Species of the Month - September 2012

Tawny Grisette

Amanita fulva

The Tawny Grisette is a common woodland mushroom that forms mycorrhizal associations with a variety of different tree species, both conifers and broadleaves.  It is recognised by the tawny-coloured flat cap with striations around the rim, together with the lack of a ring on the stem (as some Amanita sp have) and the orange-brown sack-like volva at the base.  This volva is not always as uniformly brown as in these photos, sometimes it is partly white but it always has patches of orange-brown colouring.

In the above picture, bits of veil can be seen adhering to the stem, and the young fruitbody in front has a few bits of veil in the centre of the cap, but this is unusual and the mature cap will not have a covering of veil pieces as seen in Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric), Amanita rubescens (The Blusher) and various other species.

The most likely confusion species is the Grisette (Amanita vaginata) but this has a grey-brown cap without the warm orange tone of the Tawny Grisette.  Also the Grisette has a white volva.  Another possibility is Amanita battarrae has a greyish-brown or dull brown cap, often with a ring zone of darker colour, and the volva is white with orange-brown spots or stains.

The BMS database, currently updated to 2009, has 3,833 records for the Tawny Grisette, but only 5 of these are from our vice-county.  I and other lnhg mushroom spotters have added another 3 since then so if we get two more from having it on Species of the Month then we will have doubled the total and made a start on showing that the gaps in the maps for this and many other fungi in Argyll are not due to the shortage of fungi but the shortage of recorders.

Please send in your sightings using the form below.  If you are not sure of the identity of your mushroom, please send a photo to sightings@lnhg.org.uk, or put one on the LORN forum and let me know it is there.
 

By filling in this form you agree that the information contained in this form may be collated and disseminated manually or electronically for environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses in accordance with the LNHG data access policy.  Your email address will not form part of the record and will not be passed on to anyone.

Carl Farmer
SNHG Biological Records Manager

Sightings so far

21 Sep: No sightings from Argyll yet but I found some today in a birchwood on Skye

22 Sep: First Argyll sighting today under birch at Inverawe on Gary Goldie's fungus foray
 

Note you can still send in records for past species of the month.  Here is the list of species we've had so far:

Aug 2012 - Forest Bug
Jul 2012 - Grayling
Jun 2012 - Greater and Lesser Butterfly Orchids
May 2012 - Small Copper
Apr 2012 - Green Tiger Beetle
Mar 2012 - March Moth
Feb 2012 - Barren Strawberry
Jan 2012 - Brambling
Dec 2011 - Red Squirrel
Nov 2011 - Hazel Gloves
Oct 2011 - Small Tortoiseshell
Sep 2011 - Fly Agaric
Aug 2011 - Grass of Parnassus
Jul 2011 - Golden-ringed Dragonfly
Jun 2011 - 7-spot Ladybird
May 2011 - Green Hairstreak
Apr 2011 - Townhall Clock
Mar 2011 - Frogspawn

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All photos and other content copyright © Carl Farmer except where stated