Wild Mushrooms of Ainsworth: Blusher

Here we go with another very tentative mushroom identification. I think this is a blusher.


(Click on image to enlarge)

Its scientific name is Amanita rubescens. Of course I, as a Dorothy Sayers fan, got excited upon learning that — but a little more research taught me that the European species differs from the North American, so this may not be exactly the mushroom that played a central role in The Documents in the Case, though, like its European cousin, it can easily be confused with a deadly poisonous species.

The name "blusher" refers to the tendency of its skin to bruise reddish. I took an immature specimen and bruised its stem, just to see:



Looks somewhat reddish to me. That photo is interesting also in that it shows the partial veil stretching from the outer edge of the cap to the stem, covering the immature gills. As the cap expands, the veil ruptures and remains as a ring around the stem.



The stem thickens toward the base to form a club shape.