Amanita pantherina

The Panther cap (Amanita pantherina), also known as the False Blusher due to its similarity to the true Blusher (Amanita rubescens), is a toxic mushroom found in woodland throughout Europe, western Asia and North America.

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Description

A. pantherina has a bronze or pale orange-brown pileus (cap) bearing small white warts and between 5 and 15 cm (2-6 inches) in diameter. In younger specimens the cap is domed, becoming flatter with age. The upper remains of the velum form a ring around the cap margin in younger mushrooms. In moist conditions the pileus is often viscid, with a farinaceous (or starchy) odor.

The stipe (stem) grows to a length of between 6-10 cm and between 1–2½ cm in diameter, with a narrow hoop-like ring low down. The lower remains of the velum form a volva (sheath) around the basal bulb, often with one or two narrow rings.^[1]

The white spores are smooth, elliptical, non-amyloid and 9½–13×7–9.5 µm in size.

Similar species

Although not normally fatal, Amanita pantherina should be studied with caution. It can also be misidentified as Amanita gemmata and confused with the Blusher (Amanita rubescens), though the latter's flesh turns red or 'blushes'.

Distribution and habitat

The Panther cap is an uncommon mushroom, found in both deciduous, especially beech and, less frequently, coniferous woodland and rarely meadows throughout Europe, western Asia and North America in late summer and autumn.^[1] It has also been recorded from South Africa, where it is thought to have been accidentally introduced with trees imported from Europe.^[2]

It is an ectomycorrhizal fungus, living in root symbiosis with a tree, deriving photosynthesised nutrients from it and providing soil nutrients in return.

Toxicity

The Panther cap contains muscarine and is generally regarded as more poisonous than the related Fly Agaric, having been the cause of some fatalities. Panther caps are rarely used as a hallucinogen, also similar to Fly Agaric but often with even more disastrous results. They are dried or cooked at a low temperature before ingestion.^[3]

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