The Grisette
(Amanita vaginata)
sculpture, acrylic paint
by "Wildman"
The cap is 2-4 inches wide, with radial lines toward its edge. It sometimes has a few white patches on top, and a central knob.
Note the darkened, raised central knob,
and the radial lines ending at the cap's margin
photo by "Wildman"
The gills are free from the stalk. They're white, and so is the spore print.
Note the space between the beginning of the gills and the stalk
photo by "Wildman"
The whitish-gray, slender stalk is 4-8 inches long. Unlike many other amanitas, the grisette and its relatives have no partial veil covering the immature gills, and no subsequent ring encircling the stalk.
Unlike many other amanitas,
on ring ever encircles the grisette's stalk.
photo by "Wildman"
Its base is surrounded by a sac-like cup, hence the species name, vaginata, which means sheath in Latin.
Note the sac-like cup at the stalk's base
photo by "Wildman"
You can find grisettes in open woods or in grass or on lawns near trees throughout North America, all summer on the east coast, and from November to February on the west coast.
For a mushroom hunter,
this is like the rattle of a rattlesnake!
photo by "Wildman"
Although it may be nonpoisonous, and some people, particularly in France, have eaten it and lived to tell, it has many varieties, as well as similar-looking close relatives, of unknown toxicity. Some of these relatives may be deadly. This is not a safe mushroom to eat.
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