, on the foot it has an orange volva while on the Ovoid amanita it is white or yellowish ocher in color.
We must learn to recognize the Ovoid amanita for the robustness, the plain white color of the hat, the ring with a creamy texture to the touch, the ocreous back and its light smell of iodine. We must bear in mind that we must not only not fix the appearance of a mushroom but also use other senses such as touch or smell to recognize the specimen in question. And there are times when mushrooms look very similar because they belong to the same group, but they can have a substantial difference based on edibility. This is, Two mushrooms may look very similar to each other, but one may be toxic and the other may not.
The rest of the amanitas that share the habitat of the Ovoid amanita they have small warts on the hat. These warts can be flat or irregular as occurs in the amanita strobiliformis. This mushroom also has a creamy ring in texture like that of the ovoid Amanita. There are also other mushrooms that have pyramidal and pointed rings as is usually the case. Lonely amanita, whose ring is membranous and often has greenish or glaucous tints in the blades.
As you can see, each type of mushroom may vary only in some aspect in question and in detail that you need to have experience to be able to differentiate them correctly. I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Ovoid Amanita.