Amanita ID help requested.

[Pharmer]

I just picked some of the first Amanita Muscaria of the season yesterday.  I was hoping someone here could shed some light on what variety these are.  These were collected a few hours north of San Francisco on the coast.  Thanks.


Peace.

[winder]

I would hestitate to help anyone ID a mushroom.

Perhaps you should pick up a color print field guide.

[Pharmer]

I actually do own a couple field guides with color pics.  The Audobon Feild Guide to North American Mushrooms and Mushrooms Demystified.  I guess I should have been a little more specific.  My question is whether these are Amanita Muscaria var. Muscaria or var. Flavivolvata.  I think it is also possible that I have both, as they seem to both be distributed in this area.  Unfortunately the books I have are rather vague when it comes to breaking down the Amanita Muscaria subspecies.  Thanks.

Peace.

[Krayken]

Hey Man!  Little hard to tell from the pics, but from what I can see it looks as though those are var. Flavivolvata. It looks as though most of them(from what I can see) have a sort of "brownish" tint to them. Almost like a sheen. Var. muscaria have more of a pure/bright red color. But this is only from my own experience, the Amanita varies from region to region quite a bit.

[Pharmer]

Yes, I am starting to lean towards an ID of Flavivolvata, Although I don't really see the brown tint.  They seem pretty blood red to me when they are fresh (those pics were taken after they had been picked for a day already).  To me it's the veil.  I can see a tint of yellow to it on most of them.  The difficulty in ID comes in as most of the features used to discern the identity of these mushrooms are very similar between A. Muscaria v. Muscaria and A. Muscaria v. Flavivolvata.  I am going out picking again today.  I will get better ID pics of the mushies in thier natural environs.  

Peace.

[Krayken]

Cool!! Take lots of pics!! I think its quite funny that your season is just starting, and mine has been over for a few weeks now  :lol: