Olivegrey Amanita (Amanita olivaceogrisea)

The Olivegrey Amanita (Amanita olivaceogrisea) is a small, delicate grisette with a greyish-olive to pale yellowish cap, only 3 to 5 cm across, carrying small warts and a strongly grooved edge. The free gills are white to cream. The very slender white stem has no ring and sits in a fragile, crumbly, bag-like volva that clings to the stem base.

It grows in wet woodland with hazel, alder and sometimes birch, from July into October. It is widely distributed but uncommon, and was first recognised in Britain only in 2001, so every record is worth making.

The Grisette (Amanita vaginata) and Tawny Grisette (Amanita fulva) are larger, grey or orange-brown. Its edibility is unknown, and as an Amanita it must not be eaten.

Spore Print

Season

J

F

M

A

M

J

A

S

O

N

D

Native

toxic

Distribution

Widely distributed but uncommon

Habitat

In wet woodlands with Corylus, Alnus and sometimes Betula

Etymology

Amanita is thought to come from Mount Amanus in southern Turkey, though its origin is uncertain. olivaceogrisea combines the Latin olivaceus, 'olive-coloured', and griseus, 'grey', after the cap.

Associates

Alnus, Betula

Cap

The cap is very delicate, 3-5 cm across, umbonate then flattening. It is citrine-yellow to pale olive and greyish-olive, with a striate to sulcate margin and a warty surface.

Colour
Shape	Umbonate, Flattened
Surface	Warty
Width	3 - 5 cm
Margin	Striate, Sulcate

Gills

Free; white to cream.

Colour
Attachment	Free

Stem

The stem is very gracile, white to cream, 5-10 cm long and 3-8 mm wide, with a floccose surface. The saccate volva is pinched in and adnate to the stem base, and is fragile and crumbly.