Great Funnel-Veil Amanita

(Amanita velatipes)

Conservation Status
Great Funnel-Veil Amanita
Photo by Honey Fae (Farah)
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Great Funnel-Veil Amanita is a large, robust, gilled mushroom. It occurs in the United States from Maine to northern Florida, west to eastern Minnesota and northeastern Arkansas, and in southern Canada from Nova Scotia west to Ontario. It is found in summer and fall alone, scattered, or in groups but not clustered (gregarious). It grows on the ground under or near hardwoods, especially oaks, and conifers. It has a mutually beneficial relationship (mycorrhizal) with the tiny rootlets of hardwood and coniferous trees, absorbing sugars and amino acids while helping the tree absorb water.

When it first appears, the fruiting body is entirely enclosed in a universal veil. Later, the young cap is oval or egg-shaped and brownish. The upper surface is covered with numerous, whitish warts, remnants of the universal veil. The warts are closely spaced and arranged more or less in concentric circles, especially near the margins. Between the warts the cap is hairless and sticky. As it matures, the cap spreads out and the color fades. The warts bend upward at the edges and easily wash off in the rain or just fall away. Mature caps are 2 to 7 (5 to 18 cm) in diameter; convex, broadly convex, or nearly flat; and light brown, sometimes tinged with yellow but rarely entirely yellow. The upper surface is dry but becomes sticky when wet.

The gills are white and crowded. They may be attached to the stem (adnate) or unattached (free). Between the main gills there are frequent short gills.

The stalk is white, 3 to 8 (8 to 20 cm) long, and 316 to ¾ (5 to 20 mm) thick. It is more or less equally thick from the top to an expanded, bulb-like base. At the base there is a tightly adhering sack of tissue (volva), a remnant of the universal veil, that is often folded over at the upper edge. The growing stem often rips the tissue apart near the upper edge, leaving concentric rings or rows of warts near the top of the bulb. Near the top of the stalk, sometimes at or below the middle, there is a ring of tissue, a remnant of the partial veil. As the mushroom grows the base of the ring tightly adheres to the stalk while the remainder is pulled upward, becoming funnel-shaped. This feature, and the mushroom’s often large size, give the species its common name. Above the ring the stalk is silky hairy, below the ring it is finely or shaggy hairy.

The flesh is white. It does not change color when sliced. It is poisonous.

The spore print is white.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

Hardwoods and conifers

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Season

 
 

Spring and summer

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

 
  1/31/2023      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Fungi (fungi)  
  Subkingdom Dikarya  
  Phylum Basidiomycota (club fungi)  
  Subphylum Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)  
  Class Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)  
  Subclass Agaricomycetidae  
  Order Agaricales (common gilled mushrooms and allies)  
  Suborder Pluteineae  
  Family Amanitaceae (Amanita mushrooms and allies)  
  Tribe Amaniteae  
  Genus Amanita (Amanita mushrooms)  
  Subgenus Amanita  
 

Section

Amanita  
 

Subsection

Pantherinae  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Amanita pantherina var. velatipes

Venenarius velatipes

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Great Funnel-Veil Amanita

Veiled-bulb Amanita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Mycorrhizal

A symbiotic, usually beneficial relationship between a fungus and the tiny rootlets of a plant, usually a tree.

 

Partial veil

A protective covering over the gills or pores of a developing mushroom. At maturity it disappears, collapses into a ring around the stem, or wears away into a cobwebby covering and ring zone.

 

Universal veil

An egg-like structure that envelopes all or most of a developing gill mushroom. Remnants of the universal veil sometimes visible on a mature mushroom are patchy warts on the cap, a ring on the stem, and a volva at the base of the stem.

 

Volva

Also called cup. A cup-like covering at the base of a mushroom stem, sometimes buried. In Amanita, Volvariella, and some other mushrooms, it is the remnants of the universal veil ruptured by the mushroom pushing through. In Phallales it is the remnants of the ruptured peridium.

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Honey Fae (Farah)

 
    Great Funnel-Veil Amanita   Great Funnel-Veil Amanita  
           
 
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Amanita velatipes
Claude Kaufholtz-Couture
  Amanita velatipes  

 

slideshow

       
 
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  Honey Fae (Farah)
8/28/2022

Location: Dakota County

Great Funnel-Veil Amanita  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

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Created: 1/31/2023

Last Updated:

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